No Justice No Peace?

By: Diane Benjamin Obviously the City of Bloomington is not going to hold elected officials or the City Manager accountable for violating City code. In case you forgot: https://blnnews.com/2025/07/11/the-latest-people-bloomington-prosecuted-for-violating-city-code/ Add City Manager Jeff Jurgens to that story. He is allowed by code to spend $50,000 (needs reduced!) without Council approval. He exceeded that amount with […]

Opticos Design’s Controversial Housing Plan in Bloomington Monday Night

By: Diane Benjamin Monday night the Bloomington City Council is circling back to the May 27th discussion of Missing Middle Housing. In case you forgot, the City hired a California group called Opticos Design Inc. Some things you need to know: -The report is littered with the term “Best Practices”. That is a ridiculous term […]

Misc + Bloomington tonight

By: Diane Benjamin We spent the weekend in Wisconsin. We saw ZERO gas stations with gas over $2.95 a gallon. The roads are extremely better than Illinois, obviously freezing and thawing is just an excuse. There was a lot of road work being done. The area we were in received 7 1/2 inches of rain […]

Breaking City Code: the King and Queens of Bloomington

By: Diane Benjamin Jenna Kearns violated City Code by claiming she was the only candidate that supports Democrats: https://blnnews.com/2025/03/24/jenna-kearns-violates-city-code-too/ Local elections are nonpartisan because local issues aren’t political. Essential services, which citizens can’t provide themselves, are why local government exists. Elections in Bloomington have taken a nasty turn toward partisan politics because far-left candidates either […]

Other notes from last night’s Bloomington Council meeting

By: Diane Benjamin Last night’s meeting lasted 2 hours, not including an Executive Session to discuss a raise for Jeff Jurgens and a land purchase. No details were given on either. Since Jeff Jurgens is not only City Manager but also a lawyer, one would think he cares about sitting Council members violating City Code. […]

Too Chicken Mboka?

By: Diane Benjamin The current mayor wasn’t a chicken when the far left members of the Council demanded a vote to make Molly Ward mayor Pro Tem. He is evidently too chicken to do anything to sitting Council members who violated the City Code. If laws don’t matter to the Council, why should they matter […]

Bloomington allows disregard for City Code

By: Diane Benjamin Tonight’s agenda: 4/4/2025 The agenda omits penalties for Cody Hendricks and Jenna Kearns’ flagrant City Code violations (details: https://blnnews.com/2025/03/25/cody-hendricks-chief-cheater/). In two years, Bloomington’s consolidated elections will become fully partisan due to this lack of accountability. Worse, residents will question why they must follow City Code when elected officials don’t. This ‘rules for […]

Six Things You Need To Know

By: Diane Benjamin 1) Bloomington agenda for tonight: https://d2kbkoa27fdvtw.cloudfront.net/cityblm/8941a8856acf86d8eb133ec7a8132d1a0.pdf 3 Public hearings will be held. All 3 items are on the Consent Agenda. That means the hearings are meaningless. The Consent Agenda is usually passed without comment. Also, the City is spending another $215,366.27 on the water quality. This time they are treating both lakes […]