by: Diane Benjamin Bloomington Mayors have been spending money trying to revitalize downtown since at least 1986 – that’s when the first TIF district was created. TIF districts provide money for the City to spend however they want – they keep the difference between the current taxes collected on properties and what is collected after […]
by: Diane Benjamin Bloomington taxpayers already spent $2.2 Million on the Front and Center building being proposed for a downtown hotel! Mayors back to at least Judy Markowitz have been driven to redevelop downtown. The Front and Center building fiasco is attributed to Steve Stockton. It started with the Ensenberger Building. Merle Huff bought it in […]
by: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington recently declared the Coliseum has produced $98 MILLION dollars of Economic Activity. The Coliseum opened in 2006, the first full year was 2007. 2007 Sales Tax receipts were LOWER than 2006 (see chart below). Receipts increased when the tax to pay for the Coliseum was increased. Keep in […]
by: Diane Benjamin Here’s the status: – I filed a compliant against the City of Bloomington siting 5 batches of emails that were either denied or redacted. I believe the City violated the Freedom of Information Act passed by the Illinois General Assembly to insure open and honest government in Illinois. (yes, I understand the […]
by: Diane Benjamin It is a good thing the City of Bloomington refinanced bonds and is saving money on interest. Actually, it’s a no-brainer. How many of you refinanced your home numerous times as interest rates dropped to historic levels. Isn’t saving taxpayer money what we expect of government? One problem: Fitch and Moody’s didn’t […]
by: Diane Benjamin In Bloomington your telecommunications tax went up in April – Thanks to Mayor Tyranny’s inability to consider cuts to any City spending – other than increases proposed by him and Hales: UTILITY RATES AS OF APRIL 28, 2014 UTILITY COMPONENT CHARGE METHOD OLD RATE NEW RATE STATUTORY LIMIT Electric kilowatt per hour […]
by: Diane Benjamin Pantagraph Editorial today: State needs to grow jobs, not spin facts. Who wrote it Pantagraph? Too chicken to say? After getting past the same discussion happening all over Illinois for the past week, (it’s easy to copy the thoughts of others) the Pantagraph finally hits taxes. Iowa and Indiana have lowered taxes […]
by: Diane Benjamin The following information comes from the City of Bloomington – Budget in Brief numbers. http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=2014 http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=5104 http://www.cityblm.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=7075 How many times have either Mayor Renner or City Manager David Hales talked about the huge reduction in staff at the City of Bloomington. They cut to the bone! Below is a recap of the […]
by: Diane Benjamin I’ve posted a few stories showing how much the City Council approves in bills payable to local media: http://blnnews.com/2014/07/14/pantagraph-wjbc-why-they-dont-hold-government-accountable/ http://blnnews.com/2014/07/25/more-on-media-paid-to-not-report/ Monday night the Council will approve paying: Cumulus – WJBC $1406.75 Pantagraph – $897.69 Those number are way down, but I will keep watching. I found a few interesting emails that were […]
by: Diane Benjamin Maybe David Hales is to blame, but of course nobody is talking. At the July 21st Committee of the Whole Council meeting private sewers were discussed. The City ordinance isn’t clear on who pays for repairs beyond the lot line, so the City saw an opportunity to fleece more citizens. The […]
by: Diane Benjamin Yesterday I reported the numbers CIAM reported as fact in 2013 are different from what the Auditor’s reported. CIAM’s (Central Illinois aRena Management) numbers are always reported in the local media. The Auditor’s numbers somehow never are. They aren’t available on the City of Bloomington website either. Only CIAM’s fictional reports are […]
by: Diane Benjamin At next Monday’s City Council meeting, the Council will be asked to approve paying the Pantagraph $38,000 for advertising BCPA events. This is just a small part of the advertising income the Pantagraph earns form the City of Bloomington. Any chance the Pantagraph will investigate spending at the BCPA? Will they investigate […]
by: Diane Benjamin I written many times about the Pantagraph being in bed with the City of Bloomington. Citizens will NEVER be told the truth in the newspaper. A legal intern at the Citizens Advocacy Center in Elmhurst Il wrote a Letter to the Editor. The Pantagraph refused to print it: From: Pantagraph Letters <PLetters@pantagraph.com> […]
by: Diane Benjamin Apparently neither does the City. See the email exchange below. Citizen Bruce Meeks asked Alderman Kevin Lower and Mayor Renner for a list, he also cited the code section requiring David Hales to maintain it. I asked Bruce if he ever got it. He received an old list but has never […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington budget fight has included discussions of City spending with non-local lawyers. I previously posted what I received from the City under the Freedom of Information Act showing how much has been paid to Clark Baird Smith in Rosemont. The City would only provide me with totals – they claimed attorney-client […]
by: Diane Benjamin See this previous post: http://blnnews.com/2014/03/18/why-does-bloomington-have-a-legal-staff/ I requested detailed information on the legal bills involved, but the City denied my request: The citizens of Bloomington will never know how much the City spent for a six and half page response from this law firm concerning allegations Mayor Renner called “totally ridiculous”. See this […]
by: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington uses the legal services of a law firm in Rosemont Il. Evidently the legal staff being paid by taxpayers isn’t capable of handling the job. These 2 invoices were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. I have filed another FOIA of details of services performed, notice 1 […]
by: Diane Benjamin Bloomington taxpayers: you paid for a parking deck that opened in 2005. It has been closed since October 2013 because it is defective. You should rightly be outraged that YOUR money was thrown away. If media cared about the truth, they would be asking questions. They don’t, so I’m forced to get […]
by: Diane Benjamin First, congratulation to David Hales for getting the January report out much quicker than past monthly reports. Bloomington Library: The citizens have been led to believe the library is growing way too fast for the current building. Maybe not. This graph is included in the City manager’s report: http://www.cityblm.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=6417 Clearly the growth […]
by: Diane Benjamin This information is also from the Bloomington City Managers report: http://www.cityblm.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=6417 I STRONGLY urge the Citizens of Bloomington to read the report. Parks and Rec has 9 pages. It’s a glowing report recapping all the activities your government is providing for you. It’s also the reason why the City needs more […]
by: Diane Benjamin The monthly Bloomington City Manager’s report for January it on-line: http://www.cityblm.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=6417 One interesting graph shows the number of golf rounds played at the 3 City owned golf courses. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a chart without a TOTALS column, unless there is something to hide. I added my own totals to […]
by: Diane Benjamin It’s common knowledge that government pensions are MUCH bigger than anything offered in the private sector. Teachers remind us they don’t qualify for Social Security, which is true. But what about local government employees? Below is a list of City of Bloomington employees where the City is paying into both the pension […]
by: Diane Benjamin Being a CPA, I like numbers. Frequently they reveal interesting things. Here’s my latest: The information listed about employees is now really good on both the Champaign and Bloomington websites – thanks to the Illinois Policy Institute. All expenses per employee are listed, so I decided to see how much Bloomington pays […]
by: Diane Benjamin Last November the Bloomington City Council held a retreat. The big topic was a “Culture Change” at the City. I previously reported on it here: http://blnnews.com/2014/01/27/culture-tales-bloomington-council-retreat/ Remember, this is the retreat that triggered the Open Meetings Act violation filed by Alderwoman Judy Stearns. It also triggered Mayor Renner and David Hales hiring […]
by: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington WANTED an arena, so they built it. Not knowing anything about how to run one, they handed management to a private company. Common sense would say that at least one City employee should be working at the Coliseum to keep an eye on the taxpayers investment. There isn’t […]
by: Diane Benjamin Let’s face it. The City of Bloomington didn’t need to hire a Communications Director, they have the Pantagraph. Have you ever seen an editorial criticizing anyone in power with Bloomington or Normal? Have the Pantagraph ever read the Coliseum Management agreement? No problem there Pantagraph? Have they ever asked why government has […]
by: Diane Benjamin Mayor Renner thinks of himself as City Commander-in-Chief. Normally, the media would be kissing his feet. Most still do, but then there are others like me exposing his less than transparent actions. This morning Renner was on with the low information media, Scott Laughlin. Luckily I didn’t hear the whole thing, but […]
Update Interesting timing! I had no idea somebody was re-writing the ordinance! At Monday’s City Council meeting a bunch of changes are going to be made to the Boards and Commissions. It looks like somebody thought adding more was a good idea, but most got scrapped. If you want to decipher what is happening – […]
by: Diane Benjamin I have no idea why Mayor Renner got so upset about Alderwoman Stearns filing with the Attorney General concerning what she deemed an inappropriate Executive Session. When Stearns walked out of the meeting she made it clear to the entire Council that, in her opinion, the topics being discussed violated the rules […]
by: Diane Benjamin Bloomington is being investigated again by the Attorney General – this time for illegally redacting emails. I wrote this post explaining part of my claim: http://blnnews.com/2013/12/27/proof-bloomington-has-no-transparency/ I sent that information to the Attorney General, but there is more to my complaint. The email from Normal City Manager Mark Petersen was not the […]
by: Diane Benjamin Violating the Open Meetings Act is serious. There wasn’t a “dust-up” as Steve Vogel called it in the Pantagraph. If the Attorney General finds the Executive Session didn’t comply with the law, the entire Council will be blamed-minus Alderwoman Stearns who walked out. The Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA) is designed to […]
by: Diane Benjamin Evidently the local press lacks curiosity. Maybe they aren’t allowed to do investigative reporting. Maybe reporters can’t investigate the local “insiders”. Maybe they can’t investigate their advertisers. Maybe Illinois wouldn’t be so corrupt if REAL media existed. Below are some questions I’d be asking: How about some investigation of the unemployment […]
by: Diane Benjamin Didn’t the City ask residents to conserve water – just a few weeks ago? http://cityblm.org/index.aspx?recordid=435&page=18 The City Manager’s Monthly report for OCTOBER just got posted on December 20th. Can everybody say: “The private sector wouldn’t tolerate waiting this long for information!” From the Water Department : The City experienced above average […]
by: Diane Benjamin If you read the City of Bloomington website, you would think they are all about transparency. The City has bigger problems a website will never fix. The City culture is non-transparency and non-adherence to laws that get in their way. The numerous complaints filed with the Attorney General’s office are evidence of […]
by: Diane Benjamin Recently I filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the City of Bloomington for all emails From or To every City employee regarding the Modified Ward System. I included Alderman Rob Fazzini’s personal emails in the request. Yes, they are subject to FOIA requests. I included 2 court decisions in the […]
by: Diane Benjamin Why did the City of Bloomington suddenly issue a water alert? Lake Bloomington and Evergreen Lake are suddenly 8 feet below normal? Aren’t lakes usually lower in the summer? Were the lakes low last summer and a notice wasn’t issued? Nobody is watering lawns, we have a lot of snow and more […]
Who is going? Who should go? Guesses?
by Diane Benjamin The Trial Balance from 4/30/2012 has an entry to write-off Uncollectible Accounts: (Click to enlarge) I asked for details since this entry says nothing about why over half a million dollars was deemed uncollectible. Here’s the response I received: In regards to item #3, the Finance Dept. has advised that they do […]
by: Diane Benjamin Since the Financial Statements for the City of Bloomington have very little detail, and even less information is available on-line, I have to file Freedom of Information Act requests for information. Lately many sources have been saying David Hales saved the city. I’m looking at page after page of expenses only entered […]
by: Diane Benjamin Bloomington-Normal is changing, but few people are talking publicly about it. Maybe you should hear what a local Realtor said on the radio last Saturday: http://www.cities929.com/pages/17509587.php Listen to the first few minutes from the October 12th On The House show. No hints, listen to it yourself. If you skip this part, you […]
