by: Diane Benjamin I have written many times about the potted plants on the City Council. Only 2 council members bother to ask questions on most issues, the rest sit back and cheer for whatever is proposed. Meanwhile, Mayor Renner has been vilifying the Council for not approving his tax increases or proposing their own […]
by: Diane Benjamin Paying off the Coliseum isn’t talked about much. I found the following page in Book 2 of the proposed budget. Click the picture to enlarge it. Only 20 more years! http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=6394
by: Diane Benjamin If the Bloomington City Council doesn’t void the contract with Central Illinois Arena Management (CIAM) for violating the terms, this could be who they are bringing in: And this is the group I was told by two sources would be the ownership group of the USHL Bloomington entry. One helluva group, for sure. […]
Update: According to the link – John Butler took money from the Junior Hockey team wanting to locate in Bloomington without Council approval. What if the Council votes to CANCEL the CIAM contract and doesn’t approve a Junior Hockey team? If the 7 potted plants were interested in the citizens welfare instead of being buddies […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph has the demise of local professional hockey in the sports section today. The real story isn’t hockey, it is City oversight of a building that is costing taxpayers a lot of money. Putting the story in the Sports section is an attempt to cover up the truth. I’ve written […]
by: Diane Benjamin The management company the City of Bloomington hired to run the Coliseum (CIAM) is required by their contract to prepare their own financial statement. The City of Bloomington posted the 2013 report CIAM prepared on their website (http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=21&parent=36). It appears to be where CIAM gets the information to determine how much to […]
by: Diane Benjamin Earlier this month I posted an email from the organizers of the Home Show held at the Coliseum. They weren’t happy – especially with parking. http://blnnews.com/2014/03/11/coliseum-failed-the-home-show/ I received a new email today. It didn’t take them long to find a new place for the show next year. From: LisaKohn <bnahba@mybnahba.comcastbiz.net>Date: March 18, 2014 at […]
by: Diane Benjamin The City CHARGES for parking in the now closed (or mostly closed) parking deck. It has been closed since October 2013, so the City is no longer making money for parking there. I have a Freedom of Information Act Request at the City for the status of the parking garage and how […]
by: Diane Benjamin This is an email sent by the Home Show organizer to MANY people. Anybody care about the closed parking garage yet? ________________________________ From: LisaKohn [mailto:bnahba@mybnahba.comcastbiz.net] Sent: Monday, March 10, 2014 3:51 PMSubject: HOMESHOW-2014 I know you all had an exhausting weekend and probably a disappointing one. Yes attendance was down and has been on the decline since we moved to the U.S. […]
by: Diane Benjamin Allow me to set this up: The City of Bloomington owns the Pepsi Ice Center. I reported earlier the Pepsi Ice Center showed a profit: http://blnnews.com/2013/10/15/how-much-does-the-pepsi-ice-center-cost-you/ The City of Bloomington own the Coliseum, but they handed it over to CIAM to manage. The Pepsi Ice Center now has so many users they […]
by: Diane Benjamin The 7-8 year old Coliseum parking garage has been closed since October. The media isn’t asking questions. Citizens must find out for themselves what the plan for it is. David Hales issued his December Monthly Report: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=6319 . No mention of the parking garage. Water usage is down from 2012 though. Golf has been […]
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 I’ve posted a number of stories about the Coliseum. The Coliseum saga exemplifies why government isn’t capable of running a business. Who is looking out for taxpayer dollars? The Coliseum was built and turned over to a private company to run. CIAM posted an income statement that posed more questions than answers. […]
by Diane Benjamin You will have to read the previous post to understand this one: http://blnnews.com/2014/02/13/more-coliseum-nonsense/ Look once more at the Income reported by CIAM. These items are listed as INCOME because the Coliseum is reimbursed for these expenses from the events held at the Coliseum. CIAM is taking their 4% without netting the Income […]
by: Diane Benjamin This information is from the Coliseum Report compiled by the Company hired to manage the Coliseum – CIAM and the contract the City has with CIAM. CIAM Report: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=5459 City agreement with CIAM: (I don’t know why the contract calls them CIA!) Management Agreement CIAM 10.1 Management Fee. (page 20-21) As base […]
by: Diane Benjamin I really hate to keep reminding the City of Bloomington: The citizens voted NO on the Coliseum, but you built it anyway. Government is NOT smarter than the people. Government does NOT create sustainable jobs. Government is not capable of being financially responsible with YOUR money because they don’t have to. Call […]
Mayor Renner wants a hotel in downtown Bloomington. I thought the purpose was to help the Coliseum. But, the hotel feasibility study includes a 20,000 square foot convention center. I thought the Coliseum was the convention center. How is this going to help the Coliseum? Besides, 150 rooms isn’t going to handle a lot of […]
by: Diane Benjamin Operations of the Coliseum are extremely complicated. Management hired by the City is operating some functions without any over-sight or accountability. The taxpayers deserve to know the truth. The City has a contract with Central Illinois Arena Management (CIAM) to run the daily operations. The Coliseum Fund is audited by an independent […]
by: Diane Benjamin This information is from another tipster – keep them coming guys! The following is from : McLean County, Illinois Zoning Ordinance As Adopted August 15, 2000 And Amendments through February 21, 2012 http://www.mcleancountyil.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/45 Page 19 206 OCCUPANCY PERMITS. No land shall be occupied or used; no building or structure hereafter erected shall […]
by: Diane Benjamin It turns out the BCPA isn’t getting all of the .25% Sales tax. The Coliseum gets some too, as well as City Funds to cover the operating loses. Since it’s hard to read, here’s a close up: Yes, that’s more than $1,000,000-Click on it to enlarge . . . . […]
by Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph story on the repairs at the Coliseum didn’t sound like the situation was serious. Obviously it was since the City paid laborers weekend rates to start fixing the problem. Mayor Renner gave a lot more details on WGLT radio: http://wglt.org/wireready/news/2013/12/07602_coliseum_ventilation_web_155703.shtml “It was really disappointing that a building this new would […]
by: Diane Benjamin Mayor Transparency Renner seems to be taking the Obama approach to informing the public: hide everything. I’m sure you’ve heard the President is now only allowing staff photographers to take pictures at official events, the pesky press might actually capture something interesting instead of staged mugs. Now Renner wants everything filtered through […]
by: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington issued a Press Release stating the Coliseum has an Operating Loss for the first 6 months of the fiscal year of $300,848. The great news is they expected $43,603 more! Remember, the building isn’t paid for. that’s another $2,000,000 a year. Does Mayor Renner or the rubber stamp […]
The Pantagraph finally reported today on the concert that turned downtown Bloomington into chaos Friday night. Hey Pantagraph: today is Tuesday! Glad you finally reported for work. I wonder why you bothered to report the story at all! I guess your readers love old news. I heard buzz the Pantagraph isn’t dropping the 5 YEAR […]
UPDATED #2 WJBC finally did a story Wednesday! Pantagraph was Tuesday Update: I was just advised that doctors did send a letter(s) to the City of Bloomington (after the concert last year) warning about bringing this type of entertainment to town! They were obviously ignored. by: Diane Benjamin Does the Pantagraph and WJBC just close […]
From the Bloomington City website: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=18&recordid=304 It wonderful they can finally show an operating profit, but they are far from breaking even. These figures don’t include the interest of around $2,000,000 per year or the upcoming payments they are finally going to start making on the building! Celebrate! U.S. Cellular Coliseum’s Economic Impact Over $98M […]
There has been a nice effort lately to paint the Coliseum as a great asset to the City. Yes, it’s a very nice venue. A venue the citizens said No to – but then Mayor Markowitz pushed through anyway. Contrary to any story you read, the income generated to the City by the Coliseum doesn’t even […]
It could be if the City Council keep spending money on a white elephant! Bridgeview probably thought their stadium brought money to the community too. Now Bloomington wants to spend more! A hotel would be nice, plus some downtown remodeling. The roads and pensions can wait. Happy new year, cities drowning in stadium debt! Posted […]
