By: Diane Benjamin Your elected aldermen in Bloomington really have guts! On the same day they found out at least $1 Million was stolen from you – they voted to slap higher sewer and storm water rates on the victims of their ineptness! Yes, that would be Bloomington taxpayers. The conversation was really amusing. Scott […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below are some of the stories I’ve written about the Coliseum. Some are opinions, some questions, and some proven facts. This isn’t everything, but it’s enough to prove the 5 Coliseum employees would NOT be under indictment of I hadn’t started investigating in 2013! Each link has a quote from the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Celebrate! Tari is returning from his “medical related” leave October 1st. Just like everything the City of Bloomington does, his return will have NO Transparency. Does he still have his government credit card? If he does, Freedom of Information Act requests are about to spike! Remember the citizen survey a few weeks […]
By: Diane Benjamin The oldest story I wrote about the Coliseum is from December 2013: https://blnnews.com/2013/12/11/coliseum-bleeding-bloomington-taxpayers/ But, look at this story from February 2014: https://blnnews.com/2014/02/06/is-coliseum-management-giving-bloomington-their-share/ First lines of the story: 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 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois increased income taxes again! The stack of unpaid bills increased! Since Illinois has “been there-done that”, and the unpaid stack still got bigger, that’s proof government doesn’t exist for anybody but itself. Monday Bloomington will do the same! PDF page 281. The City needs $136 Million over the next 20 years […]
By: Diane Benjamin When the Pantagraph appears to do a study of anything, it usually means Bloomington is up to something and using them to gauge public opinion. Today it was legal expenses and justifying the outrageous amount the City sends to Springfield every month while telling you not to buy on the internet – […]
By: Diane Benjamin It looks like Bloomington has to be destroyed by government spending before people realize local elections matter. Or, maybe only the people who can’t move will be left paying the bills which are about to get much bigger. Monday night the Bloomington will see the results of doing “Wants” before Needs. MANY […]
By: Diane Benjamin Source: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=14181 The 2017 year ended for the City of Bloomington last April 30th. We are most likely MONTHS away from seeing real financial statements, late is what governments do and the private sector would never tolerate. I did find a glimpse into what they will say – see the link above. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Thank God Steve Vogel is retiring for good! His column today doesn’t merit commenting on and I sure didn’t read the whole thing. If I hadn’t jumped to the comments I would have missed that he is walking off into the sunset – keep walking Steve! I wonder what left winger will […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bills and Payroll got posted for Bloomington Monday night: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=14211 Why is the City using your money for Rotary Club Dues? Library too! Bronner isn’t conducting an annual audit, are they helping the State Police? Did you get your picnic invite? See this story: https://blnnews.com/2016/09/28/consultants-another-one-that-slipped-by/ Yocum only bills the City every six […]
By: Diane Benjamin The contract between the City of Bloomington and Grossinger Motors is in the packet for the City Council meeting Monday night: PDF page 115 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=14175 The City will use up to $75,000 of their first payment to offset changing the signage. One problem – page 121: Since the document is a legal […]
Update: The management announced today the naming rights have been sold – and for the same amount US Cellular was paying: $175,000 a year. It will be name Grossinger Motors Arena for at least 5 years. I haven’t heard who is paying for the new signs, letterhead, business cards, menus, etc. _____________________________________ By: Diane Benjamin […]
By: Diane Benjamin The council never asks questions. I wonder if they even look at the documentation! Bills and Payroll from last Monday: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=13099 The Coliseum cost more – architect: Did the City buy tickets for employees? Feel free to FOIA! Why did the BCPA return so many deposits? Why does the BCPA […]
By: Diane Benjamin The old type Bloomington City Manager reports with real usable information ceased to exist when Alderman Diana Hauman called their “printing” a waste of money. The last REAL report was April 2016. City manager David Hales still does a City Manager report on-line, but it has little useful data. The old reports […]
By: Diane Benjamin After the McLean County Chamber of Commerce supported every big spender in the local elections, they are now want a huge sports complex at your expense. If government created prosperity, Illinois would be the most successful state in the country! Instead, people are fleeing high taxes, regulations, and government nonsense. But the […]
By: Diane Benjamin First a medical update: Prayer does work! My husband has had people all over the globe praying for his recovery. Today he woke up, opened his eyes and responded to our voices and commands from the medical staff. He had a brain aneurysm that burst on Good Friday. The ICU neurology staff […]
By: Diane Benjamin See PDF page 85 and following: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=12448 These minutes have been missing January 2, 2002 when Tari Renner presented his polling results on the Arena to the City Council. Excerpts: Here is who was on the Council at the time: See more Coliseum discussion minutes PDF page 93 August 20, 2001. Obviously […]
By: Diane Benjamin From Monday’s Bills and Payroll: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=12446 Employees are still allowed to SPIKE their pensions by getting paid for accumulated sick and vacation days. TWO courts have recently ruled that employers do not have to allow this, of course the rules haven’t been changed. It just cost you another $32,106.66. The City is […]
By: Diane Benjamin The below is from last years financial statements. It is reflected on two pages (197 and 198) making it impossible to read, so I retyped the info. Original link: http://www.cityblm.org/home/showdocument?id=12330 The financial statements were from 4/30/2016, so the 2016 data won’t be available for a LONG time. Traffic at the library is […]
By: Diane Benjamin CLEAN audits mean nothing! Dixon Illinois got taken for $50,000,000 with CLEAN audits. Forensic Audits find fraud, regular yearly audits only mean the numbers are in the right columns. Thanks Pantagraph for printing what you were told. Why were the Bloomington financial statements released REALLY late? Tonight the Council will hear information […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Coliseum audited financial statement from April 30, 2016 is still not available. The local media and candidates are pretending the ongoing State Police investigation of Coliseum operations isn’t happening. Naming rights expired close to a year ago, obviously nobody wants their name on the Coliseum if they have to pay for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Coliseum Quarterly reports are now on-line: http://www.cityblm.org/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-526 Last years reports for the year ended 4/30/2016 are still a secret. VenuWorks has been managing the Coliseum for all three of the quarters listed at the link above. 1st quarter revenue: $770,839.87 2nd quarter revenue: $275,590.46 3rd quarter revenue: $677,924.52 Don’t get excited – […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this post from earlier today: https://blnnews.com/2017/02/23/administration-and-robbing-enterprise-funds/ The City is using money you pay for essential services as their own personal piggy bank. Taking this money allows them to spend it on pet projects, it’s not going to roads. Remember the Council authorized David Hales to spend up to $50,000 without Council […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is a continuation of the previous post: https://blnnews.com/2017/02/17/how-many-facts-does-tari-get-wrong/ The Coliseum was a hot topic. Renner and Hauman continue to believe the Coliseum can be a success. Renner still wants a hotel, Hauman thinks VenuWorks can make a profit. Both of them are living in the same make-believe land as whoever projected […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight is the 5 person League of Women Voters/WGLT mayoral debate. It won’t be as informative as the DoubleTree debate because of who is asking the questions and 5 candidates answering them. I predict only 5 or 6 questions will be asked since opening and closing statements will take up much of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Can $20 million be cut from Bloomington’s budget? David Hales thinks disaster would strike Bloomington if the tax increases were rolled back. (The media happily reports it!) Here’s a better question: The 2012 TOTAL budget was $165.3 million (Pre Tari) The 2013 TOTAL budget was $167 million (Pre Tari) That 2017 TOTAL […]
By: Diane Benjamin All the way back in October of 2000, Tari Renner had his students do a survey of Bloomington residents about building an arena on the EAST side. 63% opposed a tax increase to build it. The estimate to build it was only $25 million. Renner lamented the questions asked were worded negatively. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday the Pantagraph did a story about County union employee salary increases: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/mclean-county-highway-workers-get-raises/article_e1a807b1-6dcc-535b-83dd-f39b4b00079f.html This paragraph is in the story: Two problems: The City of Bloomington has been hit by at least 24 penalties amounting to around $1.6 million. (it could be more by now) That’s not “several”. Second, the County negotiated with […]
By: Diane Benjamin The local purveyor of government propaganda has reported VenuWorks lost $674,000 in the 7 months since they took over. The only reason this story is out now is because Tuesday night the Coliseum Executive Director will make a presentation to the Council. _______________________________________________________________________ Side note: This is also Tuesday’s agenda: 2017 ends […]
By: Diane Benjamin The taxpayers of Bloomington have no idea how much the Coliseum LOST last year because the City doesn’t want you to know. The year-end for the Coliseum was April 30th, no income and expense information has been released. (normally it is released in October) The Coliseum was a mess, so the City […]
By: Diane Benjamin Except for the Council “light dinners”, “eating at your expense” is way down for October. Maybe Hales, since he will soon be gone, is tired of feasting with Council members. P-Card spending for October: Bills and Payroll for Monday night. Begins on page 121: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=11652 ADMIN City Council Exp Coffee Hound $ […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when the City of Bloomignton introduced VenuWorks? Remember how VenuWorks was going to be ultra transparent? The City of Bloomington has a web page just to recap events at the Coliseum: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=21&parent=10697 The last event posted is from September. The big concert last weekend isn’t posted. Thunder Hockey games aren’t posted. […]
By: Diane Benjamin At Monday’s Council meeting questions were raised as to why a 10 year old building wasn’t ADA compliant. City staff said they were investigating. All the City has to do is talk to people who were involved before it was built. I did. Karen Schmidt was on the Council – did they […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Year End for the City of Bloomington and the Coliseum was APRIL 30, 2016. More than 6 months ago! The financial statements for both are still not available. Any private sector business wouldn’t tolerate this behavior. Last year the financial statements were presented to the Council at the first meeting in […]
By: Diane Benjamin Instead of prosecuting corrupt Illinois officials, Attorney General Lisa Madigan (daughter of the guy destroying Illinois – Mike Madigan) went after the Coliseum for not being ADA compliant. Monday night the Council will be asked to approve spending $120,270 just to design and oversee construction of an elevator at the Coliseum. From […]
By: Diane Benjamin From Bills and Payroll for approval Monday night: 11-14-2016-bills There are other tiny payments I didn’t include. Below are the bills just since the last Council meeting – total $85,516.23 Other spending: Finally paid for 807 N Main, the purpose of the purchase is still a secret. Of course they have a […]
By: Diane Benjamin This FOIA request was filed by a citizen: USCC = US Cellular Coliseum Note: Denied in full Now see the reason the City of Bloomington used to deny the request: Law enforcement doesn’t mean “court case”. So, what is the City saying? Note: The request was for information from 2014 and 2015. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday the judge heard arguments on the Motions to Dismiss filed by both CIAM and the City of Bloomington. Both want this case to go away before I find anything else. The contract calls for the City to receive 15% on catering – to date I have NO catering information, especially backstage […]
(Jim announced last night he is not running for reelection. Petitions are due 11/21 – info here: http://www.becvote.org/wordpress/) Dear Jim, Here’s the problem: The citizens feel like their government is stalking them like a famished predator. They have good reasons: Amusement Tax, Utilities tax, Gas Tax, Sales Tax, Garbage fee increases, Liquor fee increases More […]
By: Diane Benjamin The email below was written by the now fired VenuWorks Executive Director. It was received under the Freedom of Information Act. The City of Bloomington heavily redacted tons of other emails, so this is all the information available. If walking at night from the Coliseum is dangerous for female employees, how safe […]
