Brian Costin from the Illinois Policy Institute (the guy who gave Bloomington the transparency award), made the following comments to this story on Facebook: Brian Costin The only true way to truly measure the economic benefit is profit and loss. If a company loses money it is consuming more resources than it is creating. This […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Coliseum is required to have an indoor football team by contract. The last guy packed up all the equipment and headed to Texas, Now CIAM has announced they are in a new league. Here’s the league website: http://www.xleaguefootball.com/ The X-League is currently nationwide with 11 professional indoor teams, Bloomington is listed. […]
by: Diane Benjamin The following is from this site: https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3929/15316643827_bedbfcb0e6_o.png More details in this post: http://blnnews.com/2014/10/12/coliseum-strikes-again/ See the second column under Rumors. Bloomington is listed as Up For Sale AND Bad Checks. Click on the picture to enlarge. . . . .
by: Diane Benjamin It looks like no indoor football at the Coliseum. This article lists the participating teams for this year, Bloomington is missing: http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=4876206 FOOTBALL Champions Indoor Football: The Wichita-based team in the new CIF, which was created after the 2014 indoor season through a merger of the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) […]
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 The pieces are falling into place. Last year Alderwoman Stearns filed an Open Meetings Act violation against the City of Bloomington for discussions that took place in Executive Session – those secret meetings citizens aren’t suppose to know about. To be fair, there are some things that must be discussed secretly, but […]
by: Diane Benjamin Less than 2 weeks ago the cost to repair the Coliseum parking garage was $1,098,836. The Council approved a contract for repairs: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=7274 Item 7A. Analysis of Bids and Approval of Contract with Structural Preservation Systems, LLC, for Pepsi Ice Center Parking Structure Repairs. Motion by Alderman Schmidt, seconded by Alderman Black […]
by: Diane Benjamin According to the City of Bloomington: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=18&recordid=1177&returnURL=%2findex.aspx Coliseum 1st Quarter Impact Over $2M Total economic impact in 1st quarter $2,026,789 Posted Date: 9/8/2014 . The Coliseum lost $139,667, but you are supposed to believe losing money is good because of the impact it has on the local economy. . I’ve reported before on […]
by: Diane Benjamin Everybody understands that you want the citizens of Bloomington to believe you are doing a great job. The citizens want to believe their government is working for them, not the other way around. Citizens want to see government providing essential services without making their lives more difficult, or more expensive. Bloomington […]
by: Diane Benjamin At Monday’s Council meeting, spending over $1,000,000 to fix the Coliseum parking garage was on the agenda. Aldermen submitted questions for City staff before the meeting, the questions asked by Alderwoman Stearns weren’t included on the City website. She questioned Renner and Hales at the meeting as to why hers weren’t included, […]
by: Diane Benjamin Here is the August Calendar for events at the Coliseum: http://www.uscellularcoliseum.com/calendar-of-events/?month=8&year=2014&m=#markerdown Look at the other months too while you are there. ISU Hockey used to play at the Pepsi Ice Center, not many fans attended. The stands are NOT going to be filled with paying customers when the games are in the […]
by: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington management now wants YOU to know nothing about the Coliseum. Luckily there is a lot of evidence they can’t hide. The Smokehouse grill will not be opening for lunch after closing for the summer. The calendar of events is on the Coliseum website. Very few events are scheduled […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Peoria Civic Center reported losses of $875,000 last year. They immediately cut staff. http://www.sj-r.com/article/20140829/News/140829413 Recent Coliseum financial statements are NOT posted on the City website. All statements from FY 2012 and FY 2013 are on the City website, but nothing has been posted since the quarter ending October 31, 2013. Almost […]
by: Diane Benjamin Celebrate Celebrate! The Pantagraph is cheering the Bloomington City Council for moving quickly to fix the Pepsi Ice Center parking garage. It’s been closed for 11 months Pantagraph! Worse, the parking garage isn’t even 10 years old. Taxpayers paid around $3,3000,000 for the original construction. Monday night the Council will review bids […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph has another unsigned Editorial – this one praises the City of Bloomington for passing a Transparency Ordinance. I almost fell off my chair laughing at one of the lines: That’s a promise especially important to media outlets and government watchdog groups that are charged with a “fourth estate” responsibility to […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Flex got kicked out of their league last year for refusing to travel for play-off games: http://blnnews.com/2014/04/03/more-trouble-for-the-coliseum/ Since they have nobody to play this year – why not start a new league! See details here: http://www.flexbasketball.com/flex-among-six-charter-members-of-midwest-professional-basketball-association/
by: Diane Benjamin I’ve written MANY times about the company hired to manage the Coliseum – CIAM (Central Illinois Arena Management). Type CIAM into the search box at blnnews.com to see them. The City of Bloomington has failed in their fiduciary duty to the citizens of Bloomington by not providing over-site at the Coliseum. Concessions have […]
The buzz is NO football this year! The last owner left town and a lot of bills. Just add that to the list of CIAM (Central Illinois Arena Management) contract violations. Is anybody even managing the Coliseum?
by: Diane Benjamin Look at the schedule of events for the Coliseum: http://www.uscellularcoliseum.com/calendar-of-events/?month=6&year=2014&m=#markerdown June: Highschool graduation 3 day Jehovah Witness convention 2 day Lomis Brothers Circus July: Chris Tomin/Brandon Health Feast Bash August: Crossfit Competition September: 2 ISU Hockey games 1 Thunder Hockey game October: 7 ISU Hockey games 4 Thunder Hockey games How is […]
I hear another Coliseum team has gone out of business. Football is gone, owner David Holt left town months ago. He said the team would continue without him, but now he has cleaned out his office permanently. Anybody sensing a pattern? The CIAM contract requires a football team. How many contract violations is CIAM up […]
by: Diane Benjamin I’ve written a lot of articles on the Coliseum. Mayor Transparency doesn’t want to talk about, he claims it’s here now and we have to do whatever we can to make it a success. David Hales promised a full review back when the Council was asked to approve changing the Hockey Team […]
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 According to the Pantagraph today the Coliseum lost $183,727 for the year that ended April 30, 2014. Funny how no un-audited financial statements are available. The CIAM throws un-audited numbers out as fact and the local media laps them up and dutifully reports them. CIAM issues a Press Release and you are […]
by: Diane Benjamin There is nothing you can do about the invasion happening on our southern border. There is nothing you can do about the IRS targeting of political enemies. There is nothing you can do about the Veterans Administration not taking care of our veterans. There is nothing you can do about the National […]
by: Diane Benjamin According to the Coliseum’s own reporting, the building produced an economic impact of $98,000,000 since opening! http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=6569 Did you get your cut? Is the City of Bloomington debt free because of all this economic activity? Are incomes rising? Are property value in downtown Bloomington rising? (Not the Pantagraph building: http://blnnews.com/2014/06/20/how-did-the-pantagraph-manage-this/) City Manager […]
by: Diane Benjamin When Tom Hamilton was City Manager, everybody thought he did a great job. Now Hamilton is blamed for all the City woes. Tom Hamilton had a compliant Council, he was never questioned. Everybody thinks David Hales is doing a great job. He has a compliant Council. Wait for the stories when he […]
by Diane Benjamin Several times, City Manager David Hales has proclaimed in open Council session that the Coliseum (CIAM) is not taking all the commissions they are entitled to under the contract. The latest was at the June 9th meeting: . Is he right? This is the original contract for management of the Coliseum: Management […]
by: Diane Benjamin Part 1 Part 2 will be posted when the Coliseum discussion begins tonight. I’ve done many stories about Bart Rogers and John Butler, the 2 guys hired by the City to manage the Coliseum. At tonight’s City Council meeting, 10 minutes has been allotted to discuss revisions to the CIAM contract. I […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Council and citizens were promised a full report on the Coliseum. David Hales allotted 10 minutes at tonight’s meeting. 10 minutes? Really? STAY TUNED – more later today . . .
by: Diane Benjamin Bart Rogers was listed on the Coliseum website as the General Manager. Now there is no General Manager, Rogers is a Vice-President There are a couple of Assistant Managers though and an Associate General Manager. Could the changes have something to do with the contract terms CIAM has with the City of […]
by: Diane Benjamin 9/21/2005 http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3225416 “A tremendous amount of time and energy has been put into making this day a reality,” stated Mike Nelson, General Manager & Chief Marketing Officer of the U.S. Cellular Coliseum. “We feel that we have chosen the right league for the great city of Bloomington. The UHL is a league […]
by: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington built the Coliseum and handed it to CIAM (Central Illinois Arena Management). There has been little oversight of concessions and limited oversight of the building. The yearly audit is ineffective at best. At last night’s Council meeting, Alderwoman Stearns stood up for the citizens. CIAM wants the contract […]
by: Diane Benjamin US Cellular pays the Coliseum $200,000 a year for their name to be on the building. They have a contract with the City of Bloomington. According to the contract: 1.6 City and Management shall each use their best efforts to secure the following activities for the Facility each year: (a) Approximately 36 […]
by: Diane Benjamin Central Illinois Arena Management (CIAM) is moving forward with a non-professional hockey team in Bloomington even though it violates their contract. Council approval must not matter. Either Mayor Renner and David Hales have told them to go ahead because Council approval is in the bag, or CIAM wants the City to believe […]
by: Diane Benjamin Last night the City Council was informed on the status of the Pepsi Ice Center parking garage that has been mostly closed since last October. You can see the presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaU5nWCibqc&list=UUS8WR70NFd2XMmFYRDHEGEw A good description of the problem starts at 8:30. The speaker is Greg Meeder, a partner in a Chicago Law […]
by: Diane Benjamin This morning I talked to Dominic Turcotte, VP of Operations for the PBL – the league that suspended the FLEX for all of 2015. Here’s some bullet points: Scott Henderson was involved with organizing the League structure in the beginning. The playoff structure was designed by Scott and approved by the other […]
The Flex Basketball team at the Coliseum got thrown out of the league they play in. The excuse used was “unwillingness and inability to participate in the championship series.” REALLY? Who’s scamming who here? City of Bloomington? Central Illinois Arena Management? John Butler? Bart Rogers? First CIAM wants an amateur hockey team, and now no […]
Flex Booted From PBL; to Miss Championship and Entire 2015 Season BLOOMINGTON- The most successful team, as far as wins go, in the history of the US Cellular Coliseum is no longer in their league. The Bloomington Flex Basketball team, two time winners of the Premier Basketball League Championship, was suspended from the league Thursday […]
by: Diane Benjamin I’ve written before about Bart Rogers, but now it’s getting funny! Somebody is in full CYA mode. The contract the City of Bloomington has with Central Illinois Arena Management says the General Manager of the Coliseum must have ONLY the job of General Manager: According to the 2004 contract Bloomington has with […]
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 […]
