By: Diane Benjamin https://www.decaturtribune.com/2024/04/03/city-beat-tim-gleasons-return-as-city-manager-is-good-news-for-decatur Except: Gleason didn’t get the job in Arizona: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2024-03-29/tim-gleason-reflects-on-his-six-years-as-bloomington-city-manager Also from the 1st article: Is this why Gleason “was interested in returning to Decatur”?
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington has been struggling with balancing the solid waste enterprise fund for many years. Don’t forget, until 2005 the taxes you already paid covered the service. The enterprise fund was established only to tax you more until the fund balances. Yearly 3% increases haven’t kept the fund in balance, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2019/03/29/the-tale-of-two-downtowns/ How much does a pretty downtown cost? I find it hilarious that RC McBride is running radio ads asking for your vote claiming they have paid off $10 million of debt. They may have, but he doesn’t mention how much debt they still have left to pay. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Decatur is on a calendar year. Information for 2018 has not been filed with the Comptroller’s office. The information below is from what was filed as of 12/31/2017. Decatur has 7 TIF districts. It does not appear any of them were started when Tim Gleason was City Manager. The dates below show […]
By: Diane Benjamin Joliet chose Bloomington’s City Manager. Bloomington had 3 candidates to replace him – all from Illinois. Bloomington chose Decatur’s City Manager. He then chose another guy from Decatur as an assistant. The Streator City Manager has now been chosen by Decatur. The Bloomington City Clerk came here from Arizona. She didn’t stay […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is from a website that helps “home flippers” find good markets. https://www.housingalerts.com/blog/market-report/104-declining-markets-quarterly/? It has a list of the top 104 markets in the country with ONE quarter declining values. They suggest multiplying the percent by 4 to estimate the yearly decline. This is a nationwide list with way too many Illinois cities! […]
By: Diane Benjamin It looks like the Decatur newspaper actually investigates government, unlike the Pantagraph. Both are owned by Lee Enterprises. (Stock price $2.75 a share) It’s a long read, but it NEVER mentions Decatur’s former City Manager (and now Bloomington’s) Tim Gleason. Everything is blamed on the City Council. City Managers are hired to […]
By: Diane Benjamin It sounds like both Unit 5 and District 87 are as tired of TIF Districts as the citizens. Both Barry Reilly and Mark Daniel spoke about 23 years of diverted taxes being ridiculous. The Council tabled any changes until better language agreeable to the school districts could be worked out. Bloomington may […]
Note: The search firm used by Bloomington, GovHR, also found David Hales for Joliet. They neglected to tell the Joliet Council about the pending Coliseum prosecutions that happened under Hales’ watch. What are they not telling Bloomington about the two candidates they presented? _____________________________________________________________________ A quick review: Citizens were given the opportunity to meet the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The bird-cage liner just reported the Decatur School Superintendent is taking a new job in Heyworth. Since the Decatur paper is a sister publication, they got the story from them. (Saves salaries just reprinting articles) The story claims the School Board voted 4-3 not to extend Lisa Taylor’s contract. The CRIME? The […]
by: Diane Benjamin Th article below recaps what Decatur “invested”. Most of these projects are completed. $350 Million later, is Decatur “Quality”? Is their economy better? Are businesses flocking there? Keep in mind: Everything Decatur “Invested” came from taxpayers. Decatur is dominated by unions and Democrats. Bloomington elected its first Democrat Mayor. Seeing a pattern? […]
