Tag: Doug Damery

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

What the Town of Normal Didn’t Tell You

By: Diane Benjamin The Town used the same tax scam recapped in the previous story: https://blnnews.com/2025/11/20/property-tax-scams/ WGLT gladly played along: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-11-18/normal-town-council-discusses-2025-tax-levy-during-sometimes-tense-meeting . That $280,000 home isn’t $280,000 now. Your Town of Normal property tax bill will increase MORE than $48. It would have been nice if Trustee Preston had mentioned that, he didn’t. Worse, they […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Is Normal paying staff when they aren’t working for Normal taxpayers?

By: Diane Benjamin I FOIA’d a list of all organizations Town of Normal employees are members of. The Town is not required to produce documents that don’t exist even if a FOIA them, so obviously this list is kept by the Town. Chances are good the Town is paying for memberships in many of these […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Normal: Is Damery still employed?

By: Diane Benjamin After watching the Town of Normal for years, Doug Damery is probably still employed since ethics are immaterial in Normal. A reader received a FOIA from Normal with some interesting things: Skokie was smarter than Normal – they rejected the National Fitness Campaign equipment Normal fell for: This email proves Doug Damery […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

In Normal Council votes are sacrosanct, until they aren’t

By: Diane Benjamin Remember how Chris Koos frequently states payments can’t be discussed because they were all approved in the budget they spent ONE DAY discussing? He even changed the Agenda item from “approve” to “report to receive and file”. I FOIA’d Normal for a list of all organizations their employees are members of. Normal […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

FOIA for National Fitness Champaign communication revealing!

By: Diane Benjamin More than one citizen is questioning the integrity and ethics in the Town of Normal. Below is a letter from a citizen with the name illegally redacted. Writing an email to the Council is no different than Public Comment at a meeting. Normal redacted the name in violation of the FOIA law. […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Normal Council wouldn’t be Normal without Koos being a jerk

By: Diane Benjamin All you taxpaying citizens in Normal aren’t allowed to go speak to the Council and be first up if your topic isn’t on the agenda. You have to wait until the end of the meeting which could be hours of waiting. Of course special people get to speak out of order. Remember […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

More info and Summary of the National Fitness Champaign Scam

By: Diane Benjamin The National Fitness Campaign installation was not bid out. I previously posted a picture of equipment from another company who courted Normal: https://blnnews.com/2022/01/21/want-to-see-what-a-scam-looks-like/ The FOIA I received had yet a third company: No mention was made at the Council meeting about these two other companies. It appears Doug Damery, head of Parks […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Damery costs Normal taxpayers while working his second position

By: Diane Benjamin The FOIA request I received from the Town of Normal is 417 pages long. So far I’ve only read 96 pages. This is story #2 from the FOIA, I can’t believe anyone missed #1, but if you did read it first: https://blnnews.com/2022/01/21/want-to-see-what-a-scam-looks-like/ The latest revelation is National Fitness Challenge has a contract […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Want to see what a SCAM looks like?

By: Diane Benjamin Below is a clip from the January 4, 2022 Normal Council meeting where the National Fitness Campaign project was discussed. The speaker is Doug Damery, head of Parks and Recreation for Normal. Remember the $25,000 grant Normal received? Damery details how difficult the process was to get that grant: (less than 1 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Normal’s Comprehensive Plan

By: Diane Benjamin Normal’s latest plan was written in 2017. It wasn’t written by Town staff or even the Council. The McLean County Regional Planning Commission wrote it. It is 389 pages long: https://mcplan.org/file/692/Full%20Plan.pdf The Town uses this plan to justify spending, they did it again last Monday night. This is likely why they claimed […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

See anybody with a disability?

By: Diane Benjamin Below are pics from the documentation provided to the Council pertaining to the National Fitness Campaign: Stan Nord asked Parks and Rec director Doug Damery if this equipment is ADA compliant. Comic relief, hear this 20 second clip: . . . . . .