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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]