There is yet another meeting tonight – again not on the City Calendar. It is on the Home page of the City website: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=18&recordid=3777&returnURL=%2findex.aspx It is about Hamilton Road. Interested parties should attend. This one starts at 5:00 at Prairie Vista. The only meeting on the calendar is Citizens Beautification. By: Diane Benjamin This meeting […]
By: Diane Benjamin This morning a local radio host tried to blame anti-bike lane folks for the thumbtacks on the road that interrupted the downtown bike race last weekend. I won’t embarrass him by saying who. Changed my mind – he just said it again: Scott Laughlin. People who oppose bike lanes do so because […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph has been running this ad on Facebook: I will wait for you to stop laughing! waiting . . . waiting . . . Today an entire article is devoted to praising the City of Bloomington’s for closing last year under budget. Some things they meant to mislead you about: (tonight: […]
The Pantagraph never says who writes theirs, so I’m not either! It was written by a citizen sick of seeing tax dollars wasted. DOWNTOWN Bloomington The citizens of Bloomington have heard on multiple occasions the Mayor’s proclamations, “Without a vibrant downtown, economic development will not occur.” “A vibrant downtown is the primary means to spur […]
I need reader support to continue bringing you news the rest of the media ignores: Contribute Now If you appreciate the truth, please contribute! By: Diane Benjamin Last night’s Committee of the Whole had a missing alderman: Scott Black. Two citizens spoke during public comment. In an attempt to limit free speech, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Making sidewalks ADA compliant is expensive. However, it’s a total waste of money if people with disabilities have to traverse trash and mud, not to mention standing water when it can’t drain. The Downtown Bloomington Association isn’t bothered by this? Downtown merchants?
By: Diane Benjamin Making a trip downtown requires pics of almost empty buses – so here’s a couple: Speaking of downtown, the law firm representing the former Coliseum Manager is moving to Hershey Road. They are leaving downtown because parking, accessibility for clients, and space issues made it difficult to stay in their current location. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Review of the downtown hotel timeline: May 2015 Jeff Giebelhausen wants the City to pay $8.2 million for “shovel ready” land. He wanted a fast answer – he claimed his option for the land had a time limit. It failed to get support of the Council. The proposal included tearing down the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Renner isn’t responding to the market, he’s trying to create one. Just like he claims bike paths and buses are the future, he continues to claim Bloomington’s future is downtown. Decades of massive spending haven’t been enough. Here’s a little Renner history. Not included are the Downtown Streetscape Plan and the Downtown […]
By: Diane Benjamin Looks like the business owners do, the City not so much. Do citizens have to take care of the streets and sidewalks too? Does this mean Giebelhausen can’t find an investor? Cabelas Bargain Cave
By: Diane Benjamin Power was out in downtown Bloomington for about 15 minutes yesterday. From the news reports carnage ensued as businesses shut down unable to cope. 15 minutes! As the State of Illinois continues to operate without a budget, worst carnage is happening. Businesses haven’t been paid which means they can’t pay their employees, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Quality of Life? it’s not if you can’t afford to live here or participate! Details for anything listed as Total are in this document FY 2017 Budget Detail It’s searchable, so any item is easy to find. Much of the below is what Bloomington spends to entertain you. I’m purposely not including […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph has a long history of “floating” ideas fed to them from local government. It’s always the first step in making happen what government wants to happen. Watchdogs they aren’t. The last example was “sharing sales tax” – first mentioned in the paper and expanded since. Sunday more ideas were floated […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you don’t pay attention to how Normal and Bloomington operate, once they start talking publicly about anything it’s already a done deal. Both Councils are stacked, so Renner and Koos can easily talk them into the latest declared “best practice”. Independent thoughts are too rare matter. Have some lunch. Here’s what […]
By: Diane Benjamin Practically since Tari became mayor, the citizens have been told the Front and Center building can’t be saved. Now Jeff Giebelhausen thinks it can be a hotel. Here’s the problems: Hotels and convention centers are a dime a dozens. Spend time on Google and see all the failures. Bloomington has convention centers: […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington has a long record of making bad deals. MILLIONS were thrown away on an unused Fire Station. Probably MILLIONS more were thrown away on an unused water tower – someday I may FOIA the actual cost. The Coliseum is a disaster sold to citizens as never costing a […]
By: Diane Benjamin Random thoughts on last night’s meeting: Congrats to Alderman Lower and Alderman Mwilambwe. They stood up for citizens. Public comment was moved to after the presentation against Lower’s wishes, Mwilambwe forced public comment before the Council “voted” to keep the project alive. Not one speaker supported it. Funny how none of the […]
By: Diane Benjamin David Hales confirmed last night the City will be extending the Coliseum Management Contract with the failures managing it now. Revenue is millions away from what citizens were told to expect. Profits don’t pay any of the bond payments – citizens do with higher Sales Taxes. Reports from before the Coliseum was […]
By: Diane Benjamin On October 31, 2015 the Pantagraph printed a Letter to the Editor critical of Mayor Renner and his plans to use public money to redevelop downtown. http://www.pantagraph.com/news/opinion/mailbag/downtown-financing-not-for-taxpayers/article_13e845ac-a6b8-5585-b601-426d46a64601.html It is surprising they allowed the letter since many are rejected, but now there is a new twist. All comments to the letter have been […]
By: Diane Benjamin I was obvious at last Mondays Council meeting that some Aldermen think any project in downtown is better than none. A reader found an interesting Facebook page yesterday promoting what looks like the Bentley plan. Here’s how the page is selling it: The Viable Downtown Bloomington Development Plan Yesterday at 2:38pm · […]
By: Diane Benjamin The only way to know what both developers proposed last night is to watch the video of the meeting. Nothing was included for either developer in meeting documentation to the Council. The Giebelhausen presentation was vague. He claims to have 3 hotels interested, but only if they get taxpayer money. Why invest […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington held a Council work session last night to hear plans for downtown. David Sage was absent. Do you have a right to know why your elected representative wasn’t there? 9 people are going to decide the future of Bloomington, if any can’t attend a vital meeting, and you can’t hear […]
By: Diane Benjamin This morning Tari was interviewed on WJBC. Listen here: http://cdn.stationcaster.com/stations/wjbc/media/mpeg/Tari_Renner__Bloomington_mayor-1445262152.mp3 Tari claims he doesn’t know all the details of the presentations to the Council tonight by two developers. He also claims Bloomington is “on the move” and that’s why developers are interested in downtown. Tari has been proclaiming since he was elected […]
By: Diane Benjamin I think Tari’s constant focus on downtown comes from sites like this one: “What do baby boomers, families, young professionals and new U.S. immigrants all have in common? They’re driving the reurbanization of America. After decades of flight, cities are becoming the go-to choice of living. Access to amenities—including parks, transportation, restaurants, […]
By: Diane Benjamin City Manager David Hales previewed next Monday’s discussion. See video starting at 1:15:00 . Giebelhausen will be back, along with David Bentley. They have new plans for downtown. Hales referred to Steve Friedman, this is his website: http://www.sbfriedman.com/ Yeah, another consultant. Prominently featured on the Home Page is Public-Private Partnerships. Most of […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s pretty obvious that David Hales can’t make a decision without hiring a consultant to tell him what to do. The list never ends. Everything is studied by someone outside of government, even where to put benches and lights downtown. Now rates you are charged for water, sewer, garbage etc are being […]
By: Diane Benjamin From Monday night’s Bills and Payroll for City of Bloomington: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=9024 This is the Springfield Law firm hired to replace the City Attorney that used to be paid less than $200,000 with benefits. They are paid about this much EVERY month. Budget Committee? SORLING NORTHRUP HANNA Legal Contr Lega 3,650.00 SORLING NORTHRUP […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you attended Alderman Kevin Lower’s Town Hall, you know very few people spoke in favor of Renner’s agenda for downtown. Two people who did support redevelopment own property downtown, including a parking lot by the Coliseum – Joe Haney and his wife. From Bills and Payroll to be approved tonight: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8901 Joe got […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mayor Tari wants the Front and Center building torn down so he can get a downtown hotel. Other City departments want the windows and roof fixed. Um. Haven’t citizens been told over and over and over the City can’t force Huffs to fix the building? It would take too much time and […]
The WJBC Renner interview is now posted: http://cdn.stationcaster.com/stations/wjbc/media/mp3/Tari_Renner__Bloomington_mayor__6_10_15-1433957937.mp3 The exact words Tari used to describe IPI were: they have an ideological agenda. He switched the conversation to tax rates when he learned he was wrong. He claimed Illinois has comparable taxes to surrounding states. Why is everybody leaving Illinois? Other items of note: Tari has massive interest from […]
By: Diane Benjamin Most council meetings are scripted. The Mayor and City Manager take their favorite aldermen to lunch at your expense and brief them on how to vote. If the ONLY conservative on the council, Kevin Lower, says anything – nobody but citizens care. Expect the next 2 years to be filled with 8-1 votes. Besides Public Comment being part […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday I posted the City Code section that spells out who is NOT allowed by law to vote on municipal contracts. http://blnnews.com/2015/05/20/conflict/ Jamie, you appear to be looking at running again for City Council against Alderman Kevin Lower. You and your wife own a downtown business. Read the law. You would therefore […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Ensenberger building is held by the Huffs as Ensenberger Building Corp. They own other properties under Front N Center and Consolidated Properties Inc. To view the County Recorder of Deeds website you have to apply for access, so I will just give some highlights: No Ensenberger condo sales are listed since 2013, the only activity […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City had no problem with massive legal fees fighting the arbitrators ruling on Scott Oglesby. The City had no problem with big legal fees to put Paradigm together before the citizens knew Bloomington was even involved. The City has no problem sending $50,000-$60,000 a month to the Springfield law firm for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Judy Markowitz will always be known as the mayor who inflicted Bloomington taxpayers with the Coliseum. Tari’s plan for his shrine can be seen here: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=531 The City wants to pay $8.2 Million for blank land after Giebelhausen demolishes historic buildings. The Front and Center building is not in any danger of falling down, according to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Two schools of thought are in play locally: 1) Government exists to create Quality of Life – no specific definition 2) Government exists to provide essential services citizens can not provide for themselves – police, fire, streets, sewers etc Normal switched to option 1 when Koos was elected. Everything that happens there […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington has been trying to revive downtown since at least the 80’s. I don’t know when this program started, but I saw references on-line to loans being made through this program in 1982. Remember Chinatown nightclub and later the Xi Do restaurant (Bou Chu)? Chu borrowed $200,000 and received […]
By: Diane Benjamin Here is a summary of the downtown Bloomington deal: Remember the Life commercial – two brothers want their little brother to try it first? “Let’s get Mikey” Substitute Tari: Much more in the coming days!
Read the Comments By: Diane Benjamin Meryl Huff received TIF money to develop the Ensenberger building, how many condo’s have been sold? The Front and Center building was taken as collateral by the City and 2.2 Million was loaned to Huff. Under Steve Stockton the loan was forgiven! Poof! 2.2 Million gone. Now the City […]
By: Diane Benjamin Renner had a motion ready via Alderman Schmidt to move Public Comment to after the presentation last night by Giebelhausen. Mayor Transparency: Information should have been posted before the meeting so citizens could review it. Instead YOU chose to shut down citizens by presenting information without allowing citizens time to process it. Can we expect […]
