By: Diane Benjamin Since many of you contributed to get copies of the court documents before John Butler had a chance to get them sealed – I’m posting them below. I’ve got 9 PDF files, the latest information is in PDF #1. Here is what I do know, I haven’t read every page yet: Kelly […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1112&Inline=True Monday will be the final meeting for: All three will be recognized at the start of the meeting. Kim’s common sense will be missed. I wonder if Joni ever figure out she was lied to? https://blnnews.com/2015/10/26/problem-joni/ I have my own parting gifts for Tari! 1) Remember last February when Tari Renner […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since Jenn Carrillo would have been laughed at, Jeff Crabill was the BLM representative last night. He wanted to approve last years police budget instead of the increased number. State Farm – make sure he doesn’t get a raise this year since he thinks public safety personnel don’t deserve one. The video […]
By: Diane Benjamin Please share this story! I’ve been asking for this discussion for years, the next local election will FORCE it to happen. Why does local government exist and what powers should it have and NOT have? Obviously Bloomington screwed up big time when the Coliseum was built against the wishes of the citizens. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The local elections next year could give the radicals complete control of Bloomington. Right now they have 2 out of 9 seats, 5 and the mayor up for election next April. The radicals will be running candidates, all they need is 3 more seats to turn the Bloomington into their Marxist utopia. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Citizens were spared from a long line of people wanting the City to fork over your money. Most of public comment was emailed, those were forwarded to the Aldermen but not read out loud. One of the comments was called in, the form aid would take is never mentioned. Stan Nord also […]
By: Diane Benjamin At last night’s Bloomington Committee of the Whole meeting Tari lost his ability to appoint anyone he wants to Boards and Commissions without review by the Council before a name is put on the agenda. The Council didn’t vote, but the consensus was the Council needs to know names before notice is […]
By: Diane Benjamin THREE of your representatives, a full one third, failed to attend this meeting. Mathy, Mwilambwe, and Bray were absent. Of course the ones that did attend acted like it was perfectly normal. Only a few items of note: A guy from Millennium Soccer spoke during Public Comment. (22:50) I was not aware […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you have never watched a City Council meeting, last night is the one you need to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDOCilmu80A I can’t possibly cover everything that happened. Toward the end of the meeting Joni Painter read something that demanded no more video gaming machines. It was pretty incoherent. 2 people demanded the same […]
By: Diane Benjamin During the discussion of business licenses alderman Joni Painter asked Economic Development guy Austin Grammer about the “One Stop Shop”. That was supposedly a program in development for more than two years to make it easy for investors to start businesses in Bloomington. Every Wednesday a large group of bureaucrats meet, investors […]
By: Diane Benjamin The contract between CIAM and the City of Bloomington gave the City the right to exam anything they wanted to. Nobody at the City ever looked at reports – especially concession sales. Don’t forget, the City bought the Point-Of-Sale equipment. They could have printed off monthly reports to verify what the City […]
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 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Back on February 26 approval of a Final Plat for a Circle K at the corner of GE Road and Hershey was sent back to the Planning Commission. Alderman Painter didn’t want it in her Ward. This property has been a field for campaign signs for as long as I can remember: […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this recent WGLT story: http://wglt.org/post/new-documents-link-vague-coliseum-contract-criminal-charges The former Coliseum management could get greatly reduced sentences because the documents WGLT presented prove the City didn’t care – as in David Hales didn’t care. Hales was paid huge bucks to manage the City, he failed. I really hope he is called as a witness to […]
By: Diane Benjamin These emails were received by FOIA: I have many emails against the Welcoming Ordinance. This one shows the thinking of people wanting the ordinance. If you believe government performs services better than the private sector, you are dead wrong. The private sector has to compete for your business, government just taxes you […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City wants you to believe they can control only 5% of the budget. State mandates were heavily blamed. The budget discussion starts around 1:28. Not blamed was the cost of employees, the cost of their lavish benefits, and pension spiking. This Council made it worse when they hired two more employees […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council didn’t care when Tari attacked Judy Stearns over and over. They barely cared when Tari attacked numerous citizens, including me. It’s a different story when Tari attacks the Council! At the end of last night’s meeting Tari commented he was upset the five alderman sent their demand to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Part 1 with corrections: https://blnnews.com/2017/12/29/enough-games/ This statement is right above where the person filing signs their Statement of Economic Interest: It is a crime to file a false statement. See a blank form HERE Note: The form includes lines to file for all required offices at the same time. Don’t get excited about prosecutions […]
I’m changing my statements as it pertains to Jamie Mathy and Kim Bray. The statements they filed this year apply to last year, so alderman would not be on it. The real problem is the County does not post the Statements of Economic Interest filed with petitions. That means voters have no way of knowing […]
By: Diane Benjamin SOURCE Seems pretty clear that every elected official MUST file. Diana Hauman has not filed as a Bloomington Alderman. She did file as a Township Trustee, a position she wasn’t elected to. This is what she filed in May of 2017: http://seionline.mcleancountyil.gov/public/PublicSEI.aspx Kimberly Bray does not have a statement on file Mboka […]
By: Diane Benjamin On May 1st when the newly elected Council members were sworn into office the City threw a party. It didn’t matter the oath they took was illegal. I received this email this morning from the City Attorney: Yes, I told him I want copies of the new oaths WITHOUT the signatures redacted! […]
By: Diane Benjamin When you pick progressives to run your City you will pay more in taxes. You picked their vision to “keep moving Bloomington forward”. Fiscal responsibility and Needs before Wants aren’t ever discussed. Send this article to the local leftists so they know what progress looks like: Why Are Liberal Cities So Unaffordable Alderman […]
By: Diane Benjamin Deficits are just fine with the Bloomington City Council because they can tax you. It doesn’t matter if you can’t afford it, they have needs – you have the money. Only David Sage realized that last night – years late, but better late than never. He voted against hiring the Downtown Bloomington […]
Tari Renner signed the form agreeing to comply with the PCard policy: Renner PCard forms Is he going to turn in his PCard voluntarily since he has violated the policy numerous times? Is the Council going to let him get by with it? Are rules just for everybody but Tari? __________________________________________________ By: Diane Benjamin Did […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal people would think a GOP breakfast would be for members of the GOP. This morning it wasn’t. Evidently the local GOP is pretending local elections are non-partisan even though Renner has proved Democrats have no spending limits when they have taxpayers wallets to rob. Most of the candidates for the Bloomington […]
By: Diane Benjamin Besides getting the speed limit on Hershey lowered: Joni was originally appointed by Tari Renner to fill Jennifer McDade’s term after she resigned Joni called me a liar: https://blnnews.com/2015/10/28/alderman-painter-needs-to-explain-herself/ Joni wanted to charge me for FOIA requests: https://blnnews.com/2015/03/23/transparency-matters-joni/ Joni deceived voters the last time she ran: https://blnnews.com/2015/03/17/painter-intent-to-deceive/ Joni is a Democrat who […]
By: Diane Benjamin Thank Alderman Joni Painter and Mayor Tari Renner for the 30 MPH speed limit. The citizens of Bloomington paid for TWO studies of Hershey Road and BOTH were ignored. The speed limit was lowered to 30 because of 100 signatures on a petition. The petition to change it back now has close […]
By: Diane Benjamin Joni Painter proved she isn’t fit to serve on the Council. During alderman comments she read a statement about changing the speed limits on Hershey Road. Hit play below. Painter said she started talking about the speed issue in May 2014. It took her almost three years to get a Council vote […]
By: Diane Benjamin Local elections pretend to be non-partisan. I remember Renner claiming that everybody wants to make Bloomington the best it can be (or something to that effect). The problem is that his ilk think government, more taxes, and more spending will make Bloomington great. Most citizens believe IT’S THEIR MONEY and they make […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mayor Renner said over and over and over last night that Bloomington is not raising your taxes. Here is Tari’s tax bill he paid in 2016: http://mcleanil.devnetwedge.com/view/RE/21-12-428-001/2015 Looks like in increase to me Tari! Of course, that increase is due to your house being assessed for more money. Government doesn’t have to […]
By: Diane Benjamin So, the few of you that actually voted in the last local election thought you were voting for representation. Joke is on you. First, most of the Council works for David Hales and Tari Renner, not you. Vote results are predetermined by free lunch. Tonight 2 alderman didn’t show – Painter and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Can an elected official say anything they want on emails to citizens? Can they present as facts anything they want the facts to be? Sorry Joni. See this post from Monday: http://blnnews.com/2015/10/26/problem-joni/ Alderman Painter claims the Coliseum Contract on my site is NOT the current contract. She also claims 4 changes to […]
By: Diane Benjamin A reader sent one of my Coliseum stories to Alderman Painter and politely asked if she thought it raised issues that needed answers. (http://blnnews.com/2015/10/01/coliseum-info-buried/) This was her response: On Oct 3, 2015, at 7:41 AM, Joni Painter <[email protected]> wrote: Redacted, I don’t read Diane’s website any more because I have found it […]
By: Diane Benjamin I attended the Roundtable council meeting held today at the Police Station. Only 4 alderman attended: Black, Hauman, Painter, and Schmidt. Mayor Renner did not, but maybe 10-12 staff people were there. I don’t personally know many of the staff, so it’s difficult for me to determine who was there. Many citizens […]
By: Diane Benjamin I could mention a LOT of things from last night, but this one is by request: See Alderman Painter using Common Core math to justify the tax increase: Background starts at 1:56:50. Go straight to the math – 1:58:50. . While you are there, you might as well see Alderman Black calling […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last Monday the Bloomington City Council voted to BORROW around $1.5 MILLION to buy video equipment for the Coliseum. Only Aldermen Scott Black and Kevin Lower voted against it. Karen Schmidt got out of the vote because she was acting mayor in Renner’s absence. Alderman Joni Painter evidently didn’t do her homework […]
By: Diane Benjamin The last time next year’s budget was discussed was March 7th. Since then – crickets. Why? Council meetings were held on 3/9, 3/16, and 3/23. Budget discussions disappeared, but then there is an election Tuesday. The new budget has to be in place on May 1st. Last year the budget wasn’t approved […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington loves to justify spending with economic impact numbers. The Coliseum management claims they have generated MILLIONS and MILLIONS of dollars of local economic activity, the Zoo is getting ready to create their own numbers. If we just spend more . . . Meanwhile, tax receipts are down while […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s national Sunshine Week! “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis – on the benefits of openness and transparency. The premise behind FOIA is that the public has a right to know what the government is doing. Who said that? The Illinois Attorney General: http://foia.ilattorneygeneral.net/pdf/2015_PAC_Annual_Report.pdf Page 11. Nonsense Joni? […]
By: Diane Benjamin A Ward 5 resident sent me Joni Painters campaign materials. I’m going to separate her talking points from reality. Joni wants to “address our crumbling roads and deteriorating water and sewer systems”? Ask her why the only money budgeted for 2016 comes from the Motor Fuel Tax passed last year – by […]
