By: Diane Benjamin Two types of people run for office. One runs for power and forcing other to submit to their vision, the other wants to serve and preserve freedom and liberty for future generations. Every Trustee in Normal does the bidding of staff and Koos except one. That one is despised for representing the […]
By: Diane Benjamin The easiest way to tell who supports which candidates for local office is to look at who collected signatures for them. You can see what each filed here: https://www.normalil.gov/114/Municipal-Elections Kathleen Lorenz: Chris Koos, Kevin McCarthy, and Sonja Reece Karyn Smith: Sonja Reece, Kevin MCarthy Andy Byars: John McIntyre (Byars says he’s republican), […]
By: Diane Benjamin Make sure you read EVERY page: 888
By: Diane Benjamin David Shestokas has spent 87.5 hours so far because of the referendum challenge. All of the above know they are going to lose, therefore they should get the bill. To donate by check: Citizens for Districting Normal 21 Grandview Drive Normal, IL 61761-4071 Go Fund Me is available on the website https://betternormal-il.com/support-us. Note: […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you have been dying to hear Kathleen Lorenz talk about raising her kids, just hit play below. She droned on for 10 minutes about her fears of letting them ride bicycles all the way through her fears of letting them drive. Lorenz wanted the residents worried about their property values and […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve seen a copy of what David Shestokas filed Friday with the Circuit Court. I could review the court cases Normal listed to support their position, but that would be tedious on a holiday weekend. Let’s just say Shestokas rips their ruling to shreds. Can we agree what Koos and company wrote […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal ignores their taxpayers as evidenced by their ridiculous Public Comment policy meant to discourage citizens from speaking. It’s long past time for some non-violent civil disobedience. Sign up for Public Comment for an agenda item and then talk about Village abuse instead. Video of Koos cutting off citizens while speaking is […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Districts referendum challenge will be heard on Monday at 3:00 pm in the Town of Normal Council Chambers. It will be held before Chris Koos, Kevin McCarthy, and Town Clerk Angie Huonker. This biased Election Board doesn’t have to give a reason for voting against the referendum, so it likely won’t matter […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) I’m collecting signs gas stations have on their pumps to comply with Pritzker’s demand people know he delayed the $.02 increase until after the election. Thorton’s at Route 9 and Hershey just has the Pritzker verbiage. Correction: This is at the Exxon Mobile station off 74 in Downs. The reader who […]
By: Diane Benjamin At last night’s Council meeting the Kevin McCarthy had to point out the Town paid off an $8 million bond from 2012. Wonderful, but how much debt is left? As of 3/31/2021 the Town reported $81,345,000 to the Comptroller’s Office: We won’t know the exact number until the 3/31/2022 reports are released, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Does this prove the minutes of Town of Normal Council meetings aren’t meant to reflect what happens at meetings? Are they simply a propaganda tool? McCarthy was acting mayor on 4/18/22. During the discussion of Trail East and Trail West Stan Nord mentioned the Town required a restaurant in the original agreement […]
By: Diane Benjamin In case you didn’t know, the Town of Normal took $81,018 out of the Water Enterprise Fund to buy snow plow equipment. The plows could have easily been paid for out of general reserves, but the Town chose to use the money you pay for the delivery of water instead. https://blnnews.com/2022/03/11/3-things-normal-doesnt-understand-but-citizens-must/ The […]
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 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Hey Kevin, did you do your homework? Sit back and watch an elected official lie on video folks. The National Fitness Campaign vote came up several times during last night’s meeting. Kevin McCarthy used his comment time to blame everybody who was defrauded by the vote, not the two people who provided […]
By: Diane Benjamin Previous stories for reference: https://blnnews.com/2022/01/05/see-anybody-with-a-disability/ https://blnnews.com/2022/01/05/are-koos-and-mccarthy-profiting/ https://blnnews.com/2022/01/05/some-people-will-fall-for-anything/ I wonder of Brian Day, Normal’s attorney, has a copy of this book? Normal pays the Illinois Municipal League a lot of money every year, if he doesn’t have a copy he should. Does the Town hand out copies of this 216 page book to […]
By: Diane Benjamin At the Normal Town Council meeting last night Chris Koos admitted the Bike Share program Normal instituted benefits his business. People started biking and realized they needed their own bike – so go to the guy selling them: Chris Koos. Is that why Normal keeps building trails too Chris? The entire Council […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you didn’t read the comments to yesterday’s story, a link was posted to Trustee McCarthy’s performance training website. Google Path Performance – the link won’t connect to this story. Well, yesterday it had a section stating Kevin did training at Rosa Parks. Today it’s gone, sort of like his disappearing claims […]
By: Diane Benjamin Chris Koos proved last night he doesn’t know what an Open Meetings Act Violation is. A violation occurs when a majority of a quorum discuss Town business in private. Koos accused Stan Nord of violating OMA by whispering to a fellow Council member. If TWO people is a violation Chris, the Town’s […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Democrat Party of Illinois isn’t going to reform pensions with a Constitutional Amendment. Next year they do have a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot to hand unions even more power. https://www.illinoispolicy.org/press-releases/what-is-amendment-1-an-illinois-constitutional-amendment-on-the-ballot-next-november/ If local elected officials across the State demanded a Constitutional Amendment to reform pensions, they would prove they care about […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal wants you to believe leasing vehicles for 6-12 months saves them money. What they really get is a constant supply of new vehicles, something the taxpayers never get. Use logic folks, how can 6-12 month leases actually cost less than buying? Because depreciation doesn’t have to be listed […]
By: Diane Benjamin More information concerning this story from yesterday: https://blnnews.com/2021/10/06/one-more-on-normal-more-must-watch/ Yes, more sewer tap on fees. This is deep stuff you must read carefully! It’s your money. The development that was approved at Monday’s meeting was charged a sewer tap on fee by the Town even though it was not on the Tap On […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normally Chris Koos would have been banging Stan Nord out of order at the urging of Kevin McCarthy for doing what he did at Monday’s meeting. Koos didn’t Monday night. First the back story: At the previous meeting the Council (minus Stan) voted to spend $81,018 from the Water Enterprise Fund to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington reports monthly to the Council and citizens on financial trends. We all can see exactly how much money has been collected for various taxes. Normal doesn’t! Normal dumps all tax revenue in the General Fund, including Local Motor Fuel Tax. Pay attention Kevin McCarthy, you obviously missed City Manager Pam Reece […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal held another meeting that lasted close to 2.75 hours. It will obviously take more than one story to cover it. I’m starting at the end. For the second time recently a citizen had to wait until the end of the meeting to offer Public Comment. This is because of Normal’s ridiculous […]
By: Diane Benjamin How to tell when a Normal Town Council meeting will go bad: Stan Nord is attacked in the first 14 minutes. Of course Nord has a problem with sewer tap on fees, some developers get charged the big bucks and some get by with paying nothing. He didn’t say it, but he […]
By: Diane Benjamin Realtors got heavily involved in last April’s Election. You probably noticed lots of campaign mail had their name on it – from Springfield. In addition they gave Koos: McCarthy: Cummings: Preston: Look up all contributions here: https://illinoissunshine.org/ FYI: Bob Broad, Planning Commission head and Julie Hile partner plus advocate for zoning changes […]
Looks like all democrats don’t think the same: Council Meeting January 19, 2021 https://youtu.be/uB9SGVWbytI Pritzker Budget talk, June 1, 2021 https://www.facebook.com/GovPritzker/videos/542249500299020 More below. (It could have been longer) Council discussion starts at 1:22 1:59 – Nord – Motion to pay off debt 2:12 – 6-1 vote against paying off debt early. Pritzker and Nord believe paying off […]
By: Diane Benjamin Think back to April when the Normal Town Council approved Horton Group for Insurance Broker Services. One thing stood out as suspicious. The Town issued an RFP and received 5 responses with detailed proposals. The meeting documentation was pages of glowing staff praise for Horton but the bids from the other four […]
By: Diane Benjamin The video below is Stan Nord making comments at the end of Monday’s meeting. He is followed by Kathleen Lorenz who is distraught about the tone of this meeting. In other words: Shut up Stan. Animosity on the Council is caused by Lorenz’s lecturing Stan while the rest of the Council snickers. […]
By: Diane Benjamin It has been obvious for a long time the Town of Normal government exists for itself, not the citizens paying their bills. The last thing Koos and company want is pesky citizens messing up their plans. Chris Koos has stated Council meetings are “business meetings”, he leaves out the part about being […]
By: Diane Benjamin Anybody remember BN Advantage? It was a huge collaboration of the unelected who got your money to operate. This story explains who: https://blnnews.com/2015/10/29/round-2-bn-advantage/ It would take a lot of research to figure out how much of your money was thrown to this group. This story shows $423,867 just from Bloomington: https://blnnews.com/2019/04/29/bn-advantage-magazine/ Where […]
Mulberry School Board President Nick Keever claims the signs are not on their property. According to GIS they own the corner of Beech and Lincoln. He also claims they don’t own the property with the Mulberry School sign on it. Nick claims half of their building is owned as a private residence and the signs […]
By: Diane Benjamin The candidates below have refused or ignored invitations to appear on Cities 92.9 radio. That means they don’t want to discuss issues with those who lean right and aren’t interested in earning your vote. Maybe they know their policies can’t be defended. Chris Koos – Normal Mayor Jackie Gunderson – Bloomington Mayor […]
By: Diane Benjamin Chris Koos and has band of merry fleecers will continue to increase funding to Connect Transit. They adore empty buses and the $1,000,000 a month the feds and state poor into McLean County to keep it running. They love electric buses and solar panels. They love transfer stations that give their union […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve written almost 7600 stories since 2012. Most I can not remember, luckily readers do remember. The story below is one readers remembered that I didn’t. Chris Koos is infamous for his insider deals that benefit friends and a compliant Council that allow the fleecing of taxpayers. I can’t possibly remember all […]
By: Diane Benjamin WGLT did another hit piece on Stan Nord, but as usual they MISSED the story and left out details: https://www.wglt.org/post/normal-council-member-stan-nord-alleges-discrimination-independent-lawyer-disagrees First, just like the lawyer Normal hired to conduct the assault on Joes Stationhouse Pizza, the results were completely predictable. Second, WGLT claims they obtained a copy of the 7 page page […]
By: Diane Benjamin Chris Koos knows he has nothing to run on. Instead of discussing issues he clipped and chopped comments made by Marc Tiritilli before Rivian incentives were approved by the Normal Town Council. Koos wants you to believe Tiritilli was against Rivian buying the plant when Marc was actually against taking money from […]
By: Diane Benjamin Chris Koos had rulings against him before for violating the Open Meetings Act, but never 2 very close together. This was the first violation: https://wordpress.com/stats/post/90250/blnnews.com The Attorney General’s office finally found time to rule on a second (OBVIOUS) violation. This one was filed in 2019 by Karyn Smith. WEEK has the story: […]
By: Diane Benjamin If a website changes over time and something isn’t there anymore you need, it can still be seen. Type Way Back Machine in your browser and it will access a web archive site. It will also expose liars, like Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy isn’t a psychologist, but he was playing one on the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday’s story: https://blnnews.com/2021/03/11/campaign-signs/ Just to prove these signs are on Town of Normal owned land, below is the GIS showing the Town owns the land along Beech Street: Chris Koos, Kevin McCarthy, and Chemberly Cummings must not care about the law. Of course those who have watched Council meetings . . . […]
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