By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader One thing COVID has revealed is authoritarians adore telling other people how to live while not following the same rules themselves. Pritzker, a high risk to die from COVID himself for being obese, loves locking the State down and masking kids. Illinois is the only state in the Midwest […]
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 https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3510 Only 3 items are on the agenda for Monday night: Payments that aren’t supposed to be discussed: Maybe this is why the Chamber tells voters who to elect: This is in addition to the $23,920 in gift cards Normal gave their employees: https://blnnews.com/2019/12/23/normal-giving-away-your-money-2/ If there was a “public purpose” for […]
By: Diane Benjamin I hear David Shields has lots of nice signs around Normal. The citizens of Normal need to know he will support the Koos agenda: https://illinoissunshine.org/committees/friends-of-chris-koos-32789/ If you want to stop the Uptown agenda that is ignoring the rest of Normal, Shields is not the guy who will do that. I […]
By: Diane Benjamin The McLean County Chamber of Commerce has this cute map on their website: https://mcleancochamber.org/file/781/LegislativeUpdate18_FinalBOPI.pdf It claims Illinois isn’t in the top or bottom 10 states for Tax Climate. I wonder why people are fleeing Illinois then? The reason is because the Chamber is putting lipstick on a pig! They should have […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3156 Explanation needed: Understand now why the Chamber endorses who they endorse? More employee benefits at your expense:: Rivian! Is the first floor still empty? Did anybody report how many bikes are actually used? Consult on what? Does anybody else pay dues? Ever see a report? Remember Bloomington’s Downtown Association that dissolved? Paying […]
By: Diane Benjamin The McLean County Chamber of Commerce if holding their 10th Annual Gala to hand out “Business Excellence Awards”. The cost is a tiny $125 per person. You can be a sponsor for between $500 and $5000, depending on how many accolades you want to receive at the event. WGLT – Public Taxpayer […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bills and Payroll: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=20301 Ending Sick Leave Buy Back and the penalties that go with allowing employees to spike their pensions is not going to end anytime soon. What the Council passed recently was a dog and pony show designed to make you believe they heard your outrage. Monday night you will […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3047 The financial statements for the year ended 3/31/2018 are being released tonight. Six month old data isn’t ideal and would never be tolerated in the private sector, but at least Normal didn’t hold the information the way Bloomington did last year. Since Bloomington’s year-end was April 30th, their financial statements should […]
By: Diane Benjamin See the entire response to my FOIA HERE I filed a FOIA request for some items identified in this story: https://blnnews.com/2018/02/18/normals-twice-a-month-fleece/ The Koos accident report was part of the FOIA: https://blnnews.com/2018/02/22/the-koos-auto-accident-report/ Page 25 says Mayor’s insurance pending – it wasn’t his fault, so why is his insurance pending? Also FOIA’d was: If Normal […]
The County Board voted to kill the Scritchlow amendment. I taped the meeting and will be posting the discussion. 5 Republicans voted with the Democrats. By: Diane Benjamin For once the Chamber of Commerce is on the right side of an issue. Usually they love Big government tax and spend liberals. The Ecology Action Center claims […]
By: Diane Benjamin The McLean County Chamber of Commerce is the poster child for insider payoffs. They have their own Political Action Committee to aggressively get the candidates elected they want. The candidates they want elected are the big spenders, therefore the Chamber is the ENEMY of taxpayers. The 2018 Bloomington Budget shows why they […]
By: Diane Benjamin The local Chamber of Commerce is running radio ads claiming they help local businesses. What does it take to make a business successful? It’s pretty easy, businesses needs products people want and people with the money to buy them. It also needs government not hindering the ability of both parties to make […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal Town Council tonight: http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2745 More proof the Chamber of Commerce is working AGAINST citizens: This is the trip to explore building a sports complex here. Even if it brings tourism dollars to hotels, restaurants, and retail, these are LOW WAGE jobs. Guess who is going to pay for it! One person can’t […]
A. Aldag is either a current or former IWU student of Renners. So, what’s the public purpose here Tari? https://www.iwu.edu/news/2015/aldag-surveys-foreign-investments-in-DC-internship.html _____________________________________ By: Diane Benjamin PCard spending starts on PDF page 124: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=14720 This is Tari’s “business lunch” as caught by a reader on 8/9 at Rosie’s. Tari is in the shadows. Maybe this explain why […]
By: Anonymous All over Bloomington-Normal, no one is talking about the worst kept secret. It seems almost everyone knows, but no one is talking. State Farm is planning to downsize, likely before year-end. This is no secret. In fact, it’s echoing throughout the halls of the insurance giant, as well as the local business community […]
By: Diane Benjamin After the McLean County Chamber of Commerce supported every big spender in the local elections, they are now want a huge sports complex at your expense. If government created prosperity, Illinois would be the most successful state in the country! Instead, people are fleeing high taxes, regulations, and government nonsense. But the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight Bloomington is holding a public hearing on the budget for the year that starts May 1st. All you need to know is Bloomington is planning on hiring 4 more employees which will make the pension liability even higher and, to balance the budget, they are robbing the Enterprise Funds: I guess […]
By: Diane Benjamin The McLean County Chamber of Commerce is proving again they do not represent voters and taxpayers – they represent government. Chris Koos announced on Facebook that he was endorsed by them for reelection. The Chamber website doesn’t say anything about the current election endorsements. Just in the last few months Koos threw […]
By: Diane Benjamin The agenda for Monday’s meeting was posted on Thursday. The agenda lists the total to be approved for payment in Bills and Payroll. Somehow, even though the City knew what the list was, it wasn’t posted until after 4:30 Friday. Anybody think they are hiding something? See the list HERE Actually a […]
See this story for the totals: https://blnnews.com/2016/10/28/connect-transit-totals/https://blnnews.com/2016/10/28/connect-transit-totals/ By: Diane Benjamin I didn’t attend the Connect Transit meeting last night, but I have reports from people who did. Of course people spoke that rely on buses, but people also spoke about BUDGETING a $12,000,000 loss when the country and the State of Illinois both have no […]
By: Diane Benjamin I couldn’t decide which story to do, so I’m throwing THREE into one story. 1) Are employees fleeing? THREE Manager openings at once! http://www.mcleancochamber.org/chamber/job-openings 2) This one is funny! The Title in the printed version of the Pantagraph was “Visitors center a strain on museum” The on-line version got changed: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/national/government-and-politics/museum-seeks-help-for-route-center/article_97cecedb-3e91-5734-8da3-246c1fa238d6.html “Museum […]
By: Diane Benjamin Filed on the City of Bloomington website – under Staff Responses – was this letter from the McLean County Chamber of Commerce: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=9176 Yes – they supported it. I didn’t realize the Chamber was part of the staff. From the Chamber of Commerce website: http://mcleancochamber.org/advocacy The McLean County Chamber of Commerce is […]
by: Diane Benjamin Government talks a lot about Sustainability. What is it? Government’s method to control the behavior of the citizens. They limit your rights on where to live, what to drive, and access to cheap energy because they claim your choices aren’t sustainable. Sustainability isn’t the issue. America is swimming in cheap energy sources, […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Political Action wing of the Chamber just held a Conference Call. I received an invitation, so I called in. They made it clear at the beginning that no press or bloggers were allowed on the call, so participants could speak freely. (Tee Hee) The speaker said they are in favor of […]
I have to congratulate the McLean Chamber of Commerce for coming out against the 1% Sales Tax hike wanted by the schools. Hopefully they will decide all future increases the same way-the effect it has on local business. Has leadership at the Chamber changed? Just wondering. I hope they aren’t holding off for a different […]
by: Diane Benjamin Businesses join the Chamber of Commerce because they think they need to. The Chamber is promoting propaganda that has nothing to do American values of free market capitalism and limited government. Small businesses pay them around $250 a year to be members. These businesses are unwittingly funding this anti-American propaganda. They […]
by: Diane Benjamin The national and local Chamber of Commerce is now the enemy of the American people. They are pouring money into politics to get immigration reform – they want cheap labor. More unskilled workers taking jobs will hurt American workers trying to break into the workforce. They don’t care about the little people. […]
The locals aren’t any different! DC LOBBYISTS CHEER BOEHNER’S WAR ON TEA PARTY Lobbyists are reportedly “pumping their fists” over House Speaker John Boehner’s declaration of war against the Tea Party last week. by TONY LEE According to The Hill, lobbyists were “pleasantly surprised by” Boehner’s “strident remarks” last week in which he said Tea Party groups have […]
We have immigration laws that ICE and Border Control agents are not allowed to enforce. The President gave legal status to Dreamers by executive order. Now these groups are scheming together to “Moving Us Forward” – obvious code for legalizing illegal aliens. One question: What are we moving forward to? Are any of these organizations working […]
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