By: Diane Benjamin In case you forgot, PASER is the Pavement Rating and Assessment Project the Normal Town Council passed last October: https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3770 See PDF page 35. The Council was told the total cost would be $100,000 with a grant arranged by the McLean County Regional Planning Commission for $80,000 of that. The Town would […]
By: Diane Benjamin The McLean County Regional Planning Commission launched a new survey you MUST take. Those who believe government solves every problem will be taking this survey. If you believe in limited government, your thoughts need to be included too. The intro says it will take 15-20 minutes, it will take that long only […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember this story about ZERO deaths or serious injuries by 2030 from automobiles? https://blnnews.com/2021/06/22/bloomington-last-night-7/ Instead of calling the program Vision Zero, the McLean County Regional Planning Commission renamed it Go Safe. The purpose of this NATIONWIDE push is to make driving harder. You will be forced to drive at slower speeds instead […]
By: Diane Benjamin City Manager Tim Gleason stated the City still has $100,000 to hand out to small businesses. I don’t know if this is the right page, but start here to see if you qualify: https://www.cityblm.org/doing-business/cdbg-cv-business-program The City anticipates ending COVID restrictions on June 30th. Vaccinations will still happen on a smaller scale at […]
By: Diane Benjamin Must see Public Comments: Ron Ulmer at 3:51. Technical problems kept him from speaking at the last Council meeting so he gave his comment last night. He provided history of trains in Uptown and the obvious problems both the Town and railroad missed which cost taxpayers a lot of money. He asked […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1118&Inline=True In a perfect example of government believing individuals have no responsibility but government does: The McLean County Regional Planning Commission will make a presentation that includes this: Eliminate fatalities and life-changing injuries from our transportation system by 2030 That is the most absurd statement ever written with tax dollars. I can’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1117&Inline=True Citizens: The City is “WOKE”. They have enshrined forever slaves in Texas finally finding out they were free. What won’t be mentioned: slavery wasn’t in the entire country, largely it was in the south. owners were largely democrats who went on to form the KKK when they lost the civil war […]
By: Diane Benjamin Contract Transit met on 6/23/2020: Meeting documentation Can supporters of Connect Transit explain why a system of empty buses with deficits that loses close to 1 MILLION every month is a valid use of taxpayer money? Whatever they say can’t possibly justify this abomination that only gets worse with continued spending on […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1079&Inline=True The McLean County Regional Planning Commission is getting paid by Bloomington: Look at where most of their funding comes from. Who do you think they are really working for? Does the below apply to Vision Zero? Not when the contract says information is confidential! https://blnnews.com/2020/06/20/julie-hiles-contract/ End of an era for the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal paid the McLean County Regional Planning Commission $54,000 as their last meeting: https://blnnews.com/2020/06/13/normals-asininity/ I previously wrote about Julie Hile’s involvement with the MCRPC here: https://blnnews.com/2020/05/21/progressive-julie-hile/ I received a copy of the contract Hile signed with the MCRPC. See it here: Vision_Zero_Contract-HG-20190619_(Final_Executed)_redacted Excerpts: The contract was sign in July of 2019, so […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3660 The Town of Normal is going together with the County, Bloomington, and BNWRD to fund hazardous waste collection days through the Ecology Action Center. PDF page 61: This is common sense since citizens expect nobody associated with the Town to profit off this contract. Too bad it didn’t apply to this: […]
By: Diane Benjamin Public comment: Most of the speakers were there to talk about video gambling. A big fear of the local business owners is the State of Illinois raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Even though democrats think business owners have stashes of cash in the back room, they don’t. Many of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Diana Hauman is going to represent Bloomington on the McLean County Regional Planning Commission when her term as alderman ends April 30th. The MCRPC site shows two vacancies for representing Bloomington. I do know one of them occurred when Michael Gorman announced he is moving to Chicago. Green Top Grocery will need […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bill and Payroll for 10-18-2018 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=20190 Since the auditing bill is being approved, the financial statements are done. Of course, they aren’t being released yet. Coliseum continues to bleed taxpayers: More PCard fraud-should be easy to see where it happened: TRAVEL: ICMA (City Manager) $866.04 +685.00 and $777.61 last month = total […]
Across the country, transportation planning is the responsibility of metropolitan planning organizations (MPO) established by the Federal government. The McLean County Regional Planning Commission is the agency designated as MPO for the Bloomington-Normal region. The planning process includes the local governments of McLean County, City of Bloomington, and the Town of Normal, plus Connect Transit, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington wouldn’t have a Bike Master Plan without Bike Blono. Bloomington wouldn’t have a Complete Streets plan without Bike Blono. Bike Blono had private meetings for months with Public Works to make lanes on Washington happen. (as stated by Michael Gorman of Bike Blono) Bikes have always been allowed on the roads, […]
By: Diane Benjamin BN Advantage was formed in 2015. Their mission is to get all the players together for collaboration on economic development strategy. The Bloomington Council approved the formation in October 2015, see this doc: BN Advantage I’m sure other area governments passed the same type resolution. Temporarily forget the fact that government doesn’t […]
Today’s medical update: The doctors are amazed at my husband’s progress the last 48 hours. He is wide awake, off the ventilator and only on Tylenol for pain. He knows who we are and is trying to talk – even though he isn’t suppose to yet. Three days ago the medical staff wasn’t sure he […]
By: Diane Benjamin I attended part of the Public Hearing last night at Central Catholic High school. Side note: I wonder how much they spend per student in their lovely facility? I bet it isn’t close to what Unit 5/District 87 spend. Somebody should really study that angle. I did a quick Internet search yesterday […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington recently announced they won an award for excellence in comprehensive planning: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=18&recordid=3855&returnURL=%2findex.aspx The award was for Bring It On Bloomington It doesn’t matter that Bring It On Bloomignton was a flop! https://blnnews.com/2014/09/19/bring-it-on-bloomington-flops/ The McLean County Regional Planning Commission wanted 7,660 people to complete the survey. They got 1,160. It was declared […]
By: Diane Benjamin Alderman Amelia Buragas normally recuses herself from votes when they involve sending money to Farnsworth Group. Her husband Michael is employed by them. Last night she didn’t recuse herself from this vote: These are the people promoting bike paths on major roads and subsidizing buses. They also promoted the East-Side Bypass and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Did you know Bloomington didn’t have an Economic Development person until 2012? Are things better or worse now? From 2016 Total Compensation report: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=21&parent=5443 GRAMMERAUSTIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COORD Salary and benefits: $94,583.89 . Where do some of your tax dollars go? UN-accountable government agencies! The EDC (Economic Development Council) is getting $490,000 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Only two short month ago, the Council approved the appointment of Michael Gorman to the McLean county Regional Planning Commission. He was appointed to represent the City of Bloomington on the Commission. Dec 14 2015 – Page 2 Michael Gorman is associated with Bike Blono: Note his middle initial is C. Tonight […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tomorrow at the Den: Public Comment – sign up before 8:00 http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=9090 Monday night at Council: Public Comment – sign up before 7:00 http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=9124 Same meeting – time undetermined: Public Comment will be allowed again on Raising the Sales Tax. If you want more of your money stolen by government, stay home. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight the Bloomington City Council will approve paying the McLean County Regional Planning Commission $54,212 for the plan they created: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8974 The plan was out of date before it was issued because it pretends Bloomington is growing. Before Mitsubishi announced it’s closing, Bloomington was showing negative growth. Now 1,200 jobs are being […]
By: Diane Benjamin Alderman Amelia Buragus didn’t think she had a conflict of interest with votes to spend taxpayer money to redevelop downtown Bloomington, even though her dad owns property very close to the properties proposed. Michael Buragas, Amelia’s husband, works for Farnsworth Group, a frequent receiver of taxpayer funds: Is it a conflict of interest to […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington Planning Commission is holding a meeting at 4:00 today in the Council Chambers. There will be a Public Hearing on the Comprehensive Bloomington Plan put together by the Regional Planning Commission. Nice of them to hold a meeting when most people are still at work! Claims will be made that […]
by: Diane Benjamin It’s the McLean County Regional Planning Commission! http://www.mcplan.org/department/division.php?structureid=14 What do they do? Make plans for Bloomington, Normal, and McLean County. Think East-side Bypass, Bike Routes, and now Bring It Bloomington. According to the MCRPC 2013 financial statements, 46.6% of their funding came from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). Who do you […]
by: Diane Benjamin Bloomington is ruled by the minority. It has been ruled by the minority at least since the Coliseum was built. The few people actively involved in local government are making decisions for the rest of the taxpayers who are sitting on the sidelines. Here’s your chance to change that. Bloomington wants to […]
by: Diane Benjamin A citizens sent this link to me today: http://bloomingtonil.mindmixer.com/ It isn’t connected to the official City of Bloomington website, but City employees are asking for your input. The Bike Blono crowd is going to respond to the surveys and show up at meetings. Citizens who will be paying for bike lanes and […]
by: Diane Benjamin I’ve written before about the McLean County Regional Planning Commission – the un-elected group funded largely by the State who gets their money from the Fed. They claim to “advise” local governments, but their advise always comes with a lot of money. We have lost the autonomy to govern ourselves because the […]
by Diane Benjamin Most people have never heard of the McLean County Regional Planning Commission, but this board is the conduit from state and federal sources to implement an agenda. This takes control away from local government. Check their website: www.mcplan.org. Plans are listed for every level of government. Tari Renner is a member of […]
by Diane Benjamin The McLean County Regional Planning Commission has been very busy planning how to spend YOUR money. The complete Long Range Plan is available at: http://www.mcplan.org/egov/documents/1350666761_64351.pdf Keep in mind, these people are un-elected. You will never vote on the members of this commission. Some are elected in other areas of government, some are […]
by Diane Benjamin Didn’t think so. The site doesn’t say how many people participated or if they were blocked from voting more than once. The problem is they are using their poll results to formulate policy! Below are 3 of the questions asked. You are blocked from voting more than once. I will compare the […]
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