By: Diane Benjamin See the packet for the Town of Normal Council meeting Monday night here: http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2249 Portillo Summary: The project is being done by a developer – Bloomington Landmark Development Inc Despite the name, this company has a Chicago agent and address: CT CORPORATION SYSTEM Normal is rebating Sales taxes of $1,825,000 PLUS interest […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 22, 2016 Marc Tiritilli to run for Mayor of Normal Normal—Marc Tiritilli is pleased to announce his candidacy for Mayor of Normal in the election on April 4, 2017. He has gathered the required signatures and is eagerly moving on to the heart of the campaign. Tiritilli said he is basing […]
By: Diane Benjamin Of course the vote is fixed in Normal. The Chamber of Commerce picks the biggest spenders and advertises for them. Only Koos approved YES people get appointed to vacancies. Still, it doesn’t take that many votes to win a seat. The biggest problem is candidates are forced to run in the […]
By: Diane Benjamin I realized something this morning. I’m a 2nd generation American! There was only one generation of my family born in America before me. All of my grandparents immigrated here as children. Their families FLED to this country for refuge from European wars. I never knew my dad’s parents (long story), but I […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is a letter sent to the Normal Council before they voted for the 1% Sales Tax increase. It didn’t receive a response, Normal raised the Sales Tax anyway. Emails and letters aren’t going to stop Bloomington – only a room full of angry citizens will get their attention! Here’s the letter: […]
By: Diane Benjamin Monday the Normal City Council voted to spend a lot more money on the Koos-Doug Farr vision for the town. NO citizens showed to speak. I know of NO conservative citizens running for the Council, they all appear to be Koos cronies. If anybody knows different, please let me know. Videos of […]
by: Diane Benjamin See this story from yesterday: http://blnnews.com/2013/11/13/city-manager-mark-peterson-liables-me/ The International City Manager Association has a code of ethics. Mark Peterson broke it by sending a lie laden, derogatory email to Bloomington Alderman Rob Fazzini who then forwarded it to MANY other people. At the very least, Peterson’s actions show a complete lack of intelligence. […]
by: Diane Benjamin In the last City election – April 2013 – Voter turnout in Normal was slightly over 4400 people. Why do very few people in Normal vote? Because their vote doesn’t matter? How many members of the Council were appointed, and since the elections are at-large, name recognition helps them win the next […]
I hear Normal’s investments aren’t performing as predicted, so they need an 11% property tax increase! How are your investments? How’s your income, for the last 5 years a whole lot of people have seen decreases. Have your hours been cut to part-time? Are you under-employed? Are groceries costing more? How about gas? You aren’t […]
By: J.D. Tuccille|Jun. 13, 2013 Government officials like to use eminent domain for the convenience of their preferred policies and/or the enrichment of themselves and their buddies. Usually, they get away with it, because the folks on the receiving end are too few and powerless to hold their tormentors to account. In Hackensack, New Jersey, […]
Often elections don’t have a clear choice or show clear differences between the candidates. In Normal you have a clear choice. Most people believe in term limits for politicians, with good reason. When people are elected over and over and over the absolute power they feel is corrupting. We have many obvious examples: Harry Reid, John […]
Are the citizens of Normal sick of the debt created by Mayor Koos and the current City Council? Do they realize millions of their tax dollars have been stolen to rebuild “Uptown”? Do citizens realize Mayor Koos isn’t done adding more debt since he is running for reelection? Do citizens realize they have NO […]
From the meeting packet: Motion to Waive the Formal Bidding Process and Accept Quotes Totaling $88,609.02 from Dell For the Purchase of Computer Equipment So much for getting local bids. DKMallon Cost Proposal Grocery Feasibility Study Fact Finding Review $ 3,500.00 Market Assessment/Analysis $ 7,200.00 Site Evaluation $ 4,500.00 Report of Findings $ 1,000.00 Proforma/Site […]
Word around town – Normal may be looking at buying GREEN energy for the citizens of Normal! Think that will save you money? If it was cost effective – we would be doing nothing but green. Public hearings today: Noon and 6:45 Normal Council Chambers They don’t appreciate public comments – so you better take advantage of […]
The latest news from CityWatch: “What do you mean the McLean County Regional Planning Commission are federal administrators?” That was the question in response to the recent discovery regarding who the McLean County Regional Planning Commission really is. So, what was the discovery, you ask? It started with an investigation some weeks back when we became […]
by Diane Benjamin I’m sure you heard the plans for another hotel in Uptown Normal – across the street from the Marriott. From what I can tell, this property was purchased from Commerce Bank in 2007 or early 2008 for $1,550,000. Given the history of Uptown, Normal may be planning on GIVING this property to […]
A mere two weeks ago CITYWATCH dropped the Hile Bombshell – an expose’ that revealed a multi-levelled, multi-layered and multi-year plan that exploited two entire communities, slanted objectives, and distorted the process in which to get there. What was essentially a confession of sorts, no less an admission of facts, local consultant/facilitator, Julie Hile of the Hile Group, disclosed […]
. . . and while they’re watching us, we’re watching them right back – this video explains a why – This is what we do. And, we could use your help. Let me explain. I am by no means a fan of Hillary Clinton (sorry), but some years back, Ms. Clinton wrote a book entitled, “It […]
Received from the Town of Normal: Diane, Wendy provided me a copy of your email and asked that I respond. As you see from the documents supplied to you the Town Council authorized purchase of the parking lots from One Main for $500,000. This was about $240,000 more than the amount budgeted for these […]
The properties pictured are all connected to the Uptown project. The Town of Normal is listed as the owner on all yellow properties. All of the properties were checked on the McLean County Assessor’s Office website. The parcel pictures are all from the Assessor’s site. The Town of Normal, McLean County, Unit 5, and all […]
BIKES AND DEMOCRACY? – Give me a Representative Government DIRECT DEMOCRACY/BLONO FACEBOOK PAGE May 21, 2012 Direct Democracy. What is it? James Madison defined it as “…a number of citizens, whether amounting to a minority or majority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the […]
