By: Diane Benjamin I was off 1 day getting a letter from Public Access closing my Request for Review with IMRF: https://blnnews.com/2025/06/05/bloomington-is-still-spiking-pensions-2/ Facts: -My FOIA was filed with IMRF on April 28th -On May 8th I sent IMRF a Past Due notice and got NO response from them -I filed with Public Access on May […]
By: Diane Benjamin It didn’t go national because it’s another government who demands more of your money. The issue got published by Just The News because there is alleged election interference by local schools: https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/mclean-county-sheriff-investigating-alleged-election-interference?utm_source=mux&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=social-media-autopost# If you don’t know John Solomon, founder of Just The News, read his bio. He has a LONG history of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Public Access issued a ruling yesterday finding the County Board Executive Committee violated the Open Meetings Act on November 13th when they didn’t let Jackie Beyer speak. The County policy demanding people sign up 24 hours in advance to speak violates OMA. The County tried to claim that even though the written policy on […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve been waiting years for someone to file with the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access division concerning their policies. Public Comment is Freedom of Speech and a 1st Amendment Right to address grievances with YOUR government. McLean County thinks you need to give them 24 hours notice if you want to speak. […]
Update: PDF page 87 got fixed. Everything else still applies however: By: Diane Benjamin Review this story for details: https://blnnews.com/2022/09/09/village-of-normal-discriminates-against-stan-nord/ And this story: https://blnnews.com/2022/09/20/breaking-news-the-truth-about-stan-nord-and-the-executive-session/ Below is the original notice of this meeting – it was held on a Friday, not after a regular meeting like usual. https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4416 Jump to the documents for Monday’s meeting: https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4557 […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when Stan Nord was denied the right to participate remotely in an off-schedule Executive Session? https://blnnews.com/2022/09/09/village-of-normal-discriminates-against-stan-nord/ Stan wasn’t allowed to participate because it was an illegal meeting to discuss the referendum. Pam Reece knew Stan Nord was unavailable the day of the meeting, she scheduled it that day on purpose, then […]
By: Diane Benjamin Schools can not use surveys to gather information on students without the permission of parents: https://blnnews.com/2022/05/16/know-your-childs-rights/ Did they get YOUR permission before doing an invasive survey using Panorama? https://blnnews.com/2022/04/20/district-87-and-panorama/ District 87 refused to give me a summary of the results, I doubt I even received the complete survey. The Illinois Attorney General’s […]
By: Diane Benjamin In 2020 District 87 spent $21,700 on: Social-Emotional Learning is now law in Illinois. The Illinois State Board of Education keeps changing the standards, see this link for the current plan from Kindergarten through 12th grade: https://www.isbe.net/Documents/sel-stds.pdf#search=social%20emotional See the bottom right-hand corner of page 1. These standards don’t expect teachers to be […]
I have TWO FOIA fail cases against District 87 pending with the Attorney General’s office. It appears Public Access is moving faster than normal on these cases, the information I requested was denied under bogus exemptions. I think they clearly see that! Stay tuned.
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Bloomington met for 2 1/2 hours last night, Normal met for over 3. Take a break for other news, I sure need a break! I watch the meetings for those who can’t. Also, my inbox was in serious need of cleaning. 2) Remember Vision Zero? https://blnnews.com/2021/06/30/vision-zero/ The goal is to have zero traffic […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when the Attorney General’s Public Access office found Bloomington guilty of violating the Open Meetings Act concerning the Metro-Zone agreement with Normal? https://blnnews.com/2017/06/07/laws-are-immaterial/ That was in 2017. The City of Bloomington appealed the decision, the Circuit Court ruled in their favor, but the Appellate Court just reversed that decision: See the […]
By: Diane Benjamin See previous stories: https://blnnews.com/2020/07/16/looks-like-a-revolt-at-isu/ https://blnnews.com/2020/07/20/isu-when-you-hear-from-the-attorney-general-just-plead-guilty/ Today I was notified by the Public Access office of the Attorney General they are going to investigate whether the first faculty meeting violated the Open Meetings Act. Excerpts: See the entire document I received: 63926 FI Letter When Kalter or ISU responds the Attorney General’s office […]
By: Diane Benjamin You have to laugh at bureaucrats! The Attorney General’s Public Access office just sent me a final determination pertaining to Jeff Fritzen’s bike present courtesy of Chris Koos. It took less than a month. A few days ago I posted the Town’s response to the AG in this story: https://blnnews.com/2020/04/13/koos-bike-present-violated-town-code/ Keep in […]
By: Diane Benjamin I previously reported the Town of Normal couldn’t find any communication for Chris Koos’ purchase of a bike from his shop to give to Trustee Fritzen. I also reported I filed a Request of Review with the Attorney General’s Public Access office: https://blnnews.com/2020/03/27/remember-that-bike-fritzen-got/ Fritzen’s party was held on April 23, 2019. Fritzen […]
By: Diane Benjamin Somehow retiring Normal Trustee Jeff Fritizen ended up with a big party and a bike the Town purchased from Mayor Chris Koos’s bike shop. Since inquiring minds want to know, I FOIA’d the Town of Normal for all communication about the bike. In this story I printed the Town answer: https://blnnews.com/2020/03/09/one-more-on-jeff-fritzens-bike/ They […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal and ISU get along so well because both believe in ruling instead of governing. Neither thinks you have the right to know what they are up to. I asked ISU for emails just in the last 8 months concerning the leased space for ISU Galleries and the Town of Normal. If […]
I have been informed Stan Nord sent the two pics below to Pam Reece. She responded with what the Town lawyer sent to the Attorney General in response to Karyn Smith Request for Review. The Town claims they read the law – the Attorney General Open Meetings Act training is immaterial. See the response here: Town […]
By: Diane Benjamin The WGLT story about last night’s Normal Town Council meeting doesn’t mention RC McBride voted for the water rate increase: http://www.wglt.org/post/water-fee-increase-solar-group-buy-making-repeat-appearances-normal Readers are left to surmise he did. This one is worse: I reported this story back on February 28: https://blnnews.com/2019/02/28/ag-investigating-town-of-normal-again/ WJBC reported it on March 4: http://www.wjbc.com/2019/03/04/normal-mayor-probed-for-alleged-open-meetings-act-violations/?fbclid=IwAR0mVvQsAVBRPrRVSWllpx_YPGc2YvMk0iHXYXWS0AWvxrBG0FXLxYbmvCg The […]
BY;; Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal continues to have an illegal public comment policy. Normal was forced to change the policy in 2017 when the Attorney General told them they can not have a policy that allows a citizen to only speak every 45 days. Instead of slapping the Town’s entire policy into oblivion, […]
By: Diane Benjamin Some local media have reported on the grand jury testimony which laid out the case against the 5 former Coliseum Managers. The City of Bloomington continues to claim they did not know about improprieties at the Coliseum until VenuWorks took over in July of 2016. The local media continues to let them […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you missed Tari’s State of the City address last Monday you can see my recap and listen to it here: https://blnnews.com/2019/01/15/taris-state-of-the-city/ Recycling his talking points, Tari once again proclaimed the Illinois Policy Institute “continues” to give the City an A+ transparency score. Disregarding IPI discontinued the program in 2014, their transparency […]
By: Diane Benjamin The current Attorney General, Lisa Madigan, will fortunately by gone next January. She persecuted (no I don’t mean prosecuted) businesses in Illinois while allowing public corruption to flourish. Her Public access office just did it again. First see this post: I totally agree – this meeting should have been publicly announced. An […]
By: Diane Benjamin I filed a Request for Review with Lisa Madigans’s Public Access office on January 18, 2018. The request was for a ruling on the budget workshop held by the Town of Normal that was not posted as a meeting with an agenda, time, and place. I received a ruling yesterday. 5 ILCS […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Attorney General’s Public Access office is investigating the Town of Normal for a meeting they held on January 18th. No agenda was posted for this meeting. That is a violation of the Open Meetings Act because the public was not notified this meeting was going to take place. The only information […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal doesn’t want citizens showing up at meetings like they do in Bloomington. That is the reason their Public Comment policy requires citizens to sign up 2 hours before a meeting, not just walk in a fill out a card. Remember the November 6, 2017 meeting where your property […]
By: Diane Benjamin The citizens of Normal probably already knew “outsiders” aren’t allowed to participate in their government, how many Trustees have quit during their term so the Mayor could appoint a replacement? The last Mayor did the same thing so incumbents have an edge in the next election. I expect Chris Koos to do […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday’s paper had a front-page story concerning a filing by Jason Chamber’s office with the Attorney General for Open Meeting Act violations. He has been waiting 17 months for a determination. The story claims his office can only prosecute violations for 18 months. First, Welcome to our world Jason! The request filed […]
By: Diane Benjamin Long time readers know finding a prosecutor is almost impossible. Public corruption prosecutions must be demanded by many people before equal justice under the law actually exists. Then there is McGrath Law Office in Mackinaw. These guys represent many small units of government who evidently aren’t capable of reading the Open Meetings […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember the two illegal meetings held by the library board because they weren’t posted 48 hours in advance? https://blnnews.com/2017/06/20/followup-illegal-meetings/ Keep in mind I notified both the Sheriff and the State’s Attorney’s office prior to the meetings, they did nothing to stop the crime of violating the Open Meetings Act. Law for government […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bills and Payroll the Council approved for payment last night have never been posted on the City website: http://www.cityblm.org/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-500 I wonder if the council was given a paper version or if they just approved spending without knowing what the voted on? Keep in mind – these are the same people who […]
By: Diane Benjamin The ruling by the Attorney General’s Public Access office against the City of Bloomington is completely meaningless. Read the entire ruling here: 17-004 The only penalty for the Bloomington City Council violating the Open Meetings Act by holding an illegal Executive Session is: The tape of the meeting must be released The […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’m only writing because I received a ruling from the Attorney General yesterday regarding the Bloomington Election Commission’s violation of the Open Meetings Act. It still stands that I am not going to work for mostly free. If everything I have exposed the last five years isn’t worth $5 or $10 a […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last night the Normal Town Council defied the Attorney General’s letter and made only minor changes to their Public Comment Policy. They relied on the opinion of their City Attorney Brian Day who formerly worked for the Illinois Municipal League. First, you need to understand what the IML is. See this story: […]
By: Diane Benjamin Evidently the media can’t read or they have a short attention span and can’t make it through the 7 page Attorney General letter declaring Normal’s Public Comment Policy illegal. It is MUCH more than the 45 day rule. That one was a no brainer! See the changes Normal is planning to make […]
By: Diane Benjamin For months Normal Mayor Chris Koos has been pretending with the help of media that changing the Town’s Public Comment Policy is his idea. It wasn’t! Today the Attorney General’s Office issued an opinion that slaps him around on numerous counts. (Did the AG suddenly start doing their job? Maybe!) Craig Stimpert […]
By: Diane Benjamin I filed yet another Request for Review with the Attorney General’s office asking them to investigated the Executive Session where the Council decided to disband Metro Zone. The conversations should have taken place in public, not behind closed doors. The City claimed “Probably Litigation” as the excuse for holding a secret meeting […]
By: Diane Benjamin Under former Mayor Steve Stockton the Liquor Commission was headed by Stockton, but at least 5 citizens served on the Commission with him. Tari Renner decided on his own to only have two people on the Commission. He got rid of the long time Commission members and picked two people he wanted. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Is the Metro Zone fight between Bloomington and Normal REAL, or a campaign stunt? I’m leaning toward real. Side Note: Normal’s budget for 2016-2017 was more than $120 MILLION. The estimated $1.2 million Normal would lose from Metro Zone represents 1% of their total budget. The Normal Town Council had no problem […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last December I wrote about Normal”s Public Comment policy: https://blnnews.com/2016/12/06/normals-illegal-public-comment-policy/ At least two citizens of Normal filed Requests for Review with Lisa Madigan’s Public Access office asking her to rule on their policy. I asked one of them if I could print both what the Town of Normal claimed and his response. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday the Pantagraph wrote this story: Normal Seeks AG’s Opinion On Public Comment I wonder where they got the idea for the story! Did Chris Koos call them and say “I’ve got a story for you”? Mark Peterson? The only reason Normal is considering changing their Public Comment policy is because at […]
