by: Diane Benjamin Saturday Steve Vogel made another attempt at an editorial in what passes for a local paper. I had high hopes, he almost seem to get it, but alas reality set in. Vogel failed again to disclose his daughter ran the Mayor’s campaign TWICE. Why is he allowed to write about the City? […]
by: Diane Benjamin You probably didn’t hear, but the Coliseum had an audited operating loss last year of $1,637,477. The only Central Illinois Arena Management (CIAM) report posted for this year is for May-July. Is shows a loss of almost $140,000. Since there were very few events since July, that’s probably why nothing has been […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is the video of Alderman Jim Fruin’s 7 1/2 minute speech Monday night in support of the Brady/McGraw Park/Central Catholic deal. At the beginning Fruin lists family members etc that have graduated from Central Catholic. He then makes the comment he “bleeds Central Catholic” At the end, around 7:20, Fruin says […]
By: Diane Benjamin One overlooked fact: Central Catholic is NOT in Bill Brady’s District! They are represented by Jason Barickman. Local City government loves back room deals, no risk of exposure since they are cozy with most of the press. You won’t see the Pantagraph breaking news of corruption, in fact they cover it up. […]
by: Diane Benjamin Net Neutrality hasn’t received the attention is should. First, you have to understand what it is. Government creates names, like the Affordable Care Act, to make people believe it’s a good thing. Is the Affordable Care Act affordable? Maybe it is if you are using other people’s money to cover part of […]
by: Diane Benjamin Do you remember the budget discussions that took place earlier this year on the Bloomington City Council? Mayor Transparency Renner demanded tax increases and declined to consider any cuts. He publicly vilified Alderwoman Stearns for even presenting a list for consideration! Renner vetoed the budget – then he got his 3 new […]
By: Diane Benjamin I found the following while reading the mountains of emails I received from the Town of Normal via the Freedom of Information Act concerning Paradigm. First email is from Rober Fazzini. Koos’s answer: Tari’s response, can he say any clearer “I don’t care what you say”? […]
By: Diane Benjamin Rob Fazzini resigned from the Bloomington City Council effective September 3rd. He resigned to be President of Paradign BioAviation, a firm that wanted both Normal and Bloomington to pay them to haul off their garbage. By now you know a joint Council session dashed all hopes of this project coming together here. […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Pantagragh has released a documentary on local problems with mental health. Jails have been used to detain criminal mentally ill individuals. Yes it’s a BIG problem, so government is throwing more money at it. The film can be viewed here: http://pantagraph.com/Shortchanged Missing from the movie was Mayor Renner! His thoughts should […]
by: Diane Benjamin Alderman David Sage was elected to the Bloomington City Council in 2007. His job now is NOT to represent his Ward, it’s to run interference for Mayor Renner. You wouldn’t know that unless you watch the Council meetings. How does he run interference? He makes sure spending cuts can never be discussed. […]
by: Diane Benjamin How about some weekend fun! When I filed the lawsuit against the City of Bloomington, I had no idea what emails they were hiding. Since the City has since produced at least some of them, they have admitted guilt. Of course, they will never say that publicly, but it’s obvious anyway. The […]
by: Diane Benjamin Before Tari Renner was elected Mayor, I vetted him. Bloomington could have elected Lex Green Mayor and not been subjected to tax increases, massive spending downtown, and the rest of the Renner agenda. Lex would have concentrated on the business government is supposed to do like roads, sewers, water, police, fire etc. […]
by: Diane Benjamin Each Ward in Bloomington is represented by one Alderman. An attempt to change the system to some City-wide Aldermen failed miserably earlier this year. Obviously citizens want small wards with a personal representative on the Council. Unfortunately, most of the Council doesn’t work for you. Their attitude is “they hired David Hales”, […]
by: Diane Benjamin Tomorrow I’m going to print another email I had to file a lawsuit to get. It will clearly show your alderman have no voice on the City Council. Most of them willingly gave it up. The potted plants exist only to vote yes on whatever is brought to them. The email will […]
by: Diane Benjamin After already raising 3 taxes, Renner plans to spend more money but not raise property taxes to do it. He has lots of other plans, but funding the pension plan passed by the Council will require more money. (Cutting expenses will be out of the question – just like last year). Renner […]
by: Diane Benjamin Grants, grants, grants. Every level of government in Illinois is looking for grants. They are more than happy to take State or Federal money, complete with the strings attached. Indiana Gov Pence just refused $10,000,000 from the Feds: http://www.pulaskipost.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3356:pence-wont-seek-federal-dollars-to-expand-pre-k&catid=31:election He realizes giving the Federal Government more years to indoctrinate kids is bad […]
by: Diane Benjamin The email below was printed earlier today. It’s not the first time Tari has talked about “meds”. He obviously has a problem with anyone he doesn’t agree with. But Tari appears to have a problem with anyone who takes “meds” for mental health issues too. Tari, do you have a problem […]
In a random act of journalism, WGLT sheds light on the project and the guy behind the project: http://wglt.org/wireready/news/2014/10/03835_Paradigm_doubts_051139.shtml by: Diane Benjamin Tuesday night former Bloomington Alderman Rob Fazzini is presenting his ideas for getting your money to a joint meeting of the Normal and Bloomington City Councils. Remember Rob is the same guy who […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mayor Transparency Renner isn’t so transparent. Keep in mind, he teaches kids at Wesleyan! I had to file a lawsuit to obtain information RENNER wants hidden. The email below isn’t the only one I have, it’s just the first. Mayor Renner has a public persona, but out of the public eye he’s […]
by: Diane Benjamin I was in court again this morning. Nothing exciting happened, the case got continued until November 14th because the original judge was busy with another case. I do have many of the emails the City redacted in violation of the Freedom of Information Act. They gave them to me because they obviously […]
by: Diane Benjamin Downstate loves to blame Chicago politics for destroying the state, but there is little difference between Rahm Emanuel and Tari Renner. Chicago has one advantage, a real press. Bloomington doesn’t have that luxury. Corruption is much easier when the press doesn’t do their job. Chicago Tribune writer John Kass has […]
by: Diane Benjamin Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. I will do a history recap for you Tari, even though you will ignore it. You are brilliant, past failures won’t happen with you at the helm! There is no date on this document, but it is prior to the City […]
by: Diane Benjamin The following is from this site: https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3929/15316643827_bedbfcb0e6_o.png More details in this post: http://blnnews.com/2014/10/12/coliseum-strikes-again/ See the second column under Rumors. Bloomington is listed as Up For Sale AND Bad Checks. Click on the picture to enlarge. . . . .
(Food was planned for the now cancelled retreat too!) Source: http://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2014/10/bloomington-city-council-feeding-their-face-on-your-dime BLOOMINGTON, IL. (ECWd) – People wonder why taxes keep rising while their living conditions deteriorate. Here is one of those reasons. On the agenda for the Monday night’s Special Meeting (Oct 13, 2014), that states it will start at 5:00 p.m., is a comment […]
by: Diane Benjamin About the cancelled City Council retreat: Mayor Renner had every intention of holding an illegal meeting, until he got caught. The Pantagraph has an article on-line that will be in tomorrow’s paper. Alderwoman Stearns, who the Pantagraph obviously contacted for a comment, is ridiculed by Mayor Renner. He just wants to sweep […]
Saturday has now been cancelled. Who is going to show up at Mondays Council meeting or the Mayor’s open house tomorrow and ask how much money he wasted? Is he going to apologize for wasting money? by: Diane Benjamin Laws matter to you, not to government. See this previous post with Mayor Renner’s certificate for […]
by: Diane Benjamin Look at the schedules events on the Coliseum website: http://www.uscellularcoliseum.com/calendar-of-events/ Nothing is scheduled that will make money in October. Go back to January 2014. There have been few if any big money events all year. Thunder Hockey has started with a dismal number of paying fans. There is no football, the new […]
by: Diane Benjamin See this link from earlier today: http://blnnews.com/2014/10/07/the-bloomington-tyrrany/ Look carefully at the number of employees. 2000 542 Total employees 2011 595 Total employees Yes, the City did shed jobs during the recession – after they exploded the total number! I’ve got more facts for you. All of […]
by: Diane Benjamin tyranny The following is from OpenTheBooks.com. The information comes from databases they have access to. One way to see how fiscally responsible government handles your tax dollars is to look at trends. I gleaned information available from the City website to update the chart. Budget: FY 2013-2014 $169,000,000 FY 2014-2015 […]
by: Diane Benjamin Mayor Transparency Renner has no clue how capitalism works. He prefers the crony kind. Businesses he wants to exist will, the others can survive on their own, or just die. Renner wants a downtown hotel. He thinks people will want to rent rooms in a downtown that has to be power-washed every […]
by: Diane Benjamin Bloomington Mayors have been spending money trying to revitalize downtown since at least 1986 – that’s when the first TIF district was created. TIF districts provide money for the City to spend however they want – they keep the difference between the current taxes collected on properties and what is collected after […]
by: Diane Benjamin Nobody is against development Tari, just development funded with taxpayer dollars. Do I need to start listing all the Bloomington City boondoggles the citizens were told are going to be great? Or maybe a list of all the City “gifts” they gave citizens that don’t come close to breaking even? I realize […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington budget process for FY 2015 was a sham. It resulted in 3 new taxes, no time for discussions, and verbal attacks on Alderwoman Stearns just for proposing cuts. Mayor Renner promised an entire year would be spent reviewing the budget for next year. This video is from the April 28, […]
by: Diane Benjamin Enterprise Zones: crony capitalism, no accountability, no transparency, tax breaks for some while everybody else pays. When was the last time government picked a winner? Think hard, there must be at least one time. I can’t think of one either. Enterprise Zones and TIF districts do create economic development – at your […]
by: Diane Benjamin At last night’s City Council meeting, adding bike lanes for the Bloomington portion of Jersey Avenue was approved. In case you can’t visualize what they approved, imagine turning on to Jersey from Towanda Avenue. On the right side will be parking and a bike lane for around 200 feet. No parking will […]
by: Diane Benjamin Alton has spent many hours at Council meetings. He has spoken many times during public comment. That is exactly why Renner would never appoint him. Franklin isn’t a potted plant. Stacking the Council because Renner has an agenda for the City is the master plan. Franklin would care more about citizens and […]
by: Diane Benjamin 3 very short clips from last night’s City Council meeting: 1) Renner sets the rules for Public Comment . 2) If Renner doesn’t like the public comment – he breaks the rules . 3) Renner has a woman REMOVED from the Council chamber Some background: If a taxpayer has never attended a […]
by: Diane Benjamin Of course nobody in Bloomington City government is going to tell you that. The goal was to get 7,660 people to complete the survey. They only got 1,160. 15% of what they wanted. It will be declared a success, Mayor Renner will say how he works with data and 1,160 is plenty. […]
by: Diane Benjamin The pieces are falling into place. Last year Alderwoman Stearns filed an Open Meetings Act violation against the City of Bloomington for discussions that took place in Executive Session – those secret meetings citizens aren’t suppose to know about. To be fair, there are some things that must be discussed secretly, but […]
by: Diane Benjamin Less than 2 weeks ago the cost to repair the Coliseum parking garage was $1,098,836. The Council approved a contract for repairs: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=7274 Item 7A. Analysis of Bids and Approval of Contract with Structural Preservation Systems, LLC, for Pepsi Ice Center Parking Structure Repairs. Motion by Alderman Schmidt, seconded by Alderman Black […]
