by: Diane Benjamin Does everybody know who Rep. Jan Schakowsky is? Search the Internet. She is a confirmed Socialist and member of Democratic Socialists of America. Contrary to what is taught in schools today, socialism is not a social group or club. Socialism means government is smarter than you, government controls everything, government must make all […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington Committee of the Whole meeting was cancelled tonight because somebody at City Hall forgot to post the agenda 48 hours in advance. Unfortunately, some Chicago area experts were brought in to present the findings on a downtown hotel – at your expense. Now you have to pay them to come […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington taxpayers paid $30,000 for a hotel feasibility study in downtown Bloomington. It didn’t say what Renner wanted, the City would have to fund a large part of the bill to build it. Did he give up? Tonight it’s back on the agenda – not for a Council meeting, there is […]
by: Diane Benjamin The following statement made numerous times by Professor Mayor Renner has always bothered me, see if it bothers you. He is talking about downtown Bloomington. . Who put government in charge of the 21st century? Are you just dying to live and shop in downtown Bloomington? If downtown doesn’t thrive Bloomington won’t? […]
by: Diane Benjamin I’m sure you remember Professor Mayor Renner’s attack on Alderwoman Stearns during the budget discussions: . At the June 9 Council meeting Starcom came up again. Even though the money for the upgrades was included in the budget, the Council still had to vote to spend it. Yes, the spending was in […]
The Council voted 7-2 to approve $60,000 for the next 12 months – another consultant for economic development. Evidently the City gets lots of call from entrepreneurs who know nothing about running a business, this group will help them. So to recap: The City gives the local Economic Development Council (EDC) $100,000 per year, pays […]
by: Diane Benjamin The minutes of the Executive Session held during the retreat last November offer interesting insight into what Bloomington’s Mayor, City Manager and Alderman are thinking. Remember, this was a secret meeting. Usually the Council votes to keep these minutes a secret because they don’t want you to know what they say. See […]
by: Diane Benjamin You may start seeing this sign around town. A citizens group has formed to oppose the Renner agenda of tax hikes and spending. If you want a sign, I can put you in contact with the person distributing them. Email me: blnnews@yahoo.com This isn’t the only group forming. There are more.
by: Diane Benjamin Last November the Bloomington City Council held a 2 day retreat that included an Executive Session – a SECRET MEETING for discussing very specific items that shouldn’t be discussed in public. I want to stress SPECIFIC items. The list of legal discussion items are in this story: I’ve written about this […]
by: Diane Benjamin All of the following emails were received under the Freedom of Information Act. I still hear people say “Why isn’t the Bloomington Council be more like Normal’s?” Did you ever tell the kids to just go away for a while and be quiet? You needed time, space, whatever – so the kids needed […]
Sorry – you get a 2 month reprieve. Gas will go up August 1st! . by: Diane Benjamin Good for the local paper to put gas prices on the front page. During the Bush administration reporters camped at gas pumps to hear sob stories from citizens when the price got to $3.00 a gallon – […]
by: Diane Benjamin I really appreciate the Bloomington website managers NOT updating it in a timely manner. It makes my research easier. Below is what the Liquor Commission used to look like – note 5 members and the Professor. MEMBERS POSITION NAME TERM EXP Chair Renner, Tari N/A Member Stockton, Stephen N/A Member Jordan, […]
by: Diane Benjamin From an article in today’s Pantagraph – Professor Mayor Tari Renner: You do attend the Council meeting Tari, right? Have you noticed that any Council member who questions what is presented is vilified, or at least cut off? Did you notice the empty pots vote for whatever they are told to vote […]
by: Diane Benjamin You can’t understand why politicians do what they do unless you know where their governing information comes from. Professor Renner used to work for the International City Managers Association. They are having a convention in September, I expect City Manger David Hales and probably Tari will attend. Of course, it will be […]
by: Diane Benjamin Show of hands please – How many of you shop downtown? Go to downtown restaurants? Maybe you go to the Farmers Market, but ever go downtown for anything else? Maybe jury duty, go to the BCPA or Coliseum occasionally, hit the bars, any other reason? There are people in downtown Bloomington, […]
by: Diane Benjamin A Rasmussen Poll from May 7th showed 27% of likely voters think the country is headed in the right direction. 65% now think we are headed in the wrong direction. Evidently the other 8% are uniformed. The United States is 12th in the world on the 2014 list of Economic Freedom. Economic […]
It sounds like the Peoria State’s Attorney is too chicken to prosecute Ardis! Now you know why corruption rules in Illinois. Jason might want to review his campaign video: Justice over Politics? by: Diane Benjamin It’s not legal to do favors for campaign contributors. It’s not legal to sell items for friends from your official […]
by: Diane Benjamin Yesterday I told you about a Pantagraph Editorial with content that didn’t match the title. I mentioned they have never criticized City government, I should have said Mayor Stockton, Mayor Renner, David Hales, Tom Hamilton etc – while they were in office. The paper will never attack their golden goose. The […]
by: Diane Benjamin At the April 28th City Council meeting, Mayor Renner verbally attacked Alderwoman Stearns on the accuracy of her data. If you forgot – here’s a tiny clip just to remind you: . Since nobody else is fact-checking statements Renner made during the Council meeting, I have to. Before the vote to raise […]
by: Diane Benjamin Tim Flanagan wasn’t vetted for the job of President of ISU. TWO minutes of investigation revealed to me that he wasn’t well liked where he came from. He ended up costing ISU $480,000 and a good guy his job. Now Bloomington hires an Assistant Administrator, Sue McLaughlin, who was fired from her […]
by: Diane Benjamin Since Mayor Renner completely controls the Pantagraph, today a Starcom story appeared. In case you forgot, Mayor Renner viciously attacked Alderwoman Stearns Monday night for even suggesting the program should be looked at. The Pantagraph did a nice job covering for the City, no mention of interviewing Alderman Lower about his comments […]
by: Diane Benjamin Besides calling Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner’s personal attack on Alderwoman Stearns a “heated discussion”, the media completely ignored what Renner’s veto threat meant for the City. Tari Renner was willing to put public safety at risk just to get a Utility Tax. Remember, any discussion of budget cuts instead of tax increases […]
by: Diane Benjamin I was just browsing through the packet for the April 28th City Council meeting. http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=6676 One item that got pulled for further review was the Public Comment code. It starts on page 165. The interesting part is on page 166. Besides Mayor Renner’s name at the bottom of the document – see […]
by: Diane Benjamin Maybe Mayor Renner thought he could take Alderwoman Stearns out last night because the media has given him very little push back. It was irresponsible for Cities 92.9 to run Renners degrading comments about Stearns and StarCom for 2 days without fact-checking the Mayor. After all, he is a well documented liar. […]
by: Diane Benjamin EVERY citizen of Bloomington needs to see their out of control Mayor. When the video is posted – start watching Renner’s rant and attacks on Alderwoman Stearns around 1:45, maybe a little before. Mayor Renner’s comments are outrageous and way beneath the Dignity of the Office of Mayor! His comments were personal attacks […]
by: Diane Benjamin Instead of the Flamingo Budget, it could be called one of the following: “Take a Staff Member to Lunch” budget “Feed the Council Pizza” budget “Pay for Staff to See the County” budget “Renner No Cuts Possible, only more taxes” budget Renner never responded to the food and travel budget cuts Stearns […]
by: Diane Benjamin Robert’s Rules of Order – Summary Version For Fair and Orderly Meetings & Conventions http://www.robertsrules.org/Provides common rules and procedures for deliberation and debate in order to place the whole membership on the same footing and speaking the same language. The conduct of ALL business is controlled by the general will of the whole membership […]
by: Diane Benjamin Mayor Renner loves to compare taxes in Bloomington-Normal with surrounding cities. He loves saying the City get only 24% of the local real estate taxes. Is Bloomington a cheap place to live? Maybe he should see this link: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-27/these-are-americas-10-most-and-least-expensive-cities-and-361-cities-inbetween This is a ranking of cities across the country. Bloomington ranks 153rd on […]
by: Diane Benjamin Last November the Bloomington City Council held a 2 day retreat. This morning I couldn’t find the retreat minutes at the link I previously had, but I did finally locate them: Retreat Minutes Mayor Renner has publicly claimed the budget has been discussed for 9 months. This morning he claimed the budget […]
by: Diane Benjamin Let’s get some facts on the table first. Alderwoman Stearns is out of the country Mayor Renner sent her more than one email yesterday inferring her budget numbers were incorrect and not contributing to the discussion Mayor Renner did an interview with Rachel Wells at the Pantagraph conveying the same to her […]
by: Diane Benjamin Mayor Tyranny had been threatening for at least a week to veto the budget if the tax increases he wanted didn’t pass. He has the City legal staff at his disposal to research the veto, but evidently he didn’t consult them. TT’s veto at the Monday night meeting has been declared illegal […]
by: Diane Benjamin Below is the survey completed by the alderman showing what cuts and revenue they would support. It was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. It also shows what David Hales and Mayor Renner are thinking. It is difficult to read since each section is on 2 pages, it needs to be […]
by: Diane Benjamin Maybe you should have let Alderwoman Stearns talk Tari. Were you afraid of what she would say? How about some facts on Administration spending. See this link – Page 125: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=2016 This is a 5 year (2013-2017) Operating Budget. This is pre-Mayor Transparency since he took over in May 2012. GENERAL FUND […]
by: Diane Benjamin See part 1: http://blnnews.com/2014/04/21/council-recap-if-you-arent-watching/ THERE WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH MONEY FOR GOVERNMENT 2 tax increase and they are still $1.2 MILLION short. Just wait until next year and the next year when pension payment go even higher. Fazzini proposed cutting 2 stop light installations, otherwise Lower and Stearns are the only aldermen […]
by: Diane Benjamin Bloomington residents: Your taxes will be going up tonight. Council members who said they would never vote for this or that will. The potted plants will do as they are told. Attend tonight’s meeting or watch it live on-line. Any opposition to tax increases will be vilified and discussion cut off. […]
by: Diane Benjamin The City Council had a 2 day retreat last November – the topic was Culture Change. It was never defined, but the Council was told to have David Hales back. Instead of discussing the budget, the City hired a lady to teach them how to all get along. In other words, every […]
by: Diane Benjamin A big part of the Bloomington Budget discussion has been pension funding. In November the City Council adopted an aggressive funding plan to save money in later years. The chart below shows the problem. The numbers come from this link: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=5930 Page 250. The Police and Fire pension funds were the worst funded. […]
by: Diane Benjamin It was more than obvious the Bloomington City Council members weren’t listening to each other. Mayor Renner didn’t want to hear about prioritizing spending. The have a May1st deadline, no time to look at the big picture. For another year the citizens will be funding Quality of Life while the actual job […]
by: Diane Benjamin City Manager David Hales released a revised budget: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=6592 11 (ELEVEN) pages are dedicated to raising the gas tax. Instead of comparing the gas taxes in cities all over Illinois, here’s all they need to know 1) Current gas prices are over $3.50 a gallon again 2) The last 5 year history […]
by: Diane Benjamin I never understood why Mayor Renner ran to every media outlet blaming the City Council for not proposing their own budget or cuts to the existing budget. The Council hires City Manager David Hales to manage the city. He gets paid A LOT of money while the Council gets less than $6000 […]
