By: Diane Benjamin One big difference between Mayor Mwilambwe and Mayor Brady: Meetings start at 6:00. I don’t remember time mattering to Mboka. Arbor Day got a proclamation. Trees are wonderful, I’ve got a bunch of them still dropping dead branches from the last ice storm years ago. I hope since Bloomington has two arborists […]
By: Diane Benjamin City Manager Jeff Jurgens STRONGLY urged residents to conserve even more water. Of course the below isn’t all that happened last night, just what I thought was notable. Last night’s Bloomington City Council meeting was tortuously long. Two items were pulled from the Consent Agenda. Both serve as a lesson in government […]
By: Diane Benjamin There was a long list of emailed Public Comments, a FOIA would be needed to find out what position they were taking. There was also a long line of in-person and phone Public Comments. A few people spoke about IDOT’s plan to add a sidewalk to the north side of Route 9 […]
By: Diane Benjamin The meeting was short! Nothing was even slightly controversial until comments by aldermen. More on that in a minute. The only agenda item concerned swinging doors downtown hitting pedestrians. This downtown picture is from the slide show presentation: Businesses like Windy City Wieners want more indoor floor space, so they want the […]
By: Diane Benjamin This was the agenda for the January 2nd for the MENTAL HEALTH AND PUBLIC SAFETY FUND ADVISORY COUNCIL (FAC) . I have no idea why this committee, which is subject to FOIA, and the McLean County Behaviour Health Coordinating Council (not subject to FOIA) both need to exist. No documentation was posted […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington Council meeting was ridiculously long – over 3 hours. I left after about 1 1/2 hours and watched the rest on YouTube. Public Comment was still happening when I got home. My comment is at 26:13. The room started off packed. Many people were there to witness the introduction of […]
By: Diane Benjamin The water quality problems are close to over. The Council approved one more algaecide treatment @ $82,534.80. Lake Bloomington water levels are back to normal and evergreen is slightly below normal. The other controversial item was supporting the sale of Connect Transit’s property to Home Sweet Home Mission for the shelter project. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Hit Play below to hear the entire annual report from Chief Simington. The department is still having problems hiring officers, maybe because DEI is used in hiring decisions to make the department look more like the community. From this WGLT story: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-03-13/bloomington-police-chief-discusses-illegal-guns-cameras-diversity . At 57:00 on the video the Chief states he […]
By: Diane Benjamin Mailer #2 from Cody Hendricks is below. It directly violates the Bloomington City Code, the laws under which Bloomington supposedly operates. He is unfit to be mayor due to these violations of the Bloomington City Code. He has no respect for the laws of the city he seeks to represent. Alderman Sheila […]
By: Diane Benjamin Public Comment was adorable last night. The far left showed up to demand the council and candidates support a Springfield bill to Lift the Rent Control ban. Just hit play to hear them on the video below. What none of them said was what they expect if the ban is lifted. Do […]
By: Diane Benjamin I was notified last night that Surena Fish died. Surena was on the PSCRB Board and West Side neighbors. She was a voice for downtown business owners and a frequent Public Commentor. This story has a video of one of her comments: https://blnnews.com/2024/07/16/two-public-comments-last-night-you-need-to-see/ Bloomington lost one of it’s champions and I lost […]
By: Diane Benjamin This slide is on the Unit 5 video from last night: See 3:33:59 https://vimeo.com/event/4378038 . What they are trying to say is the RATE of increase has slowed down while making it look like the actual increase isn’t happening. This slide is at 3:39:37 . The EAV growth amounts to an increase […]
By: Diane Benjamin Using Bloomington’s Road ratings: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/36eea74c6ede4cd08e7d6ec03ed14246 and McLean County GIS: https://mcleangis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=541971ad75f248c38c9bc6ffcd3a7516 I mapped the roads with a 3 rating. The colors are too close to distinguish, but I didn’t find any roads rating less than 3. See the legend on the first link. Whoever created the legend did a poor job with colors […]
By: Diane Benjamin The cameras worked last night. A new voting system actually worked last night. Bloomington now has TWO tent cities. Another one sprung up under the Center Street bridge – according to a Public Comment (19:45). The reason people are illegally living in tents in downtown Bloomington is because the first person was […]
By: Diane Benjamin There was a Township meeting before the Council meeting, Council doesn’t start until 59:00 on the video. This item on the Consent Agenda was pulled before the meeting: . The documentation says this Review Board hasn’t had a case since August of 2011 after being established in 2011, but that didn’t keep […]
By: Diane Benjamin Even though the City has 3 top Administrators now, according to the meeting documentation THEY requested this proclamation: https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/2392365/Health_for_Humanity_Yogathon_Day_Proclamation_2024.pdf It recognizes the Health for Humanity Yogathon Organized by Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA. The event happened from January 13th – 28th. Definitely on top of everything with 3. 😉 Unlike Normal that only discusses the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Before the Council voted to raise your property taxes, The City Clerk made a reference to an emailed Public Comment. Later in that meeting Alderman Sheila Montney referenced the same email. I FOIA’d that email. Staff tried to tell me it was exempt from disclosure. It isn’t. They obviously need training in […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington is looking for Revenue Enhancements. Cute words that mean they need more of your money. It’s hilarious that government has their own language so you don’t notice what is being done to you. The same government that built a never used fire station and a never used water […]
By: Diane Benjamin $51,000,000 is expected to be in the City coffers at year end. They have big plans to spend your money, none of that money can be used to pay for essential spending like Public Safety pensions. Your taxes are going up to fund them. The vote last night was temporary, the final […]
By: Diane Benjamin The regular agenda had NOTHING on it, the Consent Agenda was passed without any discussion. Since the City doesn’t want controversy at meetings, the two on one meetings held before the Council meets are used to pacify objectors. The video of the meeting is slightly over an hour, half of that was […]
By: Diane Benjamin 33:10 – Mayor Mwilambwe recognized the 4 aldermen that are leaving office April 30th. Mboka gave a short speech and presented each with a plaque. (Remember when Normal totally ignored Stan Nord’s 4 years?) Public comment starts at 44:00. Two speakers thanked their outgoing aldermen. Gary Lambert is a can’t miss at […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember the Bloomington City Council voting down spending $270,000 over 3 years for a lobbyist? https://blnnews.com/2023/02/15/gleason-thinks-the-council-works-for-him/ Gleason wants grant money for the downtown streetscape. Does he know grant money is taxpayer money? Does he know the Feds spend more money every year than they take in? $31 Trillion in debt is meaningless […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington managed a 44 minute meeting last night. Only 7 of the 9 Alderman were present: If you listened to the roll call you wouldn’t know who was missing because the Clerk only called the names of those present! (That’s not a roll call) If you can’t tell, Sheila Montney and Mollie […]
By: Diane Benjamin There is MUCH more to cover from last night’s meeting, stay tuned. How many people did this guy speak for last night? Just hit play: Donna Boelen had one of the many “comments of the night”. Tim Gleason stated again only Rowe Construction bids on road work. Donna thinks out of town […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yes folks, the Bloomington Council meeting was 4 hours last night. I heard a radio person say something astounding yesterday: We have never been a nation of laws, we are a nation of wills. That explains why some people get away with crimes the rest of us would get life sentences or […]
By: Diane Benjamin It was nice to see everyone back in the same room last night and not mumbling through masks! While inflation is raging and gas prices are wiping out disposable income, Jeff Crabill sees increased revenues to the City as a pot of gold. He claims there were things they couldn’t do in […]
By: Diane Benjamin One of the policies instituted by Tari Renner was limiting discussion at Council meetings. Pre-Tari there were no limits, Agendas are now issued with the amount of time the Council will spend on each item. Why are your elected representatives not allowed to talk as long as they want? The Council represents […]
By: Diane Benjamin FOURTY TWO Minutes of the meeting were wasted last night by Jeff Crabill attempting to make changes to the Welcoming America commission that will be established. His comments start at 43:10, the final vote wasn’t over until 1:25:30. The alderman meet in small groups with the City Manager, they know what is […]
By: Diane Benjamin I wonder how many of the people with sewage in their basements bothered to vote in past local elections. I’m betting many didn’t because turnout is despicable. City Councils are the ones who destroy you the fastest, think Coliseum, BCPA, a never used fire station, and a water tower built to short […]
By: Diane Benjamin There are kots of other things to cover from the Bloomington City Council meeting last night, but start with comments at the end of the meeting. Mayor elect Mboka Mwilambwe proved he won’t tolerate Jenn Carrillo’s activism against other Council members. No mention was made prior to Mboka’s comments at the end […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you raced to the polls for national elections and proudly wore your I Voted sticker, your vote barely mattered. Your vote does matter in local elections! Many races today will be won by less than 100 votes. Turnout will be the only deciding factor. The elites and socialists are hoping you […]
By: Diane Benjamin Two guys are running for alderman in Ward 5: Patrick Lawler and Nick Becker. Lawler is running with the local socialists and sides with the two already on the Council: As all Progressives, do Lawler now wants to “move Bloomington forward”, in other words twist and bend existing norms to fit his […]
By: Diane Benjamin Ward 3 did have 3 candidates, but one has dropped out. The two candidates left in the race are: Sheila Montney and Willie Holton Halbert who is running as a team with the other socialists. If you want to dial 911 and not get an answer because the police got defunded, here […]
