By: Diane Benjamin According to the Pantagraph (I actually cite sources), Renner is calling a special meeting July 9th to discuss the welcoming ordinance. Of course, he will have to waste more money holding it at the BCPA. Since threats of violence have been made (yes, you Jenn Carrillo), police officers will have to attend. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Liquor Commission before Tari had (if I remember right) 7 members. The King wanted to make all the decisions himself, so he now has two assistants, one of which is going to vote with Tari every time. Only 3 members means Tari thinks and acts like he alone is the moral […]
By: Diane Benjamin We might know by the end of the month if Tari Renner is going to be charged with illegal use of government funds pertaining to the Japan trip and possibly more. Just to recap: Jason Chambers passed possible legal action off to the Appellate Court Prosecutor. The State Police did the investigation, […]
By: Diane Benjamin According to this website: https://www.statista.com/statistics/241695/number-of-us-cities-towns-villages-by-population-size/ there were 19,505 communities in the United States in 2015. 16,470 have a population under 10,000. That leaves 3,035 larger cities. The US Conference of Mayors claims to represent 1,409 communities. Since tiny cities don’t attend, 1409 of 3035 is only 46.4%. http://mayorsagenda.com/about-us/ The next meeting is June […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) RC McBride asked to be excused from voting on payments to WGLT at last night’s Normal Council meeting since he is the General Manager. He did vote on the Harmon Grants, 3 of which went to ISU, also his employer since WGLT is the campus NPR station. ISU, McBride, and the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday I toured the downtown core with a friend. If the pics below have spots blurred, it because a reflection was caught in the pic. My partner wishes to remain anonymous. The Core area is bordered by Front, East, Market, and Madison. It’s 12 square blocks. First, I was surprised by the […]
By: Diane Benjamin At every City Council meeting Mayor Renner reads at least one Proclamation, of course signed by him. Last night it was Gun Violence Awareness Day. See the proclamation here – PDF Page 13 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=17858 The numbers used weren’t hard to find a source for: https://everytownresearch.org/gun-violence-by-the-numbers/ This groups tax return shows they advocate […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tuesday night the Bloomington City Council is going to talk about TIF districts: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=17858 PDF page 209 Bloomington has a long history of projects that aren’t the “Right Fit”. Start with the Coliseum and the BCPA, both catalyst project that did nothing to revitalize downtown. Between the two, around $100,000,000 has been […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner was on WJBC this morning with Scott Laughlin. Scott asked Tari about pension funding. Tari had to mention the pension funding award he accepted several years ago. Pension funding was neglected for many years so Bloomington could do fun stuff like the BCPA and the Coliseum. When Tari was elected […]
By: Diane Benjamin A reader told me at the end of April the Bloomington Public Library was running ads on a Peoria TV station. On April 30th I filed a FOIA request for the ad and what they are spending on advertising. Keep in mind the City of Bloomington spends a fortune on IT and […]
By: Diane Benjamin YMCA, State Farm, and now Specs Around Town are just some businesses who have or will be leaving downtown Bloomington. City of Bloomington: Whatever you are doing is causing flight from downtown. Downtown is for bars, restaurants, lawyers, and government. Until Bloomington quits trying to make downtown something it isn’t, the few businesses […]
By: Diane Benjamin Social media is full of outrage over Normal passing the “Welcoming Ordinance”. The Pantagraph turned off comments to their story. Is Bloomington next? Will LEGAL immigrant Alderman Mboka Mwilambwe cave? Will Alderman Karen Schmidt approve an ordinance like Normal’s that does nothing other than empower the radicals? We know the supporters will […]
By: Diane Benjamin It is a huge deal for Chief Heffner to be confirmed by the Senate as the next US Marshal for the Central District of Illinois. Bloomington is losing an exceptional leader. He was also the main force blocking the “Welcoming Ordinance”. When he stated it would tie the hands of the local […]
By: Diane Benjamin Consultants are always wrong. Human behavior can not be predicted, too many decisions are made under unforeseen circumstances. People and government keep wasting money on them anyway. The sports complex consultants will be wrong too, especially if they think people will drive from the far east side to the far west side […]
By: Diane Benjamin The 2014 video of Tari Renner attacking Judy Stearns during a Council meeting because of cuts she proposed now has been viewed over 15,000 times. 13,000 of them have come in the last few months. I have no idea why! A viewer left a comment last night that perfectly summed it up: […]
Did he figure out nobody wants to meet him in private? http://www.cityblm.org/Home/Components/News/News/5881/
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council is holding a Committee of the Whole Monday night. Before Tari, the Council didn’t have 4 Council meetings a month and an additional meeting in between. Think the endless hours of meetings have something to do with the spending being out of control – of course it does! […]
By: Diane Benjamin I asked Jim Karch to explain how much will be in the budget for roads. This is his response: (click to enlarge) Roads are Not a priority! This is what it looks like when politicians lie to you to win elections. Your Motor Fuel Tax will be raised 4/23 to add a […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember former Bloomington Alderman Rob Fazzini? You might remember him from his attempt to create Super Aldermen who represent the whole City, or you might remember his plan to turn the garbage into jet fuel, or maybe his statement that gas taxes don’t necessarily raise the price of gas. Since I heard […]
It looks like WJBC is going to hide the Tari interview, it isn’t posted. By: Diane Benjamin Tari again forgot he changed the rules for his “Open Houses” on WJBC this morning. Evidently Scott Laughlin forgot too. Funny how the City website still says you have to make an appointment: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/7500/17?backlist=%2fHome%2fComponents%2fNews%2fNews%2f4327%2f18%3fbacklist%3d%252F Did you know […]
By: Diane Benjamin It looks like the Pantagraph is now allowing Tari to write about himself, from March 23rd: http://www.pantagraph.com/special-section/bloomington-a-leader-in-open-government-communication/article_6376ee0b-1adf-58cd-ab19-55d71d5eccfd.html#tncms-source=infinity-scroll-summary-siderail-latest I wonder what section they ran this in? The article/editorial has some problems. Tari must have forgotten he changed the rules for his “Open Houses”. They aren’t open, citizens have to make an appointment. The […]
By: Diane Benjamin Questions for the Council: Last November you held a retreat. EVERY program the City is forcing people to pay for was presented. See PDF page 34 and following: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=14932 There are 15 pages of programs ranked from HIGH priority to Low priority. It looks like cutting programs died the day they were […]
By: Diane Benjamin Source for below: https://blnnews.com/2017/03/11/the-budget-workshop-that-wasnt/ Tari Renner is the problem: Tari was elected in 2013. That budget was already done. The Renner exploding budgets started in 2014. 2018 is the budget currently in place. Bloomington shows NO sign of understanding the local economy is declining. They are planning to keep spending and fleecing. […]
By: Diane Benjamin All day with no Internet! It’s finally back. 1) The link below is a Letter to the Editor written by Jim Simeone: http://www.pantagraph.com/opinion/letters/we-must-vote-and-then-move-on/article_ce3cb8dc-b6e8-5a4d-b335-da1b262df3e6.html The letter attempts to counter the letter written by Guy Fraker titled Renner’s Actions are Disgraceful: https://blnnews.com/2018/02/17/if-you-dont-get-the-paper/ The letter fails miserably at defending Renner, it mostly claims his antics […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City wants you to believe they can control only 5% of the budget. State mandates were heavily blamed. The budget discussion starts around 1:28. Not blamed was the cost of employees, the cost of their lavish benefits, and pension spiking. This Council made it worse when they hired two more employees […]
By: Diane Benjamin Occasionally something is worth reading in the paper, especially what they don’t write. A Letter to the Editor yesterday is one of those! The letter was written by Ruth Ann and Guy Fraker. Guy practiced law in Bloomington and wrote books about Abraham Lincoln. Ruth Ann was Supervisor of the Bloomington Township […]
By: Diane Benjamin Did the Pantagraph chastise Tari Renner when he attacked Judy Stearns with a WRITTEN prepared statement in 2014? I sure don’t remember it. This video is up to 11,150 views: If the Pantagraph has cared in 2014 maybe this clown wouldn’t be mayor now. The Editorial staff must finally be at least […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington will NEVER have enough of your money. Complete control of the local economy means your money is theirs and they are free to take it at will. Monday night they will discuss taking more for their vision. http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15904 Want your roads fixed? Even though Tari Renner and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner is desperate to score political points that have nothing to do with welcoming immigrants. He is pandering to his base and Karen Schmidt is standing in his way. Illegal immigrants are just pawns in this game. Radicals think they can “progress” their fundamental transformation of America and use illegals to beat […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s going to take multiple stories to cover last night. This is #2. (#1 https://blnnews.com/2018/02/13/when-it-happens-to-you/) Tari has a protester at City Hall this morning, it’s not the first time he’s been there, this is just the first time I got a pic. He is a disabled army ranger: ___________________________ Last night the City […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council didn’t care when Tari attacked Judy Stearns over and over. They barely cared when Tari attacked numerous citizens, including me. It’s a different story when Tari attacks the Council! At the end of last night’s meeting Tari commented he was upset the five alderman sent their demand to […]
By: Diane Benjamin The video below is from 2014. I have NO idea why it has gotten close to 8000 views in the last month. Maybe Tari will be the next internet sensation. This is the video of him attacking Judy Stearns for doing the unforgivable – proposing cuts. His speech prior to the attack […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is the latest response to my FOIA request for the status of the Tari Renner PCard use investigation: . . . . .
By: Diane Benjamin On January 23rd WGLT had an intriguing story. I was hoping some other media cared or WGLT would do a followup because it left too many questions unanswered. See the story here: http://wglt.org/post/emails-prosecutors-declined-citys-request-closed-session-coliseum-case According to the story, WGLT got their hands on some emails between Bloomington attorney Jeff Jurgens and the State’s Attorney office. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember that joint meeting of the Council, Library Board, and Connect Transit that 5 members of the Bloomington City Council voted not to hold? Remember Tari called a special meeting anyway? Remember how he claimed his Downtown Task Force worked for months and had a right to be heard? Remember the editorial […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington and Normal are the only cities doing their own garbage pickup in the area. According to the Pantagraph, Normal did their own investigation of rates. They declared NO money could be saved by privatizing garbage pickup. See the chart here: http://www.pantagraph.com/graphic-waste-collection-fees-services/pdf_a5d93a81-e7db-537c-b830-c5fafd8a34bc.html The Pantagraph must not have noticed some of those other cities […]
By: Diane Benjamin On January 19th I reported three payments of $1,600 to the Blooming-Normal Economic Development Council: https://blnnews.com/2018/01/19/mondays-bills-foias-filed/ The three payments are for Tari Renner, Scott Black, and Steve Rasmussen to go on the One Voice trip to Washington DC: https://www.bnbiz.org/programs/one-voice/ The County and the Town of Normal will probably also be […]
By: Diane Benjamin At last Monday’s Council meeting Tari announced the “Welcoming Ordinance” is coming back in February. Tari must not have noticed the Democrats LOST the shutdown battle because citizens saw them standing with people not legally here instead of them. Since he is a slow learner, he wants to try the same thing. He’s […]
By: Diane Benjamin Saturday the Pantagraph cried in an editorial wanting to be relevant. Today they printed the City talking points. They don’t understand that regurgitating what government buddies want you to say doesn’t drive people to read! See: http://www.pantagraph.com/opinion/columnists/bechtel-daily-newspapers-worth-the-price/article_a10766c7-c709-5c81-b62f-519f8800ec01.html http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/government-and-politics/city-staff-to-give-council-options-for-m-deficit/article_5e8cdbfc-3bf5-508b-9d97-f0307f5331e2.html The packet for tonight has very little information on the new budget – See […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s David Hales fault! That is John Butler’s claim to justify the missing bucks. I blame David Hales too, and the Council, and the Mayor who all shut their eyes and pretended nothing nefarious was happening with taxpayer money. The joint was audited! Except concessions never were. Johnny Butler made sure of […]
