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 […]
By: Diane Benjamin The contemporary term false flag describes covert operations that are designed to deceive in such a way that activities appear as though they are being carried out by individual entities, groups, or nations other than those who actually planned and executed them. This statement perfectly describes the meeting Tuesday night held by […]
See the cost in this story: https://blnnews.com/2018/01/17/the-cost-of-bloomingtons-recycle-failure/ __________________________________ By: Diane Benjamin I received a tip months ago about the City of Bloomington illegally dumping contaminated dirt, concrete, and other materials they dig up from water main breaks at Lake Bloomington. I did a FOIA request with the IEPA for documents, I received 14. Since this was […]
By: Diane Benjamin I just got back from seeing All the Queen’s Horses at the Normal Theater. It’s the story of the $53.7 million theft by a City employee in Dixon Il. The movie is fabulous, you have one more chance to see it tomorrow night at 7:00. Buy tickets on-line, the theater was close […]
I reported on December 28th State Farm was leaving downtown! Nice to see SF finally admitted it. https://blnnews.com/2017/12/28/state-farm-is-leaving-downtown/ By: Diane Benjamin Mayor Renner appeared on WJBC yesterday – hear him HERE Couple of notes: He called a special meeting for next Tuesday because he thinks the people who volunteered to be on his downtown task force […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve been reading a TON of media stories from before and after the Bloomington City Council voted to build the Coliseum. Judy Markowitz didn’t care what people thought. She was going to build it and nothing was going to stop her. She really believed she was saving downtown. Mike Matejka and former […]
By: Diane Benjamin The McLean County Chamber of Commerce is the poster child for insider payoffs. They have their own Political Action Committee to aggressively get the candidates elected they want. The candidates they want elected are the big spenders, therefore the Chamber is the ENEMY of taxpayers. The 2018 Bloomington Budget shows why they […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.cityblm.org/home/showdocument?id=15344 This statement is in a letter to Mayor Renner delivering the completed financial statements as of April 30, 2017: The letter is signed by David Hales and Patti-Lynn Silva. Director of Finance. Since Hales is gone, Patti-Lynn needs to explain why the financial statements weren’t released until December – 8 months […]
By: Diane Benjamin I filed this FOIA request with the Illinois State Police on December 5th: I received this response today: Justice delayed is justice denied! The investigation has been going on since August. Is this why Tari is pandering to his supporters and trying to cram as much through the Council as possible? […]
By: Diane Benjamin Monday night is when the “Welcoming Ordinance will be discussed – 5:00pm at the BCPA. Renner will claim the “moral authority” because he cares about all people, not just legal citizens. Anybody who disagrees will at some point be called a racists, homophobic, and sexist and accused of not caring about other […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington does not act in the best interests of the citizens paying the bills. They act in the best interest of whatever votes can be bought, especially employees. The City will not be ending pension spiking any time soon because Tari doesn’t want to. In 2012 they ended the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Freedom of Information lawsuits are very easy to win. Documents belong to the people, not government. When government refuses to hand over complete information without explanation, they lose every time. The “extremely transparent” City of Bloomington is not producing the information I requested. This FOIA request clearly shows TIF dollars are nothing […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari pretended he didn’t know what language was missing from the oath of office he took May 1st. Funny since he supposedly took the correct vote before Monday’s meetings. Did he not understand why he was given a new oath, or maybe he didn’t take it? Nice try Mayor. Just hit Play! […]
By: Diane Benjamin On May 1st when the newly elected Council members were sworn into office the City threw a party. It didn’t matter the oath they took was illegal. I received this email this morning from the City Attorney: Yes, I told him I want copies of the new oaths WITHOUT the signatures redacted! […]
By: Diane Benjamin I received a tip that Tari Renner was under a non-disclosure agreement on the deal he revealed during his Town Hall meeting earlier this week. Renner proclaimed City leaders and the Economic Development Council are talking to a prosthetic limbs manufacturer about a factory here. He also mentioned the jobs would pay […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when Tari Renner verbally attacked Judy Stearns at a City Council meeting? What the citizens of Bloomington need to hear again are Tari’s pre-attack comments. He claims local politics is not about ideology and philosophy. Local government is about “Protecting citizens and delivering services to them at a reasonable cost”. […]
By: Diane Benjamin I thought I had read in the Municipal Code that oaths of office for local elected officials weren’t defined. This morning I found this: SOURCE The elected officials from the April election did NOT take this oath. https://blnnews.com/2017/12/06/two-foia-fails-in-two-weeks/ Those people are Tari Renner, Jamie Mathy, Mboka Mwilambwe, Joni Painter, Scott Black, and Kimberly Bray. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner has been seen shuffling the Public Comment cards at past meetings, likely resulting in “his” people being allowed to speak first. The last time the “welcoming ordinance” crowd showed up to pressure the Council, the majority of the speakers were for the ordinance. One lady had a problem with the […]
By: Diane Benjamin I almost feel sorry for Tari. Citizens who disagree with actions of the City and Tari were pretty furious last night. I’m sure by the end Tari was ready for it to be over. I expect his next event to be stacked with a lot more supporters. Schedule: 12/12 – 5:30 – […]
By: Diane Benjamin Almost every FOIA I file gets extended. The law says they have to comply within 5 business days, but they can request a 5 day extension. When 10 business days are given, it should be enough time to get it right. Eventually it isn’t. On November 20th I made this request: I […]
The below is from the website of one of the groups supporting a “Welcoming Ordinance”. Click this link to see the rest of the website: http://www.illinoispeoplesaction.org/welcoming-cities.html (Click to enlarge) This is an old picture from my archives: . . . .
By: Diane Benjamin Not In Our Town didn’t care when the mayor of Bloomington abused numerous citizens with vile comments. They didn’t care when he attacked an elected alderman. He used his position to intimidate people with different opinions. How is that any different than Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, and Harvey Weinstein? Because sex isn’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’m sure you’ve heard Tari has 3 Town Hall meetings scheduled for December. The only questions now are: How many police will be at each event to protect him? How many of “his” people will attend to applaud his every word? Will anybody be able to have opinions other than his? Will […]
By: Diane Benjamin With all the heat Tari Renner has been feeling now for months, was last night’s packed chamber wanting a “Welcoming Ordinance” his way to get some love? Or was it a way to divide people based on ideology? Is the real goal to unravel the threads of a civilized society by turning […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15356 PDF page 147 Bloomington sealed its own fate last April. When the people elected believe they can create economic growth by stealing your money, the future is bleak. Essential services aren’t funded because things like fixing roads aren’t sexy. Building a legacy is. Tari Renner lost his self-defined economic development role […]
By: Diane Benjamin The newspaper is reporting CIAM (of 111 felony counts fame) is suing the City for commissions they are owed. . . . . . . . . . Sorry, I couldn’t help it. Maybe the City could counter sue them to recover the costs of the auditors trying to figure out […]
By: Diane Benjamin Angela Scott continues to speak the truth the City doesn’t want to hear. Note to Chief Heffner: speaking truth isn’t a physical threat, people noticed. If you want to know what that last statement means, attend the next Council meeting and observe. Just hit play below to hear Angela. Fast forward to […]
By: Diane Benjamin According to Kyle Ham (Economic Development Council) at last night’s Bloomington Council meeting: McLean County lost 2000 jobs between 2015 and 2016 K-12 schools are down 1100 students in the last 5 years which affects aid from the State New housing starts are down 56% from 2000 to today 8 out of […]
By: Diane Benjamin At last Monday’s Bloomington City Council meeting, David Sage was adamant that an agenda item signed by 6 Council members be on this Monday’s Committee of the Whole agenda. Tari Renner attempted to stall, but it is on the agenda: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15300 Instead of bringing it up Monday, it has played out in […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve received several reports from citizens about State Farm leaving their building in downtown Bloomington. One person just commented they are in the process of moving out the last group now. When did the evacuation start? Why isn’t that public knowledge? Did the Bloomington City Council know? Is the City of Bloomington […]
By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington claims no calls exist! Evidently an officer took it upon himself to show up at the City Council retreat at The Den just for fun. The report I received showed he stayed for an hour. That’s an hour he wasn’t out patrolling or doing other work. Bloomington wants […]
By: Diane Benjamin One more recap from Monday’s City Council meeting: VenuWorks recapped what they wanted to bring to the BCPA, including saving an estimated $200,000 a year in operations. VenuWorks has access to an email list of 409,000 people in Central Illinois to help promote shows VenuWorks has plans for new revenue including concessions […]
By: Diane Benjamin During alderman comments at the end of last night’s Bloomington City Council meeting, Alderman Sage inquired about a request he submitted to put something on the agenda. 5 other alderman signed the request with him. As the conversation progressed Sage became more emphatic, Renner attempted to dismiss his request. Sage demanded a […]
By: Diane Benjamin TIF districts are like Greek to most citizens. If you don’t understand them, government will continue to redistribute money and call it Economic Development. TIF’s made easy: Government sets a Tax Increment Finance area. All government bodies in the area have to agree to forgo tax increases due to increasing property values. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The second session of the retreat was 3 hours and 33 minutes. I DID NOT LISTEN TO EVERY SECOND! I jumped around and listened to more than half. It was obvious Quality of Life is not going to be in proposed cuts. The discussion involved real spending for the first time in […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tax receipts are flat. The City of Bloomington is facing more “structural deficits” they created. What to do, what to do? Let’s hold a retreat Saturday at the Den where it can’t be video taped! The citizens have no right to know we are going to raise property taxes: Packet PDF page […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve written before about the City spending resources to prosecute employees when arbitration reaches a different conclusion than the one the City wants. Remember Scott Oglesby? https://blnnews.com/2013/05/06/the-real-story-of-scott-oglesbys-firing/ Now they are doing it again. This time it’s a fireman, Jon Caponi, who was arrested in 2016 for domestic violence. See the newspaper story […]
By: Diane Benjamin Nobody checked into why David Hales left Bend Oregon after only 2 years and all the records were sealed. See this story: https://blnnews.com/2013/09/17/who-is-city-manager-david-hales/ Obviously nobody in Joliet did any independent research of David Hales either since the Council had no idea 5 people were charged with 111 felony counts while he was in […]
By: Diane Benjamin When the last Downtown Bloomington TIF ended, I hear David Bentley wasn’t happy with the money he got to rehab the CII East Building. He sued the City in 2014. See the 2014 TIF report here: ftp://ftp.illinoiscomptroller.com/LocGovTIF/FY2014/06402530/14TIF06402530Dwtwn_Cendistrict.pdf Since the TIF was pretty much over, expenses for legal fees were all that is […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner is a master at campaigning, it’s the governing part the citizens have a problem with. When he ran for reelection he repeated the same talking points over and over and never varied from the script. Truth didn’t matter, only the talking points. The uniformed fell for it. The first time […]
