By: Diane Benjamin Capitalism has lifted millions of people around the globe out of poverty. It’s the perfect formula for success: I have a widget that you want. You give me something of value for the widget. Both of us are happy. With the Internet, exchanging things of value is possible across the globe. If […]
By: Diane Benjamin We wouldn’t be talking about bike lanes on busy streets if Bike Blono wasn’t pushing for them. Bike Blono members voted for and helped elect Tari Renner because he supports their agenda of promoting the use of bikes for all transportation. (Beats fixing the roads!) That brings me to the Planning Commission […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner and Chris Koos are lounging around Miami this weekend at your expense. Smart organizers would have held the twice a year US Conference of Mayors in Miami in the winter, but these are government people. I wonder if we will see photos of them on the beach? (eek!) All last […]
By: Diane Benjamin Only a tiny group of citizens want bike lanes. Tari Renner ran for office twice pledging to fix the roads. He obviously isn’t as serious as the people with damaged vehicles are. This is from 2015: http://www.cityblm.org/government/departments/public-works/streets-sidewalks/street-resurfacing The table shows how much money per year is required just to have TERRIBLE STREETS. […]
Update: The lady in the video reported Amelia stated her family won’t be using the bike lanes – too dangerous! She is supporting the plan because Bike Blono wants it. By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday I attended Renner’s Open House for the first time. I don’t attend because I already know what answers are going […]
By: Diane Benjamin I wonder when Renner is going to take his comedy show on the road! Source: http://www.pantagraph.com/business/local/expert-communication-diversity-key-for-economic-development/article_145290bf-c5c5-50cd-9536-8b1b4c6e34bc.html Renner’s comments don’t deserve any respect. We know transparency is much less since Tari became mayor. We know anyone who challenges his beliefs are his enemy. (“Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”) […]
By: Diane Benjamin Follow-up to this story: https://blnnews.com/2017/06/02/b-n-is-getting-the-delphi-treatment/ (It won’t be the only one!) The Bloomington Normal Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) is trying to get out of complying with the Open Meetings Act. What does the Open Meetings Act say? OMA applies to all “public bodies”: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=84&ChapterID=2 I’d love to know what grounds they […]
Evidently WJBC isn’t doing podcasts today – no Karch interview available. By: Diane Benjamin Kevin Lower ran for mayor on fixing the streets. Tari did too but, but unlike Lower – Tari wasn’t telling you the truth. This morning, Public Works director Jim Karch was on WJBC. The ONLY money Bloomington is spending on streets […]
Today I got this response: Obviously there is no reason why this lame response couldn’t have been given within the 5 days allowed by law. The Grove information came from this document dated February 2015: http://www.cityblm.org/home/showdocument?id=12052 Since many more houses have been built at the Grove since 2015 – Tari is relying on old information. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Kimberly Bray was just elected to represent the 9th Ward. Rumor has it she has never voted in a local election before this one. (If she did – she could easily prove it!) Rumor also has it that Joni Painter and Tari Renner recruited her to run. She obviously doesn’t read BlnNews […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner on WJBC this morning: https://audioboom.com/posts/5905103-tari-renner-bloomington-mayor-5-10-17?t=0 Listen to his opening statement declaring how transparent the City is! Bull Tari. The results of Council meetings are pre-determined, FOIA requests are routinely denied, City Manager reports with usable information no longer exist, and suddenly the City MUST spend $60,000+ a month on legal […]
By: Diane Benjamin Jeff Jurgens needs to take his show on the road. The City of Bloomington has BOUGHT the Springfield law firm now, so any opinions he offers are obviously going to be the answer the City wants to hear. Keep in mind the City sends Sorling Northup Hanna around $60,000 every month. A […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight’s Bloomington Council packet contains this statement on PDF page 4: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=12802 Now jump to the Bills and Payroll for tonight: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=12794 PDF page 107 The City if THROWING away money by allowing employees to spike their pensions! This payment of $64,859.95 brings the total to $1,877,252.40 since the law was changed in […]
By: Diane Benjamin This isn’t the first time and I’m sure it won’t be the last for the City of Bloomington employees to not care about the law. Lavish salary and benefits frequently make people think they aren’t answerable to the people who make both happen. Bloomington employees feel entitled to secrecy and therefore do […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is what the YWCA sent to elected officials. They left out the word “illegal” when describing the real agenda. Americans do not have a problem with LEGAL immigrants. Sneaking into a country or over-staying a visa means that person has no respect for laws or citizens. They are thinking only about […]
By: Diane Benjamin Do laws matter in Bloomington and Normal? If the Bloomington and Normal Councils pass a “welcome” ordinance for illegal aliens (immigrants) they are violating federal law. When we had a President who didn’t care about law for 8 years and the federal government has failed in their responsibility to protect our borders […]
By: Diane Benjamin I sent this FOIA request to the City of Bloomington on March 27th: I am requesting the following information under the Freedom of Information Act: The following documents have disappeared from the website. They consist of Agendas and Packets: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=11528 10/24/16 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=11527 10/24/16 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=11529 10/24/16 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=11530 10/24/16 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=11477 10/17/16 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=11476 10/17/16 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=11443 […]
4/17/2017 The medical emergency was my husband. I’m assuming you read my note from last week: https://blnnews.com/2017/04/15/readers-2/ Andy had an extremely serious neurological event last Friday. A very long recovery is in his future, his condition has barely begun to improve. Since there is very little I can do for him right now, I will […]
By: Diane Benjamin Go ahead and pretend you have a mandate. 4644 people voted AGAINST Tari Renner Jamie Mathy only won by 319 votes, more than that voted against him. Close to half the people in Ward 3 voted AGAINST Mboka Mwilambwe Joni Painter only won by 97 votes The guy ineligible to serve from […]
By: Diane Benjamin One thing I’ve learned is Republicans never do what they say they will do in a campaign while Democrats lie over and over and over trying to get you to believe what they say. Just watch them for a while, you will notice it too. (Think: If you like your doctor . […]
By: Diane Benjamin I will be on Cities 92.9 today at 3:30 with Ben Yount to discuss the future of BlnNews. Now for last night’s Bloomington City Council meeting: Bring in the CLOWNS! Oops, they were already there! Starting at 1:05, and ending 45 minutes later, the Council droned on about spending $300,000 at The […]
By: Diane Benjamin All the City of Bloomington had to do to prevent paying the penalties below was change when accumulated sick and vacation got paid to employees. David Hales, Steve Stockton, and Tari Renner refused to change their policies, so the below was paid as a penalty. These employees were allowed to spike their […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari’s campaign speech is probably memorized by everybody now. Repeat things often enough some people might believe them. No, transparency doesn’t exist at City Hall. I dare anybody to file a FOIA request and actually get the information they filed for. The windows are NOT “wide open” as Tari claims. Here is […]
By: Diane Benjamin For months Tari Renner supporters have attacked Kevin Lower and me with vile tweets and posts on Facebook. They claim they aren’t doing anything in support of Tari Renner. This comment left on my site proves they are lying: I doubt the media will report the facts, but how depraved do Tari […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unlike the Chamber of Commerce who cancelled their interview with Kevin Lower (according to Kevin), the Pantagraph got their Editorial Board together to listen to both Renner and Lower. It was all for show. http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/government-and-politics/renner-lower-spar-over-street-resurfacing/article_207506eb-1e52-5c45-a670-1b129fb76763.html The Pantagraph will endorse Tari Renner because they are progressives (Big government is great!) folks, just like […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday Marc Tiritilli was interviewed on WJBC: https://audioboom.com/posts/5751341-marc-tiritilli-candidate-for-normal-mayor-3-27-17 Listen to the next mayor of Normal. Besides the massive debt, the Portillos debacle and Koos’s stand against allowing the public to speak freely is enough to throw him out of office. Tonight: The final debate between Tari Renner and Kevin Lower. ISU’s University […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this story from yesterday: Why City Councils Don’t Listen After writing more than 4000 stories, I had forgotten I wrote about the Julie Crowe case when she won the lawsuit: Julie Crowe Defeats the City of Bloomington That story contains a link to the original Council vote denying her the Vehicle-For-Hire […]
By: Diane Benjamin See PDF page 85 and following: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=12448 These minutes have been missing January 2, 2002 when Tari Renner presented his polling results on the Arena to the City Council. Excerpts: Here is who was on the Council at the time: See more Coliseum discussion minutes PDF page 93 August 20, 2001. Obviously […]
By: Diane Benjamin First: A question: How can Tari campaign on increasing diversity on the Boards and Commissions when for the 2nd meeting in a row he is re-appointing the same people? http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=12448 Monday night the current Bloomington City Council is being asked to approved ancient minutes from when most of them were not members […]
By: Diane Benjamin I need at least 5 volunteers for a special project on April 2nd. Time is flexible. It involves a lot of walking and possibly a driver or two. Email me if you want to help dump Tari Renner: blnnews@yahoo.com Kevin Lower wants volunteers to walk for him on April 1st. Contact […]
Were these minutes ever approved by the Council? By: Diane Benjamin On February 20, 2015, the Bloomington City Council held a special meeting to CENSURE Tari Renner for his vile comments made on this site. The minutes have been missing ever since, a Freedom of Information Request had to be sent to obtain them. Luckily, […]
By: Diane Benjamin The local press needs to decide if they are media or propaganda machines for Tari Renner. The people behind the Facebook page attacking Kevin Lower are Renner supporters. This is a tweet from one of them proving the connection to Renner: Justin Boyd is Renner’s campaign chairman. The vile people behind the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner LIED to me the first time I met him. I knew he had been a speaker at “Camp Obama” in Normal, so I asked him about it. He told me he was asked to tell the attendees what happens during the Iowa Caucuses. Considering contrary information was on-line, I knew […]
I found this while looking for something else and just had to add it: By: Diane Benjamin Why a “legitimate” news agency would follow the loathsome people behind “Citizens Deserve better Than Kevin Lower” is beyond comprehension. These are the same people who accused the Bloomington police of harassing them at a local park […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unemployment numbers for January 2017 are now available on the Illinois Department of Employment Security website: http://www.ides.illinois.gov/LMI/Pages/Current_Monthly_Unemployment_Rates.aspx Unemployment is on the way up in Bloomington-Normal. The first column is Jan-17 – then Dec-16 the Jan-16. Of course the closing of Mitsubishi has hurt the local economy, but local governments still hasn’t figured […]
By: Diane Benjamin Cities 92.9 held a debate last night between mayoral candidates Kevin Lower and Tari Renner. Listen to it HERE The picture below is the back side of a mailer sent by Tari Renner. I’ve been holding it for a couple of days because I knew he would use these talking points during […]
By: Diane Benjamin Thanks to Steve Vogel who today mentioned in his weekly column that Bloomington is in a recession. Moody’s Analytics reported that in January (and so did I), but the media has been ignoring it. Anyone who attended the Bloomington “Budget Workshop” today would have seen Bloomington is also ignoring that fact. If […]
By: Diane Benjamin See the Council agenda for Monday night here: http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=12388 In case he loses the election, Tari is making sure all the Boards and Commissions are stacked with his people. (He may not realize a few of those aren’t – but I’m not going to tell him which ones) Everything he has planned […]
By: Diane Benjamin Stories about millennials NOT wanting to live downtown have been circulating on the Internet since 2015. The PLANNERS were wrong. Tari can’t be happy. I wonder if his weekly meetings with the City reporter will be cancelled! Tari’s theory of downtown being Bloomington’s future just took a blow. He can build a […]
By: Diane Benjamin Cuts could be easy, but nobody at the City wants to cut! It is impossible to suggest specific budget cuts for Bloomington because the data isn’t available. The City issued hundreds of pages saying where the money is being spent without any details. Was there a line item last year for the […]
