By: Diane Benjamin http://bloomingtonil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1134&Inline=True The 2.5% raise is on the Consent Agenda which means nobody will talk about it unless it gets pulled: Tim Gleason’s new salary isn’t reported unless you go to the ordinance to be approved: One more change: Instead of receiving the $550 a month car allowance, the City will be paying […]
By: Diane Benjamin This item is on the Omnibus Agenda. In case you forgot, those items are routine and don’t need to be discussed unless a Trustee pulls one. Since Stan Nord was elected the Council does pull items, mostly not to object, but more to praise staff for the great job putting it together. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Taxing Tari has mentioned more than once that Tim Gleason has some “creative financing” ideas. This morning I think I figured out their game – at least part of it. We know they want to double the gas tax. We also know the entire amount raised won’t be spent on roads – […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is from a website that helps “home flippers” find good markets. https://www.housingalerts.com/blog/market-report/104-declining-markets-quarterly/? It has a list of the top 104 markets in the country with ONE quarter declining values. They suggest multiplying the percent by 4 to estimate the yearly decline. This is a nationwide list with way too many Illinois cities! […]
Bloomington City Council Members: At this point, I have to trust that during the search and decision process for a new City Manager, you all garnered significantly more knowledge and capability, than any single citizen has, linked to selecting the best candidate for City Manager. At this point your constituents can only hope that the future provides […]
By: Diane Benjamin The local paper has an editorial declaring the new City Manager the right guy because Decatur re-did their downtown. They think Normal did, so there is no reason Bloomington can’t. They forgot Normal was in ZERO debt before they spent around $100,000,000 on Uptown. (Is that restaurant space on the Circle still […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight Bloomington is holding a special meeting to talk about TIF’s. Again, they believe they can create prosperity with the “Right Fit”. Here’s the article they need to read: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/6/18/running-government-as-a-business Excerpts: If you’ve been here with Strong Towns for any amount of time, you know the suggestion that, “the object of a […]
Note: The search firm used by Bloomington, GovHR, also found David Hales for Joliet. They neglected to tell the Joliet Council about the pending Coliseum prosecutions that happened under Hales’ watch. What are they not telling Bloomington about the two candidates they presented? _____________________________________________________________________ A quick review: Citizens were given the opportunity to meet the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tim Gleason has only been Decatur’s City Manager since March of 2015. In May of 2017 Gleason fired the Decatur Police Chief Sweeney. Sweeney sued the City for wrongful termination. After lots of legal expense, the Chief was allowed to retire instead of being fired and he received $60,000 is Sick Leave Pay. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday a Meet and Greet was held for the three remaining Bloomington City Manager candidates. The paper failed to report a crowd was expected but didn’t show up. The below is from reports by two people who did attend. Citizens can vote for their choice at a link below. People who did […]
