By: Diane Benjamin Normal has a long history of doing things for friends that us common folk would never get. Think of all the below market leases and cheap rent. One of their friends, Destihl, wanted to sell packaged liquor. They are mentioned by name in an email from Pam Reece: It gets worse – […]
By: Diane Benjamin See the budget session documentation in this story: https://blnnews.com/2020/01/28/normal-expect-property-tax-increases-to-continue/ PDF page 100 – Administration Accomplishments: (Is the new Director of Innovation and Technology the reason video of meetings has failed THREE times. The video of this budget session still has no sound for half of it. What are they hiding?) Here’s why […]
By: Diane Benjamin Just because MANY units of government think they have to right to fork over your money to employees for Christmas that doesn’t mean it’s legal. This time I will steal some quotes from a story the Edgar County Watchdogs just posted: https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com-10000-Christmas-Bonus-Lists-Paid-With-Public-Funds Excerpt: As we have previously noted, Christmas Bonuses for public […]
By: Diane Benjamin The chart below is from the documents the Normal Town Council used for the Budget Session held on January 16, 2020. Normal 1-16-2020 budget session PDF page 70: Town staff already decided you have to pay more! Note: I haven’t heard anything about the Social Security rate going up, the only way […]
By: Diane Benjamin Pam Reece claims Stan Nord’s W. College property is near housing, therefore the Town has a right to tell him what he can do with it. Actually Pam, it’s across a FOUR lane interstate: The property around it isn’t developed. Does the Town want at $1.75 billion corporation coming to town or […]
By: Diane Benjamin What relationship should exist between government and media? We know WGLT employee RC McBride was on the Normal Town Council until he was defeated last April. We know WGLT employee Mike McCurdy is the chair of the Connect Transit Board and appointed by the Town of Normal. Does WGLT ever do any […]
By: Diane Benjamin More from the Workbook the Council used for their 2-day meeting. This meeting is posted on the website every year as required by the Open Meetings Act, but if citizens didn’t look for it they would never know it was open to the public. It is also always held during the week […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal has 136 retired employees collecting a pension. The information below is from OpenTheBooks.com https://www.openthebooks.com/Pension/TownNormal At Monday’s Council meeting Karyn Smith asked the Finance Director how much employees contribute. Police and Fire contribute between 9.8 and 9.9%. Other employees contribute 4.5%. All will also receive Social Security. See the video at […]
A little of what Craig Stimpert and Ron Ulmer said at public comment is on this WHOI news report: https://hoiabc.com/news/town-of-normal-opts-to-keep-property-taxes-about-the-same-cutting-budget-instead By: Diane Benjamin Since there is no video of Public Comment from Monday’s Council meeting, there is no permanent record of what was said. Stan Nord left this comment this morning: In case the above […]
By: Diane Benjamin This WGLT article is pretty accurate in describing the contentious all day Council meeting Friday. https://www.wglt.org/Normal-Town-Council-Works-Through-Trust-Issues-Contentious-Retreat The bottom line is the elites on the Council don’t appreciate Stan Nord and Karyn Smith actually doing what they campaigned to do! (sound familiar?) Isn’t that what voters expect politicians to do? (How many actually […]
By: Diane Benjamin If Illinois had a competent Attorney General a ruling against Normal for their public comment policy would have been written many months ago. (the law requires them to rule within 90 days) We don’t, so Normal continues to stifle citizen speech only because they can. A complaint was filed with the AG […]
By: Diane Benjamin One way Normal has tried to justify problems is to state they had to decrease staff a few years ago. Is that true? Not according to what the Town sent to the Illinois Comptroller’s office: The warehouse This site was created years ago for citizens. The format is easier to understand than […]
By: Diane Benjamin Pam Reece can’t understand why Stan Nord is questioning the actions of past Councils. If Pam can’t understand why Stan was elected, she had an opportunity handed to her: Stan has raised questions about a number of issues. Some of them included Town owned properties being leased for much less than market […]
By: Diane Benjamin On September 12, 2001 we were all Americans. American flags lined neighborhoods. For one day we were a united country. It didn’t last. The citizens of Normal sponsored the Racial Equity Summit held yesterday and today: Why are some minorities wildly successful and some aren’t? Maybe they didn’t “stand idly” waiting for […]
Email received by FOIA: By: Diane Benjamin This ad was posted on September 19th in AppVault: . The Town of Normal is looking for a Communications & Community Relations Director! . The ideal candidate will be capable of translating these values into a robust communication program that supports the strategic plan of the Town of […]
By: Diane Benjamin This story should explain why Tari Renner despises Clarence Thomas. https://blnnews.com/2019/05/25/tari-renner-clarence-thomas-doesnt-act-afro-american/ Thomas is black and successful. Clarence proves being born poor and black in America does not mean you are doomed for life. The same applies to Ben Carson and many other minorities who are living the American Dream because they worked […]
By: Diane Benjamin One more thing happened at Monday’s Normal Town Council meeting that you need to see. First, some background. Both Bloomington and Normal have decided in recent years to write minutes that don’t reflect exactly what happens at meetings. If citizens want to research something that happened a year ago and don’t know […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve heard from numerous sources State Farm is not done downsizing their workforce. If local governments don’t tighten their belts, the flight of residents will do it for them. These numbers were complied from what Normal reported to the Comptroller’s office: Source: Normal – Warehouse Note the number of employees. Remember […]
By: Diane Benjamin See Part 1 here: https://blnnews.com/2019/09/15/part-1-why-chemberly-isnt-fit-to-serve/ This article will explain why Chemberly should not be in any elected office deciding how to spend taxpayer money. Lots of people find themselves in difficult spots, what matters is digging yourself out. The only way to do that is cut-cut-cut expenses and/or increase income. Cummings chose […]
By: Diane Benjamin Sometimes I see an email that so so well written and sums up perfectly what a lot of people think, I have to post it. This was received by FOIA – I redacted the writer’s name. Friday at 5:01 pm Chemberly claims to be making a big announcement. I think I will […]
Update: https://blnnews.com/2019/08/13/assessor-response-received/ By: Diane Benjamin Evidently the Town of Normal does. This property is at 1217 Adelaide: The Town of Normal bought it in 2015 and has been paying property taxes on it ever since. The property should be EXEMPT – not rocket science! So far the Town has wasted: Pam Reece knows and has […]
Since a couple readers questioned this post, how about this: There are 318 people on the list. With benefits the total compensation is $35,905,792 $35,905,792 / 318 = $112,911 per person. Happy now? By: Diane Benjamin According to City Manager Pam Reece at the last meeting, the financial statements for the year ending March 31, […]
By: Diane Benjamin The WGLT story about last night’s Normal Town Council meeting doesn’t mention RC McBride voted for the water rate increase: http://www.wglt.org/post/water-fee-increase-solar-group-buy-making-repeat-appearances-normal Readers are left to surmise he did. This one is worse: I reported this story back on February 28: https://blnnews.com/2019/02/28/ag-investigating-town-of-normal-again/ WJBC reported it on March 4: http://www.wjbc.com/2019/03/04/normal-mayor-probed-for-alleged-open-meetings-act-violations/?fbclid=IwAR0mVvQsAVBRPrRVSWllpx_YPGc2YvMk0iHXYXWS0AWvxrBG0FXLxYbmvCg The […]
By: Diane Benjamin (I’m not having a good day and tomorrow won’t be any better!) Water Rate documentation for tonight: PDF page 72: http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3230 Back when Normal wasn’t afraid of transparency, they posted the history of rates citizens pay for essential services. Luckily, I copied them: https://blnnews.com/2012/05/30/normal-il-what-is-up-with-the-debt/ Water rates in 2009 were: $4.95 per 1000 […]
BY;; Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal continues to have an illegal public comment policy. Normal was forced to change the policy in 2017 when the Attorney General told them they can not have a policy that allows a citizen to only speak every 45 days. Instead of slapping the Town’s entire policy into oblivion, […]
By: Diane Benjamin What would happen to freedom if an election was held and nobody showed up to vote? I predict VERY low turnout on April 2nd. Except for the Town of Normal, few other races are even contested. Unit 5 residents will have much higher property tax bills this year. When fiscally responsible candidates […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight the Normal Council will be meeting for just a few minutes. The only highlight is selling 2 garbage trucks to the City of Kewanee for $260,000. Normal already bought replacements. It is really tough to keep track of all the Uptown History and how much taxpayers money has been invested, so […]
By: Diane Benjamin I might have to say this once a week until the election: Do Not Vote for 3 people even though the ballot says 3. You are handing people votes who you really don’t want on the Council. Voting for 1, maybe two, gives them a much better chance of winning since Normal […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Town of Normal needs to immediately kick Mike Matejka off their Planning Commission: http://www.normal.org/401/Planning-Commission Matejka is still spreading hate on the Not In Our Town Facebook page: The entire premise of the story is based on the false narrative of what happen. Matejka evidently only gets his news from far left-wing […]
Sources tell me Stork drives City vehicles. By: Diane Benjamin Imagine driving through town at 3:45 in the afternoon. You are at N Main and West Raab Road when you notice a pickup truck “swerving all over the road”. You place a call to Metcom. The truck proceeds down Main, eventually turning left on to […]
By: Diane Benjamin On November 2nd Normal held a Strategic Planning Session. It was a Friday at 10:00 am in the Executive Board Room at City Hall. http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3105 Did any citizens know about or attend this meeting? Did the press report on it? Keep in mind, Trustee RC McBride is the General Manager of […]
By: Diane Benjamin It is very easy to describe government in Normal: “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” Ronald Reagan Hotel occupancy in Bloomington-Normal is way down, according to […]
Press Release November 18, 2018 Stan Nord to run for Normal Town Council Stan Nord is pleased to announce his candidacy for Normal Town Council in the consolidated election on April 2nd, 2019. He has prepared the necessary filings and is excited to start the campaign process. He looks forward to presenting his views on […]
By: Diane Benjamin I reported in this story Heartland Community College pays the property taxes on the Corn Crib property: https://blnnews.com/2018/10/18/heartland-pays-property-tax-corn-crib/ I’ve been doing lots of research on where the Corn Crib originated. In case you missed the latest news, only college kids will play at the Crib in the future. Minor league baseball is […]
By: Diane Benjamin http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3073 Redbox Workshop does design work, why Normal is paying isn’t known: Both Bloomington and Normal contribute the same amount I’m betting you aren’t on the list to receive one Needs no explanation Did they need a consultant? Being green doesn’t matter when it’s somebody else’s money https://environmentalsystemsresearch.springeropen.com/ Normal doesn’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/years-after-debt-free-milestone-normal-stands-by-uptown-spending/article_3fc56076-8d9b-5367-9899-4af94445ed20.html#tracking-source=home-top-story The Pantagraph ran this cute story about Normal on Tuesday. Quote from the article: Question: Does Normal not know how much debt they are in, or is the Pantagraph making up numbers? Town of Normal – Comptroller This is the debt reported as of March 31, 2018 to the Illinois Comptroller’s […]
By: Diane Benjamin Everybody should already know that capitalism isn’t taught to most of the students at ISU. The kids flocked to the last Democratic primary to vote for a socialist. ISU now has an Adventure Center! https://campusrecreation.illinoisstate.edu/adventure/ The Center just opened this month. Click on Equipment Rental A long list of items for rent […]
The meeting started on time for a change, it was adjourned at 7:02. Scott Preston even managed to welcome the ISU students back. By: Diane Benjamin Once again the Town of Normal has no General Orders and no New Business on their agenda. Your wallet is safer until the next meeting. Tonight will be another […]
By: Diane Benjamin I filed a Request for Review with Lisa Madigans’s Public Access office on January 18, 2018. The request was for a ruling on the budget workshop held by the Town of Normal that was not posted as a meeting with an agenda, time, and place. I received a ruling yesterday. 5 ILCS […]
