By: Diane Benjamin Watch which local media sources report this story. It will prove who is #FakeNews and who isn’t. Refer back to this story: https://blnnews.com/2023/03/07/normal-buy-local-is-immaterial/ Chris Koos wants Uptown 2.0 built without any natural gas pipelines. Normal thinks that is “sustainable”. It’s also illegal. In Koos world laws don’t matter however. He didn’t want […]
By: Diane Benjamin Want to pay for a new police station? Want to pay for a new library? Both are in the Uptown South plan. Did you know bikers will have to dismount to use the new underpass? Evidently it will be too dangerous to ride the path created for bikers and walkers to connect […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Youth on a Mission kids were allowed to speak out of order last night because they had to get home and study for finals. This was a Koos edict, the Council didn’t vote. “Friends” are allowed perks while citizens wanting to speak off agenda have to wait until the end of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Besides handing a big raise to Pam Reece, below are a few items on the agenda. Will $8000 more cover inflation for her? https://blnnews.com/2022/04/29/bobbleheads-vote-to-raise-pam-reeces-salary/ At the April 4th Normal meeting the council approved sending $79,612.50 to Connect Transit: https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4265 Tonight they will send this to the empty bus folks: https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/4283 Did Normal […]
By: Diane Benjamin Is anyone occupying the first Floor of 1 Uptown Circle yet? Has Pam Reece found someone to sublet the second floor so taxpayers aren’t stuck with the ridiculous lease? The Council told her to do it well over a year ago! How many other empty spaces are there in Uptown? Didn’t the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Is Normal pretending to listen to citizens? January 16th – Budget Review Work Session at 9:00. The Citizen Summit was held on December 5th. The Council held a Work Session the next day. Lyle Sumek was hired to facilitate both. He has had plenty of time to compile a priorities list based […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3494 The Wild Country lease will automatically renew in January, the operators just pay taxes, maintenance, and insurance. Taxpayers make nothing. No council vote required. I haven’t seen anything saying the sweet deal Terri Ryburn got for the Pine St gas station ever has to be renewed either. There are more – […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington Council holds Committee of the Whole meetings to discuss items in public. In Normal they meet during the day for many hours at a time so the public doesn’t attend. The meeting with Lyle Sumek wasn’t even held in the Council Chambers. All of the pics below are from the […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you don’t like the direction Normal is taking change the people taking it there. RC Bride seems to be touting Normal’s AAA credit rating as one of the reasons he should be reelected. He doesn’t say Normal has that credit rating because they aren’t afraid to pass tax increases. If you […]
By: Diane Benjamin This morning I attended the GOP breakfast because it featured the candidates for the Normal Town Council and Normal Township. Chris Koos made a comment about Uptown 2.0 I find hard to believe. He claims there isn’t enough retail and office space in Uptown now, so Uptown 2.0 is to provide more. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bill’s and Payroll for Monday night: http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2581 I don’t know what arrangement Normal made to get Home Depot to build here, but this is the perfect example of why Sales Tax receipts are declining: Menards isn’t getting rebates, so they are at an unfair advantage. It’s called crony capitalism, picking winners and […]
