By: Diane Benjamin Two days ago Renner was on WJBC with Scott Laughlin. I only listened to the interview to hear what Tari said about the downtown hotel that was killed the next day. (He gave no indication it was going to be killed!) Here’s the interview: https://audioboom.com/boos/4814794-tari-renner-bloomington-mayor-7-13-16 Fast forward to 12:05. Scott brings up […]
By: Diane Benjamin The media has never reported on my lawsuit against the City of Bloomington and Central Illinois Arena Management (CIAM) – the old Coliseum manager. John Butler was the principal agent for CIAM. Possible fraud or abuse of taxpayers isn’t news. The lawsuit is based on a denied FOIA for the 2014 concession […]
By: Diane Benjamin Adam Kinzinger was on WJBC yesterday: https://audioboom.com/boos/4724141-adam-kinzinger-u-s-rep-6-20-16 Start listening at 12:30. He doesn’t understand the anger voters have against their representatives. He thinks we can all be nice and sit down to Thanksgiving dinner together. One of his best friends in DC is a California liberal, just a nice guy. Meanwhile: The […]
By: Diane Benjamin Scott, how many lies do you need to hear? Is it fair to your listeners to let Tari spout on the air and pretend he is telling the truth? Is WJBC city controlled media? Do facts matter? Here’s Scott’s latest interview with the illustrious mayor: https://audioboom.com/boos/4699788-tari-renner-bloomington-mayor-6-15-16 Fast forward to 13:00. Renner claims […]
By: Diane Benjamin Back on December 20, 2013, the Pantagraph thought a sitting Alderwoman filing a complaint against Tari Renner, David Hales, and the rest of the Council was a big story: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/alderman-stearns-alleges-open-meetings-act-violation/article_5b8974e2-6916-11e3-986a-001a4bcf887a.html How about reporting on what happened? Start by hammering Lisa Madigan for taking more than two years to issue a determination! The […]
By: Diane Benjamin History isn’t taught anymore, so let me briefly recap. Before America declared that “Rights” come from God, not government, and the people can govern themselves – the entire world was a dark place. Capitalism didn’t exist. The people were government slaves without any possibility of creating a better life for themselves. America […]
By: Diane Benjamin You have a chance to start over Tari. Ending the relationship with CIAM will give the Coliseum one last chance. Start telling the truth or the reset will flop. Listen to this the interview Tari had yesterday with WJBC’s Dan Swaney: http://www.wjbc.com/2016/03/07/central-illinois-arena-management-withdraws-from-coliseum-contract-talks/ Tari states he didn’t think anything the City was negotiating […]
By: Diane Benjamin Can anybody remember Tari Renner campaigning 4 years ago for transparency at the Coliseum? Got one of those short campaign video clips talking about the Coliseum Tari? Tari claimed that on WJBC this afternoon with Dan Swaney discussing the exit of the current Coliseum management. Both men know about my lawsuit – […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bloomington’s illustrious Mayor Renner was interviewed on WJBC yesterday. Hear it here: https://audioboom.com/boos/4222686-tari-renner-bloomington-mayor-2-24-16 Credit goes to Scott Laughlin for calling Renner out on the budget task force sham since all we’ve seen are massive tax and spending proposals ever since. But, it’s only another $20,000,000. If the population is still anywhere near […]
By: Diane Benjamin Multiple Choice test: A) Why is Matt Sorensen’s name not being taken off the March 15th ballot? The “powers” think voters are just stupid enough to re-elect him The “powers” want him re-elected so they can they get his resignation and appoint the person they want The “powers” want the March 15th […]
By: Diane Benjamin If elected officials are conservative, the local media is relentless in attacking them. Any representative opposing “progress” on the grounds it isn’t government’s job, will get vicious treatment for not going along with the majority. The majority is bankrupting taxpayers, but that’s immaterial to media. Examples: Judy Stearns, Kevin Lower, and Lee […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s no surprise Coliseum financial reports and audits going back to when it opened in 2007 are not on the City of Bloomington website. It’s easy to see why. Luckily, I have copies of what CIAM reported. For the partial year of 2007, total revenue was $3,469,708 For 2008, total revenue was […]
By: Diane Benjamin Back in 2009 a company called Lyle Sumek Associates, Inc out of Florida was hired as a consultant. From their website: http://lylesumek.com/ Lyle Sumek Associates, Inc. is a consulting organization that specializes in team building, strategic planning and goal setting for local governments, developing more effective governing bodies and governance processes; assisting […]
By: Diane Benjamin May 2014. Aldermen Lower and Stearns had a list of proposed cuts. Renner would not let them speak! Instead, Renner read a prepared statement. Watch the video: Little Scotty did an interview this week on WJBC: http://cdn.stationcaster.com/stations/wjbc/media/mpeg/Bloomington_Ald__Scott_Black_with_Terry_James__11_19_15-1447963935.mp3 Scotty happily bashed Alderman Lower, the WJBC host was happy to join in. I’ve never […]
By: Diane Benjamin On Friday the City of Bloomington dumped a lot of documents on their. On was a vendor list and payments for the last fiscal year. You can see it here: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=9335 This morning I’ve got the first hearing on my court case against the City of Bloomington concerning the Coliseum. That means […]
By: Diane Benjamin This morning Tari was interviewed on WJBC. Listen here: http://cdn.stationcaster.com/stations/wjbc/media/mpeg/Tari_Renner__Bloomington_mayor-1445262152.mp3 Tari claims he doesn’t know all the details of the presentations to the Council tonight by two developers. He also claims Bloomington is “on the move” and that’s why developers are interested in downtown. Tari has been proclaiming since he was elected […]
By: Diane Benjamin City Manager David Hales was on WJBC this morning: http://cdn.stationcaster.com/stations/wjbc/media/mpeg/David_Hales__Bloomington_City_Manager-1442925320.mp3 At least Scott Laughlin watched the meeting! Where did Hales lie? Listen at 16:40. Scott asked Hales if he was happy with the Coliseum management. Hales loves them and went on to say they achieved BREAK EVEN in operations! That was your […]
Note: Share this post with your friends. The media isn’t going to tell them the truth! By: Diane Benjamin Poor Mayor Koos. Normal can’t steal more money from you unless Bloomington votes to steal more too. The media is allowing Renner to lie to you! Hey Tari: Why are tax receipts to date UP 3.9% […]
By: Diane Benjamin If the citizens knew David Hales threw away more than $1.2 million tax dollars on spiked pensions The Council NEVER approved the IMRF payments because they were never on Bills and Payroll Monday the Council will approve over $50,000,000 already spent without Council approval Coliseum management isn’t held accountable by David Hales […]
By: Diane Benjamin Why has the media NOT reported truthfully on the City of Bloomington’s waste of $1.2 Million? Pantagraph? WJBC? Cities? WGLT? Maybe they interviewed Hales or Renner, but they wouldn’t be getting truth! If you clicked on the link to IMRF in this post: http://blnnews.com/2015/09/10/proof-they-lied/ you can get to their page showing FOIA […]
Update: The City just sent their daily propaganda. The title of the Coliseum loss story: Coliseum 1st Quarter Economic Impact Are the citizens sick of being lied to yet? By: Diane Benjamin Both the Pantagraph and WJBC have stories today about another BIG loss at the Coliseum. Obviously the City sent them a press […]
By: Diane Benjamin Want to know why Donald Trump is still high in the polls? Read this WJBC forum commentary to see what the “establishment” thinks. He’s not even close to the real reason, but it’s good for laughs. This is exactly what the GOP thinks too – and it’s why the Trump attacks are […]
by: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner and David Hales continue to proclaim the City has cut staff. Judge for yourself: From the payroll report in Bills and Payroll for approval at Monday’s Council meeting: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=9024 Bi-Weekly Payroll shows 448 employees Weekly Payroll shows 423 employees That’s a total of 871 employees. Some are seasonal, so compare […]
By: Diane Benjamin Probably knowing he was getting the blame, David Hales called into WJBC this morning to discuss the sick leave payouts. He claimed that except for Police and Fire. all new employees don’t get that benefit anymore. He blamed past Councils for not taking action. I guess he still hasn’t figured out the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Renner was on WJBC yesterday with Scott Laughlin. You don’t need to listen to the whole discussion, just the last 30 seconds. http://cdn.stationcaster.com/stations/wjbc/media/mpeg/Mayor_Tari_Renner-1439933912.mp3 The topic was the fine paid by Bloomington taxpayers when Emily Bell spiked her pension with accumulated sick days. Renner and the Council were “shocked” according to Tari when […]
By: Diane Benjamin Surprise! WJBC decided to post the Renner podcast. Yes, he did call anybody who objected to spending money for flamingos “loud nasty voices”. Listen here. http://cdn.stationcaster.com/stations/wjbc/media/mpeg/Tari_Renner__Bloomington_Mayor_8_12_15-1439477301.mp3 I bet you didn’t know the Zoo Master plan is a contract to fund their projects! The Council is always told Master Plans don’t assure any […]
Update: Comments to WJBC’s Renner story are CLOSED. I wonder why? By: Diane Benjamin Maybe whoever posts podcasts for WJBC is on vacation. Maybe the other staff doesn’t know how to do it. Maybe nobody listens to the podcasts, so they quit posting them. Tari Renner was interviewed way back this morning by Scott Laughlin. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last Friday Ben was broadcasting from Fox and Hounds in downtown Bloomington. He interviewed one of the co-owners, Vickie Tilton. The conversation should have stuck to the salon and the services offered, but it veered into politics. Lister to Hour Two, starting at 11:05: http://cities929.com/portal.asp?pid=3557181&sid=3309 Vickie said she was raised in Uptown […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari was on WJBC yesterday talking about the budget: http://cdn.stationcaster.com/stations/wjbc/media/mpeg/Tari_Renner__Bloomington_mayor-1438177885.mp3 He claims the City costs go up 2% every year, the County and Normal just increase taxes and its no big deal. He wants the same powers. Tari and the interviewers agreed that government isn’t run like a business. Nobody mentioned that maybe it […]
By: Diane Benjamin City Manager David Hales was on WJBC with Scott Laughlin yesterday. The interview is the perfect example of the media not forcing the truth from a City official. Maybe Scott didn’t know what questions to ask. You can listen to the interview here: http://cdn.stationcaster.com/stations/wjbc/media/mpeg/David_Hales__Bloomington_City_Manager-1436880986.mp3 Yes, it’s painful, but the part that interested […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph has been anxiously awaiting what I am going to write about Kevin Lower’s Town Hall last night. If you read their report and attended, it’s easy to see what I spoke about toward the end of the meeting. The bird-cage liner is either intentionally deceiving citizens for their own personal […]
By: Diane Benjamin By now you should know who the Edgar County Watchdogs are. You may not know they also go by the name Illinois Leaks. Tips flow into them from all over the State. All it takes to end the corruption in Illinois is people with inside knowledge to speak up. They posted this story: In The […]
By: Diane Benjamin Why do Tari Renner, David Hales, Dick Durbin and a slew of other so-called leaders love to do interviews on WJBC? Because they can get by with saying anything and are rarely challenged! Low information voters are easily misled by low information media. The latest case in point: Today WJBC is running a NEWS […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Coliseum year-end report is finally out. The year ended 4/30/15. As I have reported many times, what CIAM reports is pure fiction. The birdcage liner is reporting the Coliseum lost $494,320 for the year. Of course, that number isn’t accurate. Worse, they reported CIAM’s reported loss last year of $183,727 instead of what […]
The WJBC Renner interview is now posted: http://cdn.stationcaster.com/stations/wjbc/media/mp3/Tari_Renner__Bloomington_mayor__6_10_15-1433957937.mp3 The exact words Tari used to describe IPI were: they have an ideological agenda. He switched the conversation to tax rates when he learned he was wrong. He claimed Illinois has comparable taxes to surrounding states. Why is everybody leaving Illinois? Other items of note: Tari has massive interest from […]
By: Diane Benjamin Facts: The Normal police did NOT arrest Fistbump for knocking on Nora Dukowitz’s door. Dukowitz dropped civil action against Fistbump the day before it went to court. Tari proclaimed in open session that Fistbump was being investigated for a felony: Start watching at 5:30. https://youtu.be/PzTrILJQlLY Diana Hauman believed a person representing Cities 92.9 is not fit […]
By: Diane Benjamin Listen to the interview here: http://www.wjbc.com/2015/05/13/renner-tif-could-pay-for-downtown-development/ Tari seems possessed by Ronald Reagan. Lately he has been saying often that TIF’s were suggested by Reagan. Tari, Ronnie also cut taxes and created a boon in job creation and economic development. Reagan also wanted to stop funding for Regional Planning Commissions because they exert control from DC […]
Evidently Hales hired a Water Director who wasn’t qualified! Imagine that. By: Diane Benjamin I know it’s a lot to ask, but maybe the local government-run press (bird-cager liner and 90 yrs on air) could every once a while realize they are being lied to. The latest incident occurred this week when Bloomington City Manger […]
By: Diane Benjamin WJBC interviewed some of the candidates for Bloomington City Council. Listen to interviews with Joni Painter, Amelia Buragas, and Diane Hauman http://www.stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=711&c=3781&f=4198913 All were interviewed by different people, the same interviewer would have been nice. Supposedly WJBC will get to the other candidates eventually. There is plenty more material – but here […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph and WJBC are in full MOVE ON mode. Tari’s forced apology is their evidence for burying the controversy. Alderman Scott Black wants nothing more than to forget his mentor’s foul mouth. Who says they get to decide Tari’s fate? I’ve received a ton of comments and emails from citizens either […]
