The Council should work for the Townspeople, not the Town Council

Thousands of signatures asking the Town Council to save the mural during debates about the Trail East project were dismissed as 'not valid input'.  When essentially All the residents of the Blackstone subdivision asked the town to consider changing the location of the planned fire station, the town didn't even look into it.  The council had an Illegal public comment policy for Years - until very recently when they knew there was a good chance they would lose in April's election so they wanted to take that off the list off reasons they should be voted out.

Last year when protestors marched to end the virus lockdowns that were causing more harm than the virus itself, the Mayor found a new way to give the finger to all 'the little guys' in Normal who were worst affected - a 'protestors-only' sale.  I'll admit I was so impressed with his creativity I actually laughed at first, even when his lack of concern was so sad. 

There are countless other examples.  We need a new council that is not made up of yes-men to the Mayor, and a new Mayor would be a good idea as well.

The Council should be good stewards of taxpayer money and assets

I had to include 'and assets' because the town has a history of making very bad deals in real estate.  Did you know we currently rent out multiple town-owned properties for well-below market rates, including one for Zero?  The town has sold for real estate parcels I know off the top of my head for well below their real value, including one sale to the Mayor's former campaign manager. 

Mis-spending includes paying nearly half a million dollars in rent for offices on the circle downtown.  This was part of the deal to get the building the Town wanted rather than a building that made financial sense to any builder or developer; it also amounts to the Town subsidizing Luxury apartments when many struggle to find affordable housing at the lower end of the spectrum.  The development deal the town put together to get Portillo's to locate here amounted to a grand-opening sale of "Buy 5 meals, get absolutely Nothing!"  (In Portillo's defense, the real estate developer was the big winner there, not the actual restaurant.) 

And again, there are numerous other examples.

The Council's virus response should be based on Science, not Politics

Yes, there are people and situations where masks and other precautions make complete sense.  I wore a mask, a face shield, and disposable coveralls for my last visit to my late grandmother, with no complaints.  But 'too much of a good thing' can be worse than the bad thing it's supposed to stop. 

It's easy to point to the deaths of many area residents and count up the lives lost to the virus.
But what about the deaths caused by our Virus Response?  The lockdowns and restrictions contribute to increased suicide, domestic violence, substance abuse, heart disease, and countless other factors.  These are very difficult to count, so one needs to turn to statistical models to see the real impact.  We've known since May that the lockdowns were causing more harm than the virus itself, but the Town continues to push Pritzger's Destroy Illinois Plan.

We need to work to save what businesses, jobs, and freedoms that bad policies haven't already destroyed.  And maybe the lockdowns will have ended by the time the election comes around, but do we really want a Town Council that cares so little about our local economy and the local people that Are that economy?

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