By Eric Stock and Howard Packowitz
BLOOMINGTON – As Bloomington mayor Tari Renner takes a temporary leave of absence for medical reasons, his colleagues on the council are hoping for a speedy recovery.
Alderwoman Diana Hauman who ran against Renner for mayor earlier this year said she hopes Renner won’t be gone for long.
“I would hope everybody in the community wishes the mayor well and wishes him God speed in terms of fighting his health issues,” Hauman said “We need him back.”
Renner said in a statement yesterday he’s taking a leave after consulting with his physician and his family for an undisclosed medical issue. The mayor said he’s thankful the city has a strong and capable city council and administration to manage the day-to-day operations in his absence. Renner will continue working as a political science professor at Illinois Wesleyan University.
“I like Tari as a person, certainly. That was the same when I was appointed, when I ran against him for mayor, and now as continuing to be an alderman under his leadership.”
Renner is in the midst of an Illinois State Police investigation into his use of a city credit card for his girlfriend, Margot Ehrlich, to accompany him on an official visit to Bloomington-Normal’s Japanese sister city. Renner later reimbursed the city and said his trip could have been paid by the city as she was there in an official capacity as a delegate for the Bloomington-Normal Sister Cities Committee.
A critic of Renner recently revealed the mayor sent him a scathing email to him to courter allegations against him.
“You seem to be totally crazy as they come,” Renner told Bruce Meeks in an early-morning email. “It seems you do this kind of garbage because you don’t have an actual job.”
Hauman said we could all do a better job of toning down the rhetoric.
“I’m not trying to be a doomsday kind of person, but I think we could do a better job overall, and that’s not saying any one person, or any one group of people,” Hauman said. “Myself, sometimes if I feel overwhelmed, I may not be as nice as I could be.”
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].
