By Howard Packowitz
BLOOMINGTON – All but three Bloomington aldermen are scolding Mayor Tari Renner for his behavior, presenting him with a letter Monday night claiming he’s bringing “disgrace” to city government.
Aldermen Scott Black, Amelia Buragas, and Kimberly Bray did not sign the letter in which their six other colleagues rebuked Renner for not apologizing for unprofessional behavior. They say Renner chooses to berate others for acrimonious behavior insteady of encouraging civil discourse.
PODCAST: Listen to Scott’s interview with Bloomington City Manager David Hales on WJBC.
https://audioboom.com/posts/6423314-david-hales-bloomington-city-manager-10-24-17
Before taking a month-long medical leave, Renner sent angry middle-of-the-night emails to critic Bruce Meeks, calling him crazy, and claiming he spends so much time attacking Renner because he doesn’t have an actual job.
Council member Diana Hauman, who challenged Renner’s reelection bid, was chosen as spokeswoman for the group of six.
“All members of the council were given the opportunity to sign this letter. A copy of our letter is being shared with the media – we believe the letter speaks for itself and we will not discuss this further. Instead, we will put our energy into assuring that Bloomington is the jewel of the Midwest,” said Hauman.
Renner admitted the letter caught him off guard.
“It would have been nice to get a copy of this beforehand. Clearly this is politically motivated – I was blindsided, so I have yet to see it, yet to read it, yet to process it,” Renner said.
A copy of the letter can be found on our Facebook page and at WJBC.com.
The letter said nothing about an ongoing Illinois State Police investigation of city credit card use.
Aldermen, with Renner’s backing, voted unamiously Monday night for reimbursement policies which including banning elected leaders from carrying city credit cards.
Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected].
