Normal Town Council member Stan Nord. (File photo by Howard Packowitz/WJBC) 

By Howard Packowitz

NORMAL – Normal Town Council member Stan Nord’s battle with Mayor Chris Koos came to a head Monday night as the council member responded to a letter Koos sent to Bloomington city leaders last month.

In the letter, Koos called Nord a lone wolf by meeting on his own with Bloomington fire officials about possibly merging the Twin-Cities’ fire departments, and trying to lure a Bloomington business to space in Uptown Normal.

Nord fired back at the end of Monday night’s council meeting, saying he’s proud to be a lone wolf when it comes to protecting taxpayers from wasteful spending.

“If proactively involving taxpayers and members of this community in their government’s decision-making process makes me a lone wolf, then that’s a badge that I will proudly wear,” said Nord.

“I will not ask the mayor for an apology or to recant the false statements which were sent to the City of Bloomington and then shown over the media. Any gesture would be forced and hollow. It would not address my main focus, which is representing the people of Normal,” Nord also said.

Koos believes Nord’s actions were not malicious, but the mayor won’t stand for Nord’s efforts to verify from outside sources information he gets from town staff.

“We have an award-winning staff in their areas of expertise,” said Koos.

“They have done incredible work over the years. They’re incredibly responsive to the citizens, and the notion that we have to question their every move is something I will fight against,” the mayor said.

Council member Kevin McCarthy took exception to Nord’s claims that the town government is not frugal enough with taxpayer dollars, noting the council cut jobs to reduce spending.

“We went through a very difficult, arduous process that cost people’s jobs when we had to cut money out of the budget because we needed to live within our means,” said McCarthy.

“This body took that process, and takes that process very seriously,” McCarthy added.

However, Council member Scott Preston sided with Nord’s call for Koos to fill a long-vacant spot on the Connect Transit board.

Nord’s comments Monday night came after he removed seven of the eight items staffers placed on the omnibus or routine part of the agenda that typically is approved on a single vote.

Nord either had questions or objected to the various agenda items, acknowledging he wanted the public to hear the discussions.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]