We are in a terrible situation and so is our new city manager. He reminds me of President Obama. He has inherited this mess as well.

We were told we could not afford the Fox Creek golf course. We were told that the Coliseum would not raise our taxes. We were told it would be built and that we could afford “the Castle.”

A person ran for mayor campaigning against the golf course. This same person broke a tie vote and said our taxes would not be raised because of the Coliseum.

We now have terrible water mains that have Band-Aids holding them together. The potholes make our streets look like puzzle pieces.

I now see why Normal is called uptown and Bloomington is called downtown. The reconstruction in Normal is beautiful.

Bloomington has how many groups that have been paid to tell us what to do with our downtown when Normal has already nearly completed their uptown?

How much money since the ’60s has our taxes paid out to downtown studies while the paperwork draws dust? How many workers have we lost in city government because we cannot pay them?

The previous city manager left just in time to leave this mess to Mr. Hales. Good luck to the fire station that cannot hold back the leaks or put any firemen to work. Good luck to Mr. Hales.

Mary Ryan, Bloomington