By Eric Stock

BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington mayor Tari Renner said the city liquor commission’s move to raise fees for the first time since the 1980s is a sign the so-called ‘Old Boy Network’ of bar owners is no longer dictating city policy.

“They seem to have the misguided idea that the liquor and gambling industry gets to determine who regulates them and that’s not the case,” Renner said. “The mayor decides. I did and they didn’t like it.”

PODCAST: Listen to Scott’s interview with Renner on WJBC. 

Renner is referring to the recent appointment of Sue Feldkamp to the liquor commission which a bar owner’s group opposed arguing she wasn’t qualified.

Renner told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin video gaming machines are almost a “licence to print money” and if bar owners want to keep them, they’ll pay the higher fee.

Sales tax

Renner says the concept of the Twin Cities sharing sales tax revenue with Normal would further improve collaboration with Normal, but he says it’s not a sign that the two cities would consider merging.

“We do lots of sharing, much more than people perhaps realize but we do still have the two separate governments,” Renner said. “I don’t believe the majority of citizens, I don’t know I could be wrong in both communities – because that’s what it would require – would want to merge.”

Renner said the Twin Cities do collaborate in more ways than you might think such as fire protection and vehicles for hire. The B-N Advantage Leadership Council has recommended Bloomington and Normal divide their shared sales tax money based on population.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].