Cleveland mayor, Bradley County tea party chief defend roles in flier dispute

published Wednesday, August 15th, 2012
Cleveland mayor, Bradley County tea party chief defend roles in flier dispute
By Randall Higgins
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/aug/15/mayor-tea-party-chief-defend-roles-in-flier/?local

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Mayor Tom Rowland says the city has no reason to apologize for asking for a police investigation into who was distributing fliers to south Cleveland homes in June.

The fliers, which stated the city was planning to use eminent domain to take more than 300 homes in the name of development, were untrue, Rowland said Monday.

It is the Tea Party of Bradley County that needs to apologize for upsetting families, some of whom have lived in their homes for two generations or more, he said.

“They were in tears,” Rowland said.

At Monday’s City Council meeting, a lively, but civil, debate took place between council members and members of the Tea Party of Bradley County. In the end, the only common ground was that no one will apologize.

Donny Harwood, president of the Tea Party of Bradley County, said his organization has no reason to apologize, either. At the time they were distributed, the fliers were true, according to the latest public information, he said. It is the city that needs to apologize for intimidating the group’s members and seeking to deny them their right to free speech, he said.

The call for an investigation aimed to “essentially hunt down, arrest and expose members of our tea party group as we made efforts to inform the community of horrendous plans for their community,” Harwood said.

“This flier contained truthful information based on the last known public meeting,” Harwood said. The “white paper” on which the flier was based later was changed, he said.

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“We haven’t stopped your free speech,” Rowland told Harwood.

“Have you passed any leaflets out to apologize to the 300 homeowners that this was not true?” he asked Harwood.

Rowland said the investigation was only to determine if laws were violated, and since none were the point is moot.

“If you are man enough, you will go down there and apologize,” he told Harwood.

“There is nothing for us to apologize about,” Harwood responded.

The group, he said, held a town hall meeting to seek explanations but only one councilman, Bill Estes, attended. Other council members, and Rowland, said they got the invitation after the meeting was held.

Tea party member Dan Rawls said that isn’t true because he sent the registered letters.

Councilman George Poe said he got a late invitation to a meeting to discuss something he had no intention of doing anyway.

“We couldn’t afford to buy 300 houses in the first place,” he said. “We have never talked about what we are accused of.”

If Harwood’s group was so alarmed, Poe said, they should have come to the council first with questions.

Rowland and Poe said they have not read the “white paper” from contracted consultants on which the flier was based. Harwood said the paper was handed out during a three-day public planning meeting at Bradley Square Mall.

Councilman Richard Banks, who said he has read the white paper, told tea party leaders they took the “300 homes” statement out of context. The original question was what would happen in the community if Whirlpool stayed in its old location, he said.

Consultants said that up to 300 homes might have to be seized through eminent domain to accommodate the company’s expansion there. But Whirlpool moved to its new Benton Pike site.

It was only a “what-if” discussion, Rowland said.

“There is nothing for us to explain, because there was nothing to it,” he said.

Contact staff writer Randall Higgins at rhiggins@timesfree press.com or 423-314-1029.

Chamber of Commerce turns on spin cycle regarding “eminent domain” plans for downtown

Recently Mr. Doug Berry of the Local Chamber of Commerce was quoted in the local press that he was the one that came up with the 300 number while referring to lots, that were targeted for demolition and redevelopment and mentioned in a “propaganda flyer” that was passed out to residents within the target zone. That action drew the ire of the Chamber, the Mayor and City Council over allegations it was misleading and untruthful. Well you can decide for yourself what the white-paper drafted plan was talking about regardless of the spin that is placed upon it.

I asked my self what purpose would it serve for Mr Berry to take this on himself? Why would he say he was the originator of the “300 lots”, causing further controversy just to have controversy?

My opinion is he is placing this on himself to deflect from the elected officials that are involved. See he didn’t get elected by the people. He was hired to be the “hatchet man” much tbe way he was hired in Knoxville to do when they used eminent domain to build that downtown.

The most interesting thing I see about this is that Mr Berry, at least the three days I was there and during my participation in the SWOT analysis was not there or should I say, at least was not visible at the three day Charade, er, Charette.

The Consultants and planners while at the Charette made it sound and was able to provide “proof” that the 300 homes that would “be best served by demolition and redevelopment” was spawned from the SWOT Analysis and it was our input and our idea! I’m really confused. How could “we” have done it and Mr Berry claims he did it? You can see what is going on here! When I was in the military we call this FUBAR, I don’t need to fill it in I think you know what that means! The right hand does not know what the left hand is doing! There is so much cover up trying to hide the true plans for our county that they catch themselves in opposing stories! If Mr Berry is in fact the purveyor of the 300 homes then what worth is the SWOT anaysis. Does Mr Berry have more say so in the plan than the public! That seems the opposite of what the consultants are telling us at the public Charades! I thought “we” suggested that the 300 homes be best served by demolition and redevelopment? Shoot, now he goes and admits it was his idea! I’m sooooo confused!

It’s my opinion that by admitting it and somehow attaching it to him it’s better or somehow throws you off the scent of true intent. And then he says 300 lots, not 300 homes as in the white paper draft that was given at the last public meeting. Its spin folks! My head hurts!

He said and I paraphrase here, while that 300 home statement has basis, BUT, you clearly can see by the way I tell it that we were only talking about the property within the Whirlpool boundary! You know those old buildings and “lots”, not the silly 300 homes that people live in, eat, sleep and raise their children in! Not those silly people, why would I refer to that area as the one we had “drafted” and “planned” to bulldoze, after all if that was the plan, that would be 10 years off, haha! Those silly peasants! They are so annoying! He didn’t really say that but through his series of statements in the banner article I can entertain my inner child and somehow play out a comical sketch to somehow lessen the severity of the impact that our non elected bureaucrats are playing with our minds and our property! Are these actions to cover up a bold move by one too many bureaucrats with their hands in the pot. I don’t know you decide.

What vantage point does the Chamber of Commerce seek with all this double talk? To speak louder than the citizenry? To vilify those informing the public of their plans?

Let’s just spin it so the silly peasants sound as if they made the the whole thing up about the 300 homes and say it was just the whirlpool site and 300 lots! Sounds ingenious doesn’t it, except for one thing Mr Berry, all the info, drafted or suggested plans and past press statements you made say and project otherwise!

Let’s start with the white paper draft plan that no one seems to acknowledge or that it even exists And was handed out to the public and very clearly describes what the consultants, Mr Berry, the Chamber of Commerce and planners really planned to do with your property.

Excerpt from the drafted “White paper draft plan” that noone will admit to existing but is the last known plan released to the public.
 
Listen as I quote the information given out at the last charade public meeting and see if you believe this sounds like the activity Mr Berry speaks of (a benign 300 lot factory) will be confined within Whirlpool property?

“An area of particular concern consists of several blocks of “postage stamp” lots located directly south of the Whirlpool Complex, The area consists of small work force housing on small lots built during the 1920’s 30’s, and 40’s and are now in poor repair.”

“The roughly 300 units are valued at approximately $35,000 each and several landlords own 6 or more units. Due to age and value, the units as a whole are not well maintained.”

“Those attending the SWOT Analysis (not Doug Berry) concurred that this area would best be served by DEMOLITION AND REDEVELOPMENT!”

Note the detail of those statement above! Doesn’t sound like some broken down empty warehouse lot to me!

You know Mr Berry, why have controversy for the sake of controversy! Doesn’t make sense to me. The people that live in those 300 lots would alot rather hear that that “WAS” the plan, after much debate, we heard you and we heard you didn’t like this and we changed course because we care about you and your property rights! That is much more palatable than trying to tell them a double sided story that is full of holes.

I personally doubt any concerned citizens that supposedly formulated the SWOT analysis really said the area would be best served by demolition and redevelopment as the white paper draft concluded. Its that adage of believing if he said it then it must be true kinda thing.

The SWOT Analysis was designed to direct and limit your choices to the outcome that the city desired with the appearance that the community was behind it. The city has been trying to convince the city of Cleveland that the citizens are behind the plan. Take a look at this article in CDB.

http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/18934474/article-Thomas–Planning-is-growth-tool?instance=homefirstleft 
 
I thought this plan was the work of Rick Russell (who popped up out of nowhere at the Charade and the banner include me in an article about the greenway of all things) and his firm, why is Mr. Berry now saying he is responsible for the 300 number? Did he contribute to other areas of the white-paper, or was this the only area?
 
It is now confirmed that eminent domain was on the table and still is. Mr. Berry says “it would be false of me to say we can redevelop there without acquiring some homes or commercial businesses. That’s a given if we want to replace these manufacturing jobs with more manufacturing jobs.” Now Mr. Berry admits eminent domain is a “given”, how else does the city acquire property or get the residents to clean up their property.

Maybe we can look at 890 Inman Street for an example which I believe is in the gateway to the city that Berry is so concerned about. The memo giving the owner of the property 60 days from 5/4/12 to demolish the structure.

If I owned the 2 junkyards mentioned in the white-paper that were identified as eyesores I would be more concerned than ever after Berry says “gateways and inner cities are important because they are they are the definitions of who and what a community is to the outside world.” He doesn’t stop there he continues, “we have to be careful at times on how we route people into Cleveland so people who are from out of town do get the right impression.”  So even if you don’t lose your property you may not be able to use it as you desire.

Mr. Berry has now given us an ultimatum, if you want more jobs, accept eminent domain, and now he admits homes and businesses are at risk and “that those are some tough decisions we have to be prepared to talk through and work through with the neighborhood.”
 
What jobs is he talking about replacing? I thought Whirlpool just relocated. Did they cut employees?
 
It seems the flyer’s that were distributed in the CCA were accurate and the city has been in cover up mode by changing the original white-paper, and when given the opportunity to hand out the new white-paper at a June 18 status update public meeting with residents from the central city area in attendance they failed to do so. Why is that, if the document was changed on May 31, why would the mayor and city council and others who were at that meeting not make it available to the residents of the central city area? Because it appears the White paper was changed to cover up the city’s true intentions! To demolish and redevelop!
 
It also appears and this again is my opinion, that the local press are in cover up mode also! Why? Why are we trying to hide something from the public that will in the end hurt the people of Bradley County? Why can’t a reporter even after hearing presented evidence of why the Mayor blasted his constituency, to report it. Because the truth somehow leaked out and now we go into spin cycle and deny it because it would not be politically expedient to every sitting elected official! That’s the true reason! In my opinion!
 
Is he lying? Is he covering up his true plans? Is he on spin cycle?you decide for your self! I personally believe that the plan to to move forward with Demolition and redevelopment will go forward as leaked and many people will be displaced from their homes! Just a hunch!

Mr. Berry says “I can’t lie to people!” Look at his statements made in public and captured in print and you make a determination if ge has lied to you!
 
“The following are excerpts from local press articles of Mr Berry displaying his true intentions for Cleveland and all of Bradley County!”

“Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce Vice President for Economic Development Doug Berry, who worked with Nance on several Knoxville projects, said the primary area in Cleveland is the 93-acre Whirlpool site.”

“One of the things we’ve struggled with is that this all started around Whirlpool’s decision, which would tend to put it at Inman Street moving south and kind of easterly,” he said. “If we get into redevelopment, we certainly need to look at stepping across (north of Inman Street).”

“Though how far to step north of Inman Street is debatable, Berry said there is a need to at least engage all the streetscape for the sake of cohesiveness

“In order to successfully develop the Whirlpool site, the BROADER AREA NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED!!!”

“The first time I looked at how to redevelop around Whirlpool and keep them there at that location, it was 113 properties we had to deal with,” he said. “When I thought in the context of what is an appropriate area geographically to create opportunity from a mixed-use perspective, it jumps to a minimum of about 330 properties.”

BCN side note: 330 properties! Not lots within the Whirlpool boundary!

“In Knoxville, the development corporation used a form of eminent domain to clear the titles. But Berry said he realizes Cleveland has never utilized eminent domain and has no interest in using that procedure as it is interpreted here.”

BCN side note: In fact eminent domain was used in the 40s and reportedly displaced one of our County Commissioners families. Also, at a meeting at the library, which of course didn’t get any press coverage but Mr Berry told me he had no problem with condemning a property and taking it if we couldnt find an heir or that person didn’t mow their grass! I quickly responded in that meeting that this is the reason I am here today protesting because of you saying stuff like that!

Nance said a form of eminent domain was used in Knoxville in a “FRIENDLY SENSE” because it provided tax incentives and other advantages for the property owners.

BCN side note: Their is nothing friendly about eminent domain!

http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/16178609/article-Whirlpool-site-redevelopment-eyed?

Such a redevelopment project has never before been undertaken in Cleveland and ultimately, it would require the use of eminent domain. Berry expressed his concern to the company, but he agreed to analyze what it would take to put a million square feet in the neighborhood. In order to do that, it would require BUYING ALL OF THE PROPERTY between Plant No. 3 and Ocoee Street, all the way to Plant No. 2.

BCN note: Hereege tells you what he is going to do and it is exactly what we warned you he was going to do! He notes that a redevelopment project has never before been undertaken……AND IT WOULD REQUIRE THE USE OF EMINENT DOMAIN!!! How much clearer can it get? How do we give the Mayor, the Chamber, hired consultants and our planners a pass when we know what their ultimate plan is! All they are doing is attempting to villify the people who are telling you about it and they have a willing press to cover it up!

The difference between an outright purchase which will be their first move and eminent domain is whether you are willing to sell or not. Say no! I wanna keep my home and they take it!!!

Mr Berry continues “That’s 300 lots. That’s where the 300 number came from,” Berry said. “I then sat down with the company and explained that I did not think this was a viable option because this community has not been through the process and has no history of ever having used eminent domain as part of its economic development program.”

“When you hear about the 300 homes that are going to be taken and bulldozed, that number actually has basis, but it’s not fact in the conclusion of those statements.” He said some use might be found for the Hardwick Stove Plant (Whirlpool Plant No. 2) which is directly across from the Woolen Mill. That would be a tremendous project to anchor a VLOUNTARY redevelopment strategy. Plant No. 3 might have interim uses but it will be a demolition job. It will be a brownfield or a new vacant site for development. He expects the buildings that make up Plant No. 1 are worn out after 100 years of continuous manufacturing.

BCN note: Voluntary is key word!

“What do we need to do to successfully redevelop this with manufacturing or distribution or job centers? I CAN’T LIE TO THE PEOPLE! We will have to assemble some larger tracts from these core parcels, predominantly because of the way companies develop sites now,” he said. “It would be false of me to say we can redevelop there WITHOUT ACQUIRING some HOMES or COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES. That’s a given if we want to replace these manufacturing jobs with more manufacturing jobs.”

BCN note: Silly peasants! I can’t lie to you! He probably should have said “I must tell you the truth!” He is telling you he can’t redevelop the area without ACQUIRING HOMES AND COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES! What is different than what was in the so called “propaganda flyer!” The two junkyards are in his target too, just read the white paper draft before they can change it again!

http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/19349438/article-Redevelopment-needs-talk–Doug-Berry?

“We started with Whirlpool’s decision,” said Doug Berry, the Chamber’s vice president for economic development. But Cleveland may want to look BEYOND the century-old plant site’s 113 acres to ADJACENT AREAS INCLUDING INMAN STREET, he said.”

Berry, in his former job as a Knoxville planner, worked with Nance on that city’s redevelopment projects.

A common funding technique in Knoxville has been TAX INCREMENT FINANCING, Nance said. That process uses anticipated tax revenue from increased property values to subsidize development.

BCN note: With TIF financing, they purchase or acquire your property at rock bottom prices, redevelop and resell you property to a select realtor it develops, value goes up and the difference used to fund the redevelopment of your old property! This will also shuttle money from the city coffers and away from the schools for 20 to 30 years! How you like those apples! “It’s for the kids right?”

“It is one way for the public to have a voice in the city’s development, he said. But the objective, Nance said, is for the market to drive the redevelopment, whether commercial or residential.”

“Knoxville ALSO has used its POWER of EMINENT DOMAIN to ACQUIRE some PROPERTIES!”

BCN note: Mr Nance used to and is seemingly still is working with Mr Berry! One question? Also? Did someone squeeze a duck in the room? Also meaning Knoxville and Cleveland? Perhaps a little slip on
backroom conversation! Just an observation!

While the use of EMINENT DOMAIN CAN BE CONTROVERSIAL in some cases in Knoxville it was the ONLY WAY to clear titles and get loans for redevelopment, Nance said. He cited one property with 150 HEIRS making it impossible to find a LENDER.

BCN note: Soooooo! The one piece of property in the example above had so many people that were heirs that it was impossible to get lending? Hmmmmm? Sooooo, so many people wanted to KEEP their property that it would have tied up the court system so long that there would be no chance in hades of expediantly resolving it so take it by eminent domain and wack those 150 heirs out of their inheritance. Now I get it!

“It can be done in a FRIENDLY (they sure like that friendly word) way with tax advantages to the owners,” Nance said.

http://www.tfponline.com/news/2011/oct/26/options-weighed-for-whirlpool-site-in-cleveland/

“Approach the comprehensive redevelopment task with an OPEN MIND and DETERMINED mindset remembering that DEMOLITION of EXISTING STRUCTURES and HISTORIC PRESERVATION can share in the COLLECTIVE GOOD of the community and area residents. To PRESERVE WHEN REASONABLE and to START OVER WHEN NEEDED are LEGITIMATE OPTIONS and WORKING PARTNERS!”

BCN Note: in other words, your Government and The Chamber of Commerce comb over your property, go eenie meenie money mo and select what homes and businesses dont cut the mustard then by you being a fantastic team player, you give up your home for the “collective good” and you take your little chunk of change and go somewhere to start over like a good little boy or girl!

“Any idea geared at redeveloping the Whirlpool site is worth debate but not all will be doable nor economically feasible. Most of the existing structures are old and many sit in a flood plain. But these should not be VIEWED AS LIMITATIONS but rather as OPPORTUNITIES!”

http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/11559088/article-Time-to-start-planning?

Berry pointed out the industrial site is large enough that its redevelopment will IMPACT SURROUNDING AREAS; hence, the need for COMMUNITY INPUT!

BCN note: In other words when we take your property we want you to know about it! Wait a minute, didn’t the flyer provide an avenue to let you know what they were planning? Didn’t the Mayor and the City Council form a resolution in city chambers to hunt down, expose and arrest those that were seeking community input! They don’t want your input, they want a Tom Rowland Convention to replace your home? No, then read this:

Councilman Banks suggests a Tom Rowland Convention Center and a couple of buildings for planners!
http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/11400314/article-Whirlpool-site-redevelopment-talks-eyed?

“Over the next couple of years, Whirlpool leaders will have two focuses in Cleveland. One will be construction, and completion, of the new factory. The second will be a close involvement with the community in REDEVELOPING the existing site, Berry said.

“They (Whirlpool) will need to be involved to understand community expectations,” he offered. “ … Ultimately, the community and the company will have to come to terms with what we’ve got and WHAT WE’RE GOING TO DO WITH IT!”

http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/9584992/article-City-to-seek-grant-for-redevelopment-of-Whirlpool-site?

I think it is pretty clear they, everyone is covering up what they plan to do downtown around the ole whirlpool site! The Chamber of Commerce with it’s grand plan of what they want to do with your property is pretty clear! No matter what spin they throw at you, the deed is done and no matter of resistance will stop them! It is now up to you to stand for your property rights and defend your self against an intimately aligned organization of the UNITED NATIONS! The Chamber is the number one consultation status with the UNITED NATIONS and perhaps their true colors are showing!

“Flyer propaganda” prompts Cleveland Mayor to order investigation on citizen exercising free speech

There is no Propaganda! There is nothing being made up! There are no mistruths in the much discussed flyer that was handed out in the central southern downtown area.

The only thing that did happen was a lone patriot took it upon himself to warn some friends and neighbors of the up and coming drafted plan to demolish and redevelop their homes.

Many of these mostly blue collared and retired citizens just south of the old whirlpool have only one entity to live in fear of and that is the actions of their locally elected officials who are supposed to represent them and protect them.

The Mayor, his council and their hired consultants and Greg Thomas drafted a plan that called for the demolition and redevelopment of 300 homes in downtown Cleveland.

Only when the citizens were informed of their demise did the mayor and Planner Greg Thomas go on the offensive and look as if they had no part in the published draft for the BCC 2035 downtown growth plan which was handed out at the last public meeting and at the time of the flyer handout was the only known draft.

Only after the Mayor, Greg Thomas and editors at the Banner ranted at the sick and demented acts of a single Patriot for 6 days did we suddenly all realize that a private meeting was reportedly held and the planners and Mayor miraculously came up with another plan and the Flyer guy was handing out old “outdated” information.

“This area would be best served by demolition and redevelopment!” as quoted from the last public notice of the last updated public plan draft. This quote came directly from the consultants hired by our local government using a 3 to 2 vote by City Council to go forward with redevelopment that gave the go ahead for the consultants and planners to draft the plans with the above ominous sentence.

Until the very recent discovery of a “new draft plan” the area south of the old Whirlpool Plant with 300 homes had been targeted for DEMOLITION AND REDEVELOPMENT!

The above statement is confirmed in the draft of the plan handed out to the public at the last public meeting at the Bradley Square Mall. If you recall many were sorely disappointed at the drafted plans on that date and over 73 percent of those in attendance for the three day event disagreed or strongly disagreed and more than 80 percent disagreed with the Central City plan.

The Consultants, Planners and Elected officials took a deaf ear stance to the cries of a citizenry that did not want to see this happen in their communities. The cry was loud, even prompting additional purchased adds in the local paper because noone, to include the hired Consultants would publish the results…..”because they were too negative!”

My conclusion to this would be if you had listened to those who attended you would not have been surprised when many called the planners horrified that their homes were suggested to be better served by demolition and redevelopment.

The overwhelming message at the Charrette is you will be violating our property rights and when the people affected discover your vile plan the Mayor and Greg Thomas act mortified and disgusted that anyone would dare tell a citizen about your plan that contained the scary, absurd and crazy message.

Too negative? The outrage from this last public meeting Charrette at Mall was labeled too negative to report the findings. Would you attempt to label something too negative if it meant giving up your property rights? I know not of a single person that addressed this issue and our very verbal concerns but instead chalking up the many who spoke against this development and demolition as “stirring up trouble!”

The local Bradley/Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, in their April monthly newsletter, mailed to every business member in the area and basically condemned our efforts to warn the public of the dissatisfaction with the redevelopment plans for this area that the Mayor has now reportedly vehemently denied will ever happen showed much disbelief that someone would tell those people something awful like that and upsetting senior citizens, Mr Mayor, this was your drafted plan that contained the bad news!

What is happening in this community? Bureaucrats, elected leaders, Mayors, consultants, planners, vested parties, the utility departments, the Chamber of Commerce, the many appointed boards and elected officials turning on the general public and attempting to block, squelch and criminalize anyone that dares to expose this stealthy plan. This same group is surprised when the now informed public learns of their own demise at the hands of our locally elected officials and take a precarious stance to act like it never happened.

I have addressed and dredged up many many reports supporting the facts in the flyer. Read some, read them all and you will be amazed at the amount of trickery, spin and energy that goes into denying the facts. It is almost as if they don’t realize that with 99 percent of what they do or say there is some type of public record about most of their actions. Nothing a little Google search want confirm.

City Planner calls flyer allegations “crazy and scary!”
http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/19016093/article-Planner-calls-flyer–allegation-%E2%80%98crazy%E2%80%99?instance=homesecondleft

The Cleveland Daily Banner in an “anonymous” editorial letter in this weeks paper called the actions of citizens “absurd!”

A recent conversation with a Banner reporter which will remain unidentified out of respect for this person, I told him that alot of people are going to be angry over this “spin” and lack of details of this drafted plan for the BCC 2035 growth plan that noone wants to assume ownership of and the local press is only offering one side of the story.

I am now convinced after compiling this data that the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing as this unknown government goes forward with redevelopment. Others have expressed that this is deliberate and the opposing messages being sent to the public are intentional, much like self governance, the unknown government and consensus through techniques like the Delphi!

I do know one thing and mark my word. The demolishing and redevelopment portion of the Central City plan white papers is very real and is the last known draft that the public has been privy to. The Mayor and the City Planner, based solely on their comments and it is my opinion only, no fact to base this statement on but it appeared the Mayor and the Planner at the time of the flyers being passed out were either unaware of the drafted plans by hired out of town consultants or are flat out not being honest with the people that they represent. It has to be one or the other based on the many reactions in shock of the drafted plan and their repeated cries they didn’t know where we were getting these “bogus ideas!”

Let me put another opinion out there, no fact, just my humble opinion, let me put out there another scenario. When the mayor called a press conference and eventually a 7 to 0 vote by his council to criminalize a patriots action why didnt the Mayor or City Planner express to the many news outlets on that Monday, June 18 th and the following 6 or so days that “the news being put out was outdated instead of a farce as they alleged. Why wasn’t the opportunity to inform the public not done initially instead of many days later. Just a thought and again my opinion is he didn’t even know what the planners and consultants had put in the plan.

The day of my interview with Channel 12s News, Bill Mitchell after interviewing the Mayor told me we had been acting on old outdated plans and that the “planners” met on May 31st and changed the wording to say nothing of redevelopment and demolition. How convenient is that! Now that the word is out and the plan changes drastically and not one word to the public or coverage in the local papers. News this big did not make it out to the public for nearly 4 months?

I requested the “newly updated” version of the plan from Corey Divel and it was indeed updated and did not mention demolishing or redevelopment as the original last known draft to the public said. The newly revised plan from Corey Divel had the same date as the original. I’ll let you form your own opinion here.

I requested yet another draft plan, this one from Greg Thomas, this one with the original date and the updated date and of course no mention of the demolishing and redevelopment of 300 homes South of the old whirlpool plant. He later communicated to me that he did not like being misrepresented. I now ask the question, what is misrepresentative about the only current public information we have that says the 300 homes South of the old Whirlpool plant would be best served by Demolition or Redevelopment. I do not see what is false or misrepresented about that?

Perhaps, after reading the many attached articles you can find out where the mistruth is in the flyer that was disseminated by an anonymous flyer man exercising his First Amendment right. I can’t find it! I tried to find a mistruth in it, I honestly did! Then I would be forced to shut up and drop the issue.

Remember, this issue was brought on by our elected body who attempted to warn the public and to criminalize the actions of a few citizens with a stronghand vote from City council and a horrendous media smear of this person! That’s the only fault I have found with this whole debacle!

My many thanks goes out to the Banner for providing much of the information I have displayed! I encourage you to keep reading the Banner for it’s timely reporting of these issue and spend that 50 cents and dollar on Sunday getting the news of our local happenings.

A statement from Mayor Rowland, “This flyer was anonymously passed out in the city. It’s my understanding that over 20 people contacted Greg Thomas because his number was listed on the flyer, who were concerned and some even expressed fear that we’re going to take their property. Nothing can be further from the truth. I think this flyer is very exciting. I don’t find anything, maybe some terminology here and there that’s even true.” He also went on to explain that this person must be exposed and explore any possible criminal activity that may apply!

Tennessee Code Annotated 13-20-201, Kingsporhttp://www.khraredevelopment.org/aboutus.html

3 tools to use under TCA 13-20-201

the Statute T.C.A. 13-20-201. The tools that could be used in a Redevelopment District include:

Tax Increment Financing (TIF):
TIF is the redirection of increased property tax revenues
which occur as the result of a redevelopment project, in support of the project. It is a means of providing funding to spur redevelopment activities. TIF must be approved by the governing bodies involved. A side note- the schools, police and fire as well as many other budgets are affected by TIF financing because of frozen property tax rates and the diversion of tax dollars to the likes of developers and etc.

Ability to Assemble Property:
Are able to acquire property either through outright purchase, or through the exercise of eminent domain, which is defined as the taking of private property for the public good, with just compensation and assistance with relocation.

Bonding Authority:
Are authorized by T.C.A. 13-20-104(a)22 has the capability to borrow funds through its bonding authority in support of projects with a public purpose, with public ownership. This may be at a lower, tax-exempt, interest rate.

Doug Berry communicates with Richard Cathey of KPMG! Bond discussion and or outsourcing conversation? The details of that conversation have not been made public. Wasn’t Bernie Madoff tied up with KPMG at one time? Just wandering why we are dealing with this company. May be no relation, just an opinion!
http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/13540791/article-Existing-area-industries-looking-to-future-expansion

Mayor Rowland calls for redevelopment of downtown: Remember, he asked what development in the Chattanoogan article.
http://clevelandbanner.com/bookmark/10902054-Redeveloping-Whirlpool-site-a-key

Tom Rowland Civic Center downtown: “most exciting redevelopment project in our history!”
http://clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/11559088/article-Time-to-start-planning?

Favored developers, raising property values and taxes, Tom Rowland Convention Center:
http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/14498402/article-Southside-Redevelopment-seeks-public-awareness

What redevelopment? Favored developers? Quote from Commissioner Banks “With public and private opportunities, I think this Whirlpool property and surrounding property could be a great asset to Cleveland,” he said. “That’s where Cleveland started.”

He said Cleveland businessman Tom Robertson texted him a series of messages suggesting the redevelopment could be based on the creek that runs all the way from Big Spring Baptist Church to the Village Green before it turns north along Keith Street to Willow Street where the Cleveland/Bradley Greenway begins. Some of the waterway is open and some of it runs under buildings.
http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/11706070/article-Council-says-OK-to-study-of-south?

Favored developers through public private partnerships? I dont know, you decide! “The spec building is a public-private partnership between Dillard Construction Inc., contractor; Dillard Partnership, the developer; Cleveland/Bradley County Industrial Development Board, the organization that holds the note on the land; and the Cleveland/Bradley County Chamber of Commerce, which is handling the marketing and information distribution for the development.”
http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/17040710/article-Economic-development-remains-on-track?

Legislation, HB 1554 introduces TIF as funding source for redeveloping downtown Whirlpool site
http://clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/13484178/article-Legislation-offers-redevelopment-funding-source?

Using a City Council vote to squash freedom of speech and attempting to criminalize a patriot exercising his freedom
of speech and face possible charges if they apply:
http://www.chattanoogan.com/2012/6/18/228576/Cleveland-City-Mayor-Tom-Rowland-Calls.aspx

Chamber of Commerce, Public Utilities, other Economic Development personnel have a “VESTED INTEREST in the region’s anticipated growth over the next quarter century.”
http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/11134808/article-City-planners-OK-BCC-2035-growth-strategy

Call it Sustainable Development or Agenda 21 it’s still Sustainable Development under the direction of the United Nations 21 Local plan for our County with direct influence of the Chamber of Commerce!

Click to access BCC%202035-1.pdf

Planning efforts draw ire of Rosa Koire:
http://www.democratsagainstunagenda21.com/1/post/2012/06/it-takes-guts.html

BCC 2035 plan as per AECOM consultants to McBride,Dale and Clarion

Click to access 18435%20Cleveland%20Bradley%20Growth%2004.12.pdf

“The biggest redevelopment project the community has ever seen.” The City Mayor was recently quoted by the Chattanoogan, “what redevelopment?”
http://clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/9584992/article-City-to-seek-grant-for-redevelopment-of-Whirlpool-site?

City Council narrowly approves growth plan, discusses raising property taxes or cutting services to fund it. Also discussed, salary of consultants! “The plan was initiated by the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce” in partnership… “At that time, the cost of the study was $221,720. The local share of $171,720 was paid by the participants.”
http://clevelandbanner.com/bookmark/12540647-Council-says-OK-to-growth-strategy

Copy of a quote in the Banner from the above news article by Councilman Banks:
““When we vote on this it’s not just because it looks good in a notebook,” he said as he held the strategic plan in his hand. “We’re setting a course. If you read what’s in there, we are going to have to make some tough decisions and one of them is trying to get a property tax increase in the next 60 days.”

Banks said increasing the property tax might be best, but before raising taxes, he urged department heads to think about where they could save money.”

The Delphi Technique to achieve consensus. That overwhelming sense that no matter what we get back from the public, we will get what we want!

Community gives growth plan thumbs down, police called, tyranny reigns in Bradley County!

73 percent of Bradley County residents disapprove of growth plan, 80 percent disapprove of Central City Plan but the plan goes forward as if consensus reached.

73 percent of Charette attendees strongly disagree with Bradley County Comprehensive Plan

Redevelopment, the unknown Government- Speaks of the same things we are implementing here in Bradley County by hired out of town consultant is the same thing that is destroying California’s economy without a single vote cast by the people!
http://www.sanlorenzoexpress.com/norby1.htm

Strongly ask your self why did our elected leaders act so strongly toward a single taxpaying, constitutionally protected citizen? I would cide with my opinion that they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar and quickly responded negatively against the citizen who did the reporting. This again is the easy thing to do and they clearly took the low road. My daddy used to tell me son, if you are going to say something, you better be willing to back it up! Wished many would have received that advice! Thanks Dad! God rest your soul!

Let the Charettes begin! Of soccer moms and sinister U.N. plots! A planners charade!

Charettes! The mere sound of it sounds like something from the United Nations and linked to Agenda 21! Well, surprise it is commonly used by the UN to describe the visioning sessions being held by our devoted Bradley County Planners at the Bradley Square Mall from 10 am to 7 pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday!

Just google United Nations, Agenda 21 and Charrettes and see how often planners and minions of the UN use the word! Just look it up!

There is not even enough “shock value” to draw attention to this dastardly word and it’s close relationship to the UN! The mention of the UN has become common place in our community to our planners. It is up to us to continue to expose this diabolical encroachment on our property rights and freedoms!

Just listen to this soccer mom and her adventure through another “Charrette” in yet another County getting inundated by Agenda 21 for federal dollars!

The blindness is almost comical if it weren’t so tragic!

Of soccer moms and sinister U.N. plots
By Katharine Wroth

It all started innocently enough. I saw a notice in my local paper that my small town would be holding a strategic planning meeting, part of an effort to resuscitate it from the post-industrial malaise that has left so many New England towns in the economic dumps. I’ve never been particularly active in town, but curiosity got the best of me, so I ventured to the local high school on a Saturday morning, parked my car, and crunched across the gravel-strewn lot.

“Are you here for the charrette?” asked a friendly, dark-haired woman in a black coat, who was standing by the path to the door. I said I was, and she handed me a piece of paper. “This is just a guide to some of the language they’ll be using inside,” she explained with a pleasant smile. I took it, thanked her, and continued walking, reading as I went.

The first item on the list said, “You are about to be manipulated.” Hm, I thought. That’s sort of an odd approach, but probably intended to get us thinking creatively. I skipped past the definition of charrette to item No. 3, which told me the plan was to “steer an unsuspecting group into ‘reaching consensus’” — hang on. Unsuspecting? And what was with the air quotes? I scanned the rest of the flyer, and there it was in bold type: Agenda 21.

Suddenly this local planning session had taken on sinister undertones. Now we were enveloped in an international conspiracy, one that would impinge on our liberties and rob us of our rights! And all before most people had even had their coffee.

Grist has written before about the hackle-raising ability of Agenda 21, a United Nations sustainable development plan adopted in 1992. Here are the dastardly goals laid out in that document: “fulfillment of basic needs, improved living standards for all, better protected and managed ecosystems, and a safer, more prosperous future.”

Basic needs met? Living standards improved? Shud-der.

Do I wish Agenda 21 didn’t have a name that sounded like a two-bit spy movie? Of course. I have a feeling if it were called “Hey World, Let’s All Be Safer and More Prosperous,” it wouldn’t be half so alluring a target. But even then it would no doubt have its detractors, those who fear being told what to do by anyone outside the four walls they call home.

So I want that woman from my town, and others who share her views, to know what happened inside that school gym, at that fancily named charrette. For three hours, we talked in groups large and small about our hopes for the future. Young, old, parents, business owners, people who have lived all over the country and people who have never lived anywhere else. Here are a few of the scary things that were said:

A father of three said he wished there were more to do with his family downtown so he could spend his money to support local businesses.
A mother of two who coaches soccer advocated for improvements to the athletic facilities so people from other towns would see us more positively.
An elderly woman hoped for a new senior center because her quilting group had grown so dramatically that some of them now had to quilt in the hallway.
A woman suggested relocating the downtown train station so people could have better access to it, and so businesses could flourish around it.
Several people said they’d like to see an old-fashioned movie theater in town, one that was affordable and family-friendly.
A school principal said it would be great to find ways to build stronger connections between schoolchildren and senior citizens, the two largest groups in our population.
Weirdly, the U.N. operatives in sunglasses and trenchcoats — the ones who had come to force their horrific vision of safety and prosperity on us — didn’t talk much, just lurked in the corners and whispered to each other occasionally.

As the meeting progressed, I kept an ear out for the bolded terms the flyer had warned me to watch out for: sustainable development, smart growth, sustainable communities, green jobs, visioning, and land-use study, all of which were erroneously described as “common euphemisms for Agenda 21.” I heard exactly one of those terms used at my table, as our small group was making a list of our top goals for the town. “We should probably mention smart growth,” said a local realtor. “Though I think that’s an oxymoron.”

Turns out people don’t tend to talk a whole lot about sustainable development and visioning, sneaky U.N. plots notwithstanding. We talk instead about kids, and money, and jobs held or lost, and how we get around, and where our food comes from, and where our taxes go. We want good schools and strong health and money to spare. These conversations are happening in communities all over the country, as people work to make better places for themselves and their families. And that’s what sustainability is all about. No one used the term that day, but it was there in every breath. By definition, sustainability is life, and how we choose to live it. It’s not a dirty word.

Speaking of dirty words, that propaganda in my pocket defined charrette as a “final, intensive effort to finish a project before a deadline.” That’s partly true. But so is this: “A charrette is a meeting to resolve a problem or an issue … [incorporating] useful ideas and perspectives from concerned interest groups.” Of all the concerned interest groups, that woman in the black coat was the concerned-iest. I wish she had come inside with her fellow townspeople to find out what was really happening in there, and to put forth her own hopes for the place we all call home.

Source of info!
http://grist.org/cities/of-soccer-moms-and-sinister-u-n-plots/

Agenda 21: 40 Chapters of Sustainability

I thought it would be interesting to just show the softer gentler side of Agenda 21 that has emerged from the recent Rio2012 meetings on sustainable development! I don’t think anyone would say we don’t want cleaner air and water, that is a no brainer. The way that it will limit your freedoms and what it will force you to give up enforced by international bodies is the downside of making our environment more sustainable. We give up our sovereignty we don’t get to keep our freedoms, period! This is my beef in a nutshell with Agenda 21.

Read the short introduction to agenda 21 below and look at the title of the different chapters within Agenda 21 and you soon realize this is no small project and has huge implications and they are using our local governments to get it done!

Agenda 21

http://www.iisd.org/rio+5/agenda/agenda21.

This is from their website above! Now that they are detected and exposed they have to once again change their stripes!

Agenda 21 explains that population, consumption and technology are the primary driving forces of environmental change. It lays out what needs to be done to reduce wasteful and inefficient consumption patterns in some parts of the world while encouraging increased but sustainable development in others. It offers policies and programmes to achieve a sustainable balance between consumption, population and the Earth’s life-supporting capacity. It describes some of technologies and techniques that need to be developed to provide for human needs while carefully managing natural resources.

Agenda 21 provides options for combating degradation of the land, air and water, conserving forests and the diversity of species of life. It deals with poverty and excessive consumption, health and education, cities and farmers. There are roles for everyone: governments, business people, trade unions, scientists, teachers, indigenous people, women, youth and children. Agenda 21 does not shun business. It says that sustainable development is the way to reverse both poverty and environmental destruction.

We currently gauge the success of economic development mainly by the amount of money it produces. Accounting systems that measure the wealth of nations also need to count the full value of natural resources and the full cost of environmental degradation. The polluter should, in principle, bear the costs of pollution. To reduce the risk of causing damage, environmental assessment should be carried out before starting projects that carry the risk of adverse impacts. Governments should reduce or eliminate subsidies that are not consistent with sustainable development.

A major theme of Agenda 21 is the need to eradicate poverty by giving poor people more access to the resources they need to live sustainably. By adopting Agenda 21, industrialized countries recognized that they have a greater role in cleaning up the environment than poor nations, who produce relatively less pollution. The richer nations also promised more funding to help other nations develop in ways that have lower environmental impacts. Beyond funding, nations need help in building the expertise— the capacity— to plan and carry out sustainable development decisions. This will require the transfer of information and skills.

Agenda 21 calls on governments to adopt national strategies for sustainable development. These should be developed with wide participation, including non-government organizations and the public. Agenda 21 puts most of the responsibility for leading change on national governments, but says they need to work in a broad series of partnerships with international organizations, business, regional, state, provincial and local governments, non-governmental and citizens’ groups.

As Agenda 21 says, only a global partnership will ensure that all nations will have a safer and more prosperous future.

All 40 Chapters! Ever looked at them all? Very huge plan for you and me!

Chapter 1:Preamble
Section One: Social and Economic Dimensions
Chapter 2: International Cooperation
Chapter 3: Combating Poverty
Chapter 4: Changing Consumption Patterns
Chapter 5: Population and Sustainable Development
Chapter 6: Protecting and Promoting Human Health
Chapter 7: Sustainable Human Settlements
Chapter 8: Making Decisions for Sustainable Development
Section Two: Conservation and Management of Resources
Chapter 9: Protecting the Atmosphere
Chapter 10: Managing Land Sustainably
Chapter 11: Combating Deforestation
Chapter 12: Combating Desertification and Drought
Chapter 13: Sustainable Mountain Development
Chapter 14: Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development
Chapter 15: Conservation of Biological Diversity
Chapter 16: Environmentally Sound Management of Biotechnology
Chapter 17: Protecting and Managing the Oceans
Chapter 18: Protecting and Managing Fresh Water
Chapter 19: Safer Use of Toxic Chemicals
Chapter 20: Managing Hazardous Wastes
Chapter 21: Managing Solid Wastes and Sewage
Chapter 22: Managing Radioactive Wastes
Section Three: Strengthening the Role of Major Groups
Chapter 23: Preamble to Strengthening the Role of Major Groups
Chapter 24: Women in Sustainable Development
Chapter 25: Children and Youth in Sustainable Development
Chapter 26: Strengthening the Role of Indigenous People
Chapter 27: Partnerships with NGOs
Chapter 28: Local Authorities
Chapter 29: Workers and Trade Unions
Chapter 30: Business and Industry
Chapter 31: Scientists and Technologists
Section Four: Means of Implementation
Chapter 32: Strengthening the Role of Farmers
Chapter 33: Financing Sustainable Development
Chapter 34: Technology Transfer
Chapter 35: Science for Sustainable Development
Chapter 36: Education, Training and Public Awareness
Chapter 37: Creating the Capacity for Sustainable Development
Chapter 38: Organizing for Sustainable Development
Chapter 39: International Law
Chapter 40: Information for Decision-Making

Community gives growth plan thumbs down, police called, tyranny reigns in Bradley County!

As I stood watching the endless line of bureaucrats file into the Cleveland Bradley Public Library with the familiar easel, rolled up maps, worn out suits and clip boards listening to the steady beat of size 12 leather hills tapping the library granite corridor floor like a desperate prisoner chiseling his way out of prison! Perhaps this was none of the above and it was simply the melodious thump of a well orchestrated drum line! I couldn’t help but sense a sinister coup was in full operation mode while unknowingly the ill-informed citizen lurks outside, quietly foiling their lonely existence. We were about to see the covert operation unfold right before our eyes. I was there and no one invited me!

I soon realized that the fate of our county was being handed to these bureaucrats of a greater scheme! One thing that was overwhelmingly missing from that long line of mostly self-appointed dignitaries was that there were only a few, if any “regular, Joe Schmo citizens” filing into the room!

They all say “well, I am a citizen too!”, “right?” Of course you are, but a citizen that has either been appointed to a board, a commission, a review panel or a growth panel yielding influence or persuasion about a multi billion dollar project no longer qualifies you as a “regular citizen” that is not connected to the steam roller that is running over the people and taking away their rights! Sorry, but that is how we roll! If you are on one of the many numerous boards or commissions that yield the opinion or vote, your presence in the room no longer qualified you as an unbiased citizen. I saw 3 and I was 1!

If not for a very alert informant, we could have missed this potential consensus party! Had the two other citizens not been informed when we were this would have been one big communal love fest orgy of planners and bureaucrats yielding their proverbial wands to each other for the ultimate compliment and certain approval!

Can you imagine how one-sided this meeting could have gone and been accepted if those darn citizens hadn’t gotten in the way and raised legitimate questions about property rights and our sovereignty? Whew!

I was a little hurt that I didn’t get a formal invite or email notification about this party! But hey, I’ve been left off invitation lists before! There was this one time while in DC Ronald Reagan left me off the guest list, never mind! Wasted trip, another blog! But you get the drift!

I am now the red-haired step child of the local leftist Socialistic, Democratic planning movement! You know, that guy with no date to the prom, sorta shy and not quite cute enough to score the prom queen, ok, lets save that for another blog too! I have been saying that alot lately! Maybe, I am under the spell of the planners in BC! Oh well, save that one………..for another…… Oh you know……..blog!

I guess when you invite a regular concerned citizen, you might get a few questions asked and God forbid that happen when consensus is trying to be obtained! How better to gain consensus than to make sure no citizens were at this perceived public meeting! Silly me! Maybe my expectations were too high! I consider myself a pretty alert and informed kinda guy! I was left out of the plans! I was left out! Wait! Dejavu! Prom all ov er again! You know that potential night with high expectations that is one unanswered proposal from wearing a tux, a bow tie and a silly grin with deteriorating lamb skin rotting away inside his wallet! They disguised this one well! They hid this one well!

They were almost successful pulling this meeting off without one uninvolved citizen that wouldn’t benefit from the implementation of this growth plan!

I strolled in behind the only other two citizens Karen and Dan and we sat among the modest crowd of Bradley County “Elite!” You know those people that only their momma could love! That was a joke! I can hear now ” and that Blogger called me ugly too!”

Meeting the other two citizens in the room was brief and we went to meeting the other “decision makers!” Lets see to look around the room. There is Commissioners Mel, Woods, Caywood, Rominger, Greg Dale and his associates, Mayor of Charleston, the usual group of Chamber of Commerce rulers, planners galore, old, young, past and present and in between, various suits with Clarion clipboards, Emily, chairmen of the planning commission, wives and girlfriends of those people, oh yeah and don’t forget the old grey haired lady on the front row that has the police on speed dial who happens to be on one of the planning commissions! (that’s another story for another blog) but you see the plan!

Notify every one but the people that will be affected by the plan who will ultimately be footing the bill with their hard earned tax dollars were in the room or so it seemed!

0915 approached and the crowd of 40 to 50 fully involved citizens filed to their seats! The intros were short and the slides were popping!

After a brief introduction by Greg Dale of consultants McBride Dale and Clarion he handed it off to his able bodied comrade, Emily!

The very first slide, reportedly, a compilation of the top desires of the different breakout tables from the last meeting on January 30th! You know, those things that concerned citizens would like to hear more about! Property rights, impending plan costs, not implementing the growth plan, new taxes! Those things that concerns the everyday struggling citizen!

Transportation!

Transportation?

Not having to drive your car everywhere, getting a bicycle and riding everywhere! More Greenways! Putting all of our house on a pin head and have your bank, grocery store dry cleaners and everything at the bottom of your high rise so we can cut down on Green house gases, electric outlets for electric car? Does this sound like something brought up by the concerned citizens of Bradley County! Give me a break!!! This is from a planners playbook and a cookie cutter recipe that is shown by our consultants all over the United States! There was no “new slide” made up for just Bradley County! I would bet and I bet there are slide presentations out there with the exact same things on it from the exact same consultant!

Infrastructure?

Sewers?

Quality of life?

The list went on and on! The crowd was complicit and the speaker lulling us into a deep sleep of acceptance, the planners drool was now pasted onto my shirt. The subliminal messages were streaming from the speaker system, the fresh scent of brewing coffee now lingered over the doughnuts in the back of the room. A complete whitewash, a steady current of blah blah blah was now all I could hear and the crowd of dignitaries were proud of the work their consultants had done on compiling the data!

What about property rights? Sleepy heads and partially confused men turned to me as if I had just awakened them! What about our property rights? A huge component was missing on your compiled data? Tables 7, 8 and 9 were all very concerned about property rights and not a single mention of it on your slides? Eminent domain, tearing down buildings, new land use regulations, building codes, cost, new taxes, decreasing urban sprawl, firing the consultants, devising our own plan, promoting the free market. Those are the things we were concerned about and none of them got in the board! Why not?

Mr Dale speaks up and gently nudges the speaker back as she is more or less yelling and very confrontational at this point!

Property rights! We are concerned about property rights. We will be putting together more data with that information in it! I essence, he told me these were manufactured cookie cutter slides and we didn’t put them on a new slide because frankly we only want to show you what we want you to see and take your half million or more fee to blow smoke right up your behinds!

Every slide was presented as if it was the first time the room had heard it! The speaker became more and more agitated ad the presentation went on and the questions kept pouring in!

At one point, Mr Dale, said to the 3 citizens in the room “are you going to let this meeting go on or are you going to keep asking questions?” The immediate response was “uh NO, we have questions!” Commissioner Caywood, much like Commissioner Woods in the last meeting chimed in against the people asking legitimate questions, he pipes in and says and I paraphrase “I came here to learn about this, I have a family, a business and I’m giving of my time to be here so citizens with legit questions, shut the heck up!” he went on to sat “Majority rules in America, in a democracy!” Let me correct you here Mr Caywood, Majority does rule in a democracy, but we are a Republic and every vote counts! We are not yet a colony once again under the rule of kings, close but not yet! Commissioner Woods, was silent this round of tyranny and attempts at squashing our first amendment rights! Somebody must have read her the constitution, you know the part where we can challenge our government to make sure they don’t get too big for their britches! Restraint is a good fit Commissioner, shows maturity!

The spirited banter intensified and just as our founding fathers began to smile, just like clock work, the partially blonde/grey haired old lady, just as the last time steps out into the hallway and fires up her cell phone and calls for police backup because the three unwelcome guests were “gettin rowdy!” The full court press to squelch the voice of the people was on and the “people were bobbing and weaving to counter the proverbial punch of a government run amuck!

Two policemen follow her into the room and she sits beside the familiar man just as before with a Cheshire grin that could have taken on the trophy for her kennel! Success! Escort them out please! They have spoken and we all know commoners don’t dare speak in the presence of royalty! Bow to me young man and your two disobedient and irreverent scribes! Fetch my coat, I must relieve myself of these swine!

The funny thing about calling the police and she soon realized was, they are and have been on the side of the people. This is constitutionally what a sherrif and his deputies are sworn to do

Fortunately, at least most of them are here to serve and protect the peoples rights! They tell me as I sauntered to the back of the room, ” We are not going to arrest anyone that challenges or asks questions of an elected official or appointed board in a public meeting!” They think it is hilarious that our local government wants to squash it’s peoples rights! The Sherrifs in this town have made it no secret that they are here to serve and protect the people, not be a strong arm for the representatives of government or the selfish desires of an old woman! Whatever this woman is trying to do here, this is not Chicago or DC! We are well represented by our law officers and they are watching out for our well being!

Old lady do as you please, it is your right to be tyrannical , but remember in America at least for now, is not against the law! The Constitution still gives me the right to peacefully address my government and hold them accountable for their actions! So lay off the 911 calls for dignity sakes! It makes you look so pretentious and smug!

As I said clearly in the meeting, I respect the uniform and the position, but I do not fear standing up and speaking up in a public meeting!

Public facilities?

Did I go to the same meeting? The meeting I went to was so bombarded with citizen concerns that they hardly had time to discuss any of the plans! Some of my high faluting friends tell me this is what you call a fix! Consensus! Where you stay on course regardless of the questions and concerns, then it looks like everyone is in agreement!

For real? Public facilities, bathrooms and a Tom Rowland Convention Center is the most pressing thing on the table? Really? We are paying these consultants to tell me the same thing they tell every community! In fact when I asked Greg Dale this question he said and again I’m paraphrasing, he said that many communities have the same concerns, thats why all these sound the same from community to community!

We have just called you out on your same old outdated slides and you want me to buy your spill and let you implement a growth plan that will tax me well into the next century and burden my great grand children! Are you kidding me?

The meeting came to a sudden halt and once again we were broken off into 3 groups and discussed bringing everyone into our Urban Growth boundary and decrease sprawl in the rural areas, give everybody a bike and tell them to walk on the greenway under the guidance of the EPA, HUD, UN and the
DOT!

The meeting like the others did not meet consensus or even get close! The meeting from my observation was a failure! We have a plan for growth that is being poorly presented by consultants that are highly overpaid and have a very sinister under belly to them! We have reporters on this issue and we are collaborating some very disturbing trends!

What we have here is big government trying to get bigger! We have our taxes going up as a result! We have a few in government who are overreaching in their powers!

A citizenry that is being bypassed by a group of bureaucrats that feel they know better and are being briskly tugged by the almighty dollar in the form of multiple federal grants!

We are doomed and we have the deck stacked against us! The people’s voice in Bradley County is no longer! The republic and what it stands for is diminishing by the assistane of planners in a very finance rich environment that are using the crutches of government to fulfill their edicts from DC!

It is a sad day for our country! Our representative form of government is the ruling word in our world. The hell with the people! They are just in the way?

Our founding fathers laid out the framework, the people enforce the constitution and government resets it’s own set of rules and yet tyranny prevails!

I’ll save this next thought for another blog!

Agenda 21: Sally Absher TN State Executive Committeewoman speaks up about Agenda 21

It was only a matter of time before our politicians would finally see the light. The RNC, the GOP, select Democrats and State Executive Committeewoman Sally Absher are now speaking loudly and are talking about the dreaded Regional Growth Plan and it’s close ties to Agenda 21.

Also on board recently and sounding the alarm is Tn State Executive Committee Woman Peggy Lambert and State Senator Jim Summerfield!

On the flip side, the opposite is true in Bradley County and the region! Chattanooga/ICLEI/Recalled Mayor Ron Littlefield/Beth Jones/Bradley Planner Corey Divel/Mayor Gary Davis/Mayor Tom Rowland/State Representative Kevin Brooks and many others in Bradley County are still pushing the Agenda 21 Growth Plan as the “plan of all plans” despite warnings from within their own party!

Please stay tuned and read the letter below from Sally Absher! You will clearly see the line of demarcation that is continuing to divide our state! Some continue to move forward, while others like Sally, Peggy and Jim are attempting to halt it!

I can’t figure why the “powers that be”, the decision “makers and shakers” of this huge unconstitutional tax burdened, highly regulated, land grabbing growth project are still moving forward as fast as they can while their State Executives and the RNC are saying halt!

On the other hand, I believe I do understand! As a father of three, I think I am qualified to make this judgement call. They are acting as a child in a candy store wanting that one piece of candy they can’t have. In this case that one big federal grant, and they are lying on the floor, on their back and are kicking and screaming, “Daddy told me if I was a good boy, I could get that piece of candy or in this case a few measly million dollars of grant money, and I’m gonna lay here and resist till I get my way!” “Because the Mayors are saying its good for the local economy!!!”

It is obvious to me that special interest, lobbyist, the PPPs and the NGOs have got our politicians ear, not the parties that are representative of the people! This is the sadness of all this!

We are witnessing the slide of our political machine that is supposed to be representative of the people, melt off into the abyss! Our local, State and Federal bureaucrats have let the proverbial cheese fall off the cracker! The lust for money, the promise of power, greed and a misdirected plan has hijacked our local representatives and are unfortunately are influencing their decisions!

They are no longer representatives of the people but are minions, stooges, dare I say, “useful idiots” of an International Socialist engineering scheme that has captured and took over any decision making skills they may have had!

I feel sorry for the whole lot! Can you imagine where they are now! They have gone from, in a very short time of being the hero, the bringer (if that’s a word) home of the big piece of the pie to the persons who are now being held responsible for engineering the scheme that makes us a socialist nation with bigger plans for the eventual takeover of our country by a New World Order!

Now because of their poor leadership, people in their districts will soon be living in POD communities, stacked in little HUD houses, looking begrudgingly at the next scourge that may wipe out parts of the population so that we can be sustainable!

Because of these elected people, we are now living in highly regulated, annexed and expanding Urban Growth Development areas while assisting the UN in decreasing sprawl and living around uninhabital land reserves placed within a color zone!

We gotta annex so we can get those extra tax dollars from the ones we represent, you know!

In the meantime, we are witnessing the greatest loss of our freedom and sovereignty by land grabs and horrendous land use regulations of our time?

Can you imagine why they are not backing down after numerous calls from their leadership? It’s a pride thing now, we are in way too deep! Turning around now would mean they were right and I was wrong!

I believe honestly they would rather go to their grave knowing they destroyed our country than acknowledge that they were wrong! I see the quandry, I understand, I feel the pain, I really do! But it’s high time to do the right thing and reverse course! I understand feeling you are too deep into this diabolical international plan to turn tail now! But we must be realistic here!

I feel it is time to make it right and save face! I must either forge on or I must get slapped in the face with a big ole piece of humble pie!

Dont be that “useful idiot” too proud of this Regional project to ever save face. Its time to put on our big boy panties, suck it up, be a big man and admit to wrong doing and change course!

I can’t imagine a representative of the people continuing to fight till the last breath against cries from within their own party or from their constituency, but I imagine there is a few that will!

This house of deception is crumbling fast as more and more people are seeing it’s real intent! I would not personally want to be still holding the bag when it collapses!

Many lives are being directed into your imperfect storm! It’s time to guide them to safety! Let’s disassociate with ICLEI and shove off this International inspired growth plan, watch the free market take care of this growth thing all by it’s self with the best interest of the people in mind!

Don’t be that adult child that screams and pitches a fit long after they have been told “no!” Be the man or woman you were elected to be and represent the people!

The letter from one of our Tennessee State Executive Women Sally Absher to Adam Nickas , Executive Director, Tennessee Republican Party!

Adam Nickas
Executive Director
Tennessee Republican Party
(615) 269-4260
adam@tngop.org
http://www.tngop.org

Dear SEC Members, County Chairs, Young Republicans, College Republicans, and others,

First I would like to thank Peggy Lambert, our RNC Executive Committeewoman, for her report last Saturday in which she identified “the social engineering program known as Agenda 21” as one of the top issues for the RNC this year. This is a very complex topic, and there are many components to the UN’s Agenda 21, from education policy to restricting rural development to “smart growth” in our urban areas. But the two areas that impact citizens across the state are the policies that affect the rural areas, and urban areas of our counties. We have seen an explosion in “Comprehensive Plans” – some at the county level, some encompassing multiple counties or even extending across state lines, as with the Chattanooga area’s 16 County 40 Year Plan. It is up to us to dig beneath the surface, and expose the over-reach of government and the waste and abuse of tax dollars to support these programs. Please understand – I am all for conservation and being a good steward of the resources the Lord gave me. What I am against is restriction of personal property rights and government making decisions on where people can live, work, and how they can get around in their community.

I have attached two fact sheets that will quickly bring you up to speed on the basics, as well as a figure showing the state of Tennessee from the stimulated reserve and corridor map that Dr. Michael Coffman drew up based on the Global Biodiversity Assessment Report and the US and UNESCO Man and Biosphere Program (google these). What you need to know is that this is the end plan, unless we stop this now. As with most incremental plans, this won’t happen all at once, but ultimately, red areas will be completely off-limits to all human activity, yellow and green areas are limited use areas (agriculture, etc. – for now). All people will live inside the black dots on the map, in “stack ’em and pack ’em” high rise apartments. No lake houses. No mountain cabins. No suburbs. You can also search YouTube for the video “Agenda 21 for Dummies” – about 9 minutes long. It’s a little dated and the ending is a bit hokey, but it is a good introduction to some of the national figures who have been in this battle for the past 20 years.

This is a lot of information to toss to you at once. There are several good speakers on this topic across the state, so if you would like for someone to make a presentation to your GOP club or organization, please let me know and I will help you get that set up. Another thing to remember is that this is a non-partisan issue (or maybe it is a bi-partisan issue). George H.W. Bush signed the agreement at the Rio Conference in 1992; Bill Clinton created the President’s Council on Sustainability; Mayors and Governors of both parties embraced these programs in order to receive federal grant money, and Barack Obama (along with the EPA) is pushing the pedal to the metal as far as implementing this. EO 13575, which established the White House Rural Council. This should be of concern to everyone who lives in a county with rural areas. It will be to the GOP’s advantage to get out in front of this quickly, but don’t hesitate to try to educate democrats as well. You might want to check out Rosa Koire’s book “Behind the Green Mask: UN Agenda 21” available at Amazon for $14.37.

My apologies to the folks in the Chattanooga area who already received some of this information! Thanks for taking the time to learn a bit about this, and again, I urge you to do a search on the computer for “sustainable development” and your county or city. Or “comprehensive plan” and your county or city. You might be surprised by what you find!

Sally Absher
Tennessee Republican Party
State Executive Committee SD 6
865-621-3765

Tennessee Reserve and Corridor.pdf
TN Reserve initiatives and Corridor info
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The Sustainability Dilemma2.pdf
The Sustainability Dilema
(193.77 KiB) Downloaded 13 times

The Sustainability Paradox2.pdf
The Paradox
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