BUZZARDS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CIRCLING CHATTANOOGA AND BRADLEY COUNTY

BUZZARDS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CIRCLING CHATTANOOGA
By Kathleen Marquardt October 22, 2011 NewsWithViews.com

This article is by my friend Kathleen Marquardt and she is right on target! She has noticed this onslaught of  Governement Gone Wild! There is a concentrated effort by the Chamber of Commerce and its many minions, who have, at their own doing, are looking at dollar signs instead of doing what is right for the Citizens of our County.

Both of our Mayors have bought into this maniacal and costly plan and are circumventing our locally elected politicians and public and have joined with a 16 county,  3 state Regional Planning Commission! This is madness!

The Chamber of Commerce with their influence and a lending hand of our State Reps and locally elected officials have done the inevitable! They have bypassed you and are no longer representing you in Bradley County! In history, when a Monarchy or Dictatorship rules the land they have been toppled by violence!  This revolt must be non violent and must be done at the hands of you at the ballot box! We are way overdue at changing the gaurd! This is by far the most overt operation to date!

We as a Bradley County Commission representing the citizens of this county have voted “NO” to the 2035 BCC Strategic Growth Plan and now to drive around the citizens and join with ICLEI inspired Chattanooga and others is the last straw! It proves what has been thought for years! The elected officials currently in place have no regard for your concerns or the Commissions votes, representing the constituency! Shame on you for you inconsiderate behavior! We must stop this absurdity! Get involved Bradley County, wake up!  Our County is fixing to change for the worse and it want be easy to reverse! Stand up Bradley and Cleveland, you have slept long enough!

Please enjoy this article by Kathleen!

A stakeholder group consisting of elected, business, and philanthropic leaders from the tri-state region of Southeast Tennessee, Northwest Georgia and Northeast Alabama which encompasses three metropolitan statistical areas has announced a major milestone in the effort to lay the groundwork to launch a 40-year regional growth planning process.

The Chattanoogan Sustainablists circle like Buzzards, eagerly awaiting the death knell of the Great American Experiment. They no longer worry about sneaking legislation, regulation or planning in through the back door. Certain that they are in control, they are now up-front, in fact blatantly smug about what they are doing.

Look at the words and terms in the first quarter of this one article and tell me this isn’t Sustainable Development: Stakeholder group, regional growth planning process, organize and facilitate, long-term region wide planning, public visioning, common ground solutions, localized planning effort….
Chattanooga has been living with this a long time, “This is a continuation of the public visioning and community engagement processes that have been transforming Chattanooga and the surrounding region since the early 1980s.” That is when Senator Bob Corker was the mayor of Chattanooga. Sure is nothing I would be bragging about. But then I am not a useful idiot to the global elite who are orchestrating all of this. The statement from the mayor goes on to admit that their “community pioneered this approach.” Now this is really something to be ashamed of rather than touting it in the local rag.
“We don’t have to agree on everything, but failing to cooperate when it benefits citizens would be foolish,” said Georgia State Senator Jeff Mullis. “This planning process will enhance coordination among localities without taking away any of their authority or independence.” If you read the full article you will see time after time that they (the instigators of this travesty) keep insisting that they are not taking away the authority or independence of any localities. Yet, the regional boards do exactly that. The function of legitimate elected government within the system is fast becoming little more than a rubber stamp to create and enforce the dictates of the councils and regions.
“In my mind, the regional planning process is about job creation,” said Tom Edd Wilson, president and CEO of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce. “We’re competing against the whole world to retain and recruit employers. Coming together as a team on economic development will give us a tremendous advantage in making the most of our economic opportunities while preserving the quality of life that makes us so attractive to the companies we already have.” We are not competing against the whole world, we are competing against the few companies that are left in America. And the sadder thing about this is that only the companies that become Public Private Partnerships (PPP) have much of a chance at all at getting business here now. Many PPPs are nothing more than government-sanctioned monopolies in which a few businesses are granted special favors like tax breaks, the power of eminent domain, non-compete clauses and specific guarantees for return on their investments.
Following the public meeting on Nov. 17, the stakeholder group which has been working to launch the regional growth planning process will weigh public feedback and other requirements set forth in the selection process to determine which of the finalist teams will coordinate the effort with the aim of starting the process during the first part of 2012. Look at that sentence — stakeholder group and regional growth planning — two buzz phrases of Sustainable Development. And they will weigh “public feedback,” and how much weight do you think they will give to the legitimate questions of costs, autonomy, property rights and true local control?
I would bet money that not one idea that doesn’t conform to Sustainable Development will make it to the selection process. What we are watching is a highly choreographed spectacle that is being staged in cities, towns and counties across this great country of ours in front of audiences that do not have a clue to the fact that this performance is a death knell to the Great American Experiment.
Can we hold them off in Chattanooga? Let us hope so; let us hope that, into the machinery of this consensus process the globalists’ useful idiots manipulate so well, a wrench is thrown that will put them out of business.
We need to be supplying the wrench, metaphorically. We need to make certain that Americans understand what is wrong with Sustainable Development, not by name but by what it does to rights and freedom. Show them the effects on property rights, water rights; show them how the prices of food and energy are skyrocketing because of the rules and regulations that are designed into these plans. Show how our duly elected officials are becoming nothing more than rubber stamps for the unelected, often non-local officials of the planning and regional boards that have been mandated through these programs. The words Sustainable and Development do not have to be used, just their effects and affects.
We need to be doing this across America in every city, county and town because, if it isn’t already there, Sustainable Development and its buzzards will be there soon.
To help us have tools to inform the public of this evil, we need to know as many of the names of planning groups associated with Sustainable Development as we can find. We know of some:
Renaissance
Piedmont Environmental
American Planning Association
ICLEI
PlaceMatters
Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness
Center for Neighborhood Technology
RERC Strategic Advisors
Wallace Roberts & Todd
Gresham Smith & Partners
Yes, you can go down the list of the three finalist teams in the article and pull out a lot. But we would like to try to make a definitive list. To that end, if you would email me with ones in your area, I would appreciate it. My email address is listed at the end of this article. Thank you.
© 2011 Karen Johnson – All Rights Reserved

Kathleen Marquardt is Vice President of American Policy Center and also works for Freedom Advocates. She is the author of AnimalScam: the Beastly Abuse of Human Rights and was founder and Chairman of Putting People First.
E-Mail: marquardtkathleen379@gmail.com

Bradley County Mayor Davis says “the time is right” , referring to 16 County coalition to move forward with sustainable development, (Agenda 21)

A big, huge push by the US Chamber of Commerce and the local Chamber along side our locally elected leaders like Mayors Gary Davis and Mayor Tom Rowland have once again made a deal with the devil and in this case the United Nations via the ever so willing Chamber of Commerce!

The regional, 16 County, 3 state coalition will be one of the most government encroaching and expensive events in our lifetime! There will be billions, if not trillions of your tax payer dollars wasted and spent in the name of job creation! Hello, the Chamber spent hundreds of millions of dollars in Bradley County last year and only netted around 200 or so net jobs (source: Cleveland Banner regarding recent award to the Chambers Doug Berry)

If we haven’t learned our lesson by now, it us evident we will never learn! The Chamber of Commerce is a front for the UN with their fully expressed intent of outsourcing our American jobs to “spread the wealth” to other countries! It’s on their website and the US Chamber President Tom Donohue is encouraging it!

Our Mayors making this comittment to this project tells me they need a good dose of “term limits” placed on them by the voters of this county!

They are seeing the “federal money” flowing into their coffers! This has very little to do with jobs! Please, if it did we would not have gone from just over a 1 percent unemployment rate to a near 10 percent in a few short years since they were elected!

Our country us broke and our county is broke and yet we continue to spend, spend, spend! That means to you and me that must foot the bill for this and that is tax, tax and tax us some more to pay for it ! Our property rights are gonna be non existent! The farm you used to own, gone! The reasonable property tax rate you now have, gone!

Our leaders have run amuck and it is time to speak up! Plan to attend the conference below and speak out against this unwanted agenda!

The article below from the Chattanooga times Free Press!
Groundwork To Launch Regional Growth Planning Process Reaches Milestone
posted October 14, 2011

A stakeholder group consisting of elected, business, and philanthropic leaders from the tri-state region of Southeast Tennessee, Northwest Georgia and Northeast Alabama which encompasses three metropolitan statistical areas has announced a major milestone in the effort to lay the groundwork to launch a 40-year regional growth planning process. 

Efforts to identify a team of expert firms to help organize and facilitate the effort have progressed through a request for qualifications, a request for proposals, and reference checks to narrow the field of contenders to three finalist teams:

Wallace Roberts & Todd; Gresham Smith & Partners; PlaceMatters; Ann Coulter; Neathawk Dubuque& Packett; Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness; Center for Neighborhood Technology; Leslee T. Alexander Consulting; Constructive Technologies Group; and RERC Strategic Advisors.

McBride Dale Clarion; Clarion Associates; Fregonese Associates; Kimley-Horn and Associates; Brown Pearman Russell; BAE Urban Economics; Opticos Design, Inc; Ann Coulter; PlaceMatters; The Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies; and Neathawk Dubuque & Packett.

Renaissance Planning Group; Cambridge Systematics; ICF International; Barge, Waggoner, Sumner & Cannon; Ann Coulter; Neathawk Dubuque & Packett; Robert Grow Consulting; and The Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies.

All of the finalist teams include local firms, and the companies that comprise the teams reflect the depth and breadth of experience necessary to complete a truly comprehensive regional planning process including expertise in community engagement, many different types of planning, financial analysis, data collection, and the establishment of community metrics.

According to Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger, the effort is designed to pioneer a new kind of long-term, region-wide planning. “Our goal is to create a kind of business plan for the region,” said County Mayor Coppinger. “In addition to incorporating traditional planning topics, the process will include financial analysis. We also aim to establish a set of numeric benchmarks, so we will be able to assess results as we implement the plan and make course corrections whenever necessary.”

All three of these expert teams will make a presentation during an open public meeting on Nov. 17 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Chattanoogan Hotel. Everyone in the region is invited to attend the meeting and provide feedback on the finalists. Event organizers are also planning to broadcast the event via local television and a web cast to make the public meeting widely accessible to people from across the region.

“This is a continuation of the public visioning and community engagement processes that have been transforming Chattanooga and the surrounding region since the early 1980s,” said Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield. “Our community pioneered this approach, and we know that the key to success is making sure everyone has the opportunity to express their values, priorities, and ideas. This effort depends on empowering citizens to identify common ground solutions that inspire enthusiastic and wide-spread cooperation.”

Bradley County Mayor Gary Davis confirmed that the time is right to broaden planning efforts to promote cooperation in the greater region. “Cities and counties across the area have benefited tremendously from localized planning efforts, but job seekers, dollars and traffic cross state and county lines without a second thought,” said County Mayor Davis. “This is an opportunity to coordinate so that we can make the most of our shared opportunities and work together to solve our shared challenges.”

Commissioner Mike Babb, chairman of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners, pointed to the importance of engaging citizens to set priorities. “Through this process people will have an opportunity to express their thoughts about the issues we face as a community,” said Commissioner Babb. “That feedback will serve as a guide to local leaders as we strive to better steward financial and other community resources in accordance with the priorities of the people we serve.”

“We don’t have to agree on everything, but failing to cooperate when it benefits citizens would be foolish,” said Georgia State Senator Jeff Mullis. “This planning process will enhance coordination among localities without taking away any of their authority or independence.”

“In my mind, the regional planning process is about job creation,” said Tom Edd Wilson, president and CEO of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce. “We’re competing against the whole world to retain and recruit employers. Coming together as a team on economic development will give us a tremendous advantage in making the most of our economic opportunities while preserving the quality of life that makes us so attractive to the companies we already have.”

Brian Anderson, president and CEO of the Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce also emphasized how long-term planning benefits the local economy. “Successful companies are constantly planning for the future and figuring out how to adapt to rapidly changing conditions,” said Mr. Anderson. “In these uncertain times, we need an on-going process for implementing that kind of strategic approach across our region.”

“Most folks don’t think about roads until there is a traffic jam or pipes until one breaks,” said Gary Farlow, president and CEO of the Cleveland-Bradley Chamber of Commerce. “But the continued success of our employers depends on proactively ensuring the soundness of the infrastructure that speeds the flow of commerce.”

Following the public meeting on Nov. 17, the stakeholder group which has been working to launch the regional growth planning process will weigh public feedback and other requirements set forth in the selection process to determine which of the finalist teams will coordinate the effort with the aim of starting the process during the first part of 2012.

Q&A
1. Which counties are included in the footprint for the planning process? 
Alabama Counties: Dekalb and Jackson
Georgia Counties: Catoosa, Dade, Murray, Walker, Whitfield (anchored by city of Dalton)
Tennessee Counties: Bledsoe, Bradley (anchored by city of Cleveland), Hamilton (anchored by city of Chattanooga), Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Polk, Rhea and Sequatchie

2. What organizations and companies have participated in the stakeholder group to launch the process?
The stakeholder group that has come together to fund and launch the regional growth planning process consists of strong representation from local government, business, and philanthropy including:

City of Chattanooga, Hamilton County, city of Cleveland, Bradley County, Whitfield County, Top of Alabama Regional Council of Governments, Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency, EPB, Northwest Georgia Regional Commission, Southeast Tennessee Development District, Urban League of Greater Chattanooga, Benwood Foundation, Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, Lyndhurst Foundation, Maclellan Foundation, CBL and Associates, Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, McKee Foods, Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce, Shaw Industries, Cleveland-Bradley Chamber of Commerce, Unum, and CreateHere.

3. What is the value of this process to local governments?
By giving local governments the ability to cooperatively plan and coordinate with neighboring jurisdictions, the process will help elected officials focus on the greatest impact for the most people with the least expenditure, while reducing duplication of efforts.

To play a lead role in starting an economic legacy of job creation founded in regional cooperation to ensure continued prosperity for citizens, children, and grandchildren.

By giving citizens an opportunity to express their values, priorities, and ideas, the planning process will provide local governments with the ability to better steward financial resources in accordance with the priorities of their constituents.

The process will also serve to inform residents of the challenges their home communities share with those across the region and to engage them in developing solutions with broad support.

4. What is the value of this process to local citizens?
A process for effectively managing the accelerated growth the region is already experiencing through unprecedented investments by a number of industries.

A seat at the table in planning how the region can become more prosperous and generate additional economic opportunities for ourselves and children.

A forum for better understanding the “big picture” of the region and expressing their ideas, values, and priorities.

The opportunity to join with others in preserving and enhancing what makes the communities special.

U.S. EDA Supports Economic Development Planning in Bradley County, TN with $ 200,000 of your tax dollars!

Once again the Mayor of Cleveland has sneaked one past the Citizens of Cleveland and Bradley County in the amount of $ 125,000.00 with a matching or at least 50 percent match from the citizens of Bradley County for fulfillment of a Sustainable Development Project Plan.

This is only to fund the plan, the Comprehensive Plan, which equates to a bunch of pieces of paper and it is going to cost, or should I say it has already cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars.

This Socialist plan is a part of the United Nations Agenda 21 plan to re work every town in the United States to eventually control you and your property!

This article was found on a name search of Mr Rowland, to my knowledge this “press release” was never released locally or reported in any paper. This article was found on the US EDA website a subsidiary of the Department of Commerce!

Open your eyes Bradley County there is a bigger force than we can imagine driving the agenda in Bradley County and it is sinister and evil!

Our elected leaders are dancing with some very diabolical characters on the State, Federal and International levels. The Devils dance is methodical, consistent and is inhabiting our County by willing participants, the madness must stop!

Send up prayers for our leaders who are being blinded the desire for the dollar. (The article below)

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) today announced a $125,000 grant to the city of Cleveland, the city of Charleston and Bradley County, Tenn., to help boost comprehensive planning efforts critical to the region’s future sustainable growth.

“The Bradley region is attracting dynamic companies and has tremendous potential to continue to grow and become an economic engine in Tennessee,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development John Fernandez. “This EDA grant will help implement the critical planning that is needed to foster sustainable development for the region.”

“At present, Volkswagen, Wacker Chemie, and Amazon.com have plans to hire thousands of workers and invest millions in private investment. The comprehensive planning effort will guide the response to the issues and concerns that arise from this unprecedented growth,” said Tom Rowland, Mayor of Cleveland, Tennessee.

The EDA grant will facilitate development of a comprehensive plan for sustainable growth in Bradley County, which is experiencing a transformation due to the influx of new industry. The regional plan will target three areas projected to contain the most densely populated growth, including in Cleveland’s central business core, and will support and promote economic revitalization, energy efficient transportation options, and regional economic competitiveness.

About the U.S. Economic Development Administration (www.eda.gov):

The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation’s regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA makes investments in economically distressed communities in order to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.

U.N. official calls for urgent action to boost sustainable development agenda in US

The United Nations has determined that Sustainable Development (Agenda 21) must move forward pretty quickly, placed on the fast track at the next major meeting of the United Nations. June 2012, is the next meeting to discuss Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development in Rio Dijeneiro.

The United Nations has encouraged the United States to take the lead in this endeavor and spearhead the next 20 years since the Earth Summitt in 1992, thus the name Rio+20. I feel this meeting will be intended to catapult Agenda 21 to the forefront of their endeavors to further assault our sovereignty and property rights.

This is a real effort with dire consequences, this is no game and the United Nations is no longer playing the waiting game. They are going on the offensive and we had better be attentive the next year and decide how important the next presidential election is to saving our Republic.

Below is a letter sent out by the UN’s Sha Zukang to World members recently! Read carefully and tell me we dont have something to worry about!

The letter reads:
Concerted global efforts are needed to accelerate the sustainable development agenda set by the United Nations, a senior U.N. official said here on Tuesday.

“Right now, humanity stands at a crossroad. Some signs point to the right direction…Yet, other signs point to the wrong direction,” said Sha Zukang, secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) at the National Press Club in Washington, Xinhua reported.

“As environment change accelerates, we, as an international community, must accelerate our actions. We must advance faster on the path to sustainable development,” said Sha.

The Rio+20 conference, aimed at boosting green economy and eradicating poverty in the context of sustainable development, is scheduled to be held in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in June 2012. The U.N.’s first conference on sustainable development was held in 1992 in the same city.

Sha, also the U.N.’s Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, noted that there is an urgency to move the agenda ahead with Rio+20 less than a year away.

He urged the United States to take the lead to push the Rio+20 agenda ahead and called for governments as well as public and private sectors to participate in this process and make contributions.

Meanwhile, Sha noted that the three pillars of sustainable development — social, economic development and environmental protection — are closely interdependent.

Pass this around, get the word out, then contact your elected officials to either not attend or simply tell them we dont want the UN directing our future in the United States!

Source:Trend News Agency s information pulled directly from the United Nations website at http://www.un.org!

Hungry Wolves, Kings, Peasants, Higher taxes, Costly Growth Plan, in Bradley County? Time for change!

As many of you know we are heading toward a financial disaster for our town if the Growth plan goes forward as many in local government predict it will. We will be faced with a huge tax burden that will reach even into our childrens childrens future.

Billions of dollars from you and a promise from the Federal Government to provide your tax dollars to supplement this effort.

Speaking recently to a County Commissioner who will remain unidentified, because I did not disclose that I may use this in this article, but he relayed to me that he doubts future money will be there in the form of “stimulus money” in the years to come and look where we are at that point. Up to our necks in this growth project and the funds are cut off. What will that do to our coffers.

Right Mr Commissioner, not only is the Federal Government not sending our tax dollars back to us we will have to go after more at the local level in the form of a property tax or other taxes too.

Do you know how many people see our bodies and land as a tax revenue source…..bunches. They stare at you and everytime they see you they salivate, dollar bills flash in front of them like a wolf views a bloody piece of meat. (To be honest have never seen a wolf stare at a bloody piece of meat, but I have an imagination) And we are to date allowing them to do whatever they want especially as it relates to our schools.

Enough is enough Bradley County and City elected officials. We are staring at a huge beast and it fangs are glaring and the growl is at a low rumble (like the wolf staring at the bloody piece of meat, I was hoping I could use that description again). We are in the belly of the beast and our future is in the hands of the County Commission, the City Council and its Mayors.

There is something fundamentally wrong with a group of elected officials who are ignoring the cries of its citizens in hopes that someone will plant a dollar bill in their hand. Makes me want to pull what little hair I have left in my head out.

Do they not see it or are they ignoring the obvious manifestation of an ill thought out plan with a diabolical outcome. The masses must speak up on this issue.

The Nation is watching Bradley County, the eyes are upon us and our elected leaders. The County Commission has the opportunity to do the right thing and be a saving grace to our community. Lets hope they dont get distracted by the dollar signs and the minions on these Non Governmental Boards who are driving this! Lets rethink this!

Lets get the Federal Government out of our decision making at the local level and do as the state has asked us to do per public act 1101. Lets get together with the cooler heads that are prevailing here and rethink the requests of the 1101 State Act which requires us to have a growth plan or repeal the act all together. We can do that too!

Lets rethink through this and see if we can come up with an alternative plan to thwart the astronomical costs of doing it the way of the federal government and International bodies that are trying to gain ground on our freedoms. Something else must work better. Swallow the costs associated with the many misled opinionated consultants that have led us astray, forgive the politicians who know not what they have done to potentially bankrupt the City and County, forgive the few gainly professional politicians who hold state board positions who give the iron fist when negotiating and pushes their agenda down the throats of those that have a soft backbone and no padding on the behind.

Those who stare you down when you walk in the room trying to intimidate the concerned citizen, forgive them all and lets start over, with citizen input. Lets get the beuracrats, the politicians, the minions, the NGOs, the people who stand to benefit from the billions and will quickly line their pockets with taxpayer money, away from the decision making.

Where have we gone astray! Our forefathers warned us and gave us the ammunition to arm ourselves when our government at any level becomes a monarchy. Grab the Constitution Bradley County it is time to go to war, to use the constitution and remind these politicans, especially the professional ones that they work for us and we do not have to be intimidated with their tyranny.

King George had his day and believe me their are several King Georges in our midst. Time to run them accross the pond as we did a few hundred years ago. The kingdom is being built, the Kings are gaining strength and the peasants are tired of all the new taxes being forced upon them. Its time to stand up!

Lets bust up the “good ole Boy network, expose them and proverbally cut their heads off at the ballot box.Lets defang the wolf, lets vote out the Kings, rid our county of the costly Growth Plan, thwart and divert higher taxes, its time Bradley County!!!

We can do this.

Lets take our county back!

Thats a great idea!

Lets give it a try.

How about that for change!

Lets change the way the Change agent in DC is doing things.

Thats the ticket Bradley County!

GO TO WWW.bradleycountynewsnetwork.net under the government banner and vote NO on an online petition against the BCC 2035 Growth Plan!

Lets get busy!

UNITED NATIONS IB Program at Walker Valley High

This is one of many Letters to the Editor that were never published in Bradley County.

Tuesday, April 19th at the 530 pm Bradley County School Board
meeting a concerned, informed citizen with three children in the County
school system. I was denied my rights to address the board about a vote they
were about to cast that may affect my children and many children in the
community. The International Bacculaureate Program is about to be initiated
in our schools with little to no debate with the public, whom will be relied
upon to foot the bill. This program is set to be implemented in one of our
local schools initially, Walker Valley High School! No discussion as to the
facts of this program or where it originated nor the negative impact it may
have upon the minds and psyche of our children. This is another attempt to
indoctrinate my children and yours with moral, spiritual and social values
that I may,for the benefit of my children,not see it as a good fit and
could potentially unravel their existing spiritual structure, further
influencing their thought processes in an already influential social
environment of High School.
If I had been given the opportunity to voice my concerns in a public meeting
I would have told them this before a vote was cast. 1) Costs- In a school in
Wooster Ohio, (graduating an average of 5.5 students per annum) is costing
them annually around 1 million dollars for their IBP (International
Bacculaureate Program) just to maintain the program. IB training costs are a
tremendous burden on any school budget, 1) certification of teachers costs
about $ 1500.00 dollars per teacher to be trained 2) Application fees in the
neighborhood of $ 43,000 dollars, up $ 6,000 dollars from a year ago.3)
Teacher training varies from $20,000.00 to $ 60,000 annually.4) Salaries and
benefits for the “extra instructors”, 5) Reimbursements for IB evaluation
visits at $3,500 per visit, 6) Stipends for the CAS and EE Directors at $ 5
to 7,000.00 dollars, 7) Books and materials for the required courses, 8) IB
coordinators are reccomended at 25 per district.9) Postage to ship material
and recieve materials from all over the world at $ 5 to $ 7,000.00 annually,
10) Salaries for substitute teachers for missing teachers in training, 11)
Test fees per test taken, the national rate and it increases frequently at
96.00 per test as of September 2010, 12) IBDP student registration fees at
$141.00 dollars, 13) Annual authorization through world school, fees of
$10,000 dollars, 14) IB online courses through Pajoma.15) Rumored a 10 year
contract, although specifics of a contract are not widely known. The list
can go on and on!
In review of current data on the IB website and other sources I have seen
the percentage of schools that are publicly funded that have accepted the IB
program is around 93 percent. This is quite a difference in the data given
out at the board meeting by Dan Glasscock. This reflects a lot of tax dollars and the
funneling of alot of money out of our community and into a “Global
Community”. Many of the trends I have seen when IB is implemented in
schools, many students simply move away or are divided by an
over reaching school board attempting to manipulate the environments of our
children. Student buy in after implementation has been low based on the
demands on top of their current curriculum and the reality that their school
workload has just been increased tremendously, thus the 5.5 students
graduating from an IB program at substantial cost.
This program has a tendency, at least in my opinion and my review of the
system to take over a schools current curriculm and further burden it with
the heavy responsibility of accepting this program, because of demands and
time placed on teachers to fulfill the stringent, required oversight that
they are bound to contractually. Despite the stringent courses nationally
the graduation rate is around 60 percent. This is not a reflection of a good
program, this tells me the kids are becoming disinterested and are probably
dropping out or failing at a high rate. As one spokesperson of IB has said
about their program mission statement ” It must be made very clear that the
program does have a major role to play in the school and that intrinsic
values espoused by the IB program are relevant to the whole school”.
“Candidate schools must recognize from the start that this goes way beyond
holding the traditional “annual United Nations celebrations”.
Among the concerns besides cost and curriculum “take over issues”, you also
have the realization that this is a United Nations Program with subsequent
funding and oversight provided by UNESCO. I know this is tough to
swallow and the UNITED NATIONS has no business in our schools. The United
Nations is an international agency that advocates for social justice (what
is yours is theirs), does not follow or recognize or feel that they are in
anyway bound by the Constitution of our country, they practice
collectiveism, pluralism and believe the way of Karl Marx and Socialist
around the world. They also believe in collective human rights and do not
believe in presonal rights or inalienable rights as given us in our
Constitution. As a way of business, IB representatives participate regularly
in UNESCO meetings and allows UNESCO to be the “foot soldiers” for this
takeover of our school system. IB schools are positioning themselves to be
“social engineers” and our own Bradley County School Board is allowing our
children to be “experimental rats” in a Socialist, Facist, Marxist program
with the use of International, Federal, State and Local tax dollars to
indoctrinate our children with “Global views” with Socialist fibers running
all through this program.
To quote Peter Vardy speaking on “Values Education” at the IBO International
Conference in Hanoi, “The IBO needs to stand for a broader approach, in
particular it needs to engage with 1) religious beliefs, 2) ethics and
values, 3) issues of truth, helping people to become fully human” He went on
to say “we need to be helping our young people to be compassionate , caring,
ethical individulals. “This means we will be helping them to make a
distinction between what is right or wrong, just or unjust, true or false,
good or evil.” Dr Ian Hill wrote in a 1996 report to UNESCO of the
international Commission on Education said, “understanding and tolerance of
cultural differences and pluralism is obligating us to an environment of
protection and sustainable development. Dont know about you but I think
instilling values in my children is my job!
We are in trouble Bradley County! Our values, morals and spiritual beliefs
as we know them are in jeopardy! We have invited the “devil” into our
community and we are now going to pay the price for that joint venture. If
you have spiritual concerns, you better, if you feel our children will be
indoctrinated, they will, and with no american values instilled in their
education, free of personal liberty and inalienable rights. We are at a
crossroads! I ask where is the outcry? Where are the Patriots of years gone
by who have witnessed communism first hand and if we were in a different
time and place would be marching on the school board grounds denouncing this
Socialist United Nations invasion on our children and in our school system.
I am dumfounded at the lack of rage, perhaps I am overestimating the
American Spirit, but I love my country and I can no longer just sit back and
watch as she is brought to her knees by a leftist regime that is well intent
on destroying this country from the inside out. People of Bradley County,
this is no longer something you are reading in the papers happening in
another country or nation, this is happening in your back yard with your
children as the target. Will you make a choice to defend your sovereignty or
do we continue being sheep as if to slaughter.
My rights to speak out last night were taken away but your right remains intact.
Lets contact our schoolboard and ask them to not pursue a contract with this
socialist society. We can make a difference, but if you do not speak up, they
will win the battleand our children suffer. Ask the board why they would not
allow a concerned citizen to debate this issue that will take millions out of his
pocket and threaten his way of life. Ask them why they are allowing the United Nations
to come into our schools with this agenda. Stand up Bradley County! Lets be
true patriotic Americans and fight this plan for our schools. Ask them to
withdrawl support for this IB program and its many negative aspects that are
supported with over 60 percent of our Counties budget. Citizen input should
never be squelched by a few who think they know best, lets remind them that
they work for us and as elected officials they should listen to us or be
replaced at the next election.

My account of this is documented in the YOU TUBE video titled Agenda, Donny Harwood
it will pull right up!

TACIR, Do Fear!

TACIR! Do Fear!
Cleveland City Mayor Tom Rowland re-appointed to the tyrannical TACIR. Mayor Rowland served previously as Vice Chairman and was appointed by Governor Don Sundquist. Today, Governor Bill Haslam appointed Mr Rowland for a second 4 year term. Governor Haslam praised Mr. Rowland and said “I believe your participation is certain to leave a positive impact on this board and the work it does. TACIR appointments rotate between the Governor, Lt Governor and speaker of the House of Representatives, if that is true then the Mayor got lucky and was appointed two times in a row by the Governor.
From the TACIR website it defines its mission. “The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations was created to monitor federal, state and local governments recommendations for improvements to the Legislature.” It adds, The commission serves as a bipartisan forum for the discussion of intergovernmental issues and may initiate studies resulting in legislative proposals and CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS. Did anyone catch that? Amendments to the Constitution, just in case the constitution limits anything they may want to do to you! The commission responds to requests for technical assistance from the general assembly, state agencies and local governments.
Rowland went on to say that TACIR has been involved in Cleveland and Bradley County with many projects to include annexation, URBAN GROWTH AREAS, regional jail concepts and regional water supply, among others.The commissions next project is the ongoing debate over water access to Georgia from Tennessee waterways.
State Representative Kevin Brooks, 24th district says he is well aware of TACIRS role in bridging communications between local, state and federal governments, he applauded Rowlands appointment. It is becoming all to familiar to see Mr Brooks name every where there is a smart growth, sustainable community or Agenda 21 issue. His actions should be monitored carefully. After all recently he guided a missle into our community called the “Brownfield” redevelopment project via the HB 1554, that is going to run people out of the downtown area in droves, grab all the downtown land by eminent domain, buy the land from poor downtowners at market price and sell to his buddies to develop relatively dirt cheap, then see a huge increase in your taxes and everyone makes a huge profit off your dime, your tax dollars, then we are stuck with loans, bonds and cost of infrastructure in the 100s of millions if not billions, thanks, but no thanks Mr Brooks and Mr. Rowland. It is time you get called out by your constituency for what you are turning our town into.
Mr Brooks went onto to say that TACIR is one of the most prestigious BRANCHES of state and local governments and to be Vice-Chair speaks highly of Mr Rowland as he is elected by his fellow commissioners (I think he meant to say Councilmen or perhaps the Governor who does the appointing.) Elelcted? No, he is appointed there is no election and if there were an election, Im sure your constituency would have a say so in their election process. And by the way, I have never known TACIR to be a Branch of Government, Mr Brooks this to the best of my knowledge is not a “branch of government” merely a commission formed by a few elected officials that consults the branches of government. Rowlands election, er, appointment to the Vice Chair position is not only an honor for Mr Rowland but for the Cleveland Community as well, says Mr Brooks. Hey I have a novel idea and concept, lets have a mayor that wont raise our taxes and balance a budget with perhaps a surplus. Now that would really be an honorable step in the right direction.The Banner also describes the “other position” Mr Rowland holds and that is as a member of the Homeland Security Council under Haslam, another far reaching organization, I will discuss in another blog.
TACIR has gone on record as supporting the BCC 2035 Joint Strategic Growth Plan. At first glance we thought that TACIR may have a hand in the delivery of the Expensive and expansive Growth Plan but now I am seeing it as perhaps a catalyst and initiator. Mr Rowland should not have the power of a King and call all the shots from a Vice Chair position at TACIR, at the very least this growth plan should have been discussed with the taxpayer and allowed their input and perhaps the facts to be discussed and maybe the vote to approve been left up to the people of Bradley County as they will be bearing the burden of the cost of this multi-billion dollar project. The mayor has said the TACIR report reinforces the work we did on the BCC Strategic Plan, he is referring to an 82 page report giving recommendations on how to resolve many issues in Bradley County, among them water problems and implementation of the Agenda 21 inspired Growth plan.
Recently , according to the website the General Assembly “may wish to appoint a land policy study committee to address the states interest (catch that, the states interest) in land use issues. Let me remind you Mr Rowland you are supposed to be the gatekeeper and keeper away of the bad stuff that may hit Cleveland, your “interest” or the states should not be about what you are going to do with our land. He goes on to say “The BCC 2035 Plan recommends an oversight committee to pursue implementation of this LAND USE policy. TACIR also states that one significant land use issue is that comprehensive planning is optional for local governments in Tennessee. Does this sound optional to you? The Mayor just ranted that it was essential, Corey Divel our County Planner has given presentation after presentation on land use, we have international laws dictating our land use, we have had recent rezoning requests and its going to be optional, don’t think so! Lets just say that it is optional, and they do actually decide to give the taxpayer an option, then lets put it up for a vote, majority prevails.
We keep hearing that “sprawl” is ruining our county, sprawl is eating up our farmland and taking our valuable resources, I hate to inform anyone but these are lifestyle choices of FREE AMERICANS making decisions, purchasing what they want with what they have where they want and when they want. Now, the government is concerned about that land you are inhabiting. Why are you so worried what I am doing with my land. Why should the government have a say so over where I buy land and build a house. Stay out of my personal life, you have no constitutional right to be there.
The TACIR Organization just had a conversation with the State Attorney General about land use and had a pretty open discussions about your land, frankly, a really frightening conversation and TACIR saw fit to have it on their website for all to see just in case you decide you want to tell the Government NO to taking your land, the conversation was a series of questions that he gave his opinion on and it went something like this.I pulled this from the TACIR website:

<a href="http://www.tn.gov/tacir/Growth/AGopinion.html#10_012&quot; title="TACIR website"

*Attorney General Opinion No. 98-239: Constitutionality of Certain
Provisions *

QUESTIONS and OPINION
1) Is it constitutional to place the burden of proof on the party
challenging the growth plan?*

a) According to the Attorney General, it is constitutional to place the
burden of proof on the party challenging the plan because these are "matters
regarding the creation and expansion of municipal corporations and are,
within the broad constitutional authority vested in the General Assembly in
these matters."

2) Is it constitutional to place the burden of proof on the party
challenging an annexation?

b) In the opinion, it was concluded that it is constitutional to place the
burden of proof on the party challenging an annexation since federal and
state courts have held no equal protection or due process argument can be
made if the annexation statute is properly followed, unless there is some
proof of invidious discrimination.

3) Does a growth plan, by designating different areas as urban growth,
planned growth or rural areas, constitute an illegal "taking" of landowners'
property?

c) Inclusion in the urban growth area, planned growth area or rural area of
a growth plan does not constitute an illegal taking of a landowners'
property under the federal or state constitution according to the opinion.

4) Is withholding funds or grants under this statute unconstitutional?

d) The Attorney General noted in the opinion that it was not aware of any
federal or state constitutional provisions that prohibited the withholding
of grants and loans under Public Chapter 1101.

Question #3 posed to our State Attorney General by TACIR I am assuming, is what scares me most about the statement, according to the AG the "taking of your land" does not constitute an illegal taking of landowners property, WOW! The AG says it is ok via the BCC Strategic Growth Plan to take your property! If you had any doubt about the intentions of the growth plan taking your property, now you have the answer.This is such a travesty and warrants people standing at the courthouse steps demanding a more appropriate answer and accountability by our City Mayor to explain this issue. This scares the bejeebies out of me and should scare you, especially if you are a homeowner.! It worries me on so many levels and it worries me that our community has so many people so closely aligned with such a powerful, tyrannical one minded, socialist think tank, highly regulating and land hungry giant known as TACIR, you scared? DO FEAR!