Locals in my hometown demand city council limit size of shopping center (AGENDA 21)

[Son_of_Liberty90]

This is occurring close to where I live. Comments in the article are telling supporters of the Save Westbard movement to shut up and let the developers have their way, but from what I have read this has been great for local civic engagement.



I just attended the Friday, April 8 SaveWestbard protest. The protest was *extremely* well-attended. I don't have a headcount, but the crowd easily met or exceeded the organizers' estimate of 75-100. Not bad for a Friday afternoon!


The protest group was very diverse. The age range was from elementary school children through teens, millennials, Gen Xers, Boomers and seniors. The crowd was also multi-racial. So much for the thesis that those opposed to the Westbard sector plan are unrepresentative of the community.


Signage was creative and varied. Repeated themes included (but were not limited to): Modernize, Don't Urbanize; Beautify, Don't Densify; We Want a Neighborhood, Not a City; Scale Down Westbard; and 580/50 (hold new housing units to 580 and development heights to 50 feet).

Other signs broadcast unhappiness with the County Council: Rotten in Rockville; Term Limits, Delay the Vote and more, I suggest that the Council ignores this sentiment at its peril.


Media attended and SaveWestbard organizer Jeanne Allen gave interviews. The drama was upped when Equity One called the police to eject the peaceful group from Westbard I. The protesters reconvened along Westbard Avenue. Bad optics, eh, Equity One.

The Friday protest was a success and the Satuday protest should be bigger and better. Join in, if you can-- all are welcome.


From the article:



The group demanding the County Council put off its final Westbard Sector Plan vote for four weeks is planning to hold protests Friday and Saturday.
Save Westbard, which hosted a meeting of more than 250 people Sunday (http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/Web-2016/Westbard-Area-Residents-Organizing-for-Last-Ditch-Effort-to-Stave-Off-New-Zoning/), is expecting between 75 and 100 people at 4 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday in the large parking lot at the Westwood Shopping Center, a property likely to be redeveloped (http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/Web-2016/Major-Westbard-Property-Owner-Plans-to-Quickly-Forge-Ahead-With-Redevelopment-As-County-Council-Deliberates-Zoning/) with new zoning in the sector plan.

Jeanne Allen, the group’s leader, said the group opposes even the pared-down version of the plan (http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/Web-2016/Controversial-Westbard-Sector-Plan-Moves-Closer-to-Final-Approval/) that won tentative approval from the County Council on
March 22. That version, pushed by council member Roger Berliner, would allow a maximum of 1,213 new residential units to be built in the area over the next 30 years.


Allen said that amount is too much and Save Westbard is demanding a limit of 580 new units among other requests outlined in a letter to Council President Nancy Floreen:​ (https://www.scribd.com/doc/307327534/SafeWestbardLetter-Floreen)


“A majority of the citizens and residents in the Westbard area oppose this plan,” Allen said. “We have to do more to make [council members] understand they are going to be held accountable if they go ahead with this.”

The council could hold its final vote on the plan as soon as its Tuesday session. The Save Westbard group has demanded the council allow four more weeks of review.


Allen also said many residents feel misrepresented by local civic and neighborhood associations that have been actively involved in the sector plan process since it started in fall 2014.


“The citizens and residents have really deferred a lot to people they thought were handling this and working on their behalf,” Allen said. “I think that the recognition that the associations were not working on their behalf is really when we increased our opposition.”

Equity One, the developer that hopes to redevelop the aging Westwood Shopping Center into a 250,000-square-foot retail center with townhomes, has said it plans to begin the project approval process quickly after the sector plan is approved.


The company held meetings with residents in which it outlined its plans in early 2014, before the county Planning Department began its work on the plan.

According to Save Westbard’s Facebook page, protesters are being asked to bring signs and wear red “to demonstrate that the community DOES NOT support the current Westbard plan. Demand that the Council listen to the people who elected them!”


Some residents of single-family neighborhoods around the shopping center have loudly denounced the idea of redevelopment on that site and other properties, arguing more density would ruin the suburban feel (http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2015/At-Westbard-Public-Hearing-Most-Say-They-Want-to-Retain-Their-Slice-of-Suburbia/) of the Westbard neighborhood, add students to already overcrowded schools and attract more traffic to River Road.


One November 2014 meeting devolved into residents (http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2014/Resident-Frustration-Boils-Over-At-Meeting-On-Future-Of-Westbard/) shouting criticisms at county planners. During council public hearings in February, opponents urged the council (http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2015/The-Eight-Most-Fascinating-Moments-From-Last-Weeks-Westbard-Public-Hearings/) to defund the Planning Board and implied council members were influenced by political contributions from developers.


Some residents in the area have openly supported Equity One’s plans (http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2015/In-Raucous-Westbard-Debate-Supporters-of-Redevelopment-Say-Theyre-Part-of-Silent-Majority/), especially for the Westwood Shopping Center.

And while many opposed to the redevelopment have said county officials should listen to their concerns first and foremost, Planning Board Chairman Casey Anderson has said that’s not the Planning Department’s role (http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2015/Westbard-Sector-Plan-Puts-Role-of-Planners-Planning-Board-and-Council-Members-Under-the-Microscope/).


Here's a comment from a supporter.

"Had the planners and the Planning Board incorporated residents' ideas into the plan and reduced density and heights early on, there would be no anger now."

Sounds like Tea Party logic to me!! If the Planning Board (or Federal Government) does not do what I want (in other words if it does not serve my private interests) than I will search for any reason to oppose the Planning Board (or Federal Government).

"It is the County's outright neglect of the opinions of most Westbard area residents that has given rise to anger." NO - the anger comes from the Westbard residents' failure to realize they don't own the government and they cannot bark orders at the county. They are private citizens who have to pay taxes and put up with all the headaches of citizenship, just like all other private citizens who have their own headaches. For crying out loud, so many neighborhoods have gotten so much privileged treatment.... I'm so tired of people complaining that the government must do whatever they personally want .... The public interest and private interests do not always converge! But at least some of us can be mature about it.


The problem with Montgomery County is that every other privileged schmuck thinks they deserve to get whatever they want (no purple line; my road should be blocked to through traffic; nobody except me should be able to park in front of my house; build another publicly financed parking garage so I can park where I want when I want; don't build affordable housing near me; stop building new housing units inside the beltway, blah blah blah), The overpaid people of this county whine, moan, lobby, and sue until they get their way. The rest of the world takes some of these headaches and deals with them, but in the US people are so entitled. It makes me sick.

[Dr.3D]

I have no idea why people seem to think they should have something to say about how someone who owns property should be able to use it. The property is owned by someone and who ever that is, should be the one to decide what it's going to be used for.

[Seraphim]

Or else you'll have a tantrum about what people do with their property?

Murika.

[angelatc]

I have no idea why people seem to think they should have something to say about how someone who owns property should be able to use it. The property is owned by someone and who ever that is, should be the one to decide what it's going to be used for.


Yes, that's how I see it.

[presence]

How Zoning Rules Would Work in a Free Society | Mises Daily (https://mises.org/library/how-zoning-rules-would-work-free-society)

Zoning is Theft | Mises Daily - Mises Institute (https://mises.org/library/zoning-theft)

Zoning Laws Destroy Communities - Mises Institute (https://mises.org/library/zoning-laws-destroy-communities)

Zoning - Mises Wiki - Mises Institute (https://wiki.mises.org/wiki/Zoning)

Zoning and the Free Market | Mises Institute (https://mises.org/library/zoning-and-free-market)

Free market zoning for the web | Mises Wire - Mises Institute (https://mises.org/blog/free-market-zoning-web)

To Save Europe, Free the Markets - Mises Institute


(https://mises.org/library/save-europe-free-markets)
Zoning is theft, pure and simple.


In his fantastic introduction to the Austrian School, Economics for Real People (http://store.mises.org/Economics-for-Real-People-An-Introduction-to-the-Austrian-School-2nd-edition-P116C0.aspx), Gene Callahan correctly identifies eminent domain as a form of property theft, especially noting the use of government condemnation in order to secure rightfully owned property for commercial development.


It is easy to see government as the crowbar that influence-seekers use to jimmy locks and force private property owners from their land. Here we have the clear picture of Ma and Pa Kettle and clan fighting the law and "progress" armed only with shotguns, corn squeezing, chewing tobacco and shear grit. The flip side to eminent domain, zoning, is not so easily seen. But as Bastiat revealed (http://mises.org/resources/2735), the unseen is as important as the seen.


Zoning is typically defined along the lines of a government-regulated system of land-usage imposed in order to ensure orderly development. Zoning is usually a component of the larger conceptual ideal called regional planning. Of course, planned development is really the name of the road toward planned chaos (http://mises.org/resources/2714).
Zoning uses all the standard interventionist lines of thought, most notably the concepts of externalities and utility. Those who advocate zoning really believe that acting man does not have the ability to create communities that are functional and prosperous. Without plans and maps drafted and drawn by the local elected elite, developers with knowledge and foresight, and a whole lot of money to gain or lose, would purposively layout communities that are sterile and functionless. Only the marginal vote-getters — those elected — and their appointed allies are omniscient enough to peer into the crystal ball and define the perfect setting for future life and leisure. The rest of us can only marvel at their visions.


Just as the developer can use government to roll over the rights of property owners, property owners — community members — can use government to roll over the rights of developers and fellow property owners.


In Ohio, townships create zoning maps and comprehensive plans that overlay development regulations on top of current properties. Prior to the establishment of zoning regulations, a farmer could simply sell his land to the highest bidder. No one had a voice in the proposed use of the exchanged land. The sale to a new property owner incorporated full development rights, including continued farming, residential and commercial development, or parceling off pieces for home sites. Land was a commodity similar to the crops grown on it. Just as no one had a right to control the final use of the corn and soybeans reaped from the soil, no one had the right to control the next use of the land. Property rights were secure.


Zoning changed everything. The future use of existing farmland will, with the stroke of a pen, be limited in some manner by zoning regulations. The regulations could restrict future land usage to its current use — farming in this instance — or it could restrict land usage to some other form of activity.
The free market has a tool that allows a property owner to align the future use of his property with his vision, the restrictive covenant. A property owner could, for example, create a legacy by selling his land contingent on the development carrying his family name. Should the property owner be too restrictive, the value of his property will fall. He will be exchanging a psychic good, a family legacy, for cash.


Zoning is another matter altogether. Zoning restricts current landowners based on the local power brokers. In the zoning process, someone gets hurt. Had the farmers of a township wanted to keep the area as farmland, they could have signed restrictive covenants guaranteeing crops instead of homes. Property rights, and the laws that purport to protect those rights, allow individuals to act in their own best interest. Zoning, collective decision-making, use the coercive power of government to restrict usage based on the whims of those in power.


The farmer who owns this land now has his potential property rights bounded within a specific range; future use is restricted to residential developments that have no more than one house per acre. The farmer may vote, and may have voted for some of those elected, but he never agreed to the change in proposed land usage. He was robbed, and there is no means for him to restore his rights and land value; they are gone with the stroke of a pen.


I know some of those in the Chicago School will claim that the farmer implicitly agreed to the loss of land-usage rights by being born in the United States, or of naturalized American parents, or by becoming a citizen through oath. By owning property in the United States, the farmer granted majority ownership in his property to those elected and appointed, the omniscient and omnipotent. This is no way to build and run a system of secure property rights, and no way to create a free market. Rothbard is correct when he constructs his political economy on secure rights to property; anything less is the beginning of the Hayek's Road to Serfdom (http://store.mises.org/Road-to-Serfdom-The-P252C0.aspx).


Now we have a developer who is trying to satisfy the urgent wants of consumers, his development could include new homes, new stores, new factories, etc. The developer is a keen entrepreneur who sees a chance to turn a profit by creating a development that will be desired, and therefore profitable to him. The developer settles on a residential development and approaches the farmer from above offering to purchase his land, contingent on final zoning approval of course.


You see, the developer has been here before. He knows the ways of the local officials who approve and disapprove zoning changes on whim and fancy — or even the smallest of political pressure. The developer is not going to consummate the deal with the farmer until he knows that his proposed development is a go.
The farmer, old and worn-out, wants to retire and enjoy, along with his wife, his remaining years in leisure and comfort. This is certainly a reasonable request from someone who has worked the dirt in snow, rain, and blistering heat for decades. Who could reasonably question his desire? Commissioners and board members; those omniscient by vote and omnipotent by law.


Remember that the land was designated to be developed at only one home per acre, but the developer does not think he can make a go of it at that yield. Given the market in the area, there is no way for him to turn a profit due to the myriad of other regulatory hoops he will have to jump through in order to get approval for his development. A host of green-eyed bureaucrats see the proposed development as a tax revenue generator. The developer will have to build off-site roads and sewer improvements, donate a park or school site, and give away money to all those governments with their hands out. In addition, regional officials will balk at the proposal since it does not agree with their vision of the future.


So the developer, a Don Quixote at heart, decides to take on the zoning commission by proposing a variance to the zoning code and comprehensive plan. Mr. Developer needs to build one and a half homes per acre, a change that will require months of hearings where he will be badgered and attacked from the zoning commission and community members alike. The commissioners will request petty changes to the development's conceptual plan based on vague building standards that they most likely do not understand. Is stucco created from natural and man-made materials a natural or artificial exterior? Does 50 microns of aluminum create a better look than 49 microns? Should sidewalks be required? How high should the entrance sign stand? Is fire-red a natural color? Is a 30-foot setback sufficient for future property values? The answers depend on which commissioner has the mike at the time.


Residents with property adjoining the development will complain loudly of supposed lost property values, traffic, and crime. In addition, they will attack the developer as evil incarnate bent on destroying the community. But those same voices will lose the rhetoric as soon as the developer offers all adjacent homeowners landscaping allowances. A few thousand in new trees planted in their backyard is enough to forgive any supposed loss in value, additional traffic, and hypothetical break-in.

So the developer now agrees to build roads, upgrade sewer lines, donate parks with equipment, set aside a school site, and improve residential landscape. What is gently termed exaction is really extortion by another name. After zoning comes township trustees meetings and the process begins all over again. More exactions and more regulations, but trustee approval can be had if the developer does the dollar-dance long enough. Had the developer simply slid a rumpled paper bag of twenty's across the table, a law would have been broken. Instead, the process occurs in the sunshine for all to see, and all to agree that more should have been given — or taken.


All agreed, with the exception of the developer and the forgotten farmer. You see, lost in all this is the simple desire of a farmer and his wife to retire and enjoy life, and maybe leave a little for their grandchildren. Every hand looking for a piece of the development pie is not robbing the developer and redistributing supposed unearned profits; those hands are robbing the farmer and his wife of their property value.


The risk of not passing zoning, the exactions, and readily available alternatives for investment are all reductions to the value the farmer could have obtained for his land absent zoning. The loss of value is recognized at the time the developer makes an offer for the land; the theft, on the other hand, occurs in front of the community that the farm family lived in for generations. It shows what damage a little money and power can cause in a community. Zoning is indeed theft.

[Brian4Liberty]

People have concerns about what is happening around them, especially with regard to change that has a direct effect upon them. No amount of political or economic philosophy will change that basic fact of nature.

[Son_of_Liberty90]

Or else you'll have a tantrum about what people do with their property?

Murika.

Equity one is the developer not the owner. And you're ok with the developer calling the police to get rid of the protestors? Equity one is a multinational company with little regard for what works in local communities. I see this as a good thing - people engaged with issues going on in their backyard.

[Dr.3D]

People have concerns about what is happening around them, especially with regard to change that has a direct effect upon them. No amount of political or economic philosophy will change that basic fact of nature.
I've heard the excuse that what happens to other properties causes changes in value of the neighborhood. If they have a problem with the appearance of my property, maybe they would like to contribute funds to improve the appearance.

[Brian4Liberty]

I've heard the excuse that what happens to other properties causes changes in value of the neighborhood. If they have a problem with the appearance of my property, maybe they would like to contribute funds to improve the appearance.

What if a Mosque opens up in the neighborhood and broadcasts call to prayer over loudspeakers that can be heard for miles?

[Dr.3D]

What if a Mosque opens up in the neighborhood and broadcasts call to prayer over loudspeakers that can be heard for miles?
I've heard churches ringing bells that can be heard for miles.
Maybe those who are upset by the calls/bells, can make a deal with those who are making the noise.

The sounds overlap with the property boundaries and as such may be considered pollution, just the same as burning something might cause a neighbor to have problems with the smoke.

I had problems with the neighbors dog today. It came over while my two dogs were out doing what they do when I let them out. I had to call my dogs back in because I didn't want to have any possibility of a dog fight. Yep, sometimes neighbors can be a problem.

[Son_of_Liberty90]

You guys are really viewing this issue in narrow focus. This is probably part of Agenda 21, right in my F***ing backyard.



Montgomery County’s Assault on the Suburb

Suburbs were a terrible mistake, says Councilman George Leventhal
It’s Orwellian. A packed suburb where homes turn over within days of going up for sale, where schools are precious and overcrowded, and where people who work all over the Washington area can arrive home to a diverse, convenient and lovely community, wake up one day to find themselves targets of the New Urbanism agenda. The perpetrators? The Montgomery County Council, which has been negotiating with a major developer, Equity One, to ensure it is able to double the number of people who live in the small community there while selling its residents on a false notion that it’s all about giving them better shopping amenities and green space!

Welcome to the Westbard community in desirable Bethesda, MD, a place where many kids can walk to school and ride their bikes to their local shopping area to buy a toy or a pack of gum, without fear of getting crushed by people and traffic. Our Council opposes that ideal, preferring instead to adopt a new zoning plan that would legalize commercialization of epic proportions in this otherwise little respite from the nearby hustle and bustle of one of the most dense cities in the nation.

Their vision is the New Urbanism, which according to the website by the same name, “involves fixing and infilling cities, as well as the creation of compact new towns and villages."

It’s the anti-suburban revolution, according to Stanley Kurtz, where “The ultimate vision is to make all neighborhoods more or less alike, turning traditional cities into ultra-dense Manhattans, while making suburbs look more like cities do now. In this centrally-planned utopia, steadily increasing numbers will live cheek-by-jowl in ‘stack and pack’ high-rises close to public transportation, while automobiles fall into relative disuse.”
Having spent considerable money to buy property in an area that is the antithesis of that vision, more than 1,100 residents have been fighting the centralized government's efforts to increase density and have been largely ignored. These citizens have organized and called and sent letters, like this one (http://email.jeanneallen.net/t/d-l-tlkjxy-htlusuht-r/). They even got some press when they protested. But little did they realize that they are actually victims of a creepy developer style utopia, or that their Councilman Roger Berliner’s visits to Cuba and China influenced his thinking on this issue. Or that his colleague George Leventhal went on this tirade at a recent hearing calling suburbs a mistake (http://email.jeanneallen.net/t/d-l-tlkjxy-htlusuht-j/). (It’s a must watch)

If that’s not enough, this same successful, high taxed area has a bunch of unelected community association heads running around “negotiating” on behalf of residents who neither know nor have endorsed their bargaining. Despite living here for 30 years actively participating in the community, working here, raising four kids and even running for office, I was surprised to learn that such a group - a coordinating council, they call it - even existed. This group of 12-16 self-appointed people, which sent this letter (http://email.jeanneallen.net/t/d-l-tlkjxy-htlusuht-t/),is who the community has to thank for the Council believing the majority of people who live in the Westbard sector actually would support an urbanized community. What even "representatives" don’t apparently know is that the council and planning board have communicated like kissing cousins with the developer in emails since day one, and have produced bogus traffic, school and population studies to justify their power grab on the community.

The “we know best” members of the County Council say that “things are changing and we have to change too”. They say that the community will like mixed used developments, as if Bethesda is rural farmland. They ignore the fact that there are already urban areas to the south, east and west. Meanwhile, Leventhal & Co. apparently think that construction, commercialization, industry, more stores and more high rises don’t cause pollution.

A better use of the County and the Planning Board’s time might have been to evaluate the benefit of suburbs to the people in communities, across states, the nation and even the world. People who are comfortable where they live and have space about which to move around are nicer people. There are studies on the impact of population density on people’s mental and communal attitudes! Physically, cultures where people are not packed on top of one another have longer and higher quality of life. Not only that, suburbs breed generous people. They have community meetings and fundraisers in their homes (on streets where people can park), solicit each other to give to their respective charities, take care of one another's kids (who can play in yards), support families in need (like when a parent is ill) using their car (that awful invention) to buy food, bring them to the hospital, pick up school supplies for kids. Suburbs have a purpose, Mr. Leventhal. They were not a mistake. (Perhaps he had a bad experience as a child)

On May 3, the Montgomery County Council will likely vote to destroy the neighborhoods in and around the Westbard Sector and give Equity One more than they wanted or needed when they first purchased the property - if they are not convinced their political futures on the line. Besides a citizen rally Tuesday at the County Council building, lawyers are documenting council member mistakes and improprieties. Will it help?
Only if the media does its job, and the state starts making inquiries. Governor Hogan might also want to think about the fact that new urbanism will supplant, not supplement, the tax base that the state depends upon to subsidize poorer communities. And cost the state more money in infrastructure. But I guess we shouldn't care. Suburbs were a mistake anyway.

[Son_of_Liberty90]

HOLY SHIT! IT IS! IT IS! AGENDA 21!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmfU6JHhVeM&feature=youtu.be

[Son_of_Liberty90]

bump

[Son_of_Liberty90]

No words? Evidence of Agenda 21 being implemented and instead the focus is on property rights for a developer that does not own the property?

[Son_of_Liberty90]

So big surprise, the elitist county council voted in favor of the Agenda 21 "smart town" construction plan.

[heavenlyboy34]

I can see the value of zoning (putting a giant sports arena in the middle of a suburb, for example, doesn't work out well for many residents). The problem is that regimes do it very arbitrarily. :P

[pcosmar]

What if a Mosque opens up in the neighborhood and broadcasts call to prayer over loudspeakers that can be heard for miles?

I suppose it would be like the church bells,, Or Town Square Time clock chimes. or the whistles at the mill.

Ya get used to it. I accept such tolerantly,,, as I accept the folks around me.


why is that so difficult?

[pcosmar]

No words? Evidence of Agenda 21 being implemented and instead the focus is on property rights for a developer that does not own the property?
I see a lot of evidence of it. It is fairly prevalent here. (and am sure elsewhere)

[pcosmar]

I had problems with the neighbors dog today. It came over while my two dogs were out doing what they do when I let them out. I had to call my dogs back in because I didn't want to have any possibility of a dog fight. Yep, sometimes neighbors can be a problem.

I live in a campground. Fortunately dog friendly. sometimes transient neighbors.. but several long term residents have dogs.

preventing possibilities is three times a day with "Cassie". and again with "Shadow"

But a big Poodle was drooling on her today,,and I think she liked it.

[devil21]

So big surprise, the elitist county council voted in favor of the Agenda 21 "smart town" construction plan.

Globalists have installed their paid-off lackeys into local positions in metro areas to push all this stuff through, regardless of what the residents think. You should see the Agenda 21 (now Agenda 2030) implementation underway in my city. It's nuts. Condos/apartments going up on every empty square inch of the city. It'll go from a quiet mid sized southern city to looking like a miniature Singapore in only a few years.

eta: It's all cheaply built crap that's being charged an arm and a leg for. Imagine building a condo building out of materials from Lowe's. Yep.

[euphemia]

But the City Council is elected to represent the interests of the people who live there. If the community at large wants to preserve a given way of life, their elected representatives should do what they ask.

[H. E. Panqui]

:cool:

...in my experience, the reality is that a lot of people get all worked up about 'the (absolute) right of the owner to use their property as they see fit'...

...until they learn, for example, that nearby landowners TO THEM want to create a stinking dump...create an outdoor heavy-metal concert venue, a prison, methadone treatment facility, halfway house for pedophiles, murderers, etc. ad nauseam...

...some of you sound a little naive...

[Brian4Liberty]

But the City Council is elected to represent the interests of the people who live there. If the community at large wants to preserve a given way of life, their elected representatives should do what they ask.

They operate in the interests of the developers and the leftist central planners. Crony socialist corporatists.

[angelatc]

They operate in the interests of the developers and the leftist central planners. Crony socialist corporatists.

Elected, though.

[euphemia]

Elected, though.

To represent the people of that municipality, not absentee developers.

[angelatc]

To represent the people of that municipality, not absentee developers.

They're elected officials. If the people like what they're doing, they reelect them.

[euphemia]

They're elected officials. If the people like what they're doing, they reelect them.

It just goes to show that candidates are not fully vetted. Elected officials forget they are there for a reason, and that they represent the people who elected them.

[pcosmar]

So big surprise, the elitist county council voted in favor of the Agenda 21 "smart town" construction plan.

No big surprise.

it was likely sold as economically beneficial. (for them in their lifetime anyway)

and some parts of the whole ,(Agenda 21) ,, are actually beneficial or harmless.

those parts are real,,, but are baited hook.

nothing wrong with well thought out development,, it can be economically beneficial.

a lot seems very poorly thought out..

Point of fact.... wide spanse of well traveled highway.. no gas stations in many miles...

small ghost own with,,,,,, old dead pumps out front.

Anyone got ideas.? Does anyone not see an investment opportunity?

anybody with money? and half of a functioning brain.


and how many serious opportunities do I have to offer to members of this forum?

Seriously. and the ghost town is Kent Or. Hwy 97

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_97_in_Oregon

With the exception of Interstate 5, US 97 is the most important north–south highway corridor in the state. It serves two major population centers

on the side of the highway are OLD pumps and and a small abandon store

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent,_Oregon
And now everyone not broke and brain-dead owes me a beer at the very least.

[devil21]

Elected, though.

Allegedly. Black-box voting is firmly installed everywhere now.

Plus, surely you know by now that it's not really an "election" if candidate A and candidate B are bankrolled by the same interests.

I spoke with a city planner a few weeks ago in a casual setting. I don't know if he was lying or not but he said he'd never heard of Agenda 21! I asked if he ever thought about where the plans he's working to implement came from. He said no, just his supervisors directions. I asked where he received the authority to make a "100 year plan" (his words), seeing as the politicians are elected to 2 year terms, and yoke unborn generations to his "100 year plan". His answer? "Don't you like progress??" :rolleyes:

[Son_of_Liberty90]

Not to mention, no one ever learns about local voting in school. It's probably designed that way.

I doubt anyone knows about local elections for mayor, judge, city council, etc.

[Son_of_Liberty90]

Globalists have installed their paid-off lackeys into local positions in metro areas to push all this stuff through, regardless of what the residents think. You should see the Agenda 21 (now Agenda 2030) implementation underway in my city. It's nuts. Condos/apartments going up on every empty square inch of the city. It'll go from a quiet mid sized southern city to looking like a miniature Singapore in only a few years.

eta: It's all cheaply built crap that's being charged an arm and a leg for. Imagine building a condo building out of materials from Lowe's. Yep.

What's frustrating is you can't connect the dots with local reps because their sphere of influence is much smaller. Look at my county council president:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Leventhal
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Leventhal)

[Son_of_Liberty90]

There's this:


Councilmember Leventhal believes passionately in caring for our environment and living sustainably and has championed many County programs that foster these goals including: Bethesda Green (http://www.bethesdagreen.org), Montgomery County’s green building legislation (http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/council/pdf/SCANNED_DOCS/20061128_17-06.pdf) and the Clean Energy Rewards Program (http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/dectmpl.asp?url=/Content/dep/energy/CleanEnergyRewards.asp).

[Son_of_Liberty90]

It would really be nice to prove to others that this is being implemented. It's one thing to have the goals listed in a manifesto.

It's quite another to actually have the goals being implemented in an organized manner. I would like to have the evidence to show "Councilmember X is working for Y to implement Agenda 21 in this district."

But skeptics say, "Well, those are just goals. It's not binding and how can you prove that those companies and legislators being directed by the UN?"

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230800

[devil21]

It would really be nice to prove to others that this is being implemented. It's one thing to have the goals listed in a manifesto.

It's quite another to actually have the goals being implemented in an organized manner. I would like to have the evidence to show "Councilmember X is working for Y to implement Agenda 21 in this district."

But skeptics say, "Well, those are just goals. It's not binding and how can you prove that those companies and legislators being directed by the UN?"

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230800

Here's the binding evidence:
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2015/09/24/undp-welcomes-adoption-of-sustainable-development-goals-by-world-leaders.html

The rest of linking Councilmember X directly to that is way too much for the average voter to comprehend so trying to explain it is probably pointless. That assumes the Councilmember even understands what it is they're voting on. The $$$$ usually blinds them. It's easy in my city to just point to the massive amounts of development in a very short period of time, the goals of Agenda 21/2030 in the US (stack and pack people into small quarters in cities and eliminate personal transportation) and bring up how everyone knows that politicians are bought off. It doesn't "prove" it but it does plant the seed.