Roanoke Tea Party

There will be two issues related to Agenda 21 at the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors. One on the agenda and one we will plan on bringing up. Please read this post carefully if you plan on attending. And that being said…please attend.

The Board of Supervisors meeting starts at 3PM at the County Administrative Center (right behind 419 West on Electric Road.) There is no need to come to the first session. The 2nd session starts at 7:00PM. If you plan on speaking you need to arrive by 6:30 PM and sign up. We will have my red “Tea Party Mobile” in the parking lot and will be available for assistance with talking points. When you sign up to speak, please sign up for the Public Comment section. We would like to limit speakers to Roanoke County residents.

1. The state has mandated that each locality develop plans to implement Urban Development Areas. (UDAs) These new regulations essentially encourage the building of high density housing and discourages the building of single family homes. This has been mandated by the state in 2007. The legislation is linked here. There are big issues with this, but this conversation requires some  specific talking points so please don’t sign up for the UDA conversation. We have a speaker or two lined up for this issue.

2. We will be bringing up Roanoke County’s relationship with ICLEI during the public comment section.

Please follow these basic rules.

• Be respectful. We are going on the assumption that the Board of Supervisors has no idea about the connections ICLEI has with the UN, the goals of Agenda 21 and sustainable development. It wasn’t long ago we didn’t know about this. The goal is not to be confrontational. The goal is to persuade members of the BOS to support severing ties with ICLEI. This is an emotional issue, but do not lash out at the board.
• Keep it short. You only have 3 minutes.
• Be realistic. We aren’t going to win tonight. This is only the first battle. The next meeting will be on July 12. We will need to be back for that.
• When the UDA bill passed and Roanoke County joined ICLEI in 2007, many people accepted the concept of man made global warming. Since then, the theory of man-made global warming has fallen apart. Since the main benefit  of ICLEI membership is to reduce our carbon footprint and the threat of carbon has been disproved, there is no longer a need for an ICLEI membership. Click here for tons of links that show the science behind global warming has been debunked.
• Ensure that you mention that you are concerned about the environment. But a focus on reducing carbon emissions takes away from more useful environmental initiatives and will hurt the residents of the county for no good reason.
• ICLEI is a United Nations group. We will present information for the record that shows this. We need to make sure this is clearly stated in ICLEI documentation and that one of the stated goals of ICLEI is the implementation of Agenda 21. This is the ICLEI website. Here is a recent report that reiterates the Agenda 21 goal on page 6. Reiterate ICLEI goals are the same for cities across the globe. State that implementation of Agenda 21 was mandated by an Executive order from President Clinton.
• Reiterate the goals of Agenda 21. The fact that the UN has stated.

“Land… cannot be treated as an ordinary asset, controlled by individuals and subject to the pressures and inefficiencies of the market… The provision of decent dwellings and healthy conditions for the people can only be achieved if land is used in the interest of society as a whole.”

“Agenda 21 proposes an array of actions which are intended to be implemented by EVERY person on Earth…it calls for specific changes in the activities of ALL people… Effective execution of Agenda 21 will REQUIRE a profound reorientation of ALL humans, unlike anything the world has ever experienced… ” Agenda 21: The Earth Summit Strategy to Save Our Planet (Earthpress, 1993)

According to the UN the following things are not sustainable. “Ski runs, grazing of livestock, plowing of soil, building fences, industry, single family homes, paves and tarred roads, logging activities, dams and reservoirs, power line construction, and economic systems that fail to set proper value on the environment.” -UN’s Biodiversity Assessment Report.

“Participating in a UN advocated planning process would very likely bring out many of the conspiracy- fixated groups and individuals in our society… This segment of our society who fear ‘one-world government’ and a UN invasion of the United States through which our individual freedom would be stripped away would actively work to defeat any elected official who joined ‘the conspiracy’ by undertaking LA21. So we call our process something else, such as comprehensive planning, growth management or smart growth.” -J. Gary Lawrence, advisor to President Clinton’s Council on Sustainable Development.

Submitting to a UN agenda over the will of the people of Roanoke County is not a good way to run the county.

Questions to ask based on this:

• If you don’t believe us, would you believe another local Board of Supervisors? Ask them to contact the Board of Supervisors for Albemarle County. They recently voted to sever ties with ICLEI. Find out from them why they decided to do this.
• Look at all of the proposed incentives to encourage UDAs. Including: Fast-tracked plan reviews; Reduced application fees; Reduced permit fees;density bonuses; Commercial Matching Grant Program (Hollins and West Main Street); Utility partnerships/assistance; Transportation infrastructure assistance; Tax revenue reimbursements; and/or Community Development Authorities (CDAs). What benefit are these tax breaks and incentives for UDAs to the people of Roanoke County (which equates to herding people into dense living areas) if there is no threat from Global Warming? Instead of accepting these mandates, we should be encouraging our state delegation to repeal HB32o2 that set up the UDAs in 2007.
• Why should we encourage these plans with taxpayer money if global warming is not a threat?
• Has the county just accepted global warming as a fact without the knowledge of the county residents?
• Ask the board if they understand  much of the county will be zoned as Conservancy areas and Rural areas as part of the current comprehensive plan. What restrictions will be placed on current residents to move? Fees on septic systems, restrictive zoning regulations and such have been used in other areas to “encourage” people to move? What will the county do to meet the mandates of this plan? What benefit would such a plan have to displace and disadvantage rural county residents, especially since we now know that global warming is not a threat?
• Grants given to the The Roanoke Valley-Allegheny Regional Commission (which Roanoke is a member and gave a substantial amount of money to in this years budget ($65,000) received a HUD grant of over $600,000 are to be used to further sustainable development in the region. No that you are aware of the nature of sustainable development, what good can come from this study?
• There are just a few ideas you can bring up. There is so much information available.
• End each speech with a request that the county sever ties to the ICLEI organization and re-examine the Comprehensive Plan with local input to ensure the zoning regulations and planning for the future is determined by residents of Roanoke and not a UN backed group. Encourage the members to look for themselves at the information provided. Reiterate that they have taken a sacred oath to protect the rights of county residents and ICLEI membership endangers one of our most precious rights: our right to own property.

We will be in the parking lot of the County Admin building until the meeting starts to help you if you have questions about what to say or what to present. We pray you will come to this critical meeting and help start the fight to remove ICLEI.

Chip Tarbutton

Roanoke Tea Party