NOVEMBER 2013 MEETING REMINDER

from John Debus

Hi Everyone,

A reminder of our event this Tuesday evening, 6:30pm to 8:30pm, November 26, 2013 at the American Legion Post #40, 810 S. US 1, Fort Pierce, Fl. 34950. Please use the front entrance (on US1) and it is the large room on the right side as you come in the front door. Plenty of parking is on the side of the building. We have water and Green Tea (free) available or you can purchase drinks from the bar in the next room.

This month we will be showing a video conference on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Supposed up-coming Trade Agreement, which many are calling a Corporate Fascist Coup. Is this Corporate/Government back-room deals that will threaten the integrity and security of the Inter-net? Will this over-rule Sovereign nation own policies and laws covering Environmental,

Labor, Safety, and Financial regulations? Come watch, listen, add your opinion and help plan an action to help stop the TPP.

The Clean Water Summit took place in Orlando last weekend. About 250 people from many organizations throughout Florida met and agreed to work together for the many water issues in Florida. We all agreed on a Floridians’ Clean Water Declaration, I will have copies at the Event. We also agreed to have Rallies/Protests on the same date in January throughout the state at

many different locations and agreed to one large one in February in Tallahassee. More  information will be coming on this.

The Tea Party group won a (so called) Victory by having the St. Lucie County commissioners agree to pull out of the Seven50 plan. They are VERY well organized and well financed with a lot of backers. The commissioners however did agree to accept the plan information and data. So did they really win? I like to thank those who did come out and help us fight for the plan. We

may have lost a battle, but the war will continue with everyone’s help.

The city of Vero Beach did also pass the strong Fertilizer Ordinance, which we all were fighting for. The next battle on this will be St. Lucie County, so please come out and help us Save our River.

The action table at our event is set up for group's information, sign-up sheets, upcoming events, and petitions. All groups will also have 1-3 minutes at the beginning to tell us about themselves. You can also contact Kathy or myself to have your events

posted on our web-site happenings page.

Please come out, we need your support to make a difference, be part of the experience. We also would like your feed-back on our Events and Organization. So feel free to respond to this e-mail. CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE: www.tcprogressivealliance.com  Check often as many events are posted late with little notice. We post as soon as we get them. Also check out our blog with

many interesting articles and information posted there.

Thanks for your support,

Take care,

See you Tuesday,

John

VERO HEARING ON FERTILIZER ORDINANCE

from John Debus

On Tuesday, November 19th at 6pm, the City of Vero Beach will hold a public hearing regarding modifications to the existing Fertilizer Ordinance.  The Council's stated intent is to have an ordinance consistent with the County's for ease of education and enforcement.  The important modifications include:

• the restriction of fertilizer application during the summer rainy season from June 1 - Sept 30
• the requirement for at least 50% slow release nitrogen
• the requirement for 0% phosphorus without a soil test
• a required minimum fertilizer free zone of 10 feet around all water bodies

Please support your elected officials in this important decision by attending the meeting, making phone calls of support or sending emails.

CFletcher@covb.org

DWinger@covb.org

PTurner@covb.org

JKramer@covb.org

AGraves@covb.org

WHERE WAS INFORMED DISCUSSION ON PLAN SEVEN50?

from Felicia Bruce

Letter to the Editor

St. Lucie News Tribune

Sunday, November 17, 2013

SHOOTING DOWN SEVEN50? Can reason, research be dismissed so easily?

Sharing the common goal of making the world better for our children is at the heart of progress. Yet at a St. Lucie County Commission special session one would have thought that it was only “us” vs. “them.”

The few who called for sharing a vision of a better county, for a collective approach to problem-solving, were ridiculed, mocked, interrupted and rudely received. Civil discourse was not the mood of the evening. And it was the 80th hour of such public commentary.

The controversy sparking this: a research document that required no vote.

The group standing up to be counted against compromise is a property rights association calling itself AC4PR.

Using buzz words to inspire fear, dozens of speakers claimed a global conspiracy inspired by socialists, communists and the United Nations. They offered conclusions derived from pseudo science and expressed their collective fear of a changing region.

Change may be inevitable, but it can be difficult, and cooperation can be a challenge for anyone but that makes partnering more compelling.

Expressing views in negative, judgmental terms, giving inaccurate evidence and making arguments emotionally makes for a suspect debate.

Add outrageous claims of global conspiracies; disparage all dissent, and it is only more difficult to find the common ground, do what is right for all who live here.

As presented, the Seven50 Plan was a stark contrast. It was competent, professional, statistical and all-inconclusive. Every constituency was represented. Every priority included: education, business, agriculture, recreation and leisure.

It would mean a regional perspective for protections for the quality of our air and water. It would be a comprehensive vision reflecting the uniqueness and preserving our quality of life.

If reason and research could prevail, the commissioners would have used this research document wisely. Instead, they voted to defeat reason and research.

HAS SOMEONE LOST INTEGRITY?

from Richard Silvestri

Much to my alarm the BOCC voted tonight.  Much to my extreme disappointment AC4PR won.  The Seven50 Plan was rejected.  The vote was 4/1 with Paula Lewis the only vote to keep it.  The question of having a vote was raised by Todd Mowery with Frannie Hutchinson making the motion seconded by Kim Johnson.  This action denied any chance to have REAL input.  All they ever saw and heard were from scores of AC4PR people talking their Koch Bros and Glenn Beck phantasms.   

Those with a more sane opinion were limited to past performance and tonight of about 25-30 minutes from me and 10 or 15 minutes since August from John Debus and tonight from  Evelyn WARFIELD who spoke once before, Jerry BUECHLER, Steve Melecki speaking a second time, Art Appisomian, Teresa Toulon.  Thanks to these people for coming again tonight and to Erika Alvarez, Felicia Bruce and friends Teresa brought tonight.  Erika has also been present several times.  If my stats are off or left anyone out, I apologize. 

What concerns me now very much is AC4PR will use this vote and the denial in IR CO to sway other counties to opt out.  Also they can now say four of five SLC Commissioners have voted that Global Warming is not real.  It also fuels Big Carbon's movement to squash Global Warming Theory (which is not a theory) advocacy.  There is no doubt AC4PR has counterparts throughout the country doing this same thing for Big Carbon.  Tonight's victory will give them all (Koch Bros, Tea Party, Heartland Inst., Cato Inst. but you get the point.) great strength.

Why should any of us mentioned here care?  Good question because it appears no one else does.

For the two Democrats on the Commission:  "Inconsistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adorned my philosophers, statesmen and divines." And this:  Christ said, "Tell a man 'Yes.' when you mean 'Yes.'; and tell a man 'No.' when you mean 'No.'"

Bob Crowder has more to say about integrity in his opinion letter in Today's Tribune.  AND HE IS A REPUBLICAN!

INFORMATION ON SEVEN50 PLAN

from Rev. Dr. Gregory Wilson

photo credit: starwars.wikia.com 

As a citizen living in Port Saint Lucie, I am trying to understand the benefits of future planning for the local community (the Seven50 plan) and I am also trying to understand the resistance and the intensity of the resistance by the ac4pr groups. I am alarmed by several experiences that I have had. One was that I was in a meeting in Stuart where people were deliberately mislead about the Seven50 plan and becoming negatively emotionally intense about issues not related to the Seven50 Plan, but that were attributed to the Seven50 Plan. And two, that our elected officials are becoming influenced by the emotional tone of this group and not by the factual attentiveness of the Seven50 Plan to the future needs of our communities. I hope the Letter to the Editor and the Article below, which I wrote, will help bring some light to the process of intimidation in our local communities.

My Letter to the Editor :

Reading the Seven50 Plan from the website, it seemed to be a reasonable response to the inevitable future approaching the Southeast Florida region -- a mature adult response. In reading the ac4pr web page I saw a larger picture, Seven50, Common Core, Agenda 21, Smart meters, Obama care, all part of an authoritarian effort robbing us of our freedoms and rights. I needed some education and clarification.

I went to two meetings concerning the Seven50 plan -- one educational and one against but billed as educational, and afterward, I am somewhat stunned.

In his book Being a Character, psychoanalytic author and professor Christopher Bollas describes the creation of a fascist state of mind. These stages form the process of moving from a parliamentary mindset to a rigid imaginative process. There are eight stages: Distortion, Decontextualization, Denigration, Caricature, Character Assassination, Change of Name, Categorization as Aggregation, and Absence of Reference.

In the meeting against the Seven50 Plan, I saw each of these traits in action. Words such as "insidious, communists, socialist, I'm scare to death of this plan," and other inflammatory comments were common, but there were few comments on the actual presentation.

An example of De-contextualization and Categorization as Aggregation:

The meeting began with the collapsing of the Seven50 plan with the UN Agenda 21. Andres Duany's presentation was introduced as if it was the heart of the Seven50 plan, when it was only one perspective (economic), by a consultant, not even one of the planners. This misled and upset people who expected and were looking for details about the heart of the plan.

The Seven50 Plan is a sound plan and can be implemented or not, in whole or in part, by the local community. It is in our benefit to support its development.

Rev. Dr. Gregory Wilson

OCTOBER 2013 MEETING RECAP

from John Debus

Hi Everyone,

Yes, we had another great "cool" Event. Spence Guerin, first President of the Space Coast

Progressive Alliance, was our guest speaker. He gave us a lot of good information on the

experiences they went through, things we need to improve upon, and ideas for our

future. It was very encouraging for our organization, considering all we have accomplished

in our first year. All our members/supporters have made TCPA a reality and I really

appreciate your time, energy, and enthusiasm in support of our programs. We nominated our candidates to run TCPA this next coming year, and I hope you all can come out in December to vote.

Our short surprise movie was the Public Citizen's "The Story of Citizens United vs. FEC".

A lot of good conversation was had among our Progressive friends & family, and a good time was had by all.

We are looking to have another get together picnic, with a date of 12-29-13 in mind. Maybe

on the South Hutchinson Island this time. No bar-b-q grill unless you want to bring your own.

Maybe just sandwiches, cold food and drinks, making it more of a social get together.

Good conversation and get to know more of one another. Appreciate any and all feed-back.

Interested people to work with Move To Amend will be getting together this Saturday 11-9-13

at the Farmers market in Fort Pierce at 10:00am. Call me for more details.

Hope to see some of you at our cities and counties commissioners meetings, check your

local city and county web-sites. A big one will be SLC BOCC on 11-7-13. This is the Seven50 Presentation for our area. Also check our web-site and blogs for up coming events. Some are posted with little notice so check often.

Also hope to see some of you at the Clean Water Summit in Orlando on 11-16-13.

Contact me at 772-349-5328 if you have any questions.

Thank you and take care,

John

SAY YES TO SEVEN50

from Richard Silverstri

Phyllis Frey, self-proclaimed founder of AC4PR has an opinion letter in today's Tribune:  Get Commission to boot Plan.  Read it and weep!  This Thursday evening at 6pm the BOCC of SLC gets the official presentation from Seven50 regarding their 50-year plan for the SE counties from Key West to Sebastian.  Frey has mustered her team and they have the ball.  THIS IS THIRD DOWN, WITH GOAL POST IN RANGE!  They probably already have two votes on the Commission.  We need to show in force the voters in SLC want a plan for the future.  Had there been a plan for the seven counties begun 50 years ago we would not have the problems we face today!  AC4PR has no plan.  They have lots of criticism and it is similar to how the Tea Party shut down Washington last month.  It is a smaller part of the Big Picture of the Billionaires who have tried to control the country-AND ARE!  If they win this one, it is game over for SE Florida; welcome pollution, rising seas and I will take off for the Far West in my kayak, never to organize anyone again.  Come out and be heard.  SAY YES TO SEVEN50!

References:  AC4PR.org  and Seven50.com

LOCATION:  2300 VIRGINIA AV, 3RD FLOOR, COMMISSION CHAMBERS
6 PM: THURSDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2013