More Disturbing Reality To Consider

                                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QICksKB8w_Y

Now if you are willing to follow this video you will learn some important things very relevant to the CV wind situation and the Art. 10 process.   You will note Ms. Margil, one of the speakers, defines how we as community citizens using the regulatory process (like Art. X and zoning laws) are herded like cattle to a certain “regulatory point” then it puts a bullet in our heads.

At the “regulatory point” you are only allowed to discuss and act as to what the regulatory process allows. And that is a process lobbied and designed by the corporations who will be supposedly “controlled” by the system.

Then  it occurred  to me that we had a vivid example of what Ms. Margil is explaining when Art. X judge Paul Agresta came to CV  last Dec. with a very narrowly defined agenda to speak ONLY about the Art X process and how it related to the BP sale.

But there were a couple people who wanted to discuss other very important issues surrounding wind development and the impacts.

Do you remember when Anne Harris, a Lyme town official, stood up and wanted to discuss the wider impacts of wind energy and how it affected people and our communities for years?  That wasn’t in Agresta’s script, or in other words, where Agresta wanted to herd the cattle…and he politely shut her down.

Our communities have been dragged through hell for nearly a decade by BP and others, and here we have a person representing the Art. X process sitting in our community and yet we can’t talk about any of that.  No… the rules didn’t allow that.

Instead as cattle we got fed an education on how the BP sale was to proceed within the Art. X process and how very likely our community might get badly screwed in the process…AND Agresta even admitted that the Art X process really didn’t even have a plan or provision for what was happening to us in terms of when this application should end…in other words sorry you’re screwed….yet everyone sat there so politely and swallowed the whole damn thing! 

We politely like obedient good cattle got herded into the chute and took the bullet right between the eyes! 

Then the good sheep like Wiley even go home and post on his blog how responsible this all is to be in the Art. X system and how wonderful our town leaders are operating within it.

What I think really happened was Agresta carefully questioned and manipulated the BP lawyer John Harris to prep the community that BP might have a buyer and don’t get your hopes up that the Art. X process is going to do anything to start them over or end the community suffering and that with no time frame this could drag on for years!!!  Oh... but we will “look at it” again in a few months ….maybe!  Another bullet to the head of the herd.

Now the town wants to say or do something “legal” when the Agresta decision comes if they don’t like it.  What…. another polite beat them softly over the head with another freakin letter to once again whine about our situation????

Like the numerous letters they have already written that have gone absolutely nowhere.

Comment Moderation On

I am going to be involved with things in the next week or so which precludes me from monitoring my blog regularly. As a result the comment moderation will be on.

It may take a little longer but any reasonable comments will appear.

And with the BP Art X deadline approaching there will likely be a lot to comment on!

Did The CV Zoning Board of Appeals Act Legally????? Let's Make Sure We Understand What We Are Talking About In the Solar Zoning Fiasco!

Below is a direct quote from a training manual put out be the NY Dept. of State concerning how a zoning board of appeals should operate.  The document outlines the ZBA powers, limitations, legal authority etc.  The  emphasis is mine. 

"The interpretation power is part of the appellate jurisdiction of the board of appeals, and cannot lawfully be exercised unless an appeal has been taken from an enforcement officer’s decision. In its simplest terms, an appeal seeking an interpretation is an appeal to the board of appeals claiming that the decision of the enforcement official was incorrect."

In other words the only time a ZBA should be legally giving and  interpretations of a zoning  law is when there is an official appeal before it.

So in the Alexander solar zoning screw up why was the ZBA running around with the planning board, and the town board, and the town lawyer, sometimes behind the scenes, and even in executive session.  Why do I say that?  Well  Dick Macsherry and Bob Brown said on video (PB meeting on Steve Weed video 8/14/13) that a lot of time was spent on the issue and a lot of town officials looked at it.  The ZBA even went into a town board executive session with Macsherry and others at the request of the town board on this issue!  Of course there are NO minutes of an executive session or what the ZBA people were doing there or what they said.

The way the above quote reads they had no legal business being there or anywhere rendering advice on this issue until it became an official appeal before their board which was much later.  OR if they had been involved in the special use permit approval...which they weren't and should have been because the PB screwed up to.  It NEVER went before the ZBA.  And ZBA minutes and two ZBA members verify that fact.

By the time it reach an official appeal the ZBA chairman Dennis Fauknham had already made up his mind on the issue.  He even told Mrs. Grogan when she was trying to find out how to start an appeal that the permit was legal and she probably could not win!

Are you kidding me!!!!!

So how would he know all that BEFORE he heard and official appeal?  Was he coached???? Or was it simply that his involvement with the issue along with his board and the other boards before an official appeal had rendered him extremely biased.

Now if you want to see what I am talking about you can view his behavior on video too last fall at the ZBA hearing on Mr. Alexander' solar project.

When I got up to speak on behalf of Mrs. Grogan it was like he really didn't want me to speak because he had heard it all before and indicated that he knew the facts.  Really...how would that be????

In the training manual quote above those words "cannot lawfully" seems rather important to me!


 

The Strategy We Should Be Considering - CELDF Community Work

http://www.celdf.org/resources-ordinances


http://www.celdf.org/pittsburghs-community-protection-from-natural-gas-extraction-ordinance


http://www.celdf.org/where-we-work-1

The very sad part of this issue with zoning in CV is that when the original zoning committee met and drafted the new law,  information such as this was never even considered. It simply was not even allowed. 

 In fear of Art. 10 and the State they did everything exactly according to what the State dictated, and rushed the process to boot.  That is why there are major problems in our zoning law and the execution of it was so badly screwed up on  solar issue.

The logic that boggles my mind, is why draft a law to appease the State forces that  are the same ones that have taken your rights away to determine your future.  You can't oppose the forces stealing your rights and tearing your community apart by doing everything according to their script.  How the hell does that protect a community?

For heavens sakes look a round you CV.  Art. 10 has been in existence 2011.  Our appeasement zoning law has been around since about mid  2012.  Has all this made us better off?   NO!

 BP is even DONE with us and we still can't free ourselves from the industrial wind disaster because of our appeasement of Art. 10 that holds us hostage since our community leaders refuse to do anything about it!

Art. 10 still has a strangle hold on our community.  And if we are lucky enough to see BP walk and no other developer comes in...it will be because BP and other wind developers made that choice...it will still have nothing to do with us.

BP will walk away and we  will still live in fear under the sword of Art. 10 with no home rule on the issue to protect our community.

You might want to take a carefully look at the first link above and see how many communities have decided to take a stand with CELDF against the very thing that BP and the State has forced on us and our leaders are still appeasing and enabling and refuse to do anything substantial about.

Read It Again

The CELDF mission statement.  The strategy we should be moving forward with instead of the continued appeasement of the Art X system that might drag on forever.  Underlining is mine.

"We believe that we are in the midst of an escalating ecological crisis, and that the crisis is the result of decisions made by a relatively few people who run corporations and government. We believe that sustainability will never be achieved by leaving those decisions in the hands of a few – both because of their belief in limitless economic production and because their decisions are made at a distance from the communities experiencing the impact of those decisions. Therefore, we believe that to attain sustainability, a right to local self-government must be asserted that places decisions affecting communities in the hands of those closest to the impacts. That right to local self-government must enable communities to reject unsustainable economic and environmental policies set by state and federal governments, and must enable communities to construct legal frameworks for charting a future towards sustainable energy production, sustainable land development, and sustainable water use, among others. In doing so, communities must challenge and overturn legal doctrines that have been concocted to eliminate their right to self-government, including the doctrines of corporate constitutional rights, preemption, and limitations on local legislative authority. Inseparable from the right to local self government - and its sole limitation - are the rights of human and natural communities; they are the implicit and enumerated  premises on which local self government must be built."

The lawyers who wrote this are not crack pots or stupid people. They are visionaries who have vastly more experience in dealing with exactly what Cape Vincent is facing with wind development under corporate and state dominance, than any of our town leaders. They have vast experience on this issue and in constitutional and environmental law.

So why is it our town leaders are blind to this information and expertise?  Which is FREE legal guidance!

Simply Unbelievable!!!

The quote below is from town Cape Vincent town councilman Clif Schneider.  It is from a discussion among the town board about what to do about BP and the upcoming deadline for BP as to whether they have found a buyer for their CV wind project and will the Art. 10 judge Agresta eliminate BP’s application process.   But this is a bit disturbing and the logic here escapes me, if they are truly trying to protect the community from the wind nightmare that has plagued our community for nearly a decade.  I underlined the parts I find disturbing.

“They're (BP) waiting for a new purchaser and buyer to come forth and pick up where they left off. And, if they are not doing that we are saying let's end it and we're not suggesting we are going to end it forever because that's up to anyone else who wants to come in here. But the standpoint of this particular application is if they don't have a new buyer then we want to move ahead to dismiss the application or whatever the consequence is.”

So according to Clif’s and the town’s  logic here if BP does find a buyer, then they are perfectly OK with this process proceeding?   They only want to end our wind nightmare if BP can’t find a buyer…seriously?????  It would be perfectly OK to proceed with a new wind company and be dragged through more of the same nightmare we have suffered through for nearly a decade?????

And note that despite what we have been through at the hands of wind developers ripping our community apart, he apparently doesn’t want to take real action that would end this mess once and for all.

Oh we will just leave our community fate up to the next wind developer…that is for them to decide. Geee I wonder at what point these guys will get a clue and figure out  WE as a community should decide…not the next wind developer or the state???  Just how far are these guys willing to appease to sacrifice this community to the whims of wind developers and the state process that stripped away our home rule rights on behalf of these corporate community rapers!

And people wonder why we are continually at the complete mercy of the state and BP with a wind nightmare that might never end????? 

Because your town govt either doesn’t have the brass to end it…or they don’t want to end it.  I’m betting that Clif and our other zoning geniuses who can’t read our law are just chomping at the bit to take a crack at showing everyone how they can out smart some wind developer…any wind developer with their new law they are over committed to…you know, the one they apparently can’t read or comprehend dragging the town supervisor into a zoning fiasco.  And it appears they would be willing to take that gamble at a terrible cost to the community.

This supposed anti wind board apparently has no problem with the wind disaster continuing and all of us suffering under it as long as it is a new developer that BP has sold too.

This kind of thinking leaving the community at the mercy of the state and wind develops is absolutely mind boggling.  And people think I am nuts!!!

"So, you will have something to move ahead with as opposed to just sitting back passively seeing what is going to happen."

.
“So, you will have something to move ahead with as opposed to just sitting back passively seeing what is going to happen.” 

Geee that almost sounds like something I would say!!!

Actually the title of my post is a quote  from Cape Vincent Town Councilman Clif Schneider at last night's town board meeting.  And I find it kind of refreshing…but with reservations.  He is referring to the upcoming deadline set by Art 10 judge Agresta for BP, to see if BP can sell their CV wind project.  He is recommending a proactive strategy to deal with Art X judge Agresta’s decision about BP’s application.

Well Mr. Schneider…I have the exact and extremely relevant proactive strategy for you.  Read this and forward the information to attorney Paul Curtin as well.  This should be your strategy.

If you, the board, and Curtin and my readers read this and don’t see that this mission statement is EXACTLY Cape Vincent in a nutshell…and what to do about it, then there really is no hope left for our community!

"We believe that we are in the midst of an escalating ecological crisis, and that the crisis is the result of decisions made by a relatively few people who run corporations and government. We believe that sustainability will never be achieved by leaving those decisions in the hands of a few – both because of their belief in limitless economic production and because their decisions are made at a distance from the communities experiencing the impact of those decisions. Therefore, we believe that to attain sustainability, a right to local self-government must be asserted that places decisions affecting communities in the hands of those closest to the impacts. That right to local self-government must enable communities to reject unsustainable economic and environmental policies set by state and federal governments, and must enable communities to construct legal frameworks for charting a future towards sustainable energy production, sustainable land development, and sustainable water use, among others. In doing so, communities must challenge and overturn legal doctrines that have been concocted to eliminate their right to self-government, including the doctrines of corporate constitutional rights, preemption, and limitations on local legislative authority. Inseparable from the right to local self government - and its sole limitation - are the rights of human and natural communities; they are the implicit and enumerated  premises on which local self government must be built."

This quote is from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund and their Website mission statement.  I’m not sure there could be anything anywhere more relevant and important to CV’s situation!

I and a few other have researched and actually contacted this group of lawyers for ideas and suggestions outlining our CV dilemma in specifics.  We have been promoting this approach for several years as a possible solution.

http://www.celdf.org/mission-statement

 Will Agresta shut down the application since it has dragged on so long without any significant activity?  Will there be a new buyer?  Will Agresta give BP even more time to find a buyer?   Who the hell cares…take control ourselves.

As Schneider correctly points out in some of his comments the community is left in limbo, or as I like to say "left twisting in the wind by BP and the Art.10 process" 

Schneider is suggesting that Mr. Paul Curtin, the attorney working with the town on zoning and Art 10 issues, draft some kind of legal strategy or initiative to be proactive when the deadline arrives.  Not sure exactly what Mr. Schneider has in mind.  But apparently this is coming from the CV Art 10 Advisory Committee Mr. Schneider is a member of.

He says to the board, as the post title indicates    “So, you will have something to move ahead with as opposed to just sitting back passively seeing what is going to happen.”

Now what I find interesting here is that there seems to be a subtle shift in thinking, in that the town should take some kind of actual action which essentially would be against the Art 10 process if Agresta doesn’t end BP’s application process…but I am not holding my breath on that account.  Because in my opinion what the town has done to date IS exactly  to sit back passively and see what happens next.  I don’t consider writing numerous letters, some of which call the Art 10 process fair and even handed and balanced exactly an aggressive proactive or even wise  approach.  I think they are so over committed to their approach and new law that they are blinded to any other alternatives.

So at a minimum  it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

But I do have a suggestion for Clif and the board and about a year and half ago some of us took this idea to a meeting with Urban Hirschey, John Byrne, and town attorney Mark Gebo.  However, as you might expect it went nowhere.  They opted for the passive approach of appeasing Art 10, and waiting to see what happens as BP and the State continue to control our fate. My view is that is gambling with our community's futre and resources.  And I believe it is a very bad gamble with all the probabilities stacked by the state's Art 10 in BP's favor.  After Agresta's last visit that should now be painfully obvious.

If you want attorney Curtin to draft up and initiative or strategy then I have one for you. ASAP get in touch with the Community Environmental Defense Fund (CELDF) group of lawyers, and have them work with Curtin and the town to draft you a community bill of rights to deny corporate constitutional rights that can allow corporation to dominate your community.   In other words you draft a local community law taking away the power of the corporation, and the state in our case, to dominate the process and make it locally illegal for them to do so.  The community regains full control of who, when, and how they will allow their community to be developed.

Now I can hear my detractors griping already that this is a radical nut case idea. 

Well you might want to consider that the CELDF organization (which is free by the way) and lawyers are working with 100’s of communities all over the country facing the exact same issue of corporate dominance that we are facing with BP, and the state who eliminated our right to home rule to determine our future. They have even worked with cities as large as Pittsburgh PA, and other communities on denying gas fracking and other like issues in their communities.  Note that part about “preemption” in their mission statement.  Well folks that is exactly what Art. 10 is!

As I have said before BP has said they are done in our community. Yet here we are still sitting passively twisting in the wind with no control waiting with only desperate hopes that Art 10 and Agresta will do something to save us.  And that is a mere fraction of the story.  There could be a new buyer…or Agresta will shut it down, BP will leave, and a new wind developer will waltz in and open a new Art 10 application.  So in essence Schneider’s idea, although possibly a small and wise epiphany, brought on by his possible frustration with the process and how it is screwing us is very short sited to deal with the real issue and end it once and for all.  If Agresta shuts BP down all that does is stop the bleeding temporarily.  And tomorrow we could be back in the same boat.

  We need aggressive community political action to eliminate the whole disease.

I would hope at this desperate point as we continue to twist in the wind, that this town would have figured out by now how much precious control we have lost and will continue to suffer with unless we do something much more aggressive to alter our future.  You would think that after nearly a decade of this dominance they might just want to consider that something isn’t working and we just might need a fresh approach.

Of course this would not just be a little strategy to do something only about the Agresta BP deadline.  This would once and for all take control of the bigger issue which is the very root of our real problem of being dominated by corporate control for nearly a decade as our community disintegrates.

So Clif, and Mr. Curtin.  Start thinking out of the box of State and corporate control. 

This CELDF mission statement to me very succinctly sums  up EXACTLY what is happening in CV, and the solution offered makes one hell of a lot more sense that appeasing and enabling the very forces that have taken apart our community for profit and political interests.

The strategy for dealing with Agresta…  no matter what decision he brings us...should be to hand him a new community rights law and tell him… thank you very much, but we are moving forward to control our own community…and don’t let the door hit you in the ass as you, BP, and Art 10 leave town!!!

And finally our new councilman Paul Aubertine should wake up stop being a patsy for pro wind and think hard on and promote this approach. This CELDF approach is not actually anti wind.  What it would do is bring the wind decision back to the community to control. Paul should realize that corporate and state dominance is good for no one in the community…pro or anti wind, and this community will never heal as he suggests when we have no control over our future to be able to attempt to try to heal.  He might want to consider that self determination of our future locally is something we might all agree on, and at least start from there. Stop listening to daddy on this one and show us you can think for yourself!!!

As we are…we…all of us… are essentially slaves, and Agresta leaving us twisting in the wind on BP’s behalf even though BP has left the community should be a severe wakeup call to that fact for EVERYBODY!!!  Nobody gets to move on…not anti wind…not pro wind!

We need real leadership.  Maybe Schneider after being dragged through this knot hole for nearly a decade with is obvious commitment to community on this issue is figuring that out in his own small way. But my fear is this will not amount to much and the appeasement of the Art 10 process will continue.  We shall see!

Maybe Aubertine should show some real leadership as well and explore this alternative instead of being daddy’s clone.  That too would be refreshing and I would support that, and I don’t give a rats ass how many people might erroneously think I am pro wind as a result!!! And if the Hirschey govt took this step and aggressively pursued it I would fully support them too.


For God’s sake people…let’s finally do something substantial and move on as a community!!!!