Two weeks after agreeing to write a letter of support for grant funding for a “Complete Streets” workshop led by a nonprofit organization called Smart Growth America, the county board withdrew its support for the grant.
On November 17, 2013, Kristin Wharton of the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic’s Moving Matters project invited the county board to be part of a countywide Active Living Policy Committee and requested a letter of support for the workshop.
According to a November 14 memo from Wharton to the county board, the goal of the committee would be “to create a policy for Cook County, the city of Grand Marais and any interested townships, and Grand Portage Reservation Tribal Council which fundamentally addresses the planning and prioritizing of safe and accessible space for people to walk, bike, and be physically active on our roads and streets throughout Cook County. The concept of ‘Complete Streets’ will be used to inform this local policy or policies.”
Complete streets is a transportation policy and design approach that fosters safe, convenient travel for all types of users regardless of their mode of transportation – motorists, walkers, bicyclists, and people with handicaps.
The memo goes on to say that the project would include public input and local engagement throughout the process.
Moving Matters is an initiative to create a countywide plan to foster community health through active living. It is partly funded by a threeyear grant to Sawtooth Mountain Clinic from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation. The grant fits in with Blue Cross/Blue Shield’s “Prevention Minnesota” initiative to tackle the leading causes of preventable disease: tobacco use, lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating.
At a quarterly joint governmental meeting in August, Wharton said, “What we’re really hoping is to have a really robust community conversation.” The groundwork for this project had already been laid with development of a Cook County Energy Plan that includes a complete streets policy. The Cook County Planning & Zoning Department is also planning to update the county’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan in 2014.
Wharton said that after the planning process is done, those involved would look for funding sources to implement some of the projects. In many cases, it’s about “repurposing” the streets, Wharton said. Potential exists for using what’s already there in a different way. She said, “Sometimes all that costs is paint on the street.”
On November 17, the county board agreed to be involved in the policy committee and write a letter of support for the workshop grant. On December 3, the county board, with Commissioner Sue Hakes absent, reviewed the letter of support. Commissioner Garry Gamble opposed bringing in an outside entity to guide the county in developing a plan for the community, saying that such a plan should be formulated by Cook County voters. He contended that Smart Growth America has a tendency to come in and promote a plan representing its own agenda and not that of the community. Commissioner Jan Hall expressed concerns about the organization as well.
Smart Growth America is a nonprofit organization. Its website states, “Smart Growth America is the only national organization dedicated to researching, advocating for and leading coalitions to bring smart growth practices to more communities nationwide.” According to its website, it promotes fighting urban sprawl, support of local businesses, housing within walking distance of business districts, less car traffic, public transit, locally grown food, and environmental protection.
Concern about Smart Growth America
Commissioner Gamble referred fellow commissioners to an article by author and radio commentator Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh entitled Smart Growth America! UN Agenda 21 to hide land use control, regulation, and confiscation under the guise of environmental protection.
Paugh contends that Agenda 21, a plan for sustainable community development, will result in grants that would force federal policy on states and leave them with unfunded mandates.
Paugh says Smart Growth America is “using ‘steering committees’ and ‘visioning’ to change our lives in accordance with the United Nation’s vision of a one-world government controlled by a few.
“Under the guise of saving the planet from the destructive humans, private property must be abolished, everybody must live in mixed-use zones, five-minute walk from work and school, moving about on public buses or light rail. Land must be given back to its intended wilderness.”
Paugh envisions “masses of people in high-rise tenements with high population concentration,” communities that make it difficult for cars to get around or park, and community gardens that diminish the “free-marketdriven food system.”
Under the UN’s Agenda 21, Paugh says, “Measurement of wealth through GDP (gross domestic product) is discouraged while ‘happiness’ and ‘well-being’ become measures of wealth. …More and more restrictions and regulations are placed on land use — farm, residential, and commercial – in order to preserve the wilderness, small creatures, and natural resources at the expense of humans.
Paugh decries public-private collaborative planning partnerships and processes, claiming that local government authorities start to exceed their constitutionally granted powers when they participate in them.
What to do about the workshop
West End Commissioner Bruce Martinson said the three West End townships have gone through town planning processes already, and most changes would need to be worked out with the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Their participation on the policy committee would probably be minimal, he said.
The county should be careful about letting environmental groups in to propose more restrictions, Commissioner Hall said. There are enough governmental restrictions coming down the pike already, she said.
Commissioner Gamble said he did not want land use control to come in under the guise of something else such as active living planning. He expressed a concern that what Smart Growth America would want would be different from what this community wants. He said he did not want an environmental group setting an agenda but rather supported the community defining for itself what it wants.
Planning & Zoning Director Tim Nelson, whose department was asked to be the recipient of the grant, agreed that he did not want land use policy to be handed over to an outside entity. He said he had communicated clearly that he believed the proposed workshop, which would include a day for government employees and a day for community members, should be used as a way of gathering information and public input and not as the basis for county policy. The community might perceive the process as less agenda driven if an outside consultant facilitated it, he said, “but if you don’t do it, it won’t break my heart.”
Commissioner Gamble said he assumed that bringing in an outside entity to facilitate the process means that someone thought they couldn’t do it themselves. “It’s very difficult not to want to take the money but I am very uncomfortable with any association with Smart Growth America,” he said.
By a vote of 3-1, with Commissioner Heidi Doo-Kirk casting the nay vote, the board approved a motion withdrawing its support of the grant application with encouragement to find a different way to accomplish the purpose of the workshop.
“I really feel bad about it,” said Commissioner Hall, “but I just think we should be more cautious on it.”
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