by:  Diane Benjamin

I have reported before about Renner declaring strip malls dead and downtown being the future of Bloomington.  Since he has 7 member of the Council who rarely represent their wards by considering the best interests of citizens, all Bloomington taxpayers are at risk.  Renner obviously doesn’t think his last 3 tax increases were a problem, why would he stop now?

Numerous times I’ve also written about the International City Managers Association (ICMA).  They are the group with a strict code of ethics that is strict on paper only.  Think:  money talks.  ICMA sends out a newsletter every weekday with links to propaganda stories.  A few actually aren’t to bad, but one of them today perfectly summarizes why Renner is fixated on people living downtown:

http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2014/08/12/michael-berkowitz-community-secret-ingredient-urban-resilience

The writer believes government creates communities, as in people who take care of each other.  To do that the people must be packed into non-conventional living like suburbs.  Here’s the last paragraph:

“We see a key differentiator is community cohesion,” Berkowitz noted. “In other words, how much do neighbors check on neighbors? How tight-knit are communities that can come together during stresses or after shocks like earthquakes, big floods or hurricanes? Communities that are cohesive in that way always rebound better or are more resilient.”

Compare that to what he said earlier in the story:

“I believe really strongly that cities are the future,” he said. “That they both pose the greatest threats to how we live together, our environmental footprint, whether or not we can resolve our differences. All of those things are really exacerbated in cities. But they also pose the greatest promise in some ways. We can live much more efficiently in cities, we can live much more harmoniously in cities, the creative energy that is here in cities is amazing.”

I’m going backwards in the story to make a point.  Here’s the opening:

Today, as CEO of the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities initiative, Berkowitz is steering an exciting emerging movement in municipal planning and development: the quest to make urban communities far more resilient to social, economic and physical shocks.

So, Renner’s reading material is a roadmap to government creating cohesive communities.  Not churches, not citizens, not entrepreneurs, ONLY government through municipal planning and development.

Renner plans to create your Utopia because he knows how to get there.  Markowitz thought the Coliseum and the BPCA were Utopia.  All they need is your money.

Alexis de Tocqueville couldn’t understand America.  A country formed on the premise that man can govern himself had never existed before.  He came here from France and studied every aspect of American Life.  In 1835 and 1840 he published a book call “Democracy in America”.

“America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville

As the Berkowitz article says, municipal planning creates resilient communities.  He is wrong.  Americans help each other because Americans are good.  Americans give more to charities than any other country in the world.  I’m constantly amazed when the evening news reporters are shocked by average citizens rescuing other citizens.  Or amazed at a bunch of farmers harvesting crops for a farmer who can’t.

I’m was also amazed at the hurricane Sandy victims, days after the event, sitting around waiting for government to show up, even when they didn’t have food or water.  They were well-trained by their government, and of course government failed them.

There’s the liberal mentality.  You can’t take care of yourself, wait for government.  Don’t arm yourself, call the police.  Government would be thrilled if we were all like the Sandy victims.

If you allow Renner to implement his plans, you will be.  Americans are still good, at least those who haven’t lived for decades under government indoctrination.  Maybe Tari needs some indoctrination on what being an American means.

One more note, where are those people who can’t take care of themselves?  New York, New Orleans – packed into CITIES!