By Stacy Lynne
for Greeley Gazette
Greeley, Colorado – June 17, 2010 – Councilor Lisa Poppaw violated her sworn oath of office. She violated her oath by voting for the policies and goals of foreign organizations which are in direct opposition to the United States Constitution.
The Climate Action Plan is a document developed through the International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). ICLEI is a foreign organization (www.iclei.org) which transforms local government through implementation of climate action plans and long-range sustainability plans (www.un.org; Plan Fort Collins/Local Agenda 21). The climate action plan, which Councilor Poppaw references as justification for her voting decisions, takes authority from locally elected officials and gives that power to city employees.
ICLEI’s goals include eliminating free markets and individual rights in favor of collective rights and government controlled businesses. Councilor Poppaw lobbies against private business development (council work session 09-08-09).
Councilor Poppaw voted for Ordinance No. 052, 2009, which forced private business owners to reveal proprietary information. In conjunction with that ordinance, she voted for Resolution 2009-046 which directed staff to develop the pilot trash district program. The trash pilot included the forceful removal of 6,600 private customers from locally owned businesses. She explained that the concept of a pilot trash district was contained in the Climate Action Plan and “…the environmental gains of this project do not go far enough toward advancing the city’s Climate Action goals…” (Fort Collins Coloradoan, February 2, 2010).
Councilor Poppaw’s service to ICLEI is wasting taxpayers millions of dollars annually (2010-2011 Budget; fcgov.com):
- $1,100,000 to change incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs in city buildings (2009); energy savings: unknown, expected payout: 10 years
- $4,400,000 to teach people how to purchase appliances and to pay rebates to people who buy new appliances
- $600,000 to educate the public about bicycle safety and to purchase bicycles for the city
- $1,200,000 to “Plan Fort Collins”
- $238,862 to teach people how to make environmental decisions
- $313,783 for Climate Wise (an ICLEI program focused on increasing costs and regulation to business owners)
- $111,258 for sustainability coordinator position to teach people about the environment
- $36,000,000 to double Transfort’s fleet and routes; less than one rider per bus per hour uses Transfort (2008 Transfort Annual Report)
- $16,776 for party patrol and party registration; the City wants to be notified when you have a BBQ at your home
- $1,228,672 combined environmental services to teach people about the environment
ICLEI and the Climate Action Plan have transformed the City of Fort Collins budgeting process. “Triple bottom line” budgeting eliminates financial decisions which are based on economic factors. Society, environment and economics are weighed equally, with “sustainability” being the deciding factor.
Councilor Poppaw’s support of ICLEI and the Climate Action Plan is destructive to businesses:
1. The Climate Action Plan includes goals of eliminating personal vehicle travel. Six vehicle spaces were removed for on-street bicycle parking. This costs surrounding businesses $1,800,000 annually.
2. Private, locally-owned businesses are under direct attack by Councilor Poppaw because of her support of ICLEI and the Climate Action Plan.
Councilor Poppaw used the Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority (LETA) to advertise a political meeting. In an email regarding her use of LETA (May 15, 2009), she said, “This is definitely a good-news item, because the call didn’t cost the City or taxpayers anything.” LETA is funded by taxpayers for use as an emergency notification system.
Councilor Poppaw’s allegiance to foreign organizations and foreign goals is costing taxpayers millions of dollars and is a violation of her sworn oath to honor the United States Constitution.