ARTICLES
EDC / IEDC Connection
The 3rd time I went to the EDC in 2011, (it was just prior to the passing of "the Second Amendment to the City of Lexington Tax Increment Financing District 1 Redevelopment Project Area, Plan and Projects" or "The 2011 TIF Redevelopment Plan”) I got MARTY VANAGAS (the EDC, CEO) to sit down with me for a 10 minute interview. It was only a few days before the “PUBLIC HEARING” for the "The 2011 TIF Redevelopment Plan” and I needed to get as much information from him as I could. Time was running out, therefore my approach with MARTY was much more direct than it was with KEN. This time I wasn’t posing as young entrepreneur looking for assistance… this time I was honest with MARTY about who I was and what I was after. After asking AMY DENHAM, if I could speak with MARTY, I sat in the lobby for a few minutes, starring at the walls pondering an overpriced HERB EATON painting hanging there, daydreaming about my ol’ friend Johnny Firefly who introduced me to HERB four years prior. Johnny’s DOWNTOWN song was ringing in my head. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u51Cy69AoLw) Then MARTY came out. I awoke and asked if I could have a few minutes of his time. He agreed and escorted me to the EDC Board of Directors Conference Room; I call it the CROWS NEST because it is perched on the top floor of the HEARTLAND BANK at the end of BROADWAY, overlooking the project that established the EDC’s presence in our community (2004 - 2006) when they began turning DOWNTOWN Normal, IL into UPTOWN, Normal. (A rather presumptuous move, I’ve always thought, but who am I to question the KINGS OF LOCAL COMMERCE/Urban Planning?) I’m just a starving artist. A peasant in MARTY’s eyes. Nevertheless, I wanted answers, so we grabbed a couple of seats and I started with my questioning.
I remember MARTY seemed annoyed, and he was acting as if he had something to hide. When I asked him for specific information about JOHN MOHR’s involvement with the EDC — regarding any (conflict of interest) paperwork JOHN may have filled out prior to joining the EDC BOARD of DIRECTORS (2011-2013) — MARTY said, “We are a private organization therefore we are not legally obligated to share any information with you.”
I thought that to be odd considering how much public money the EDC has taken from the region,
• I knew the CITY OF LEXINGTON “invested” $1000 a year… (and still does).
• The McLean County Mayors Association “invested” $1000 a year… (and still does).
• And, (at that time, 2011) the City of Bloomington was investing $6000 a month into the EDC… a number which has incrementally increased nearly every year over the past 10 years.
Starting in 2004 the City of Bloomington was “investing” $3,750 a month; by 2014 that figure had risen to $8,333.33 a month. When and where will it end?
When I asked MARTY to see the paperwork/investment invoices concerning the EDC’s public funding sources, I got the same answer. “We are a private organization therefore we are not legally obligated to share any information with you.” I remember thinking to myself, “I’m going to have to either get a court subpoena or… go around to every town in the county and fill out multiple FOIA requests to acquire this information.”
Side Story: I’m not a lawyer nor did I know an honest lawyer who would take this case, so I resorted to my second option, (filling out multiple FOIA requests). However, Bloomington and Leroy ended up being the only towns I visited in the area in regard. When I went to LEROY, IL in 2011 their City Economist told me that JACOB and KLIEN/The Economic Development Group/TIF ILLINOIS (i.e. the lawyers and EDC investors that JOHN MOHR/The City of LEXINGTON hired to write the “2nd Amendment to our City’s TIF District…”) have been shunned by their own. He said that, among the TIF community — those who work in the TIF field in ILLINOIS — that JACOB and KLIEN/The Economic Development Group/TIF ILLINOIS are considered crooks, because they have made a lot more money than they deserve off of the public by negotiating long term development contracts with municipalities all around the area: development contracts that do not change much from one town to the next; development contracts that insure that they are the primary legal advisors for the remainder of life of the TIF Districts (for the municipalities whom they are writing “TIF Redevelopment Proposals” for); and by being a member/investor of the EDC, JACOB and KLIEN/The Economic Development Group/TIF ILLINOIS have a “Duty of Loyalty” to write “Redevelopment Proposals” that serve the interests of the corporate collective invested in the EDC, rather than writing development proposals that serve the interests of the tax payers from whom they are taking money from. I could go on, but…
back to MARTY and I… MARTY didn’t completely STONEWALL me that day. There were 2 questions I asked that he gave me legitimate answers to. One being: From whom does the EDC get it’s “stomping orders?” He said, “WE GET OUR PRESCRIPTION FROM THE IEDC.” I said what’s the IEDC? He said “THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL.” The second question he answered was: How well connected are you to the other Economic Development Councils throughout the state? He said, “VERY WELL CONNECTED.” “I talk to the Peoria, Champaign, and Chicago councils all the time.” And before I got the next question out, he said, “If you are here to talk about Economic Development, I’ll talk to you all day, but if you are here to FISH, I have no more time for you.” At that point, I felt I had gotten all I was going to get out of him so, I thanked him for his time and he escorted me out. Along the way he made sure to tell me not to ever show up there again without an appointment. I obliged, and that was the last time I ever went to the EDC.
MARTY served as the CEO, for the EDC of Bloomington/Normal for 9 years. He was there from it’s very beginning. However, he ended up leaving the EDC a year later to take over as director of the Indy Partnership in Indianapolis. In December of 2012, MARTY also took on a 2 year term as Chair of the Policy Advisory Committee for the INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL, which further validates the EDC/IEDC connection.
So, if the INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL is giving all of these “VERY WELL CONNECTED” “Economic Development” organizations (throughout the state of Illinois and I’m assuming the rest of the U.S.) their “PRESCRIPTION,” then exactly what kind of “medicine”/influence are they administering? What is the IEDC agenda? Where are they leading US?
Side Note: Since 2002 “ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT” "Councils", "Corporations", "Associations", "Foundations", "Partnerships", "Agencies", "Alliances", "Opportunities", "Authorities", "Committees", "Centers", and "Cities" have been springing up all over the UNITED STATES. I know they are in nearly every county in ILLINOIS. I have organized a list of them at this link… http://nomohr.weebly.com/illinois-organizations.html. If you want to visually see how many there now are across the U.S. click this link… https://www.google.com/maps/search/economic+development/@39.0900157,-92.5074734,6z. < Note: this Google map has only the words “economic development” typed in to get the results you will see. Keep in mind, there are many organizations that work in accordance with the IEDC agenda that do not have the words “economic development” in their title. For example: the “Economic Development” organization that MARTY VANAGAS is now the director of is called the INDY PARTNERSHIP, and therefore does not show up as a blip on the map. Nonetheless, if you click on the link above, you will get a better idea as to the scope / regional influence the IEDC has over the “development”/“redevelopment” of local economies throughout the U.S.
To better understand the IEDC agenda let me share a few excerpts with you, taken from the 2008 IEDC BOARD MEMBER HANDBOOK. Though I do not have the EDC Board Member Handbook… if the EDC is taking their “prescription” from the IEDC then I believe it is safe to assume that the context of such would be one in the same.
Page 36 under Appendix 1: IEDC Bylaws
ARTICLE II - OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
1. The objectives of the Council are to:
• Develop policies to advance the profession of economic development and serve as a clearinghouse for information on economic problems and solutions.
• Foster the exchange of ideas and education experiences and offer persons engaged in developing local, regional, state and provincial economies an opportunity for intellectual stimulation and fellowship with their colleagues.
• Enhance the career growth of professionals employed in the field of economic development and upgrade the professional standards of officials actively involved in economic development.
• Provide local economic development insights for federal, state, provincial and local officials.
I’ve often wondered why JOHN MOHR would participate with the EDC/IEDC agenda. I know he is a money-hungry/power-driven type of person. I’ve thought for a long time that he must be getting some sort of financial gain for his participation with the EDC/IEDC agenda, but I haven’t been able to prove it. I know JOHN went to a few Black Hawks games and got a free Black Hawks jersey from Rocky Wirtz, (owner of Wirtz Beverage and the Black Hawks) when negotiating the deal that brought the Wirtz Distribution Center to Lexington but, that doesn’t seem like enough for JOHN. It’s all about money and power with JOHN. I’m not saying JOHN hasn’t received money for his continual involvement with the EDC/IEDC agenda… I’m just saying if he has I haven’t found it yet. So, if it wasn’t the money, it must have been the POWER of the EDC/IEDC that attracted him. To be able to rub shoulders with the most POWERFUL people in our county… to get advice/insights and to have an opportunity for intellectual stimulation and fellowship amongst his EDC colleagues must have really got him going. The chance to enhance his career growth possibilities and to upgrade his professional standards in the field of economic development must have been his motivation for participating.
Page 51 under Our Strategic Directions
• To become the number one source of economic development knowledge and thought leadership worldwide.
• Incorporate an international focus into professional standards, techniques and solutions, and provide a forum for the dissemination of information among practitioners from different countries.
JOHN has internalized EDC/IEDC systems of thought so strongly that he has slipped into what I call “The Elitist Psychosis.” That is, those who are not directly on board with “his” economic agenda he sees as nuisance; or “people on the periphery” to the policies he has adopted. He has forgotten who he was elected to serve. He has incorporated an international focus into “his” professional standards / “economic development” agenda and lost touch with LEXINGTONIANS. Ol’ Charlie Koch once told me that “he wasn’t always that way.” ‘unfortunately though, I never had the opportunity to get to know JOHN before he became “that way.”
Page 47 under Meeting the 21st Century Head On
Globalization, the IT revolution, the world wide web, rising environmentalism and the encroachment of many new entities onto the economic development playing field offer dynamic prospects and pose significant challenges to the long term significance of economic development professionals as well as to IEDC’s ability to effectively and efficiently serve them. The challenges are real and complex as are the opportunities. This plan is one of our tools to address them head on, and identify and implement well-considered, strategic solutions. This is exactly what our profession is all about. We are up to the challenge. Let’s first define precisely what these challenges and possibilities are to our profession and to IEDC.
Page 48 under Challenges to and Opportunities for the Profession
• Economic shifts, shocks and restructuring with diverse impacts on regional economies and their competitive advantages—weakening some and strengthening others.
• Changing business models, particularly the rise of the global corporation and the decline of local corporate leadership. What is the impact of these changes on community opportunities, economic development strategies and economic development metrics of success?
• Globalization is redrawing the lines defining who’s central to the economy and who is peripheral. Specifically, globalization and IT are the 21st century processes for connecting markets and moving labor, capital, products and services across this wider market. This process is akin to roads and rails in the U.S. at the turn of the century and like the rails and highways, it will have similar impacts strengthening some and weakening others, by changing their position within the market space and the competitive position of their local businesses, institutions and workers. In other words, new conditions and new positions in this network influences who wins and loses in the international marketplace.
This is a blatant attack on small business owners and local economies. “This network influences who wins and loses in the international marketplace.” “…weakening some and strengthening others.” “…redrawing the lines defining who’s central to the economy and who is peripheral.” Well, maybe it isn’t so blatant, because this document was only meant to be seen by IEDC BOARD MEMBERS. I guess it depends upon which side you are on. If you are an IEDC Board Member or an “economic development” insider then yes, you understand how blatant these policy “shifts” are… however, if you are an “economic development” outsider then this attack on small business and local economies is much more covert. If we allow these “economic development” agencies to continue to succeed with their policy intervention plans, imagine what our… or your community is going to look like in the future. All those business owners who are not a part of this International agenda are going to struggle, and all of those who are will thrive. Our communities across the country will gradually lose their character/charm/uniqueness that small business owners bring to our local communities. “Mom & Pop” shops and restaurants will go down as DOLLAR GENERAL and McDonald’s go up. The BIG BUSINESSES will get all the tax breaks and BOOM, as all the honest entrepreneurs in our neighborhoods will get no tax breaks and be on the brink of going BUST. What gives them the right? This is wrong. This is wrong. These guys know what they are doing is wrong. How long will we allow this to go on?
Page 7 - 8 under Apparent Authority and Board Member Activity
It is commonly understood that when someone has received a delegation of authority on behalf of an organization, whether as an officer or an agent, that person has in fact been authorized to act with binding effect. Any act taken by the individual within the scope of this authority is considered to be the act of the organization for purposes of creating binding legal obligations (e.g., a contract) or imposing legal liability (e.g., for tortious conduct).
It is less commonly understood that an individual connected with an organization can create equally binding obligations or liability for harmful conduct – even if the individual has no actual authority – if the individual appears to outsiders to have such authority. This concept is known as apparent authority. It is a particular source of risk for associations and their directors because they operate in an arena where lines of authority (or, if you prefer, the chain of command) may be unclear and because association volunteers – by definition – are beholden to an employer or job separate from their duties for the association.
To help minimize the risk to IEDC and its members from liability for acts taken with apparent authority, we follow some basic precautions. These include ensuring that all volunteers receive our conflict of interest policy, and making sure that checks and balances are in place to minimize the potential that one or a few individuals can act, write or speak in the name of IEDC without prior review and approval. As officers and directors, your understanding of, and cooperation with, these policies and practices is important. Please see the “Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form in Appendix 4.
Page 59 under Appendix 4 - Conflicts and Confidentiality: A Brief Guide for IEDC Board Members
The legal obligations of directors to an association fall into two broad categories, a duty of loyalty and a duty of care.
The Duty of Loyalty - By assuming office or accepting appointment, the IEDC director commits personal allegiance to the enterprise and acknowledges that the best interests of the Council and its members must prevail over any individual interest of his own or those of any other party. In the association context, this may on occasion require the director or committee member to pay particular attention to how this duty overlaps with a similar duty owed to his business or his employer or another association. In service to the Council, the director in particular is a designee of all the members. The Duty of Loyalty manifests itself in certain legal concepts, briefly outlined below:
Conflict of Interest - An IEDC director commits personal allegiance to the enterprise and acknowledges that the best interests of the Council and its members must prevail over any individual interest of his own or those of any other party. This requires each director to pay particular attention to how this duty overlaps with a similar duty owed to their business, employer or another association. In service to the Council, the director in particular is a designee of all the members. A conflict may exist when an individual participates in the deliberation or resolution of an issue important to the Council, while at the same time having other responsibilities that could predispose the individual. Conflicts should always be disclosed and may require ‘recusal’ – stepping back from participation in a matter – or even withdrawal from a post.
Duty of Care - In addition to the duty of loyalty, directors and committee members also assume a duty to act carefully in fulfilling the important tasks of conducting, directing and monitoring the activities of the Council. A generally accepted expression of corporate duty is that the individual should perform his duties in good faith, in a manner he reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the Council, and with such care as an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances.
Unlike the traditional corporate setting, much information that an individual obtains in confidence from the Council will be stored or used for IEDC business in other locations, for example at his regular job. An individual who discloses that information not only exposes the Council to liability, but may therefore be personally liable to the Council or an affected third party. An individual should not only refrain from intentional disclosure, but also act with due care to avoid inadvertent disclosure.
How is this possible? How is this legal? PUBLIC OFFICIALS should be bound to their CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES over any other professional duty in their life. How can the IEDC demand participating PUBLIC OFFICIALS to be loyal to IEDC ideologies/policies over their CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES? Nothing should supersede a public official’s CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES!? THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS! All PUBLIC OFFICIALS who participate with the EDC/IEDC agenda should be thrown in jail for CONFLICT OF INTEREST and for breaching their DUTY OF LOYALTY to the communities they were elected to protect, serve, and work in the best interests of; all IEDC executives and officers should be put on TRIAL FOR TREASON and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for turning so many of our PUBLIC OFFICIALS into IEDC puppets; all the philanthropic organizations who finically contributed and promoted the development of such TREASONOUS activities should be taken over by our government and the wealth from those philanthropic organizations should be given back to “THE PEOPLE” somehow/someway; and all of the “super-rich” internationalists “hiding behind the curtain” of this whole affair should be BANISHED FROM THE EARTH!
Other appalling bullets/objectives found throughout the IEDC handbook…
• Be prepared to quickly respond to community- or profession-altering events and capture new opportunities such as developing the Volunteer Recovery Program after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita or the range of activities undertaken in defense of eminent domain.
• Higher incidences of community-altering events (natural disasters such as Hurricanes, rapid growth, disruptive technologies) requiring preparation, mitigation, and recovery and creates very different on-the-ground business conditions.
• Responsiveness to challenging events such as the Volunteer Recovery Project after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and intensive work to maintain the integrity of eminent domain as an economic development tool.
What more can I say? CAN YOU SEE how psychopathic these guys are? They see catastrophe as dollar signs; as an opportunity to take control over a devastated community. They have lost all touch with humanity… and they want to become the number one source of economic development knowledge and thought leadership in your community. SUPERSEDING ALL CONSTITUTIONALITY! Turning our locally elected officials against US. How could we let this be?
I remember MARTY seemed annoyed, and he was acting as if he had something to hide. When I asked him for specific information about JOHN MOHR’s involvement with the EDC — regarding any (conflict of interest) paperwork JOHN may have filled out prior to joining the EDC BOARD of DIRECTORS (2011-2013) — MARTY said, “We are a private organization therefore we are not legally obligated to share any information with you.”
I thought that to be odd considering how much public money the EDC has taken from the region,
• I knew the CITY OF LEXINGTON “invested” $1000 a year… (and still does).
• The McLean County Mayors Association “invested” $1000 a year… (and still does).
• And, (at that time, 2011) the City of Bloomington was investing $6000 a month into the EDC… a number which has incrementally increased nearly every year over the past 10 years.
Starting in 2004 the City of Bloomington was “investing” $3,750 a month; by 2014 that figure had risen to $8,333.33 a month. When and where will it end?
When I asked MARTY to see the paperwork/investment invoices concerning the EDC’s public funding sources, I got the same answer. “We are a private organization therefore we are not legally obligated to share any information with you.” I remember thinking to myself, “I’m going to have to either get a court subpoena or… go around to every town in the county and fill out multiple FOIA requests to acquire this information.”
Side Story: I’m not a lawyer nor did I know an honest lawyer who would take this case, so I resorted to my second option, (filling out multiple FOIA requests). However, Bloomington and Leroy ended up being the only towns I visited in the area in regard. When I went to LEROY, IL in 2011 their City Economist told me that JACOB and KLIEN/The Economic Development Group/TIF ILLINOIS (i.e. the lawyers and EDC investors that JOHN MOHR/The City of LEXINGTON hired to write the “2nd Amendment to our City’s TIF District…”) have been shunned by their own. He said that, among the TIF community — those who work in the TIF field in ILLINOIS — that JACOB and KLIEN/The Economic Development Group/TIF ILLINOIS are considered crooks, because they have made a lot more money than they deserve off of the public by negotiating long term development contracts with municipalities all around the area: development contracts that do not change much from one town to the next; development contracts that insure that they are the primary legal advisors for the remainder of life of the TIF Districts (for the municipalities whom they are writing “TIF Redevelopment Proposals” for); and by being a member/investor of the EDC, JACOB and KLIEN/The Economic Development Group/TIF ILLINOIS have a “Duty of Loyalty” to write “Redevelopment Proposals” that serve the interests of the corporate collective invested in the EDC, rather than writing development proposals that serve the interests of the tax payers from whom they are taking money from. I could go on, but…
back to MARTY and I… MARTY didn’t completely STONEWALL me that day. There were 2 questions I asked that he gave me legitimate answers to. One being: From whom does the EDC get it’s “stomping orders?” He said, “WE GET OUR PRESCRIPTION FROM THE IEDC.” I said what’s the IEDC? He said “THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL.” The second question he answered was: How well connected are you to the other Economic Development Councils throughout the state? He said, “VERY WELL CONNECTED.” “I talk to the Peoria, Champaign, and Chicago councils all the time.” And before I got the next question out, he said, “If you are here to talk about Economic Development, I’ll talk to you all day, but if you are here to FISH, I have no more time for you.” At that point, I felt I had gotten all I was going to get out of him so, I thanked him for his time and he escorted me out. Along the way he made sure to tell me not to ever show up there again without an appointment. I obliged, and that was the last time I ever went to the EDC.
MARTY served as the CEO, for the EDC of Bloomington/Normal for 9 years. He was there from it’s very beginning. However, he ended up leaving the EDC a year later to take over as director of the Indy Partnership in Indianapolis. In December of 2012, MARTY also took on a 2 year term as Chair of the Policy Advisory Committee for the INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL, which further validates the EDC/IEDC connection.
So, if the INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL is giving all of these “VERY WELL CONNECTED” “Economic Development” organizations (throughout the state of Illinois and I’m assuming the rest of the U.S.) their “PRESCRIPTION,” then exactly what kind of “medicine”/influence are they administering? What is the IEDC agenda? Where are they leading US?
Side Note: Since 2002 “ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT” "Councils", "Corporations", "Associations", "Foundations", "Partnerships", "Agencies", "Alliances", "Opportunities", "Authorities", "Committees", "Centers", and "Cities" have been springing up all over the UNITED STATES. I know they are in nearly every county in ILLINOIS. I have organized a list of them at this link… http://nomohr.weebly.com/illinois-organizations.html. If you want to visually see how many there now are across the U.S. click this link… https://www.google.com/maps/search/economic+development/@39.0900157,-92.5074734,6z. < Note: this Google map has only the words “economic development” typed in to get the results you will see. Keep in mind, there are many organizations that work in accordance with the IEDC agenda that do not have the words “economic development” in their title. For example: the “Economic Development” organization that MARTY VANAGAS is now the director of is called the INDY PARTNERSHIP, and therefore does not show up as a blip on the map. Nonetheless, if you click on the link above, you will get a better idea as to the scope / regional influence the IEDC has over the “development”/“redevelopment” of local economies throughout the U.S.
To better understand the IEDC agenda let me share a few excerpts with you, taken from the 2008 IEDC BOARD MEMBER HANDBOOK. Though I do not have the EDC Board Member Handbook… if the EDC is taking their “prescription” from the IEDC then I believe it is safe to assume that the context of such would be one in the same.
Page 36 under Appendix 1: IEDC Bylaws
ARTICLE II - OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
1. The objectives of the Council are to:
• Develop policies to advance the profession of economic development and serve as a clearinghouse for information on economic problems and solutions.
• Foster the exchange of ideas and education experiences and offer persons engaged in developing local, regional, state and provincial economies an opportunity for intellectual stimulation and fellowship with their colleagues.
• Enhance the career growth of professionals employed in the field of economic development and upgrade the professional standards of officials actively involved in economic development.
• Provide local economic development insights for federal, state, provincial and local officials.
I’ve often wondered why JOHN MOHR would participate with the EDC/IEDC agenda. I know he is a money-hungry/power-driven type of person. I’ve thought for a long time that he must be getting some sort of financial gain for his participation with the EDC/IEDC agenda, but I haven’t been able to prove it. I know JOHN went to a few Black Hawks games and got a free Black Hawks jersey from Rocky Wirtz, (owner of Wirtz Beverage and the Black Hawks) when negotiating the deal that brought the Wirtz Distribution Center to Lexington but, that doesn’t seem like enough for JOHN. It’s all about money and power with JOHN. I’m not saying JOHN hasn’t received money for his continual involvement with the EDC/IEDC agenda… I’m just saying if he has I haven’t found it yet. So, if it wasn’t the money, it must have been the POWER of the EDC/IEDC that attracted him. To be able to rub shoulders with the most POWERFUL people in our county… to get advice/insights and to have an opportunity for intellectual stimulation and fellowship amongst his EDC colleagues must have really got him going. The chance to enhance his career growth possibilities and to upgrade his professional standards in the field of economic development must have been his motivation for participating.
Page 51 under Our Strategic Directions
• To become the number one source of economic development knowledge and thought leadership worldwide.
• Incorporate an international focus into professional standards, techniques and solutions, and provide a forum for the dissemination of information among practitioners from different countries.
JOHN has internalized EDC/IEDC systems of thought so strongly that he has slipped into what I call “The Elitist Psychosis.” That is, those who are not directly on board with “his” economic agenda he sees as nuisance; or “people on the periphery” to the policies he has adopted. He has forgotten who he was elected to serve. He has incorporated an international focus into “his” professional standards / “economic development” agenda and lost touch with LEXINGTONIANS. Ol’ Charlie Koch once told me that “he wasn’t always that way.” ‘unfortunately though, I never had the opportunity to get to know JOHN before he became “that way.”
Page 47 under Meeting the 21st Century Head On
Globalization, the IT revolution, the world wide web, rising environmentalism and the encroachment of many new entities onto the economic development playing field offer dynamic prospects and pose significant challenges to the long term significance of economic development professionals as well as to IEDC’s ability to effectively and efficiently serve them. The challenges are real and complex as are the opportunities. This plan is one of our tools to address them head on, and identify and implement well-considered, strategic solutions. This is exactly what our profession is all about. We are up to the challenge. Let’s first define precisely what these challenges and possibilities are to our profession and to IEDC.
Page 48 under Challenges to and Opportunities for the Profession
• Economic shifts, shocks and restructuring with diverse impacts on regional economies and their competitive advantages—weakening some and strengthening others.
• Changing business models, particularly the rise of the global corporation and the decline of local corporate leadership. What is the impact of these changes on community opportunities, economic development strategies and economic development metrics of success?
• Globalization is redrawing the lines defining who’s central to the economy and who is peripheral. Specifically, globalization and IT are the 21st century processes for connecting markets and moving labor, capital, products and services across this wider market. This process is akin to roads and rails in the U.S. at the turn of the century and like the rails and highways, it will have similar impacts strengthening some and weakening others, by changing their position within the market space and the competitive position of their local businesses, institutions and workers. In other words, new conditions and new positions in this network influences who wins and loses in the international marketplace.
This is a blatant attack on small business owners and local economies. “This network influences who wins and loses in the international marketplace.” “…weakening some and strengthening others.” “…redrawing the lines defining who’s central to the economy and who is peripheral.” Well, maybe it isn’t so blatant, because this document was only meant to be seen by IEDC BOARD MEMBERS. I guess it depends upon which side you are on. If you are an IEDC Board Member or an “economic development” insider then yes, you understand how blatant these policy “shifts” are… however, if you are an “economic development” outsider then this attack on small business and local economies is much more covert. If we allow these “economic development” agencies to continue to succeed with their policy intervention plans, imagine what our… or your community is going to look like in the future. All those business owners who are not a part of this International agenda are going to struggle, and all of those who are will thrive. Our communities across the country will gradually lose their character/charm/uniqueness that small business owners bring to our local communities. “Mom & Pop” shops and restaurants will go down as DOLLAR GENERAL and McDonald’s go up. The BIG BUSINESSES will get all the tax breaks and BOOM, as all the honest entrepreneurs in our neighborhoods will get no tax breaks and be on the brink of going BUST. What gives them the right? This is wrong. This is wrong. These guys know what they are doing is wrong. How long will we allow this to go on?
Page 7 - 8 under Apparent Authority and Board Member Activity
It is commonly understood that when someone has received a delegation of authority on behalf of an organization, whether as an officer or an agent, that person has in fact been authorized to act with binding effect. Any act taken by the individual within the scope of this authority is considered to be the act of the organization for purposes of creating binding legal obligations (e.g., a contract) or imposing legal liability (e.g., for tortious conduct).
It is less commonly understood that an individual connected with an organization can create equally binding obligations or liability for harmful conduct – even if the individual has no actual authority – if the individual appears to outsiders to have such authority. This concept is known as apparent authority. It is a particular source of risk for associations and their directors because they operate in an arena where lines of authority (or, if you prefer, the chain of command) may be unclear and because association volunteers – by definition – are beholden to an employer or job separate from their duties for the association.
To help minimize the risk to IEDC and its members from liability for acts taken with apparent authority, we follow some basic precautions. These include ensuring that all volunteers receive our conflict of interest policy, and making sure that checks and balances are in place to minimize the potential that one or a few individuals can act, write or speak in the name of IEDC without prior review and approval. As officers and directors, your understanding of, and cooperation with, these policies and practices is important. Please see the “Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form in Appendix 4.
Page 59 under Appendix 4 - Conflicts and Confidentiality: A Brief Guide for IEDC Board Members
The legal obligations of directors to an association fall into two broad categories, a duty of loyalty and a duty of care.
The Duty of Loyalty - By assuming office or accepting appointment, the IEDC director commits personal allegiance to the enterprise and acknowledges that the best interests of the Council and its members must prevail over any individual interest of his own or those of any other party. In the association context, this may on occasion require the director or committee member to pay particular attention to how this duty overlaps with a similar duty owed to his business or his employer or another association. In service to the Council, the director in particular is a designee of all the members. The Duty of Loyalty manifests itself in certain legal concepts, briefly outlined below:
Conflict of Interest - An IEDC director commits personal allegiance to the enterprise and acknowledges that the best interests of the Council and its members must prevail over any individual interest of his own or those of any other party. This requires each director to pay particular attention to how this duty overlaps with a similar duty owed to their business, employer or another association. In service to the Council, the director in particular is a designee of all the members. A conflict may exist when an individual participates in the deliberation or resolution of an issue important to the Council, while at the same time having other responsibilities that could predispose the individual. Conflicts should always be disclosed and may require ‘recusal’ – stepping back from participation in a matter – or even withdrawal from a post.
Duty of Care - In addition to the duty of loyalty, directors and committee members also assume a duty to act carefully in fulfilling the important tasks of conducting, directing and monitoring the activities of the Council. A generally accepted expression of corporate duty is that the individual should perform his duties in good faith, in a manner he reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the Council, and with such care as an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances.
Unlike the traditional corporate setting, much information that an individual obtains in confidence from the Council will be stored or used for IEDC business in other locations, for example at his regular job. An individual who discloses that information not only exposes the Council to liability, but may therefore be personally liable to the Council or an affected third party. An individual should not only refrain from intentional disclosure, but also act with due care to avoid inadvertent disclosure.
How is this possible? How is this legal? PUBLIC OFFICIALS should be bound to their CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES over any other professional duty in their life. How can the IEDC demand participating PUBLIC OFFICIALS to be loyal to IEDC ideologies/policies over their CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES? Nothing should supersede a public official’s CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES!? THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS! All PUBLIC OFFICIALS who participate with the EDC/IEDC agenda should be thrown in jail for CONFLICT OF INTEREST and for breaching their DUTY OF LOYALTY to the communities they were elected to protect, serve, and work in the best interests of; all IEDC executives and officers should be put on TRIAL FOR TREASON and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for turning so many of our PUBLIC OFFICIALS into IEDC puppets; all the philanthropic organizations who finically contributed and promoted the development of such TREASONOUS activities should be taken over by our government and the wealth from those philanthropic organizations should be given back to “THE PEOPLE” somehow/someway; and all of the “super-rich” internationalists “hiding behind the curtain” of this whole affair should be BANISHED FROM THE EARTH!
Other appalling bullets/objectives found throughout the IEDC handbook…
• Be prepared to quickly respond to community- or profession-altering events and capture new opportunities such as developing the Volunteer Recovery Program after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita or the range of activities undertaken in defense of eminent domain.
• Higher incidences of community-altering events (natural disasters such as Hurricanes, rapid growth, disruptive technologies) requiring preparation, mitigation, and recovery and creates very different on-the-ground business conditions.
• Responsiveness to challenging events such as the Volunteer Recovery Project after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and intensive work to maintain the integrity of eminent domain as an economic development tool.
What more can I say? CAN YOU SEE how psychopathic these guys are? They see catastrophe as dollar signs; as an opportunity to take control over a devastated community. They have lost all touch with humanity… and they want to become the number one source of economic development knowledge and thought leadership in your community. SUPERSEDING ALL CONSTITUTIONALITY! Turning our locally elected officials against US. How could we let this be?