Many Questions About Chris Beutler Decision to Join ICLEI No.1: Is it Legal?

Thanks to Don for the excellent presentation last Monday evening about Sustainable Development. We have only begun distributing the information we’ve discovered in our research on this subject. To see our previous articles, click here. We are currently developing an information page on this topic that will include resources and references. Again, much thanks goes to Don for all of the work he is doing.

One of the pieces of information revealed at the meeting includes a report that the Lincoln Mayor’s office announced on November 30 that the City of Lincoln has joined ICLEI: Local Governments for Sustainability.

On it’s website’s About page (link above), ICLEI informs that it’s former name was “International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives” and explains its 1990 founding and 2003 mission statement changes. In 2003, ICLEI reports, its “mandate” was broadened for the purposes of addressing sustainability issues.

We question the source of ICLEI’s mandate, Chris Beutler’s decision to enter into an agreement with an international body, whether or not the duly elected members of the City Council were involved in that decision, and if so, how they voted, and we seriously question whether a Nebraska city can lawfully enter into such an agreement as an entity incorporated under the authority of the State of Nebraska.

In addition that list of questions, I have one that is largely rhetorical.

Did Channel 10/11 just do a poor job in reporting on this story or do they agree so much with ICLEI and Chris Beutler’s agenda that they purposefully improperly characterized the situation in their story?

The headline: “Lincoln Joins National Organization formerly http://www.1011now.com/news/headlines/Lincoln_Joins_National_Organization_111063339.html”

In addition to linking to the 10/11 story, we have uploaded a printable copy to GiN’s archive on Scribd. (If you do not have a Scribd account and wish to access the PDF in another way, please use our Contact Form to make a request.)

The Mayor’s office contact information is located HERE.

The City Council’s contact information is located HERE.

Stubborn_Facts

Shelli Dawdy is first and foremost the mother of three children whom she has taught at home via the classical method since removing her children from school in 2001. During her early years as a homeschool mother, she worked part-time as a freelance writer. Born and raised in the Iowa, Shelli and her husband moved to the state of South Dakota in 1997, attracted to its more limited government and friendly tax environment. In 2006, Shelli and her family relocated to Lincoln, Nebraska, when her husband’s employer offered a new position. She took a break from work and politics for a time, recognizing the need to focus solely on her childrens’ schooling with two now of high school age. Distressed by many things she was witnessing on the national political scene and disillusioned about the Republican Party, she decided to start writing again, this time online. Motivated to get involved with others at the grassroots level, she networked with activists on the social media tool, Twitter. She was involved in organizing the first tea party rallies inspired by Rick Santelli’s “rant” on CNBC in February 2009. Recognizing that activism should generate on the local level, she founded Grassroots in Nebraska in March of 2009. The group’s mission is a return to Constitutional, limited government, according to its original meaning. While the group has held several tea party rallies, it’s focus is to take effective action. Among its many projects, GiN successfully coordinated testimony for the hearing of the Nebraska Sovereignty Resolution, networked with other groups to ensure a large show of public support at the hearing, and coordinated follow up support to ensure its passage in April 2010. While working to build up GiN throughout 2009, she was asked to work as writer and producer of the documentary film, A New America, which lays out how Progressivism is responsible for how America has moved away from its Constitutional roots. You can see more of her work on Grassroots in Nebraska (GiN) and StubbornFacts