Last year, Mountain View Day Worker Center supporters purchased an abandoned cinderblock building next to railroad tracks on Escuela Avenue in Mountain View, California. Plans are in place for day workers to help renovate the building and make improvements to the neighborhood, but NIMBY ("not in my back yard") neighbors nevertheless called in a Washington D.C. based group, Judicial Watch, to advise them on protecting their neighborhood from "illegal" immigrants.
Judicial Watch is a right-wing organization that initiates legal battles against day laborer centers around the country. Through their "sanctuary busters" program, they make the claim that day laborer centers violate federal immigration law by hiring undocumented immigrants. In April, a representative of Judicial Watch addressed a meeting of Escuela Avenue residents, calling it a "public education effort."
Judicial Watch has filed lawsuits in Herndon, Virginia, and Laguna Beach, California. But Chris Newman, the legal director of a national group of day laborer centers, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, called Judicial Watch's lawsuits baseless, pointing out that they are meant to generate anti-immigrant sentiments and intimidate people.
The city council remains stalwart in the face of threats of a lawsuit by members of the neighborhood group. The council initially approved the Day Worker Center's permit on May 5. On May 12, with a unanimous vote, the council turned down the NIMBY group's appeal of the council's earlier decision.
By NDLON. Read more
La Plataforma en Defensa de la Terra Alta, el Centre Picasso d'Orta i l'Ecomuseu dels Ports van presentar ahir les seues al·legacions davant dels serveis territorials d'Urbanisme a les Terres de l'Ebre contra el pla urbanístic especial del parc eòlic dels Pesells a Horta de Sant Joan, un pla aprovat en l'última comissió d'Urbanisme de les Terres de l'Ebre. Paral·lelament, la Plataforma va traslladar també a Urbanisme més de 200 al·legacions subscrites per veïns d'Horta, comerciants i empresaris que s'oposen també a aquest projecte eòlic, que ja va ser rebutjat pel poble en una consulta popular el 2008.
Concretament, les al·legacions de la Plataforma, el Centre Picasso i l'Ecomuseu posen èmfasi en l'oposició popular al projecte i en els valors ambientals i paisatgístics de la zona. També fan referència al fet que el pla especial és incompatible amb les normes subsidiàries del municipi i al fet que l'Ajuntament està tramitant una modificació urbanística per prohibir la instal·lació d'aerogeneradors al seu terme. També assenyalen que contravé al pla territorial de les Terres de l'Ebre, que considera la zona dels Pesells com un corredor biològic dels Ports, i destaquen com afectaria les espècies protegides, com per exemple l'àliga cuabarrada. Finalment, aquestes al·legacions detecten «greus mancances» en l'informe ambiental presentat per l'empresa promotora Orta Eòlica SL.
Horta de Sant Joan - R.ROYO - Read more
Un grup d'uns quaranta veïns de primera i segona residència del barri i les urbanitzacions de la Molina d'Alp han creat una plataforma que, amb el nom Salvem la Molina, vol iniciar una campanya popular contra les directrius del nou Pla d'Ordenació Urbana Municipal aprovat inicialment per l'Ajuntament. Segons el parer d'aquests veïns, el nou pla preveu un creixement desmesurat de la Molina que vulnera la legalitat i va en contra dels paràmetres que defensen per a tota la Cerdanya altres normatives urbanístiques, com ara el Pla Director pel Pirineu i l'Aran i el Pla Director de la Cerdanya.
Un dels portaveus de la plataforma, Àngel Puig, ha explicat que els veïns han decidit mobilitzar-se després de veure que el consistori "se salta" els plantejaments de creixement ordenat per la resta de la comarca i ha anunciat que una de les primeres decisions de la plataforma ha estat que presentaran al·legacions al POUM. En nom de Salvem la Molina, Puig ha lamentat que l'Ajuntament d'Alp defensi un creixement dels entorns de les pistes d'esquí "totxo a totxo" i basat en un model urbanístic sotmès a la pressió de la construcció de segones i terceres residències. Puig ha recordat que els plans directors del Pirineu aconsellen, en canvi, un "decreixement de la construcció, mantenir la tipologia dels edificis ceretans i no edificar en espais verds, crear centres urbans i espais públics, i no espais dispersos que no creen 'poble', promoure les cases obertes i els espais amb vida, i, sobretot, cercar altres dinamitzadors econòmics per a la zona".
Davant d'aquesta situació, els veïns, que ja han celebrat una primera reunió constitutiva, han redactat un manifest en el qual reclamen, d'una banda, que es "replantegi" el model de creixement urbanístic d'Alp "per no hipotecar el futur del municipi i per extensió el de la comarca", i d'altra banda, que el POUM "es regeixi per la llei d'Urbanisme de Catalunya, pel Pla Territorial de l'Alt Pirineu i pel Pla Director Urbanístic de la Cerdanya. En aquest sentit, Salvem la Molina assegura que el POUM d'Alt vulnera aquests tres textos. Els membres de la plataforma han fet una crida a la població a adherir-s'hi i ha assegurat que té el suport d'entitats ecologistes com ara el Conseil International Associatif pou la Protection des Pyrennes (CIAPP) i Defensa del Patrimoni Natural (Depana).
By MIQUEL SPA (Regió 7). Read more
The Council of Canadians, community members, and members of the peaceful aboriginal women's protest camp marched to Dump Site 41 on July 4, 2009 to celebrate water and to send a strong message to Simcoe County officials who have the power to halt the construction – there is “No Water to Waste!”
More than 700 people marched from Elmvale to Site 41, where another 150 people were gathered. At the protest camp we heard speeches from local resident Stephen Ogden, a representative from the Chiefs of Ontario, Conservative MPP Garfield Dunlop, radio host Dale Goldhawk, Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow, and several others.
There was also music by William Buttery, Fiddes•Lefaive, Marg Raynor, and Youth drummers.
A heartfelt expression of appreciation to Art Parnell, the local farmer who made the land available for the event and for the protest camp, was made by Maude and Stephen.
Members of the Peterborough-Kawarthas, Northumberland County, Niagara Region, South Niagara, and Grey-Bruce chapters were part of this protest.
By The Council of Canadians
Source: http://www.canadians.org/water/issues/Site41/index.html
Source: http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/2009/07/elmhurst-residents-rally-against.html
Opposition to well conceived development projects can be experienced as something similar to an untreated virus. Infections are inevitable. Everyone gets sick sometime throughout their life. The same goes for development. If a project is significant enough, it is certainly prone to the infection of NIMBY opposition. The goal should be to limit the spread of the virus and treat the infection.
Treating that infection is inevitably a “political” medication that if implemented well will ensure the a successful outcome. When attempting to stop the spread of the virus, here are some suggested steps towards that end:
1. Know your abutters and communicate with them often
2. Identify opponents early and build a dialogue
3. Inform the decision makers of your outreach efforts
4. Inform elected officials about problems before their constituents call first
...
Read more: http://www.thesaintreport.com/saintblog/2009/07/overcoming-nimby-opposition-is-like-virus-limit-the-spread-treat-the-infection.html
By Jay Vincent, regional vice president, Midwest, for The Saint Consulting Group
Electricity growth has increased over the last decade. Coal in particular accounts for over 50 percent of U.S. electricity and over 32 percent of its carbon emissions. However, with constant media coverage on the urgency to use renewable energy to power our homes, utility leaders seem to be fighting a time-battle to create innovative ways to produce energy whilst keeping up with user demand.
Unfortunately, this is not the only problem they seem to be facing. In an interview on MeettheBoss.com, Michael Morris, Chairman of American Electric Power says that any move towards a cleaner energy future will have to combat two, major challenges: NIMBYs and a lack of proper federal legislative control.
"There is an inertia in the country of nothing in my backyard," says Morris. "We all want energy. We want all of it that we can get. We want it cheap, and we want it clean, and we want no opportunity to see where it came from."
Morris's concerns should be taken seriously. AEP is the largest electricity generator in America, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states over 39,000 miles of network. His influence in creating a sustainable future will be vital over the next decade.
Morris believes that now is the perfect time to build out a better electricity network. "It's great for jobs [and] if we're ultimately going to make this country greener and less dependent on fossil-based fuels, it's essential," he says. "Federal legislative control and a legislative federal cost allocation authority would really take down the barriers that are holding back the capital investment needed."
View the interview now on www.meettheboss.com
Source: http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/nimby-attitude-stalling-us-growth-says-aep-chairman-michael-morris-106849.php
Jeremy Goldkorn had been working in China for eight years when he started the website danwei in 2003.
Blogs then were still a new concept, as was danwei’s core idea: to translate language Chinese news and internet articles into English – on business, current affairs, media, advertising and PR. Since then, danwei has become an invaluable tool for foreigners who need to know what the Chinese media is talking about.
The Chinese media itself is exploding in size, fiercely competing for new and more demanding readers. For Goldkorn, a South African-born fluent Mandarin speaker whose fascination with China has taken him across Tibet and Xinjiang on bicycle, danwei is well-positioned to take advantage.
Too big to ignore
Is it important for public affairs professionals to keep abreast of the Chinese media? “When it becomes important,” says Goldkorn, “it’s really important. For the PR industry, the spread of bad, malicious or false news about Western companies on the Chinese internet and in the Chinese media can affect mergers, acquisitions or branding. Then things can move very fast.”
If there is a global clash between old media – newspapers, magazines and TV – and the new internet media, this confrontation is most dramatic in China. Goldkorn believes that the print media in China has lost the cutting edge it had when danwei began.
While the mainstream press have become more willing to print negative news stories, previously adventurous independent magazines like Caijing or Southern Weekend have become less daring.
“Caijing has been through a few rounds of editorial purges since 2003, when they ran a story about a guy in Guangzhou and who was beaten up and died in jail. That was a famous example of investigative journalism, but Caijing and Southern Weekend haven’t really pushed the envelope since then.”
Instead, the internet has filled the Chinese public’s demand for vigorous investigation and coverage of newsworthy issues.
“It’s become the prominent platform for citizens to voice their grievances, and the government tolerates it,” says Goldkorn.
“For example, last year the internet exposed a factory in Shanxi province that was using slaves to make bricks. Because of the pressure from the net, the government had to break up the factory and fire some local officials.”
Revolutionising PR
The online awakening of an independent consumer voice has revolutionised the practice of corporate PR in China. “PR companies have a much more difficult job now.
If you were a multinational operating in China 10 years ago, you could just get your clipping service or PR company to compile weekly or monthly news clippings.
Nothing would get out of control too quickly. But now, if anything comes up, it will be all over the internet before it even hits the print media. PR people who use the old methods are simply not going to be able to deal with problems, to advise and warn their clients properly.”
And to Chinese consumers, the nationality of the company is often relevant. “Foreign companies do sometimes get a harder ride,” says Goldkorn. “If you’re a Japanese or a French company that does something wrong right now, you’re really going to get hell for it.”
On the immediate prospects for the foreign investment in China, Goldkorn is sanguine, noting that, “it’s very, very difficult for foreign companies to get any government money in China. It’s going to be a very hard year for foreign firms in China.”
However, 2009’s biggest headlines may well come from the reverse – relatively debt-free Chinese companies, relying on generous state funds, are expected by many to go on overseas buying sprees.
China goes overseas
Goldkorn notes that there is presently little Chinese public interest in what its national companies do overseas: “Outside of the PC market, where Lenovo bought part of IBM, there’s no huge success you can point to. There’s been little to excite the Chinese public so far.
"When China’s ICBC bank made what was then China’s biggest investment abroad, taking a 20 per cent stake in Africa’s biggest bank, Standard Bank of South Africa, it wasn’t huge news here.
“I think the feeling was that they’ve only bought some bank in Africa. If it was a Chinese company making a splash in a big banking market like America’s – and they’re bound to soon – there will be a huge fuss about it here.”
From a beginning in freelancing and advertising, Goldkorn sees himself as an entrepreneur rather than a journalist. Much of danwei’s income comes from private research commissioned by Western businesses seeking to understand the Chinese market. Still, it is the website that draws attention, for its speed, accuracy and insights.
Goldkorn believes that in communications “the playing field has been levelled” over the last five years in China: “We compete for people’s attention with CNN. That’s a fact. Small companies are often in the best position to deal with change.
"There’s much less organisational inertia. We can turn around on a dime. It’s a great time to be a new media entrepreneur because the rulebook is going up in smoke."
By PublicAffairsAsia.
Source: http://www.publicaffairsasia.com/publicaffairsasia/FeaturesView.do?id=732
ForaTv
June 18, 2009
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