Posted on 08/04/2010 7:21:50 AM PDT by MissTed
Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes is warning voters that Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's policies, particularly his efforts to boost bike riding, are "converting Denver into a United Nations community."
"This is all very well-disguised, but it will be exposed," Maes told about 50 supporters who showed up at a campaign rally last week in Centennial.
Maes said in a later interview that he once thought the mayor's efforts to promote cycling and other environmental initiatives were harmless and well-meaning. Now he realizes "that's exactly the attitude they want you to have."
"This is bigger than it looks like on the surface, and it could threaten our personal freedoms," Maes said.
He added: "These aren't just warm, fuzzy ideas from the mayor. These are very specific strategies that are dictated to us by this United Nations program that mayors have signed on to."
Maes said in a later interview that he was referring to Denver's membership in the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, an international association that promotes sustainable development and has attracted the membership of more than 1,200 communities, 600 of which are in the United States.
Denver became a member of the group in 1992, more than a decade before Hickenlooper became mayor. Eric Brown, the mayor's spokesman, said the city's contact with ICLEI "is limited."
George Merritt, a spokesman for the Hickenlooper gubernatorial campaign, said the group's goal is "to bring cities from all over the world together to share best practices and help create the kinds of communities people want to live and do business in. John Hickenlooper believes collaboration leads to smart decisions."
Hickenlooper has often touted bicycling as an environmentally friendly and healthy way for people to commute to work and has said he hopes more people will do so.
Last week, Hickenlooper upset some auto dealers on the eve of a fundraiser when he lauded the city's B-Cycle bike- sharing program at an event and asked: "How do we wean ourselves off automobiles?"
Maes, at the rally July 26, took aim at Denver's bike-sharing program, which he said was promoted by a group that puts the environment above citizens' rights.
The B-Cycle program places a network of about 400 red bikes for rent at stations around the city. It is funded by private donors and grants.
Maes said ICLEI is affiliated with the United Nations and is "signing up mayors across the country, and these mayors are signing on to this U.N. agreement to have their cities abide by this dream philosophy."
The program includes encouraging employers to install showers so more people will ride bikes to work and also creating parking spaces for fuel-efficient vehicles, he said.
Polls show that Maes, a Tea Party favorite, has pulled ahead of former Congressman Scott McInnis, the early frontrunner in the Aug. 10 primary for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Maes acknowledged that some might find his theories "kooky," but he said there are valid reasons to be worried.
"At first, I thought, 'Gosh, public transportation, what's wrong with that, and what's wrong with people parking their cars and riding their bikes? And what's wrong with incentives for green cars?' But if you do your homework and research, you realize ICLEI is part of a greater strategy to rein in American cities under a United Nations treaty," Maes said.
He said he's worried for Denver because "Mayor Hickenlooper is one of the greatest fans of this program."
"Some would argue this document that mayors have signed is contradictory to our own Constitution," Maes said.
more agenda 21 bull$**t.
I don’t think he’ll have a snowball’s chance, but right now I’m leaning towards Tancredo.
SOUND THE ALARM AGAINST SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
PART 1 of 2
http://www.newswithviews.com/DeWeese/tom162.htm
Sounds like sancutary city Austin TX too.
I certainly don't have the solution----they get what they vote for there.............Too bad it affects all of us.
My strategy: 1) If McInnis wins the primary, vote for either McInnis or Tancredo--whichever has the best chance of defeating Hickenlooper. 2) If Maes wins the primary, vote for Tancredo.
ugh.. I sooooo dislike McInnis and I’m angry at the party for anointing him.
Denver got off lucky. The really left wing wackos want to force people to ride unicycles. [/joke]
Maes needs only to maintain a 5-point lead to win his primary, but getting this kind of press can dump him overnight.
His campaign manager or someone else should have discussed the way this issue can best be handled before he gave his talk to 50 supporters, and for sure before he talked to a reporter about it.
The bike agenda is for real, and we will all be affected--even bicyclists--when they restripe roadways and make driving more difficult than it is already in cities. It needs to be debated in a rational way (as does immigration), not colored by talk of UN control and un-Constitutional treaties.
Using the word "kooky" and relating this to the UN opens the door for opponents (and that would mean nearly all enviros) to label Maes a "conspiracy theorist" who cannot be taken seriously.
The news story did at least name the organization that's trying to take over the world: ICLEI. Looking at its web site, which is full of the usual garbage about sustainability, renewable energy, green power, etc., I see not much difference from the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth and like organizations. What is most disturbing is that so many of our cities are "members."
We shouldn't be funding interest groups out of (limited) city budgets. That's using your taxes to buy influence and effect policies that you may personally find offensive. It's the same, to my way of thinking, as having government-supported churches.
Did Maes not recognize this, or was it simply omitted from the article?
I was listening to Lisa Fritsch on KLBJ this morning and some callers just don’t get it. They cannot believe she is a black, conservative woman who did not vote for zero.
Make it illegal for anyone over 16 to ride a bike!!
I only listen to the radio when I’m in my car, so missed that this morning....when I do listen, though, I have always been impressed with Lisa.
Rush just had a liberal - obviously black lady - on the phone and she was as clueless as some of the KLBJ callers.
Just another clueless democrap.....
I’m not now, or never have been much into riding a bicycle, but if I were, I wouldn’t do it today, because I wouldn’t be seen in one of those idiot helmets!
I came close to barfing the other day when I saw a father walking with his 3 or 4 yr old kid on a tiny bicycle with training wheels, and she had on one of those helmets that looked like it weighed more than the kid did.
I don’t have a problem with your suggestion that he mention the sanctuary city thing. I do however see great merit in touching on the Agenda 21 nonsense, which is very insidious.
Most people think of the U.N. as a tall building in New York. They don’t realize there are U.N. or (U.N. facilitating) agencies and offices all across this nation.
They love to prey on our youth.
Um, why would you wear it? No one is making you... yet.
I wouldn’t wear anything, unless it was a baseball cap to shield my eyes from the sun. I think, but don’t know for sure, that there is a law in TX now that says you must wear a helmet on public streets or roads while bicycling.
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