I've
been working with a group of about a dozen people - of all political
stripes - who are all deeply concerned about North Plainfield's future.
For several weeks, the group has been meeting to learn more about
corporate-controlled development - a.k.a "assault on a community with a
loaded corporation" - and how we, the People, can level the playing
field to gain the power to make our own decisions about our own town's
future. We're now finishing drafting an ordinance that will prohibit
corporate development and strip corporations of their legal
"personhood" and limited liability within the Borough of North
Plainfield. We're getting advice from volunteer attorneys, and
preparing to start the initiative petition drive in the next week or so when all the final details are worked out.
This citizen initiative is not about land development. It's about who decides what happens in North Plainfield. But it was inspired by the controversial Villa Maria
parcel, because that's the clearest, most current local example of how
corporations are able to set the town's agenda and ignore the will of
the people who live here. [For more on the legal rights of
corporations, and how those conflict with people's rights, click here.]
From
my personal perspective (I'm not speaking for the group here), this
move - if the townspeople choose it - would be a powerful, if
paradoxical, blend of revolutionary prudence.
One the one
hand, it would be a very bold, decisive thing to do, because we would
basically be saying to ourselves and to our neighbors: "We will no
longer grovel to out-of-town corporations with deep pockets but no
connection to our community to cash in and make messes, and then cash
out with huge profits. Instead, we're going to support local
business owners, investors, entrepreneurs and residents who have a
genuine stake in helping the town as a whole survive and thrive."
That's a big, community boot-strap-pulling effort to make.
On
the other hand, I think passing the ordinance and making it all work
afterwards would also be a very sensible, moderating thing to do,
because it would acknowledge that the balance of power between money
and people has gotten way out of whack (with all the weight on the
money side) and take a coherent step toward putting more weight on the
people side of the equation.
On Wednesday, members of the group
will be out at the town's Independence Day celebrations to hand out
fliers giving an overview of the project. We could use a few more
volunteers, so if you're interested in getting involved, handing out
fliers and talking to your friends and neighbors about our local
challenges and opportunities regarding community self-determination
rights, open space, historic preservation, and economic development,
please send me an e-mail. Also, if you are able to translate the flier
into Spanish, that would be helpful too.
Here's the text of the handbill we'll be circulating Wednesday:
NORTH PLAINFIELD CITIZENS FOR COMMUNITY RIGHTS - PETITION DRIVE
Q: Who are the North Plainfield Citizens for Community Rights?
A:
We are a nonpartisan group of residents working to preserve our town's
history, heritage and ecological beauty and integrity for present and
future generations, and to restore the people’s power to make important
choices of self-government. We are your neighbors. Like you, we care
deeply about our town. We love North Plainfield and want it to be the
best it can be for today's residents and the residents of the future.
Q: What is your group’s position on Villa Maria development?
A:
We believe that there are many possible ways for the landowners (the
nuns) to work with North Plainfield residents and governing officials,
Somerset County funding sources and other private and public groups to
preserve the historic character of the land, save the trees, and make
good use of the existing, historic buildings, or, if asbestos
contamination makes that impractical, make good use of the existing
buildable land on the site. Local schools, nursing homes, housing,
hospitality and civic groups, Somerset County open space officials and
others are interested in the site, but have been rebuffed by corporate
attorneys working, for the nuns, to demolish all the buildings, cut
down most of the trees and build expensive condominium apartments. We
believe that with organized citizen pressure, we can create a
collaborative solution that benefits the town and the nuns, while
preserving a beautiful local parcel of land and an important piece of
our local history.
Q: What do you mean by “organized citizen pressure?”
A:
Many American communities have learned over the past few decades that
large corporations engaged in land development and other commercial
enterprises often move into small towns and trample the rights of the
local people. The American regulatory system of laws is set up to
protect property rights over people’s rights: the right of a
corporation to make a profit trumps the rights of a town’s residents to
control development. For example, zoning statutes in most states,
including New Jersey, set out what kinds of development are permitted,
and only leave towns the power to decide where such development will
take place: as buildable land diminishes, so does local power. Also,
corporations have lots of money, so even if townspeople organize
against a particular project, the corporation will almost always have
enough money to take the case to court and eventually win. A few
details of a project may change, but the basic inequality between
corporate rights and real people’s rights, remains. We need to change
the terms of the struggle, away from land use regulations that empower
corporations, to Constitutional rights, where real people have a
fighting chance.
Following the lead of many small towns all
across Pennsylvania that have successfully confronted industrial pork
farms and sludge treatment facilities with ordinances that strengthen
community rights to self-determination, we’ve been working with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
to craft a new Ordinance for North Plainfield. We are now gathering
signatures on an initiative petition to first, persuade the Borough
Council to adopt this Ordinance, and second, put the matter on the
ballot for ALL the town’s residents to vote on.
Q: But you can’t do this!
A:
Yes we can! It’s true that corporations have had Constitutional rights
for a long time, but we believe corporations should be stripped of
those rights, because those laws allow powerful, unaccountable
minorities to trump the rights of real people in real communities, just
like North Plainfield. Throughout American history, our citizens have
changed settled laws that permitted slavery and segregation, and laws
that denied voting rights to women and people of color. It’s time to
change the settled law about corporations too.
THE ORDINANCE STATES:
“…the
Borough recognizes its responsibility to promote the health, safety and
welfare of the community and its residents, and it finds certain types
of corporate land development to be antithetical to these ends. The
purpose of this Ordinance is to eliminate corporate land development,
which benefits the few, and replace it with land development pursued by
local individual and family-owned and controlled businesses, which will
benefit the many residents of the Borough of North Plainfield…”
The Ordinance will:
· Deny that corporations are “persons” for the purposes of enforcement of Constitutional and civil rights within our town;
· Confirm that borough residents, natural communities, and ecosystems are “persons” with Constitutional and civil rights.
·
Prohibit corporations from engaging in land development within North
Plainfield, while exempting local, family-owned corporations, to
support, encourage and give a strong competitive advantage to existing
local businesses and future local entrepreneurs;
· Recognize
that natural communities and ecosystems possess inalienable and
fundamental rights to exist and flourish within North Plainfield, and
prohibit any corporate damage to natural communities and ecosystems;
recognize residents’ right to healthy environments, including
unpolluted air, water, soils, flora, and fauna;
· Hold corporate
officers personally liable for all violations of the ordinance; remove
corporate rights to limited liability within North Plainfield, while
exempting the Borough of North Plainfield as the acknowledged governing
authority for the people of the town;
· Hold persons using
corporations to engage in land development in a neighboring
municipality liable for all harms caused to the health, safety, and
welfare of the residents and natural environment in North Plainfield.
·
Recognize North Plainfield residents’ right to enforce the law as
individual citizens, in the event that town officials fail to enforce
the ordinance, to seek declaratory, injunctive, and compensatory relief
for damages caused to natural communities and ecosystems within the
Borough,
· Deny the validity of any permits, licenses or other permissions granted by governing bodies in violation of the law;
· Set fines of up to $1,250 per infraction, and permanently bar two-time violators from doing business in North Plainfield;
Q: Sounds good. How can I help? And how can I find out more as the process moves along?
A:
If you are a registered voter, please sign the clipboard, so you can
sign the petition as soon as we finish drafting it with the help of our
volunteer attorneys. Also, let the members of the Borough Council know
that you support the Ordinance, because once we have the required
number of signatures, the Council will have 20 days to pass the
Ordinance. If they don’t pass it, it will go on the ballot at the
November 5 elections for your vote. We will post regular updates on the
petition drive at http://www.cnnorthplainfield.blogspot.com/ .