Gilbert Town Council Member Jared Taylor’s Opinion about adopting the 2012 ICC Building Codes

This afternoon, July 30, 2013, the Town Council meets in a Study Session at 4 pm to talk about the 2012 ICC building codes.  Click here for more information.   Your attendance in support of the citizens of Gilbert is appreciated.  

A few weeks ago, I asked each Council member for his/her opinion on who has the burden of proof for adopting codes into law? Should individual citizens be expected to prove that each of hundreds of codes should NOT be made law?  Or should Town employees be required to prove why they SHOULD be made law?  

In response to that question, Council Member Jared Taylor responded by copying me on an email he sent on July 9 to Patrick Banger, Gilbert’s Town Manager:

Hi Patrick,

As far as I can tell, the purpose of having building codes is to solve problems.  For example, smoke detectors save lives so we mandate them.  There is clear data to show this.

As I’ve listened to Kyle’s team, I’m not sure they are focused on solving problems in our community, but more on passing along the recommendations from national/international bodies.

I realize a few state-mandated items were withdrawn, but that didn’t come from our building community.  Don’t get me wrong, the IBC’s have some positive things in them.

As you probably know, the 2012 codes will add hundreds of new regulations on our builders.  Many builders will profit by the additional work and just pass the cost on to our citizens.  The citizens will eventually carry the cost of all the expensive fees, inspections, and hours it takes to design, review, and inspect to the new and existing regulations.  This will cost Gilbert families millions of additional dollars very quickly.  I wonder about the real value here and can’t support something that isn’t empirically validated to solve problems.

As a result, it seems reasonable that I get hard empirical justification on every new regulation that is being recommended.  I would like to see the statistics of how many injuries, deaths, or other harms the lack each regulation has caused in Gilbert and how this new regulation is proven to address the issue.   

If we are not solving actual problems, we are simply creating a huge amount of waste for our citizens in government jobs, fees, reviews, inspections, etc.  This is a simple ROI exercise that should have been part of the original process.

I would like to have someone on your team provide me this analysis. I’m OK to receive it in a spreadsheet. I know this may seem like a tall order, but given the massive imposition on our community these hundreds of new regulations will place, it’s really not that much.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Jared

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Rep. Bob Thorpe’s Letter Regarding Transgender Bathrooms

Recently, Gilbert Watch published Arizona Joins Texas in Lawsuit to Stop Federal Overreach.  Arizona joined this lawsuit following a letter from Arizona lawmaker Representative Bob Thorpe (R-LD6).  Rep. Thorpe has provided the letter to Gilbert Watch, as well as the data for how the State, Local and Federal education funds break down for 2014-2015.  

Dear Arizona Superintendent of Schools Diane Douglas and Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich:

Legislators have been receiving numerous complaints from constituents who are very concerned with the threatening tone of the May 13, 2016 letter from U.S. Attorney General Lynch and U.S. Department of Education Secretary King.

The letter coerces our nation’s K-12 public schools and colleges to ensure that transgender students must be allowed to use the gender designated restrooms, changing rooms and locker facilities of their choosing, not necessarily that of their biological gender. It has been estimated that approximately 0.3% of U.S. individuals identify themselves as transgender.

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Georgia ACLU director resigns over transgender fight

Liberal compassion towards transgenders ends when…..it negatively affects THEIR kids.

"Maya Dillard Smith, the head of Georgia’s ACLU chapter, stepped down this week in protest of the civil rights group’s challenge of a controversial North Carolina law that critics see as discriminatory to transgender people."

“I have shared my personal experience of having taken my elementary school age daughters into a women’s restroom when shortly after three transgender young adults over six feet with deep voices entered,” she writes. “My children were visibly frightened, concerned about their safety and left asking lots of questions for which I, like many parents, was ill-prepared to answer.”

Want to know why those guys used that bathroom?  Because they can.  

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Arizona Joins Texas in Lawsuit to Stop Federal Overreach

In response to a letter from Arizona lawmaker Representative Bob Thorpe (R-LD6), Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas announced that Arizona will Join Texas in a Lawsuit to Stop Federal Overreach.  Co-signers of Rep. Thorpe’s letter included Sen. Sylvia Allen (R-LD6), and Representatives Brenda Barton (R-LD6), Paul Boyer (R-L20), Karen Fann (R-LD1), Mark Finchem (R-LD11), Anthony Kern (R-LD20), and Vince Leach (R-LD11).  (Please express your thanks to Bob Thorpe and the other legislators who signed his letter, as well as Mark Brnovich and Diane Douglas.  See email addresses below.)

The COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF concerns the May 13, 2016 "Joint Guidance" issued by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education relating to requiring public schools that receive federal funding to allow transgender students to use whatever restroom or locker room they wish, based on how they identify their gender.  

The threat to withdraw federal funding from any school that doesn’t comply is very clear in this sentence: "Under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, schools receiving federal money may not discriminate based on a student’s sex, including a student’s transgener status."

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Is Power from the Navajo Generating Station too Costly for CAP?

by Patrick O’Malley

Central Arizona Project (CAP) provides Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima counties with 1.5 million acre feet of water every year. Navajo Generating Station (NGS) is the major source of electrical power to CAP, and electricity is CAP’s biggest operating expense. NGS continues to be one of the biggest problems facing CAP.

The EPA Wants $1.1 Billion in Pollution Controls

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants NGS to add additional pollution controls with a price tag of $1.1 billion. A letter of understanding by the Directors of the EPA, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Energy in January gave NGS more time to study the issue, but it’s not likely to change the answer.  All three of those Directors at the EPA have since resigned, so it’s not up to them anymore.

Recently Rep. Matt Salmon sent a letter to the EPA asking them to take into account the economic impact on Arizona of additional pollution controls at NGS for negligible air quality improvement.   The EPA has been known to take economic issues into account in the past. But will they do it for a coal fired power plant?

Navajo Tribal Council Wants 15 Times More in Lease Payments

Plus, there’s a new problem for NGS.   The Navajo Generating Station is located on Navajo Nation land, and the coal it burns comes from a mine on Navajo land.  Both the lease and the coal mining agreement are up for renegotiation.

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Report on the 11/14/2013 EPA Hearing: Navajo Generating Station

by Patrick O’Malley
Precinct Committeeman (LD12)

At the EPA Hearing on November 14, the EPA asked those who wished to speak to come up and take a seat at the front table two at a time for efficiency. So I’m making my comments and the guy sitting next to me is with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Is he supposed to be the balance to my conservative comments? No, we are both there trying to convince the EPA to leave Navajo Generating Station (NGS) alone. Or at least leave something in operation after they make their final ruling, because we both clearly see the damage changes at NGS will have on Arizona’s economy. It’s not just a federal authority out of control or state’s rights issue. This agency is messing with our everyday lives.

There were about 200 people at the hearing and about 100 of them made statements. It broke pretty cleanly into the Sierra Club wanting quick, drastic changes that will close NGS, and everybody else. Everybody else included legislators, union workers, Central Arizona Project, farmers, Indian Tribes, and average citizens. Rep. Warren Petersen and Joy Staveley from Canyoneers wanted the EPA completely out of our business and to back off completely from NGS. They have the right principles for the long term fight with the EPA, but I’m afraid it’s too late for principles to triumph on NGS.

The Technical Working Group (TWG) Negotiates a Surrender

In June of this year the Technical Working Group (TWG) got together and proposed a negotiated surrender as opposed to having the EPA force them into an unconditional surrender. TWG consists of Salt River Project and the Department of the Interior as major owners of NGS; Central Arizona Project (CAP) as the biggest customer of NGS; Gila River Indian Community as a major customer of CAP; the Navajo Nation because NGS is on their land, and they supply the coal to make it go; and two environmental groups, Environmental Defense Fund and Western Resource Advocates. The Sierra Club was originally part of TWG, but walked out when the plan wasn’t severe enough to satisfy them.

So why didn’t the State of Arizona get a seat at the TWG table? Technically because the EPA is dealing directly with the Navajo Nation and it’s not an Arizona issue, but it’s safe to assume the other members of TWG were afraid a State of Arizona representative couldn’t be trusted to surrender fast enough.

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Petition in Support of Limiting Government Week in Arizona

Arizona Representative Steve Montenegro (LD13) and Senator Al Melvin (LD11) have a great idea.    

"While the idea of Limited Government is central to conservative philosophy and mentions of it are scattered throughout the Republican Party Platform, there is no determined effort to make the act of limiting government and increasing personal freedoms a central part of the work done by Arizona’s State Legislature.

The signers of this petition support the proposition put forward by State Representative Steve Montenegro and State Senator Al Melvin that one full week of business at the Arizona Legislature be set aside for Limiting Government Week and that this week should be reserved to the hearing of bills that would reduce regulations and/or the size of Arizona’s government.

The signers of this petition believe that Arizona would set yet another example for legislatures around the country to follow and that Arizona’s State Legislature should send a strong message to employers around the country that Arizona is "Open For Business."

The signers of this petition urge all members of Arizona’s State Legislature and especially those in leadership positions to place onto the schedule Limiting Government Week beginning with the 2014 Regular Session."

Please sign the petition here.  

You might also send this to your city and town councils. Ask them:   "What have you done lately to limit the size of government and reduce regulations"?  I suspect they have been busy growing government and passing new regulations.    

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The War on Coal

by Patrick O’Malley
Precinct Committeeman (LD12)

The war on coal is not over and writing your Congressman is not enough. Obama’s EPA is fighting this war for him, and so far they’ve managed to keep the issue out of Congress by using new EPA rules and executive orders.

The prime target in Arizona is the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) in Page which generates 90% of the electricity used by the Central Arizona Project (CAP).   CAP is the major water supplier for Tucson and all the cities in the Phoenix area, plus all the farms in between. Mohave power plant is already gone; shutting it down made more sense than complying with new EPA regulations. Coronado, Cholla, and Apache power plants are also targeted.

The owners of NGS recently revealed their grand plan to comply with EPA demands without spending a billion dollars. They will shut down part of the plant, so they don’t produce as much pollution. They won’t produce as much electricity either, but that’s somebody else’s problem.

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Pelosi and the Democrats want to Destroy the Navajo Nation

Thanks to Andy McKinney for the following post.  

Dear Friends,

Nancy Pelosi is attacking the Navajo nation with a fury not seen for over a century.  She and her Democrat Party allies have set their sights on the economic and social destruction of the Navajo nation.

Fifty percent of the economically active people on the Navajo reservation are unemployed.  The nation participates in three interconnected operations providing $100,000,000 for the Navajo people. These are the Kayenta coal mine, the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) and the railroad that connects the two.  Losing the NGS means the loss of this entire economy, not just for the Navajo people, but also for the people who benefit and depend on it for their own livelihoods.

Pelosi wants to close the generating station on utterly bogus environmental grounds.  

 She and her Democrat Party Pals want to crush the economic life out of the Navajos.  For her, Navajos shouldn’t be allowed to have high paying railroad, mining, or power generating jobs. For her, food stamps and poverty are all the Navajo people can aspire to.

Fortunately, the Navajo coal miners are represented by the United Mine Workers of America UMWA).  Perhaps the Democrat Party will not throw their allies in big labor under the bus in favor of their allies in the environmental wacko movement.  Ninety-eight percent of the UMWA members at Kayenta are Navajo.

Save the Navajo.  Stop the Democrat Party.

 

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Rep. Paul Gosar Rallies Thousands to Fight for Energy Jobs

The issue of jobs in Arizona is critical, as Patrick O’Malley has explained in two articles:  The War on Coal, and The War on Coal: Take Action.  Mr. O’Malley also illustrates the devastating effect that the EPA’s actions will have on raising the cost of water and electricity to all Arizonans.  Under the Obama Administration, the EPA has taken charge over our lives.  We no longer have a well behaved Rottweiler under control in our household.  The Rottweiler has taken control.    

As you can see from this press release issued by Republican Congressman Paul Gosar, he’s helping us fight off the EPA’s belligerance.  But he cannot do it alone!  Patrick O’Malley has provided two sample emails that you can send to the EPA, copying him, so he can physically and publicly hand them to the EPA at the hearing on November 14.  The carbon letter must be emailed by Nov. 8.  The NOx letter must be emailed by Nov. 14.  Please copy Patrick O’Malley on both of these emailed letters.  His email address is pat.o@azcitrus.com. 

Here is Rep. Gosar’s Press Release:

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