by Lynn Edmunds

You can only self govern, if you maintain that structure of governance that allows it!

Gordon Dritschilo’s front page article, “Fair Faces Stormwater Regulations” caught my attention today because it exemplifies what I have observed over the last seven years with respect to the workings of government in Vermont.

Would a self-governing body attempt to inflict this kind of damage on itself, with legislation like the 3 Acre Rule, now poised to strike the Vermont State Fair in Rutland? 

That does not seem likely, unless that structure of said government has been compromised and is no longer functioning properly as a self-governing body.    

A century ago, in 1924 the National League of Cities (NLC) was founded.

Headquartered in Washington D.C. they began to lobby Congress as an American Advocacy Group, with a focus on Municipal issues.

Established as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) they commenced laying the groundwork for a system of targeted advocacy, focusing on state & local governments throughout the United States.

Vermont would recognize this concept of Central Planning in 1967 with the enactment of Act 334, known as the Vermont Planning & Development Act.

This would usher in the Vermont League of Cities & Towns (VLCT) and eventually a system of Regional & Local Planning Commissions, all justifying themselves as advocates for municipal planning and development.

But who delineates the fine line between advocacy and interference with a legitimate governing authority?

And what happens when boundaries are blurred, with financial grants, flowing freely as incentives for participating in planning and development programs?

At first glance, most NGO’s may appear benevolent, but benevolent or not, make no mistake, influence peddlers can be very disruptive to the organic balance of our system of self governance, even when their intentions are for good.

However, a shift toward imbalance may go unnoticed by Vermonters, having been conditioned since the late 1960’s by a system of advocacy for central planning & development, a system administered largely through a concept of municipal zoning regulation. Over time, exposure to this controlling structure of zoning, has slowly relaxed our grip on the ideals protecting individual rights & sovereignty. Making us more willing to accept top down government without ever questioning the motives behind it, or the reversal of authority it perpetuates.

But understand, the greater good zoning promises, does not recognize a loss of personal liberty as a negative, rather it celebrates the cumulative increase of regulatory power, garnished incrementally with the passage of time and each additional regulation.

There are approximately 1.5 million NGO’s operating in the United states alone, with no prohibition on funding from foreign governments, corporations or the private sector.

This makes for a very powerful lobby, with laser focus on promoting and influencing legislative agendas. But ultimately who’s agendas are prioritized when NGO’s are allowed to operate as coalitions, in a public / private partnership with your government?

It might surprise you to know two forms of government, can exist in parallel, pretending to be one in the same. However, eventually the one you thought you had, becomes only a memory, and the one you actually endure, is what you are left with!

But endure we must, when our system of governance is captured by too much collective influence and control.

Is it any wonder Vermonters fear benevolent legislation that leaves them less vibrant year after year.

How ironic is it, that after over 50 years of planning & Development, Vermonters now dread the fruits of remedy, garnered by powerful advocacy!

Vermonters are enduring a system of advocacy, wrought with compartmentalized manipulation, that has the ability to almost exclusively monopolizes legislative agendas, once thought of as our own.

All while creating legalese that blends in theory with our founding principles.

Yet frustrates the will of the people, making litigation to protect their sovereignty impossible to afford. 

Sure, we still endeavor, to go through the motions of self-governing, but where else do you go when your government becomes a closed system, leaving you on the outside looking in and feeling powerless?

It will be difficult to decouple from regional planning & development structures when we have allowed them to infiltrate our state and municipal governments for so long.

But realize, too much advocacy and influence can negatively usurp our balance of power, while effortlessly shutting down public opposition in the process.

Now consider the possibility, we may actually be, self inflicting and facilitating our own hostile take over, by allowing this arrangement to continue.

An arrangement that sets the stage for conflicts of interest with coalition partners and special interest organizations, gaining access to our government control mechanisms, through political subdivisions like regional planning commissions, or municipal leagues.

This is not to cast aspersions on the good people employed by these manufactured, compartmentalized, political subdivisions of government. For as far as they know, the work they do is benevolent.

However, the organizations themselves, have been subtly inserted into the fabric of our power structure, for what reason, it matters not, the fact they are there at all is disruptive.

Now as a result of years of conditioning, our once independent state of mind, does not challenge synthetic advocacy, because it cannot clearly see the threat it poses, as it hides in plain sight, behind the benevolent work of its particular compartment and charge.

The fine line separating influence from interference no longer exists, because the structure of Vermont’s governance has been altered by an invasion of influence. The only question remaining, is are we prepared to make the necessary structural changes to reconstitute the integrity of our system of self governance?