Temecula Part of Socialist Plan, Residents Say

Temecula is part of a world-wide socialist plot, according to some residents, and they want it stopped.

Three locals urged the City Council at a meeting Tuesday at the Civic Center to resign from an association that claims to be dedicated to environmentally sound growth.

Temecula is a member of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, a group of 1,220 governments from 70 countries "dedicated to sustainable development," according to the association's website.

The organization promotes more than a healthy environment, critics said. It pushes a UN-led socialist agenda that robs citizens of their property rights and -- ultimately -- their freedom.

The agenda

The plan is outlined in a text called, "Agenda 21," a set of guidelines created during the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992.

The association and, indirectly, Temecula, uses Agenda 21 as a guideline for its sustainability goals. To read about the association's goals, click here.

The four-part plan lays out objectives for protecting the well-being of citizens, managing resources, developing ties with non-government groups -- such as non-profit organizations and the private sector -- and how to implement those goals.

Plan is 'anti-American,' critics say

Some parts of the plan call for governments to control what property owners do with their land, and it already affecs Temecula residents, critics said.

"Look what they want to do in Wine Country, confiscate our properties and control what we do with (them)," said Temecula resident and Agenda 21 critic Cheryl Williams in an email.

The plan is a "socialist collective policy," and conflicts with the constitution, said Diana Serafin, who addressed the council Tuesday.
"In my mind, that makes the following cities -- Temecula, Murrieta and Lake Elsinore -- anti-American and anti-constitution," she said.

Murrieta and Temecula are members of the association, accordion to its website.

Members asked the council to end Temecula's membership to the association. "Think about this: our city pays a non-U.S. organization to marginalize our rights," Patrice Lynes, a former Temecula City Council candidate, said at the meeting.

The city should take any mention of sustainability out of its general plan, Lynes said. "ICLEI does not promote the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness expressed in the Declaration of Independence."

The text of Agenda 21 is available by clicking here.

Be sustainable, or be sued

Membership in the association helps the city dodge lawsuits, said Councilmember Mike Naggar during the meeting.

When Jerry Brown was the state's attorney general, he sued numerous cities -- including San Bernardino -- for creating development plans that failed to mitigate its environmental impact, Naggar said.

Temecula officials decided if they adopted the policies set out by the association -- including those described in Agenda 21 -- they could avoid being sued. To get a copy of the association's policies, the city had to join, according to Naggar.

The city's membership expires in December, and since the city already has the information it needs, it will not renew it, he said.
"We got the information we need… now we're moving on," he told the audience during the meeting.

The city has no intention of take sustainability out of its plans though, because they makes good sense, according to Naggar. "Sometimes saving electricity and conserving water is just a good thing," he said.

The city's environmental policies are not only good for the environment, they benefit the budget, Councilmember Chuck Washington said.

"Private sector companies look for all sorts of ways to be sustainable," he said.

The new Civic Center is LEED certified, meaning the city saves money on electricity while going easy on the environment, he said. "We're saving energy, creating less of an impact, and these are good things and we're deciding our own destiny."