Tahoe ARSEs

Mr. Ingles,

Your work has absolutely lit my imagination on fire. I have dreamed
about building a string of ARSEs (Aggressively Resource Secure
Environments), pun intended, from the Central Valley of California, up
the Sierra Nevada Mountains and around Tahoe -- the most beautiful lake
in the world. Your work has taken me 50 steps further than I imagined
possible.

I am running for Supervisor of the 5th District of Nevada County on the
platform of putting our struggling builder community back to work
creating a series of resource secure urban communities set in the middle
of wildness and linked by the trams we are so good at building. To put
people on a small footprint and give land back to nature which we can
see from our walkable homes, offices, schools. I want to be looking out
my window at a bear fishing for trout, or wolves hunting an Antelope.

The current environmental model at Tahoe is large greenbelts that add
value to 15,000 sq ft homes in far flung subdivisions which is giving us
an esthetically pleasing "billionaires and busboys" economy, but we have
severe resource vulnerabilities. At the core of my plan is to
completely change the nature of capital in Tahoe. I am looking to form
a democratic corporation that would build and own these communities,
fund it with government guaranteed bonds, and organize it so the
economic leadership is deeply accountable to the people who work
together to prosper. This is based on the core concept of "Capital as
a Commons" and is inspired by the work of Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom,
and the concept of "Corporate Democracy" as practiced by the John Lewis
Partnership in England and the Mondragon Corporation in the Basque
region of Spain.

To fund this, I will seek a $2.5 billion County guaranteed JobBond to
begin constructing this new future. The Truckee and Tahoe of today was
built with the great Railroad Bonds of the late 1800's and I believe
that our future will be built with JobBonds that bring our capital home,
create jobs, and forge an economically democratic future -- for as Sony
Founder Akio Morida said "nations are a dying industry, corporations are
the structures of the future."

The challenge I have is stoking the imagination of folks so that they
can visualize the future. I am wondering if you might be willing to
take this idea on as a design challenge? I am a graduate of the Yale
School of Drama and worked for three years right next to the
Architecture School and thought that there may be students there who
would want to play with the idea of urban structures in the snowy
mountains of the Sierra Nevada, or perhaps the Stanford Center for
Sustainable Development or the Berkeley Department of Urban Design.

I know you must be a very busy man, and the chance of this even reaching
you is remote. So, I don't really expect to hear from you. But no
worry, I plan to reference your work, and when I am elected, and I get
the bond passed, we will be in touch and then we could actually hire you.

Thanks for the healing imagination you share so freely.

--
Mike Rogers
530-587-5160
mike@MikeRogers4Supervisor.com
www.MikeRogers4Supervisor.com

Please hire me on June 5th to represent your interests
on the Nevada County Board of Supervisors.

Vibrant Small Business, Progressive Big Business!

Letter to George Rebane 1/27/2012

Many progressives are calling me a crackpot, but I think the "experts"
have messed things up so much that maybe we need some crackpots. So,
here is a crackpot idea --

1) The TPP organizes a constitutional convention for the drafting of a
constitution for the Nevada County Constitutional Partnership
Corporation (NCCPC). Anyone in the county who gets 30 proxies from
registered voters in the county can be a delegate. The convention is
organized online using bulletin boards and other near-zero cost
coordination tools -- Nevada County voters are welcome review and
comment, but maybe on certain forums only delegates can post.

2) The constitution is submitted for ratification by 2/3rds of the
represented residents at the convention.

3) If ratified, a $2.5 Billion JobBond is placed before all the citizens
of the county. The capital generated from the bond would be managed by 5
representative capital councils for each district in the county with
$500 million each to fund the creation of the NCCPC. These councils will
have the decisions on where to invest their share.

For instance, if 4 of the 5 councils decide that a bank is one business
to build, then they can send representatives to a countywide bank
council. Rather than creating four banks, they might decide to create
one bank where each district has branches. The local branches could have
certain inalienable rights but agree to give up some autonomy to gain
security or non-zero sum benefits. In the case of underwriting
guidelines, the 4 branches could chose to agree upon system wide
underwriting criteria to insure that no one branch can risk the whole
bank. Additionally, they most likely would decide each to contribute
funds for one computer system that all the branches use.

The JobBond serves the conservative goals of local control, small
government, and a vibrant economy. The JobBond is not a budget item on
county books. The County merely guarantees it, and a percentage of the
profits could be dedicated to reducing the property taxes of permanent
residents in perpetuity as compensation. Local investors would be given
the first opportunity to invest at a coupon premium, then outside
investors would be allowed to invest at a less desirable coupon. JobBond
funds would only be advanced when there is a specific project and where
there are investors willing to invest in that portion of the bond
authority.

As the NCCPC gains political and economic power, we start demanding the
block granting of our taxes back to us for education, healthcare,
unemployment, etc. Also, the $2.5 billion bond will remove the payment
of taxes on the income on that amount. It will also return exported
capital back home and "starve" the beasts of State and Federal
government, the big banks, and Wall Street in one fell swoop.

As for the selection of candidates for public service, the NCCPC could
implement an internal judgment aggregation process and, once final picks
are made, everyone in the organization could be committed to getting
them elected. We could also pass instant recall legislation so that any
representative who was voting in a way that was not as directed, then
they could be easily removed.

Once I started thinking about corporations as a force for supporting the
establishment of Justice, the insurance of domestic Tranquility, the
provision for the common defense, the promotion of the general Welfare,
and as a tool to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our
Posterity, it changed everything. If I am a crackpot, then I am at least
in the company of giant crackpots from American history (although not in
their league).

That said, these are just my ideas. I really do mean to represent the
5th district and if given the privilege of serving I will actually work
on whatever they tell me to.

Michael Rogers.

Re: Hey, Chris

Thanks.  I have some passionate followers and friends that are already handing me $100 bills.  My theme is "Save the Natives!" and it is getting rousing support.  I have an emerging economic system that I have been following for close to thirty years and is based on the work of Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom, Sloan School of Business Professor Thomas Malone, and, believe it or not, the Great Peacemaker of the Iroquois.  It involves what I call "Common Capital" where public resources are marshaled to create broad public benefit (not just the public resources converted to private gain that Jerry Brown thinks the Redevelopment Agencies are all about). 

The main idea I am promoting is a $500 million JobBond for Truckee (and $500 million for all the other districts in the county too, and hopefully, once elected, a $17 Billion regional bond for the counties around Tahoe working with Norma Santiago and Glenda Humiston at USDA Rural Development).  This figure is based on Truckee's share of the $13 Trillion dollars in free money the banks were given in 2008, on top of TARP, through the Discount Window at the Fed.  These bonds would be sold initially to the legion of local retired teachers and firemen (helping save them from the grips of the Ponzi Capitalists) and then the unsubscribed portions would be made available to state and national investors.  I also have been looking at the EB5 Immigrant Investor program as another source of funds.  The funds will be used to create a corporation with a constitution that embodies key American democratic ideals like Checks and Balances, Separation of Powers, Elected Accountable leadership, and transparency. 

Although the ultimate decision about how the funds will be best spent will be made by each local community utilizing Ostrom's 8 design parameters for how to govern a commons, one idea that is gaining favor is the construction of a string of resource secure communities linked by mass transit (Prius Communities if you will, to compete against our recently emerging Hummer Communities).  This has the advantage of dovetailing into the Reno 2022 Olympic bid (and could be kick-started by that initiative -- however we shouldn't be waiting for that success).  It will also potentially employ all of our out-of-work carpenters, plumbers, and electricians (and a bunch from the Reno Carpenters Union too) for generations -- a modern TEA Party friendly version of the WPA.  It also has the advantage of diversifying our economy away from being snow farmers, as these communities will focus on recruiting the creative intellectual workers of the Bay Area and Los Angeles, who would much rather live and work in a resource secure community looking out their window at a Black Bear fishing for Lahontan Cutthroat Trout in a restored stream with Mount Tallac in the background and in a company where they vote for the CEO (and oh yeah, walking distance to a lift that takes them to the slopes when they need a break) than in a dingy strip center in Hayward with a 2 hour commute on the 680 freeway.

I believe that if the National and State Democratic Party aggressively supported this vision of Common Capital, it would be the key to winning over the conservative voters in the rural counties in the Sierras leading to a 2/3rds majority in the California Assembly and State Senate and could be the broad conservative/progressive economic vision that galvanizes people to return our President to the White House and bringing the progressive caucus back in line. 

I have been talking to local conservative blogger George Rebane and he has called this type of company a "Constitutional Partnership Corporation" when I pointed him to the John Lewis Partnership (a English company with $14 Billion in annual sales and 80,000 partners) and he was very intrigued by ideas, as is the Nevada County Occupy movement -- I guess economics makes for strange bedfellows too.

Key to our success will be the coordination with the large federal land holdings in Tahoe.  Glenda just forwarded my the following --

"WASHINGTON, Jan. 5, 2012 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced a call for nominations to serve on a newly-formed advisory committee that will guide better management of our national forests and grasslands. The National Advisory Committee for Implementation of the National Forest System Land Management Planning Rule will advise and give recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service."

Can you help get me appointed to that Committee?

Michael Rogers Box 38 Shinneyboo, CA  95724 530-587-5160 michael@shinneyboocreek.com www.shinneyboocreek.com  "Great things are wanting to be done."   -- John Adams, 2nd President of the United States 

On 1/6/2012 5:26 AM, Chris Trent wrote:

Hi Michael,  First, the caveat: It's been a while for me, so always trust your manager's judgement over mine.  My best advice is that you get in good with the Dem clubs, particularly the Tahoe-Truckee Club, if it's still around. North Shore Dems can't vote for you, of course, but it's a small community and word travels fast. If the clubs like you, you're pretty well set. (Folks who live in Tahoe-Donner, which is impossible to walk, often make up a sizeable portion of the clubs' membership, so it's a good way to reach that neighborhood without blowing a week driving from door to door.) Their help sometimes is less than helpful, but their enthusiasm is sincere. And you need enthusiasm to build participation in an otherwise apolitical town.  Keep in mind that although it's a Presidential year, California won't matter. The Obama campaign will suck supporters to Nevada (which could well decide the election this time). I haven't heard who, if anyone, is running against McClintock, but whoever it is probably has a slim chance, especially in the new district. So my guess would be that you shouldn't expect to ride any coattails; not in Truckee, not in 2012.  Bone up on the obscure neighborhood issues you might not be familiar with, pick a theme that you can always come back to even when you're faced with a bizarre question, and make sure the local activist Dems like you and trust you. You should be golden.  Good luck!  Chris Trent | 202-731-8421  On Dec 31, 2011, at 2:44 PM, Michael Rogers <michael@shinneyboocreek.com> wrote:  

I hear you were involved in Charlie Brown's campaign in Truckee. I am running for the 5th District of Nevada County Supervisor (Truckee) and would be very interested in talking to you about Truckee Democratic politics. Bob Dobrich has agreed to be my campaign manager and I am excited about this run for office.  Thanks for your time.  --  Michael Rogers Box 38 Shinneyboo, CA  95724 530-587-5160 michael@shinneyboocreek.com www.shinneyboocreek.com  "Great things are wanting to be done." -- John Adams, 2nd President of the United States