Anyone watching NDSU Bison football this season may have been subjected to Fargo Diversion Authority propaganda with posthumous words from former Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker:
“I want to see the dirt turn on the diversion…”
“I am optimistic about that.”
Ending with the foreboding tagline “Sandbagging is not permanent flood protection” – paid for by Business Leaders Taskforce for Permanent Flood Protection.
In a November 14, 2015 Fargo Forum article, Craig Whitney, president and CEO of the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce appeared to lament that diversion opponents have been active online and writing letters to the editor.
Ironically, the Fargo Forum, without hesitation, has been a consistent pro-dam and diversion mouthpiece for the Fargo Dam and FM Diversion project and Whitney feels that project supporters need even more media coverage to get more of the “proponents” word out…? About a project that was/had never been put to a legitimate unfettered vote of the taxpayers.
Three initial thoughts come to mind:
| 1. | If Whitney feels project opponents are being effective with their message, then why don’t proponents use the same resources? |
| 2: | What will be achieved with these ads other than creating anxiety for people incapable of thinking for themselves? |
| 3: | Why haven’t proponents been able to find a credible living spokesperson for their agenda? |
The mere fact that dam and diversion proponents are using the late Walaker’s name in vain, to support a project that represents the essence of corruption that is nebulous to the proposed project, sullies any worthwhile deed Walaker may have done during his terms as Fargo’s mayor.
Walaker’s legacy, however, will be synonymous with never achieving internal or external flood protection for the Fargo metro area, because his focus was never on permanent internal flood protection for the city that existed (post 2009), external flood protection was never achieved on his watch and he never made a concerted effort to reach a compromise with impacted property owners outside Fargo’s jurisdictional boundaries to facilitate an amicable resolution.
| Excerpt from Nov 14, 2015 article:
“Whitney doesn’t feel like the diversion lacks support, but it needs to stay at the top of area residents’ minds, he said. There hasn’t been a flood fight in the area for a while and people can forget, he said.” |
Winston Churchill said it best: “Never let a good crisis go to waste…”
Maintaining and inventing a perceived crisis is the precise goal of the Business Leader’s Taskfarce for Permanent Flood Protection. They want taxpayers scared of the Red River to generate support for their development agenda.
The article goes on to state that the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce, Home Builders Association and Fargo-Moorhead Area Association of Realtors are also involved. Kinda telling, when the the FM Homebuilders Association was behind the Coalition for Cass County Flood Protection measure in 2010, which had/has the identical 1802 32nd Ave S, Fargo, ND office address [read more…].
Compare Addresses:
| Coalition for Cass County Flood Protection | Homebuilders Association of Fargo Moorhead | |
| 1802 32nd Ave S | ←→ | 1802 32nd Ave S |
| Fargo, ND 58103 | Fargo, ND 58103 |
Let’s take a step into the fmdam.org time machine for a deeper perspective on the matter.
During a March 7, 2013 interview with Chris Berg 6:30 Point of View, Berg asked Whitney a specific question regarding the level of protection being sought by project proponents.
Listen to the clip:
March 7, 2013 Chris Berg 6:30 POV
Craig Whitney, CEO FM-WF Chamber [“…what if…”]
Think about this…, the Fargo Dam and FM Diversion Authority and the USACE intentionally downgraded the 2009 flood crisis to a 50 year flood event, which would make a 100 year flood event seem even more dangerous and unrealistic, then project proponents try to invent a theoretical “what if” crisis 5 times larger than the 100 year flood event they claim has not yet occurred to justify their agenda.
It gets better…
March 7, 2013 Chris Berg 6:30 POV
Craig Whitney, CEO FM-WF Chamber [“…flood stigma…”]
Maybe…, just maybe…, running ads that depict Fargo being flood prone isn’t that smart when you have a college football team being watched on a national level.
So how ignorant is Whitney…? He had openly lamented the stigma of being flood prone, but cannot connect the dots that when leaders cry wolf on nearly every conjured flood event to rally support, their propaganda turns around bites them in the ass…?
Which side of the talking head do we listen to?
Oxbow, ND mayor Jim Nyhof is another prime example of leadership run amok, using every available resource to decry how flood prone and crime riddled Oxbow is, then claims they are in limbo for the stigma they had a hand in creating. All for the sole purpose of reaching deeper into taxpayer pockets ($60 million thus far) in retaliation to the agenda being pushed by project proponents.
So where did Craig Whitney and his ilk raise concerns over the botched flood forecast of 2013…, which was missed by nearly 7-9 feet?
Why didn’t these “economic” pariahs chastise the Fargo Forum for furthering the “Fargo is flood prone” stigma with their April 23, 2013 article depicting police escorts for sandbags?
But it gets even better…
March 7, 2013 Chris Berg 6:30 POV
Craig Whitney, CEO FM-WF Chamber [“…this about…”]
Make no mistake! The Fargo Dam and FM Diversion has nothing to do with providing flood protection for the city that exists. It is about development interests pushing a dam and diversion agenda to violate Executive Order 11988 to drive development encroachment further into the natural flood plain south of Fargo…, and to choreograph a system wherein taxpayers foot the bill while the developers reap millions in profits.
So setting all the previous points aside…, ask yourself if Craig Whitney, CEO – Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce along with the Home Builders Association and Fargo-Moorhead Area Association of Realtors could be using their airtime more wisely during NDSU Bison games or whenever they choose to run their propaganda.
If these entities are truly benevolent and cared about the Fargo Moorhead metro area, wouldn’t they be showcasing the strides taken towards internal permanent flood protection that have already been built?
Shouldn’t the Business Leader’s Taskfarce for Permanent Flood Protection be showing the nation and potential corporations that Fargo is not as flood prone as previously claimed and it would be good for them to bring jobs to the FM metro area?
Without question, Fargo is closer to permanent flood protection today, than it was during the March 28, 2009 crest at 40.84 feet. But who would know…, when the constant public relations din, chatter and rhetoric is about Fargo sandbagging and mandatory FEMA flood insurance?
…and that is precisely where project proponents propaganda falls apart…
Y’see, deferring to experts for an expert opinion carries no value when experts are willing to do anything or say anything for a check.
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Mr. Whitney is right about something. It is all about economic development; even the Corps documents and the Fargo mayor confirms this.
The plan was carefully configured to remove much of the flood plain as possible from FEMA regulatory controls. These regulatory controls raise the cost of development as the Corps documents explain.
The constant drumbeat of the need for permanent flood protection belies the continual desire to remove regulatory controls from as much of the flood plain as possible. If they had chosen the north of the Wild Rice as the project alignment, the plan would be in place and permanent flood protection would be in sight.
They are willing to put it all on the line for the “protection” of the flood plain. The protection is of their increased profit. This increased profit is on the backs of the taxpayers. Such a deal.