The Naperville city council is intensifying its effort to force-feed the citizens of Naperville with a diet of unproven technology they do not understand, want or need. The technology in question is the Naperville Smart Grid Initiative (NSGI), which is in itself a misnomer. The Naperville city council is pulling no punches in inflicting this fiasco upon the citizens of Naperville.
No amount of public outcry, information or facts will detour them implementing this waste of public funds and heap additional debt upon the citizens of Naperville. The Naperville city council professes to want the citizens of Naperville to fully understand this ‘initiative’ however they make no effort to allow citizens to disseminate information. In fact, as you will see from the letter below written by Naperville citizen Kim Bendis, the Naperville city council is making every effort to keep a lid on citizen involvement. Make no mistake about it; the Naperville city councils determination to ram the NSGI down the throats of its citizens is no less resolute than General Sherman’s march upon Atlanta. The Naperville city council is hell-bent on implementing the NSGI, just as a heroin addict is fanatical in obtaining drugs.
From: Kim Bendis <queenbendis@att.net>
Date: July 3, 2011 4:20:
Subject: Police called to stop us from passing out fliers, why?
Hi All,
Yesterday afternoon before getting a manicure, buying some gifts, and attending a fabulous birthday party with box seats to Styx at rib fest (Mayor Pradel showed up as a surprise for the birthday boy), some friends and I decided to pass out some fliers and get some signatures for the petition at the Neuqua Valley H.S. shuttle site. I arrived about 1:15 pm, with the two others arriving around 12:30 pm. At 1:55 pm an officer on a motorcycle said that he had gotten a call from someone from the district asking that we not pass out fliers. Puzzled I asked if there were any complaints about our interaction with people etc., he said no, just that someone from rib fest had called him and asked us to leave. Not wanting to cause a scene and feeling a bit sheepish b/c this was the first time that I had ever been involved on the “other side of the law” (besides the once in a blue moon traffic ticket) we were very polite with Officer L.H. and agreed to leave even though we didn’t understand what we had done wrong. We were not accosting anyone, paid our taxes to district 203, and were just practicing our right to free speech. We didn’t understand what the big deal was. Office L.H. said that since Neuqua was private property we needed to clear it with the district before proceeding just as the organizers of rib fest had done. I told the officer, “Okay, I guess that makes sense, but would he have been called if we had told the rib fest volunteers that we were passing out free bottled water to anyone using the shuttle?” I doubt it! Before leaving, I went over and talked with the 2 people who were rib fest volunteers and asked if they had called the police and apologized if we had offended them in any way. The woman said that she was not offended; she just said that all the rib fest volunteers had been “warned” that there might be people wanting to pass out fliers and petitions regarding the smart grid and they were instructed to call the directors of rib fest who would then call the police. So this is my question…. if the city is so confident about their decision to install wireless smart meters on every home, school, church and business and sure of their claims that they will save us money, will secure our privacy and protect us from unwanted health hazards, why would they care if a few “uninformed” residents passed out fliers and petitions?
I am even more committed to empower our friends, families and neighbors to ask “smart” questions regarding the city’s smart meter installation. I know that this isn’t the easy or popular side of the debate to fall on, however there’s too much evidence and current national case studies to ignore the fact that this city wide roll out of wireless smart meters is not a “smart” idea! We live in an era where our past is affecting our present and future. Because of advocates within the food, plastic, environmental and business arenas the trend towards organic, BPA free, Climate Change and Fair Trade concepts are powerfully emerging. The same push needs to occur within the power (utility) industry. The City of Naperville is not allowing for residents to be fully informed, otherwise there would not be the need for an ambassadorship program or in the city’s PR firm’s own words (p. 14) “the need to quell dissension”. We are compiling a list of volunteers to pass out literature and sign the petition asking our city council to stop installation until Naperville residents have had the opportunity to weigh in on the issue. This issue is crossing generational as well as political lines. Representatives from the Democratic, Republican and Tea Party are all sending out e-blasts! We need 3000 signatures ASAP before the city-wide installation begins September 1st. The city claims that they have “not heard from enough residents to stop the project.” Consider using your social network to spread this e-mail and become involved in the future of our city.
I was recently interviewed for the TribLocal http://triblocal.com/naperville/2011/06/17/city-looking-for-smart-grid-volunteer-ambassadors/ and stated that we are advocating for our city to be educated and informed residents surrounding this issue rather than passive recipients of an intentional marketing strategy (the “ambassordorship program” is a marketing strategy found on p. 19 of the PR firm’s contract). The debate continues b/c to date the city has been unable to answer questions surrounding 1) Financial Viability– Return on Investment (ROI) and Quantitative Societal Benefits fail to be seen in reality. According to the city’s own budget our existing analog meters are 99.95% accurate, so why go into millions of dollars in debt when what we have works and doesn’t pose these risks? 2) Security/Privacy: with Citibank, Google, Lockhead Martin, iPhone4 etc. all getting hacked and PIKE, Symantec and the GAO all warning that end-to-end encryption is not happening and that the Smart Grid is vulnerable to cyber-attacks why not wait until these issues mitigated? 3) Health: with the WHO coming out in May saying that wireless technology is a contributing factor to cancer along with scientists such as Dr. Myron Wentz (best selling author The Healthy Home, benefactor to Wentz Auditorium on NCC’s campus and Albert Einstein recipient for his humanitarian & scientific discoveries) have all stated that the cumulative affect of RF and EMF radiation is harmful over time. Finally, with cities around the country (real time case studies) placing moratoriums against smart meters (46 cities in CA, and the States of ME, HI, CT) why would Naperville residents want to be part of a national science experiment and first adopters of a program that is proving to be flawed throughout the country?
If you are willing to pass out petitions, host a casual conversations meeting, or volunteer in another way e-mail me at queenbendis@att.net. The first meeting that we held at Grace United Methodist last week was well received with 60 people in attendance (along with Councilman Bob Fieseler, chair of the smart grid committee and Councilman Krause) and 40 new people signing the petition. We want to reach the goal of 3,000 people signing the petition by August 4th, 2011 before the full scale roll-out of the smart meters begins in September. Please join us in our effort to keep Naperville safe, secure and a leader in our nation as a family friendly community while also leading the way towards an eco-friendly future! Go to www.NapervilleSmartMeterAwareness.org for more info. and an on-line petition.
Thanks for your support,
Kim Bendis
