Taliban City

By Joe Feller

11/3/13

I had an interesting meeting yesterday at the farmer's market.  I met Tony Summers who was trying to raise interest in his campaign.  So for some of you, I need to provide a little background.  I am a member of the Executive Committee of the Sierra Club Solano Group.  So I met all of the city council candidates (except Mr. Johnson and Mr. Mapalo who never responded to our requests) to vet them for the Sierra Club.  During the interviews, the Jump Start candidates all supported Solano 360.  Solano 360 is about taking our public lands (the Fairgrounds)  and turning them over to private developers. 

I was totally shocked when I met Mr. Summers yesterday at the Farmer's Market.  He stated that he was not behind the actual Solano 360 but wanted a "Noah's Ark" development at the Fairgrounds.  In addition, he wanted a "Nazareth scene" for the project.  I was appalled.  During our vetting of the candidates, Mr. Summers had hinted at a development on Mare Island.  The Fairgrounds is public land!!!  It is not to be used for private religious reasons.  When Mr. Summers hinted at a developer for Mare Island, I naively supposed it had to do with the railroad or some other developer who had interest there.  Mr. Summers wants to turn Vallejo into a religious Taliban type city.  Only the religious will have any input to our city.  He wishes to give our public lands over to a private developer and also to a religious theme park.  This is more outrageous than the current Solano 360 plan.  I think all voters should be aware of this situation.

Note: All opinions expressed in the "Primal Scream" column are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Vallejo Independent Bulletin.

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7 Flags and 10 Plagues   |November.04.2013 "We're basically presenting what the Bible has to say and showing how plausible it was," said Patrick Marsh, design director for the park, which will feature a 500-foot-long wooden ark and other Old Testament attractions, including a Tower of Babel and a "Ten Plagues" ride.

Jon V.   |November.04.2013 Which candidates should be elected to Vallejo city council instead of Mr. Summers? Put a replica of Noah's Ark at the Solano County Fairgrounds? What's next of Summers' "American Taliban" agenda (sponsored by the Napa/Solano Labor Council and other special interests that control the local Democratic party)? No religious theme park is complete without "creationism". How about a cave man riding a dinosaur? That would put Vallejo on the map! Vallejo will only move forward if it has rational, thoughtful and forward-looking council members -- Vallejo will go backward if it elects fundamentalist reactionaries who think that obedience to powerful special interests like the Napa/Solano Labor Council and conversion of public property into a religious theme park is the correct path ahead.

Anonymous   |November.04.2013 http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/04/1252925/-A-Noah-s-Ark-Theme-Park-For-SF-Bay-Area-Yes-Says-Dem-Party-AFL-CIO-Endorsed-Vallejo-Candidate

Anonymous   |November.04.2013 Mon Nov 04, 2013 at 09:46 AM PST. A Noah's Ark Theme Park For SF Bay Area ? Yes, Says Dem. Party & AFL/CIO-Endorsed Vallejo Candidate by Troutfishing "I am a positive voice for Vallejo and support Vallejo business expansion. I will find businesses to come to Vallejo! We are a "Destination" and great for tourism. I supported Solano 360 for the many jobs it can bring. Specifically, I'm currently engaging developers and county supervisors to bring a life size Noah's Ark project there" --- Solano County Democratic Party and local AFL/CIO-endorsed candidate for Vallejo City Council Larry Summers, interview with the Vallejo Times Herald, October 29, 2013 "I was totally shocked when I met Mr. Summers yesterday at the Farmer's Market. He stated that he was not behind the actual Solano 360 but wanted a "Noah's Ark" development at the Fairgrounds. In addition, he wanted a "Nazareth scene" for the project. I was appalled." -- Solano County Sierra Club member Joseph Feller, from the Vallejo Independent, November 3, 2013 In one of the more noteworthy and even historic developments in recent California Democratic Party political history, the Solano County branch of the Democratic Party and a local AFL-CIO have each endorsed a Vallejo pastor, currently running for Vallejo City Council, who a few days ago disclosed that he is negotiating with unnamed developers to bring a life-sized replica of Noah's Ark to Vallejo, California - an economically troubled city only a short commute by boat across the Bay from San Francisco. If pastor Anthony Summers wins in the upcoming city council election tomorrow, November 5th, 2013, we may soon be asking, "will that be a union construction job ?" and "will it have animatronic dinosaurs just like the Kentucky Creationism Museum ?" At first blush it might sound crazy, but why not ? Consider -- given the lasting power of politicized Christian neo-fundamentalism in America, which just helped shut down the U.S. federal government, an argument could be made that nothing says "made in America" better than a Noah's Ark theme park. But Noah's Ark-based economic development may not be the only innovative approach to urban renewal and the public sector that candidate Summers brings to the table. Another possibility is a bold alternative to President Barack Obama's admittedly mundane push to make sure all (or most, at any rate) Americans have adequate health care. Consider Anthony "Tony" Summers' startling revelation, from a June 21, 2012 conference call - which really amounts to the apotheosis of America's experiment with "faith-based initiatives", raising the dead through prayer : "We have seen so many miracles happen here in our city, and around us, with people that we know -- again, from literally seeing people healed, lives changed, literally the dead raised..." -- Pastor and candidate for Vallejo City Council Anthony Summers, from conference call organized by Ed Silvoso's International Transformation Network, June 21, 2012"

Clarke Johnston   |November.04.2013 I actually support the truck stop idea. In addition to potentially enhancing any Vallejo Port, we're just up the road from Oakland, which has a brittle relationship with truckers ferrying containers. Since the closure of the previous truck stop in Cordelia, no "friendly" location exists. Anyone who has driven across country has seen trucks stops. There are crappy ones, for sure. However, the nicer ones feature name-brand hotels and restaurants, mini-stores, and 24 hour operation. North Mare Island has no nearby residents to annoy with either traffic or noise, so that argument is moot. It's pretty simple. Ideas such as this can be nurtured and brought to fruition, or we can continue with a North Mare Island that resembles Chernobyl: A freaking ruin. But, due to Mr. Summers obscure/end-times theme park dreams, I'll not be voting his way. I also encourage all you "party" line Democrats and Republicans to get with the program and register/vote Independent. (Non-affiliated) Your parties comprise a lot of what's wrong with politics in this good ol' USA, all the way from DC back down to V-Town. Voting straight up and down party lines /ticket seems pretty old-fashioned, if not outright ignorant for our times.

IM PEACHy   |November.04.2013 Well it does work well within the JumpStart creed. "Anything is better than nothing." I also kind of like the idea of boiling down old testament biblical text to the same level as of a Disney park or Harry Potter theme park. Seems about right.

It's official - See this Vall   |November.04.2013 http://www.timesheraldonline.com/spotlight/ci_24409347/vallejo-election-2013-question-3 Vallejo Times Herald, October 29, 2013 " Anthony "Tony" Summers I am a positive voice for Vallejo and support Vallejo business expansion. I will find businesses to come to Vallejo! We are a "Destination" and great for tourism. I supported Solano 360 for the many jobs it can bring. Specifically, I'm currently engaging developers and county supervisors to bring a life size Noah's Ark project there which encourages visitor stays up to two and half days, while complementing Six Flags, and boosting hotel and restaurant revenue. I'm working on a first class, environmentally friendly Travel Center for North Mare Island, includes hotel, gas services, strip mall, truck repair and shuttle services. These are immediate opportunities. I'm looking for more industry in the South Island and conversing about a potential grocery store for South Vallejo. " Anthony Summers actually wants to bring a 450-500 foot long replica of Noah's Ark to Vallejo. Surreal.

Clarke Johnston   |November.04.2013 Crime? Schools? Business Growth? Infrastructure repairs? Waterfront development? Saving our dead zone downtown? Re-vamping Mare Island? Vallejo's over-abundance of Section 8 housing? Stemming the flood of red budgetary ink? Our teeming surplus of parolees and sex offenders? Vallejo's dismal curb appeal that's defined by sticky-carpet motels, discarded trash and sound wall graffiti? It appears that these concerns matter not to Mr. Summers. But if you're gay or not on board with his particular religious views? Then you're on the radar, baby! What a skewed list of priorities.

Bruce Wilson   |November.04.2013 [from May 2013 Reuters news story on proposed Kentucky Noah's Ark theme park] " "We're basically presenting what the Bible has to say and showing how plausible it was," said Patrick Marsh, design director for the park, which will feature a 500-foot-long wooden ark and other Old Testament attractions, including a Tower of Babel and a "Ten Plagues" ride. "This was a real piece of history - not just a story, not just a legend." The project is currently in the design phase. Not enough private donations have come in to start construction, and building permits will not be ready until November, according to Ark Encounter co-founder and Senior Vice President Michael Zovath. The project has $12.3 million in hand and $12.7 million more in committed donations; it needs $23 million more to start building the ark alone. Zovath does not know when that will happen." Perhaps Anthony Summers hopes he can pass tax incentives to lure the Kentucky project to Vallejo ?

Anonymous   |November.03.2013 Now, I have my own view on religion and politics, as well as the very sound point of view that large money in politics is bad. I will freely admit that Summers lost my vote with the outside money fueling his campaign, but it was further cemented by the fact that we have an active pastor running for a political office. Doesn't he already have a higher office according to bible teachings? Religion, outside money, and politics, equals a bad outcome for the electorate.

Anonymous   |November.03.2013 Did someone contact The Carter Center yet for the purpose of monitoring Vallejo's elections? If not, maybe the Sacramento pols would be inspired to monitor Vallejo's elections in light of Marti Brown's letter to the Sacramento Bee newspaper.

know vallejo   |November.03.2013 great read. good point.

Anonymous   |November.03.2013 Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood.

Anonymous   |November.03.2013 You have got to be f*ing kidding me. He and his religious supporters are dangerous. It appears that Dominionism is just the tip of the iceberg.

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