Johnson City’s Strategic Plan Is Lipstick On A Pig (Op-Ed)

Image Credit: Mrgriffter / CC & murdocke23 / CC

By Danielle Goodrich [Tri-Cities Area Director of Tennessee Stands] –

Have you read over your city’s Strategic Plan? I’m guessing it is similar to other Strategic Plans across the state. I just read Johnson City’s. And it is a problem for conservatives.

Read Johnson City’s Strategic Plan HERE.

It claims to have gathered insight from constituents. But does it actually represent the voter base? Does it represent the 20k transplants Commissioner Brock claimed we are projected to receive?

Does it represent the reason people are hemorrhaging from Democrat led states like California and New York, to a Republican led state like Tennessee?

Or is it a misguided strategy unaware that the outcome of its goals will be the opposite of the goals it claims, and the opposite of what Johnson City residents want?

California is the largest contributor to Tennessee’s population increase with nearly a quarter (22.14%) of all search queries for moves into Tennessee from California. 

Its low cost of living, small tax burden are a few of the many reasons people are moving to Tennessee. 

Low cost of living and small tax burden are due to Republican policies. So one can argue that people are moving from Democrat led states to Republican led states for the Republican policies. Therefore, our state and local leadership’s first concern should be to preserve the Republican principles that allow for the Republican benefits which are resulting in our population and economic growth. 

But is that what local leadership and the leadership across Tennessee are doing?

In the Johnson City strategic plan, some of the goals listed are:

“Appoint a diverse strategic economic opportunity team with a dedicated liaison within city government to ensure efforts are coordinated.”

“Assemble all resources to focus strategies on sectors and populations hardest hit by the downturn in economic activity.”

“Pursue all funding and investment resources made available by government and the private sector (Opportunity Zones, outside investment, etc.)”

“Encourage mix of housing options.”

“Gain a reputation as an equitable city for all citizens.”

“Seek UNICEF certification as a Child Friendly City.”

“Minimize the impact of our city on the environment.”

“Create an infrastructure for electric vehicles and renewable energy sources for power generation.”

“Create a citywide sustainability plan.”

“Encourage investment through incentives to developers and continue support of BrightRidge’s efforts in the region.”

Now let’s evaluate whether these goals lead to upholding the Republican principles bringing people to the region. Or do they lead to the progressive outcomes, people moving here, are fleeing?

And if they represent the latter, what can we do, to ensure local leadership course corrects their misguided goals?

At first glance the goals sound positive. But are they?

Let’s first tackle the equity and diversity goals. Then we will get into the sustainability and renewable energy goals. 

Equity. What does it mean when it comes to policies? Diversity. What does it mean when it comes to policies?

Equity and Diversity is a part of the controversial Critical Race Theory teaching. It sounds like it is about race. But in its original form, critical theory, it was about class. And redistribution of wealth. 

At its root it is classic Marxism. Karl Marx was a drunk who left his family destitute and had a lot to say about political ideology. Many societies have tried to adopt his ideology which promises utopia. But they have always failed, just as Marx himself failed in his own life.

Marx taught that if one group was oppressed, the other group was the oppressor. That the oppressed group must overthrow the oppressor so they can achieve non-repressive order. Non-repressive orders sound great.

But in its historical, real-world application, it results in communism. All groups equally oppressed, under an oppressive government. 

Does that sound like the Republican values people are seeking? Oppressive government?

Governments adopting this ideology towards equity claim that everyone must give up their individual property. It must be redistributed evenly. Equally. So that no one has more. No one has less. 

This is what happened in North Korea. And in China. 

This is an ideology which at its root stands contrary to the foundation our Republic was built on. Marxism is collectivism. Collectivism says that all people must surrender their individual rights for the perceived betterment of the collective. Except it is never better for the collective. Because the collective is a group of individuals. And individuals without individual rights don’t fare well. 

Modern forms of collectivism that we have seen throughout recent history are Marxism, Communism, Socialism, National Socialism or Nazism and Fascism. 

And much like how everyone is fleeing Democrat led states which adopt these policies. Everyone flees collectivist led countries for ours, which used to understand that freedom is the outcome of individual liberty. 

Collectivism and individual liberty cannot co-exist. Therefore the implementation of collectivism is the destruction of freedom. 

Does that sound like something people are fleeing Tennessee in search of? Or are they seeking freedom?

Our local leadership is either ignorant, willfully ignorant, or complicit in the implementation of policies which will result in us looking more like collectivist-laden Commie-fornia. A state which continues to erode individual liberty for collectivist policies. And as it does, continues to hemorrhage its citizens. 

When leadership says that they are looking to be an equitable city with a focus on diversity. What they are saying is that they will look to assign opportunities based on differences, Marxism. Instead of earned through effort, capitalism. 

Critical race theory teaches that math is racist, don’t learn it. Therefore what they are actually teaching is dependency. Instead of the American dream, which our country was built on. Individual responsibility. Independence. Which leads to freedom. Empower people. Teach them so they can use the learned skills to succeed. Don’t enslave them, by encouraging them not to learn the skills needed to become successfully independent. 

When they say they must ensure diversity in leadership they are just using race to allow for more Marxist controls. Because we already have diverse leadership. So being an equitable city solves a problem that doesn’t exist. And creates a problem no one wants. 

At a commissioner meeting last year we heard from three individuals who spoke about an equity board. Stating that having few black leaders in our area made us racist.

Racism. The excuse to implement Marxism. But Marxism doesn’t benefit anyone except the few in charge.

What are the goals of this board?

They pointed to only 3 of our 40 supervisors being black and that according to them that somehow proves to us under achieving. What percent is satisfactory? 

As it is currently disproportionate in the favor of black community members. 

There are 5,340 black people in Washington County. Out of a total population of 129,375.

Therefore 4.13% of our population is black. 

Yet 3/40 of our supervisors are black. 7.5%.  That means we are actually over performing the proportionate statistic.  

And 1/5 of our commissioners is black. 20%. I’d say we have an overachieving population. And that’s great. So why the call for an equity board? Because they are either knowingly or unknowingly Marxist. 

A board of people who will assign opportunities based on race? That sounds racist. 

And why do they only speak of one minority group? There are 2,137 Asians and none on the Commissioner board. Why no outrage there?

Because it doesn’t have a thing to do with diversity. Or Johnson City. This is a nation wide push from Marxist organizations disguised as diversity.

Having opportunities assigned by a board of elites removes what? The ultimate equalizer. Hard work. It doesn’t matter what color you are. In this country you can work your way to the top.

You have a board doing that, then you have a ruling class and a working class. Sure you’ll be equal to the other socialist worker bees, but you’ll never have a seat at the table of the king. The glass ceiling the ruling class had created for you, keeping you all equal under it, as the ruling class walk on it as their floor.

This leads to more unelected unaccountable government which Republicans are supposed to be against. 

That means deconstructing capitalism. Collapsing the American dream. And handing your freedom to communists. 

The city goals also state that we are an education and healthcare hub. Healthcare in our area has been monopolized against the advice of the FTC. As they warned, merging the competing healthcare systems would result in higher costs and lower quality. As the consumer and competition would no longer be able to regulate it in the way the free-market works to drive down prices and drive up quality.

In the free-market the people have a voice as they get to choose which healthcare system they do business with based on which offers the best quality, service, product, result. Now there is no choice. 

What they offer is what you get. Even if it is sub par. 

And with CON laws. Certificate of Need laws making it so healthcare competition can’t even enter the market unless the government and healthcare monopoly say they can. They’ve furthered their government regulated control over healthcare. This too is a communist step. As it takes the control away from the people and hands it to the government which I wrote about HERE.

This too stands against the Republican principles people are coming here for. 

It isn’t something to be applauded. As some of the Republicans in local leadership did a few months ago.

It is something to be fixed. I also wrote about how the partnership between the University and Healthcare monopoly further exacerbates this issue. As healthcare education teaches that collectivism is ok in healthcare. 

Rather than teaching you must treat the individual based on their individual needs, collectivist healthcare teaches that public health is effective. 

During COVID we saw that this isn’t true. 80% hospitalized were obese. Unless you want a government so powerful and intrusive they can tell you what to eat and when to exercise, collectivist health policies, much like collectivist fiscal policies. Are bound to fail. 

Yet our local leadership is not recognizing that the policies they are setting up will further inflame these issues. 

The plan also mentions becoming a UNICEF child-friendly city. But is UNICEF a child-friendly organization? And are their goals child-friendly?

UNICEF is a family-planning, abortion-endorsing organization.

Does it sound like they align with the values of the constituents or the transplants fleeing here?

In their goals they said they want to “elevate the voices of children.” Well what does that also mean? It means demoting the voices of parents.

And what have we seen over the past few years? Parents who don’t want to relinquish their parenting duties to school boards and the state are called domestic terrorists. 

We had Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey who was under scrutiny by the Government Operations legislative committee after the Health Department was found marketing direct to minors. She is no longer the Tennessee Health Commissioner but she did just join ETSU’s board. I spoke about the implications this will have. Our Education and Health hub has collectivist goals which are being heralded as beneficial to our area by our local elected as they ignore the history the ideology they support results in. 

Back to the child-friendly cities, which in addition to our city commission, Ballad and ETSU are backing. 

We’ve established that demoting the voices of parents is the outcome of elevating the voices of children. What are the harms of demoting the voices of parents when it pertains to an abortion-endorsing institution?

What are the cultural implications of demoting the voices of parents in the times we are in?

We have public schools across the country distributing gender transitioning drugs to children without parental consent. Gender transitioning is profitable to the healthcare industry. But harmful and with long-lasting health implications for the person. 

With this in mind, is now, or ever, a good time to be demoting the voices of parents? Particularly to organizations that endorse abortion overlapping those which endorse distributing gender transitioning drugs to children? Both of these procedures can result in infertility. How is that for family planning? Goals achieved!

Across Tennessee we have protests against allowing children at Drag Shows. Those who support children at drag shows claim that Conservatives who don’t, are not inclusive. That we are homophobic. That we are transphobic. That we are not tolerant.  

Yet we don’t care if adults participate in these things. What we care about is that children should not. 

And that is labeled as hate speech. So therefore we aren’t allowed free speech. We are censored. Silenced. 

And we have the FBI meeting with these groups to discuss this very thing. Trying to sniff out all of us purported “domestic terrorists.” Otherwise known as parents who don’t want our children to be wards of the state. 

I attended one of these meetings here locally. Federal Marxists. Guised as supporting minority groups. But using them to become eyes and ears of a government looking to accomplish what Marxist goals have always accomplished. Looking for them to be the New Red Guard. 

Is there such a thing as being too tolerant? When you are tolerating children watching sex simulations, most at least two years ago, would argue yes. But now the lines of morality have been blurred. As objective truth is being denied. And morality doesn’t exist in the absence of objective truth. Where all truth is “to each his own” there is no right. There is no wrong. This is also Marxist. Claiming that sexuality is oppressed. Claiming that those of us who stand for the traditional are the oppressors. 

Mao used this oppressor dialogue to mobilize the Red Guard. Claiming that teachers and parents who stood for the traditional values were the oppressors. The result was students and children violently killed women in pearls, men in ties, their parents and teachers. Anyone who represented the traditional. And what they got was non-repressive order. Communism. 

The ideologies being adopted by politicians in a red state are not conservative. Nor are they Republican. Nor are they moderate. They historically lead away from freedom. Yet our local government. State government is going along with these goals. Either blindly. Or knowingly. 

What about the goals to be more sustainable? To go electric? To align with the goals of Brightridge?

Where do these policies lead? I wrote about this HERE. These also are not Republican policies. They are intrusive. Not limited. They support giving the government too much power. Which Republicans are supposed to be against. 

Did the recent power outages remind anyone of CA? Conditioning us to accept less. I came across this article discussing how TVA dropped the ball. 

Which led me to read about how TVA demolished energy sources in a net zero carbon goal. 

Which ties into the article I wrote above about how Governor Lee is refusing to stand with other Republican Governors against the freedom strangling ESG policies. 

Unless Governor Lee takes a stand alongside the other Republican Governors. Tennessee is going to start looking like CA when it comes to energy shortages. 

Unless citizens take a stand against misguided local policies, we are bound to look like a carbon copy of California. But there won’t be anywhere to flee. 

And the new Smart Poles all across the city?  Is that something constituents got to weigh in on? Do we think people fleeing from intrusive government want technology downtown that has the capability to spy on them?

So what is the conclusion of the Strategic Goals of Johnson City?

They are in fact lipstick on a pig. 

They sound great. But in application, they lead us away from the Republican principles bringing everyone to the state and city. They lead us away from what everyone is running towards. They lead us to what everyone is fleeing from. 

So why on Earth are we mindlessly adopting these policies? Where are the Republican leaders? Why are they silent?  Why are people not demanding that the representatives answer to the interests of who they are supposed to represent?

Let us do that very thing. 

Please write and call our city commission and Representatives Hicks and Alexander and ask how we can course correct these misguided goals.