A Vocal Majority Speaks...And Says "NO!" to Titan Cement!

Patricia Moyer

|2010-02-02 11:24:21

Thanks for posting the update so quickly. Last night was an amazing cooperative effort w/Kayne's crew organizing this rally and everyone joining together to get it done. I was, as always, so impressed with the speakers at the meeting.

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Elli Klein - a Concerned Citizen of Greater Wilmington

|2010-02-02 11:52:35

I share this FB post from Roxanne Marchand, a film maker w/ local ties:

“A Native American grandfather talking to his young grandson tells the
boy he has two wolves inside of him struggling with each other. The
first is the wolf of peace, love and kindness. The other wolf is fear,
greed and hatred. "Which ...wolf will win, grandfather?" asks the young
boy. "Whichever one I feed," is the reply.”

This certainly applies to the Stop Titan Cement Plant movement and the Build a Cement Plant in an irreplaceable environment. Let's work smartly to starve the wolf of greed.

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Jorge Dean - Biologist

|2010-02-03 10:11:49

Let's feed the wolf some mercury fish.

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Kayne Darrell

|2010-02-02 18:19:28

We can do amazing things when we come together for a cause that we believe in! It was great to see so many folks out there last night; so much passion and so many different people from all walks of life, understanding the sense of empowerment you feel when fighting for something you believe in.
Great job everyone...We WILL win this battle!!

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Lloyd Smith - Way to keep this issue in front of the public and

|2010-02-02 18:19:30

I posted some more photos from the Rally at http://www.flickr.com/photos/47155342@N02/sets/72157623212264963/. The photos above don't give you the full impact - the crowd was huge, vocal and impressive. For the first half hour or so of the NH county commissioners meeting, the Rally continued outside, and from inside you could still hear the chants and the car horns honking in support! The commissioners cannot turn a blind eye to this - they know that they must act on this issue, and many solid recommendations for action were presented. Stay tuned to see if any of them get the message and act.

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Anonymous

|2010-02-06 17:12:55

Sometimes decisions are made on too little information. Sometimes the information provided to you has been filtered before it reaches your eyes.

If you are a County Commissioner in New Hanover County presently backing Titan Cement it should be apparent that on April 21, 2008 you acted on too little information. It should also be apparent that the information supplied to you by Titan and it's supporters had been heavily filtered.

Titan promised the people of New Hanover County that they would "not affect the environment in any way shape or form and ... unless we make sure that this is the case we'll not build the facility, is that clear?" Titan made that promise when their mines were shut down in Florida by federal court order.

At that same meeting Titan representatives promised "we will comply with the laws and regulations and then go above that". Titan officials additionally promised to "not only meet the standards we're going to exceed them."

If you have read through the fact sheets provided by both Titan America and DAQ delineating the Castle Hayne plant emissions, if you have followed the multiple reports from Florida documenting Titan's environmental problems in Miami Dade County, if you have read the multiple press reports clearly documenting severe problems with cement plant emissions for other cement plant companies in multiple locations, and if you have read the emails from Titan officials to members of your own staff attempting to evade SEPA, this must cause you to question your original decision on this matter.

At that crucial meeting Titan officials also stated
"If the county doesn't invite us we will go, we have other options and we will go." Titan would not be here unless you had asked them to come on April 21, 2008. The public record does not support your abdication of your responsibility in this matter.

Citizens do not expect their elected officials to be right all the time. The public does have the realistic expectation that their elected leaders will act appropriately and decisively when additional information is made available to them.

You have been asked to take appropriate action at this time.

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Ben McCoy - ELECT Anti-Titan Candidates!!!

|2010-03-17 08:28:14

Hello Fellow Anti-Titan Activists:

I have some great news to share with you. The race for New Hanover County Commission is heating up as two seats are up for grabs. Only two of the many candidates have very strong and outspoken anti-Titan views, and will actively fight against their establishment here in New Hanover County. Brian Berger and Justin LaNasa are the only two candidates who are absolutely NOT well connected political hacks whose business and political alliances will benefit them personally from a position of power on the NHC Commission. They have both been tireless supporters of the Stop Titan cause, and will work to get the $4.2 million back that the county handed to Titan as an incentive.

The organization Wilmington Industrial Development (WID) is the entity ultimately responsible for Titan's presence here, and both the city and the county give taxpayer money generously to WID every year, and call that their exercise in "economic development". Both Berger and LaNasa are against this practice and want to bring the citizens of New Hanover County into economic development discussions. These are true citizen-representatives from the grassroots level who do not have wealthy benefactors, and who are despised by the corrupt, selfish, and destructive political establishment here.

Please click here to read Brian Berger's press release just released today, for in-depth information and analysis of the tight bond between the county, WID, and Titan America: http://www.able-nc.com/downloads.html

I cannot stress this point enough: Supporting these two candidates is the single most effective cause we can all share in defeating Titan in New Hanover County. It is absolutely imperative that you share this information with everyone on your mailing list and disperse it throughout all of your channels on the web and elsewhere. If these two candidates are elected to county commission, Titan will finally have a real fight on its hands, and will no longer be placated to by our corrupt and self-serving local government.

Please - my cause is your cause. I implore you to rally up your members, and those on your mailing lists to get out there, knock on doors, tell family, neighbors, and friends to go to the polls and vote Brian Berger and Justin LaNasa for New Hanover County Commission. This is the ultimate nail in the coffin for Titan in New Hanover County.

Thank you for your time and for everything that you do.

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J.Estelle - Don't Be Fooled Again!

|2010-03-22 15:37:54

I was pleased to read the posting from Bill McCoy that Brian Burger is running again for County Commissioner in the Republican Primary, and another fellow candidate, Justin Lanasa, has also demonstrated the backbone to fight Titan coming to New Hanover County.

Berger has been more consistent in opposing Titan Cement than any other candidate, from any political party, and he is spot on in discussing the process that failed us on Titan, something no other candidate, Democrat or Republican, has advocated.

As a Republican, I find it insulting and disingenuous that StopTitan.org has been promoting Deb Butler as "champion" of the cause when Brian Berger has been the MOST consistent candidate on Titan, and he has shown more courage than the StopTitan-endorsed Butler in addressing the process that facilitated consummation of Titan's $4.2 million incentives.

It seems StopTitan.org made a huge error in blindly trusting Jason Thompson and jonathan barfield two years ago, having failed to ask tough questions to identify candidates who were pandering to the stop titan movement with empty rhetoric, and conversely, those who were committed to the right thing - actually Stopping Titan. The failure to vette candidates lends credibility to rumors that Stop Titan.org is not concerned about real action but has an "agenda" designed to raise money and hire lawyers and delve into far-fetched environmental matters unrelated to Titam, instead of electing honest candidates (through education and questioning, not endorsements, per legal restrictions).

The e-mail sent far-and-wide from StopTitan.org this past weekend was disingenuous, superficially-biased and insulting to all who value honest communication, and full-disclosure of agendas and personal ties between StopTitan.org organizers and candidates like Butler.

To the many Republicans who think Stop Titan's shameless promotion of Butler, who has risked less and offered less in terms of a "plan of action" to address the Titan issue than Berger, and the organization's unjustifiable ommission of Berger and Lanasa from its email advertising Butler, warrants corrective action to inform the community, credibly, about Berger's call to reform the secretive process that paved the path for Titan, and Berger and Lanasa's record of consistency and honesty when speaking on community issues, Berger's consistently intelligent public efforts opposing Titan coming to Castle Hayne, which exceeds that of the Butler (who was so shamelessly praised and endorsed by StopTitan in the widely-distributed email).
StopTitan.org dropped the ball two years ago, and it appears the organization has a partisan, political agenda (ie...unofficial endorsement and Oscar-worthy praise of Deb Butler regardless of Berger's and Lanasa's records, which are more consistent and far-reaching on the Titan issue, and should have been included in the email).

Is it that fundraising is more important to StopTitan.org than credibility and addressing the issues raised by the Titan project?

Since this organization won't act honestly in this election year, voters should go to http://www.able-nc.com/downloads.html and find out where Berger and Lanasa stand, and make their own conclusions since StopTitan.org has an agenda superceding fair and honest communication about candidate's records, made blatantly clear in its e-mail and on its website, and through its short history of not even asking tough questions if the answers threaten its pro-Democrat, biased and partisan agenda...

For those of us who's agenda is Stopping Titan, Berger and Lanasa are probably more trustable than Butler, their records indicate, and Stop Titan ought to correct its e-mail advertisement for Deb Butler by providing information on Berger and Lanasa, who are the most likely candidates to actually Stop Titan from trashing New Hanover County and its environment.

http://www.able-nc.com/downloads.html

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Kelly Stryker

|2010-03-23 06:26:20

We should take J. Estelle's post above as a compliment that our stoptitan.org efforts are politically-motivated with sophisticated agendas......but they're NOT. We (the folks who run stoptitan.org) are all residents who live here, we have kids, jobs and tons of other things we should be doing, but we give up hundreds of hours from families and friends to do this. We're not paid, we're not hiding some political agenda. I can't tell you how many beautiful weekends we've given away to work at events. How much time we've put into research so we can get out facts to all, how many days we've spent in Raleigh or hanging out at the copy center, making copies for upcoming fundraisers. If we really had a political agenda, we'd spend all our time promoting candidates, and not fighting Titan Cement. Our goal is to inform the community we live in about updates and impacts from the proposed Titan Cement plant. We can not endorse anybody and have not done so. We've posted information about candidates far and wide on the Titan issue, including Berger, Barfield, Justice, Boseman, Thompson, Kopp....the list is long, but in none of them, do we give an endorsement. We cover the issue, and if a candidate or elected official is connected to the issue, and it's news worthy, we post it. No doubt some folks will disagree with what we decide to focus on. But, the most recent post/alert mentioned Deborah Butler because she did a Freedom of Information request on the County Commissioners correspondence, found out about the tax poll and the Titan question and made it public. She brought the information forward, we sent it out, and linked to the Lumina News story.
Here's the main point---we can't endorse a candidate and apologize if anybody thinks we are favoring somebody or if we are ignoring others. We are currently working on a new link which list all candidates. We will also ask each candidate a few questions about the Titan issue. It'll all be posted on the website and candidates can always add anything they want, including links and opinions. It should be up in a week or so.
Our goal is Stopping Titan. We'll continue to post and alert our subscribers to issues we think are important. Aside from that, it will fall on our community to take the political ball and run with it. Stay tuned for the political post/link to info on where candidates stand on Titan. Thank you.

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Ben McCoy - J. Estelle is RIGHT

|2010-03-23 06:54:19

Thank you for your support J. Estelle. You are absolutely right. Berger and LaNasa's passionate anti-Titan positions are genuine and have been consistent since day one. They have stayed primarily behind the scenes, and have never opposed Titan as a grandstanding dog and pony show - such as Butler who rushed to get the information request and had her campaign call every media outlet in town to announce what she was doing. Guess what? LaNasa did the same thing - but he didn't tell anyone. Maybe he's just not as good of a politician as Butler - I'm sure he'd take that as a compliment. Berger and LaNasa are genuine, selfless, citizen-representatives; and sincerely believe in this effort. Where was Deb Butler two or three years ago? LaNasa and Berger were on the front lines. They have done more for this cause than probably just about anyone in it. They are both sick of the selfish corruption in this town, and are despised by the local political machinery. These two are absolutely UNCORRUPTABLE. Deb Butler, nor any other candidate in the race one could say the same for. What she did was a genius political tactic - and it worked. She's got you all over a barrel now. Look at the big fly-by-night anti-Titan candidate who announces it from the rooftops that she got this information divulged. Justin LaNasa requested the info too, because he cared - and never even considered it as a political move. That's why I'm voting for LaNasa and Berger. They are the only two pure candidates in the race who will stand up for us, as they always have. Voting for the others is voting for their own selfish agendas, and will do NOTHING for any of you. You've been duped.

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Jack Spruill - NH County Commission Candidates Concerned about Ti

|2010-03-24 03:49:35

I sincerely regret that NH County Commission candidates, Brian Berger and Justin LaNasa, have not previously been listed in the Entities Concerned about Titan Cement list.

I have been the keeper of the list, and would gladly have listed them had I known they were on the record as "concerned."

I am very eager to get all listings that should be included. Please send all listing information to contactus@stoptitan.org

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Patricia Moyer

|2010-03-30 10:25:44

I do not know which candidates have been consistent in their efforts to stop Titan, and everything said here is probably true. However, I do find it interesting that some people running for office have suddenly become outspoken now that the efforts to stop Titan have received so much media coverage statewide. Furthermore, I do NOT think campaigning politicians should be featured at Stop Titan events.
Personally, I was not happy that Deborah Butler's campaign was so visible at the February 1 rally. I do not like to see Stop Titan politicized that way. I think we should keep campaigns out of the rallies/meetings in the future. Organizing for America would love to do joint efforts with Citizens Against Titan, but we have not done so. Stopping Titan is a bipartisan or should I say, NON-partisan effort. We should avoid featuring campaign speeches at Stop Titan events OR feature candidates from both sides of the aisle.

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Patricia Moyer - Clarification.

|2010-03-30 17:04:58

I just wanted to clarify my comments for Mr.Estelle and Mr. McCoy. Stopping Titan IS a nonpartisan effort. Please remember that we are volunteers and your assumptions about endorsements are just wrong. When volunteers were organizing the Feb. 1 rally, Deb Butler was the only candidate to contact the volunteer organizers in advance to ask to speak at the rally re her anti-Titan position. In the past we have had difficulty finding speakers, so this seemed like a good idea. IF the other two candidates had offered to speak about stopping Titan, I know they would have been welcome to speak.

I WAS HAPPY that Deb Butler spoke. I just wasn't as happy that her campaign staff was so active during the rally, but as volunteers we learn from experience. I think many of us,the volunteers, more than anyone, do not want candidates to distract from the main purpose of our events.

Whatever my feeling re Butler's candidacy, she did bring vital information re Titan and the commissioners to the public's attention. We appreciate that since volunteers are doing the best we can to keep the Titan issue in front of the public.

I was out on the street many weekends last summer and fall collecting signatures for StopTitan and attended several events. I have yet to meet Mr. Lanasa and Mr. Berger, but look forward to doing so.

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Ben McCoy - It seems obvious to me....

|2010-03-31 05:47:28

...that Deb Butler's fair-weather support of stopping Titan is for nothing more than political expediency. Berger and LaNasa didn't contact anyone about speaking at the rally because they have been to every rally and have supported your efforts since day one. They're both so passionate about stopping this menace called Titan, that they wouldn't even have considered using the rally as a campaign event. Mr. LaNasa, as I mentioned before, obtained the same documents that Ms. Butler did, and again - didn't even consider using this as a campaign event. It's called integrity, and intellectual honesty.

Where was Ms. Butler just a matter of months ago - not to mention years? She's enough of a politician to know that when you have a captive audience, especially in matters so emotionally driven - signing on to their cause and waxing concern and compassion is just good politics. Berger and LaNasa have been right by your side in the crowd since day one, and you never knew it - because they believe in this cause. Not because they're using you as their own grandstanding platform for their political campaigns.

It's about time we woke up and actually elected some people that have qualities that have always been in short supply in this county - integrity, honesty, character, transparency, humility, and honor. Deb Butler wants to get elected - I have no doubt that once she is, Titan will be the farthest thing on her list.

Berger and LaNasa have fought tooth and nail for this cause before it was popular, before they had any inclinations to run for office, and before throngs of people signed on. Fighting Titan is and has always been at the very top of their agenda. These two men, are by far, the best vote you can cast to actually fight this at the political level. And writing them off because they're republicans is disingenuous and pathetic. It would show that one is more concerned with advancing a political ideology than actually taking steps in the direction that this group was originally chartered for.

If anyone would like to find out more about these two, please visit: able-nc.com/candidates.html

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J.Estelle - You must be new to the area

|2010-04-06 07:52:42

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Patricia Moyer

|2010-04-06 13:54:23

I do not know how to reply to such a post directed at me.

Evidently the point of both my posts was not clear, and a lot of assumptions were made about me.

All I care about is stopping Titan.

I apologize to StopTitan.org if my posts helped take the focus off the real issue. I'm the last person who wants to see this page turned into something else.

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KD	\|2010-04-06 14:17:43

To J.Estelle

Your rude and incendiary comments do nothing to promote your candidate or your party. And they have no business on this website, whose sole objective is to Stop Titan from coming to our community by bringing the community togetherto help achieve that goal.

Signed,
A concerned citizen

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Pat D.

|2010-04-16 09:56:41

Its important just to be sure to vote for a anti-Titan candidate..Brian Berger is great I put his sign in my window years ago and I'm a Dem..he has always spoke against Titan. In saying this I would also add so is
Deb Butler..so vote your heart or vote for both.

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Pat D.

|2010-04-16 10:01:30

Just vote for any anti-titan candidate...Brian Berger is great I put his sign in my window a few years ago and I'm a Dem...he has always been against Titan. But
Deb Butler will also be a anti-titan candidate...So just vote your heart ...... OR....... vote for both you can vote for more that one I believe....

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Justin LaNasa - StopTitan

|2010-04-20 23:21:37

I'm for the growth of new Hanover County,but being a 19 year resident wilmington need's to grow with clean / environmental friendly jobs,one of our community's greatest revenue generators is tourism ,what would happen if no one wanted to come here any more , because our environment was Nasty? but mainly the public's out cry against this is over whelming, i don't see how its gotten this far, but i bet, i know how.....greed,,,money ,, bribes ,,, the incentives Ive seen given away = bribes I'm not for the 4.5 million dollar Plus bribes of the tax payers moneys

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Kelly Stryker - Round up of 11 County Commissioner Candidates

|2010-04-21 06:27:27

Today's Star News paper (dated Wednesday, April 21st) has big spread, asking all 11 New Hanover County Commissioners running in the race where they stand of 4 issues. The Titan Cement plant is the second question. We'll get the article posted on the website asap for everyone's reference. For now, check out www.starnewsonline.com and search for the post. And take your questions to School Board members, NC House and Senate and Federal level races too. After we beat Titan, we need to know our politicians aren't going to keep recruiting these same type of heavy polluters to our region. You can bet there are a lot of "Titans" out there, and just as many folks ready to help them come here. Keep up the pressure and Thanks.

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KD	\|2010-04-21 11:24:51

In response to Pat D. comment about voting for candidates opposed to Titan -In a primary, voters registered with a political party can only vote for candiates in your party affiliation. Voters registered as unaffiliated (independent) can choose to vote in either the Dem. or Rep. primary, but not both. Therefore, all voters must vote for either ALL Republican candidates or ALL Democrat candidates Berger is a Rep., Butler is a Dem, so you can't vote for both.
Also, don't forget, if you have not yet registered to vote, you can do so during the early voting period (now thru May 1st)
For more information on the primary voting process go to http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/content.aspx?id=29 and click on "2010 Primary Voter Guide"
Hope this helps and PLEASE VOTE!!

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Nelda M. - Titan Position from Lee and Goolsby

|2010-04-23 10:40:09

A Star News article (April 22) has some statements from Republican candidates for NC Senate, Tom Goolsby and Michael Lee about the Titan Cement project. Their statements are copied below:

On the proposed Titan America cement plant in Castle Hayne, Goolsby said he opposed the millions of dollars in government incentives used to lure the plant to the Wilmington region, especially when the same government will decide whether the company gets the required permits to build and operate the plant.
"That's too many conflicts of interest," Goolsby said.
Lee said the state should hold the company's feet to the fire through each step of the permitting process, but that he would support the plant if it passes all the environmental tests.
"If you can comply with the law, then you should be able to operate your business," Lee said.

The link for this story is below:

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20100422/ARTICLES/100429857/1155?p=2&tc=pg

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Concerned Waterman

|2010-05-03 17:19:06

Titan Must Comply with SEPA

Today in Raleigh NC Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens sided with Stop Titan, Pender Watch, Cape Fear River Watch, North Carolina Coastal Federation, North Carolina Sierra Club, more than 6,000 local residents, and over 240 local physicians in stating clearly that Titan America must comply with North Carolina environmental laws and follow SEPA mandates.

The court document clarifies under Conclusions of Law Article 11: "The $4.2 million grant awarded by New Hanover County states that it was a necessary inducement for the Company to locate the Facility in the County."

Without the "yes" votes of Bill Castor, Bobby Greer, Ted Davis, and Bill Knopp, Titan Cement would not presently be in the current situation of trying to evade our environmental laws.

Making a mistake on one vote is lamentable, especially when that original decision was based on biased and incomplete information supplied by TItan America and Wilmington Industrial Development officials. Information that was effectively blocked from appropriate public review by the County Commission before their incentive vote.

A more concerning matter for local citizens is that Bill Caster, Bobby Greer, Ted Davis, and Jason Thompson have repeatedly refused to demand that Titan Cement do the obvious and follow our environmental laws and regulations. Seems like the same government body that is giving all this money out would demand some accountability.

Despite what Bill Caster keeps repeating "Titan would be here anyway" the record clearly shows that without his vote and his continued support TItan would be elsewhere and not in New Hanover County.

Hopefully, the voters of New Hanover County will make there growing concerns about Titan Cement crystal clear to Bill Caster in tomorrow's primary vote.

Concerned Waterman

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