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Free Town Project (Ready to Make Free Towns Official)
I'm reviving this thread because important new information has come to my attention and because there seems to be a lot of useful info in the thread.
Barrington and Rochester were mentioned earlier in this thread as places where Free Staters were residing a few years ago. It so happens that Barrington has apparently already adopted an ordinance that recognizes the right of all communities to self-government, superior to state, national and global law, except for civil rights, which are superior to all other law.
TIME TO START ESTABLISHING FSP-like FREE TOWNS!
So let me show you highlights of Barrington's ordinance, which was first drafted with help from
http://CELDF.org , i.e. Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund. Their help is free, and seems very competent, so I recommend that Free Staters get their help in drafting Bills of Rights ordinances etc for other NH towns where you live. Like us, they want to establish local self-government rights.
Barrington, Becoming a Free Town! I don't know if this is just a proposed ordinance, or if it was actually voted for. If Barrington did not make the ordinance official, that's okay, because there are other NH communities that do seem to have made similar ordinances official. I think Barnstead is one of them. In any event, here's Barrington's possible ordinance. I'll try to post other similar ordinances etc of other communities later.
Barrington's Community Bill of Rights Ordinance No. 2014 http://www.barrington.nh.gov/Pages/BarringtonNH_Administrator/TM/documents%20of%20prior%20town%20meetings/Barrington%20Rt-based%20Ordinance%20amended%20delib%20session.pdfTOWN OF BARRINGTON, STRAFFORD COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE
AN ORDINANCE TO PROTECT THE HEALTH, SAFETY, AND WELFARE OF RIVER ECOSYSTEMS AND RESIDENTS OF BARRINGTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE BY ESTABLISHING A
COMMUNITY BILL OF RIGHTS AND BY PROHIBITING RESOURCE EXTRACTION AND TOXIC WASTE DISPOSAL THAT WOULD VIOLATE THOSE RIGHTS
Whereas, this community finds that commercial resource extraction and toxic waste disposal are economically and environmentally unsustainable, in that they damage property values and the natural environment, place the health of residents at risk, threaten the quality of the natural water systems within the Town, while failing to provide real benefits to the people of this community; and
Whereas, this community finds that commercial resource extraction and toxic waste disposal violate the rights of Barrington residents, including our right to make decisions about what happens to the places where we live; and Whereas, this community finds that a change in the Town of Barrington’s
zoning ordinance in March, 2005 – which allows certain commercial resource extraction to occur - places the environment at risk and violates the rights of residents; and
Whereas, current environmental laws allow state-chartered corporations to inflict damage on local water systems that cannot be reversed, violating the rights of residents to protect their community and the rights of ecosystems to exist; and Whereas, private corporations engaged in resource extraction and toxic waste disposal are wrongly recognized by the federal and state government as having more “rights” than the people who live in our community, and that recognition of corporate “rights” is therefore, a denial of the rights of the residents of Barrington; and Whereas, such a denial violates the New Hampshire Constitution’s recognition that “all government of right originates from the people, is founded in consent and instituted for the general good;” and the Declaration of Independence’s recognition that governments are instituted to secure and protect the rights of people and communities; Therefore, We the People of Barrington hereby adopt this Community Bill of Rights Ordinance.
Section 1 – Definitions
(a) “Corporations” ... (b) “Ecosystem” ... (c) “Resource extraction” ... (d) “Toxic waste” ... (e) “Toxic waste disposal ” or “disposal of toxic waste” ...
Section 2 - Statements of Law – A Local Bill of Rights (a) Right to Access Water. All residents and ecosystems in Barrington possess a right to sustainably access, use, consume, and preserve water drawn from natural water cycles that provide water necessary to sustain life within the Town.
(b) Right to Clean Air. All residents and ecosystems of the town of Barrington possess a right to clean air untainted by toxins, carcinogens, particulates and other substances known to cause harm to health.
(c) Right to Peaceful Enjoyment of Home. Residents of Barrington possess a right to the peaceful enjoyment of their homes, free from interference, intrusion, nuisances or impediments to access and occupation.
(d) Rights of Ecosystems. Ecosystems, including but not limited to, wetlands, streams, rivers, aquifers, and other water systems, possess rights to exist and flourish within the Town of Barrington. Residents of the Town shall possess legal standing to enforce those rights on behalf of those ecosystems.
(e) Right to Scenic Preservation. All residents of the Town of Barrington possess a right to protect and preserve the scenic, historic and aesthetic values of the town, including clean air, pure water, healthy soil, and unspoiled vistas that provide the foundation for a rural quality of life and economic sustainability for local businesses. Residents and local representatives have the authority to enact and enforce legislation that guarantees the exercise of local Self-government that is protective of these rights.
(f) Right to Self-Government. All residents of Barrington possess the right to a form of governance where they live which recognizes that all power is inherent in the people, and that all free governments are founded on the people’s authority and consent. Use of the “Town of Barrington” municipal corporation by the sovereign people shall not be deemed, by any authority, to eliminate or reduce that Self-governing authority.
(g) Rights as Self-Executing. All rights delineated and secured by this ordinance are inherent, fundamental, and inalienable, and shall be Self-executing and enforceable against both private and public actors.