"Agenda 21"
I have a fairly new job as a Planning Director in a NH town. I LOVE the job. The towns people have been very receptive to everything I want to do and are excited about economic development. The towns people have really embraced the new Town Administrator and I after having several years of being unhappy with their local government.
So I was meeting with the HEAD of the Chamber of COmmerce today. I stopped in to talk about what I wanted to do to set up some events and some committees and a path forward and the woman running the Chamber (who was extremely nice and VERY positive about me) leaned in looked me in the eye and said "are you familiar with Agenda 21?"
I had no idea how to take this. She wasn't the right "type" to be serious about this so I said "you mean the conspiracy theory that the UN is going to take over and put people in FEMA camps?" I think I had a very surprised look on my face.
So she said quickly, "Well of course I don't BELIEVE in THAT, but the EPA is taxing RAINWATER in Maryland and SOON we are going to be ALL TAXED on RAINWATER." I told her I hadn't heard anything about that but I knew there were different parts of the country where water was so precious and rare it had to be heavily managed and that included rainwater because of climate change.
So she dropped it and said she wanted to take me to lunch. We went to this AMAZING farmers market. Its like a tiny grocery store with all local farm made products. It was incredible! Then we started to talk to the business owner. This man was a very very talented very frustrated former navy seal who I was very very concerned about by the time I left. He had a level of anger I have never seen in public. After I was introduced as the new planner he started to rant about problems he had with the town. I listened patiently, gave him my card and listened as he and the head of the Chamber launched in to a tirade of topics that included those "Emotional Lunatic Newtown Families" who want to take guns away, and that it will be illegal to sell organic greens a year from now. And every once in a while he would YELL "I'm NOT SUPPOSED TO TALK ABOUT THIS HERE!"
The woman I was with then started saying it was all Moveon.org's fault the only news you could trust was FOX and she never could even listen to NPR. And all the while I am having this out of body experience because I literally cant say a word. And much more importantly I was extremely worried and as I am sitting here right now, I am worried about the former Navy Seal who owned that business.
= new reply since forum marked as read
It's not an "Obama rainwater tax" it's a "storm water" usage charge.
Which property costs more in terms of water in storm sewer drainage, infrastructure and maintenance? A 1/2 acre field that soaks up the rain water and returns that water to the ground......or a business with a huge parking lot on that same property size that puts all the rainwater that falls on them in the city/county maintained storm sewers?
So you can see why the COC head is pushing that line of thinking.
Man, I don't envy your position. 
