BY PAT LAVINS/GUEST COLUMNIST

Editor’s Note:  In the Summer, 1995 newsletter of the South Beach Property Owners Association, the group’s incoming president, Mike Vanatta,  was quoted as saying, “It is our intent for the SBPOA to actively monitor and take pro-active stances on issues that may affect South Beach.”  Noting discussion at last week’s SBPOA meeting about the United Nation’s Agenda 21 and the debate over the Common Core public school curriculum, guest columnist Pat Lavins questions if the organization is drifting from its mission.

At the April 23, 2013 meeting of the South Beach Property Owners Association a small crowd voted that the current board would remain in place.  Then as the official program began, some things occurred that left many members wondering just who the organization represents.  Is it the homeowners or the Indian River Tea Party? 

The first order of business for George Lamborn, President of the SBPO, was to thank Bob Solari who represents the south barrier island community on the County Council for his opposition to the logical Indian River County participation in the Seven50 group.  This occurred despite the fact that the membership of SBPO owners never voted on the issue of this common sense approach to studying issues affected more than one county along the Treasure and Gold Coast.  Nor has the membership ever been given at prior meetings any accurate information on the purpose of joining a voluntary coalition of communities to learn from one and another about issues of mutual concern.

Opposition to the forward-thinking Seven50 organization is a central theme of the Tea Party because of irrational fears about Agenda 21 which is a collaborative approach to studying 21^st century issues.  The Tea Party opposition to this common sense idea is due to the fact that Glen Beck has convinced the gullible that it is a plot of the United Nations to eliminate local government sovereignty.

The next issue on the agenda was discussion of the possible sale of the City of Vero Beach Property Owners.  Appropriate credit was given to both Glen Herran and Steve Faherty for bringing the issue to the attention of the public.  The discussion than evolved into laying out the immediate next courses of action now that the leadership of the City of Vero Beach has approved the sale of the electrical service to Florida Power and Light.

Steve Faherty reported that the Scripps daily publication had not presented accurate information about how to make views known to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission which must give its approval prior to the south county residents getting any relief from their unnecessarily high electric bills.  Steve Faherty indicated that he would send e-mails to all those in attendance at the meeting outlining the 12-step process.

Discussion of issues of concern then evolved to Sheriff Loar speaking to the group about the decrease in crime that the county has experienced now that the economy seems to be on a modest upward trajectory.  However, prior to his official presentation, Sheriff Loar wanted the audience to learn that the information recently reported in a beachside weekly publication was inaccurate.  He was justifiably upset that he personally and his staff were reported as being derelict in their responsibilities.  In response to a direct question, the Sheriff indicated that the response time to a 911 call from the south end of the barrier island for the County police was in the four to six minute range.

Since St. Edwards is such a vital part of the south community, Mike Mersky who is the head of this private school made a brief presentation on the school enrollment statistics and discussion of the integration of marine biology now being a part of the curriculum.  An audience member thanked Mr. Mersky for his leadership and shared with the audience the fact that he recently sold his property and the new owners expressly stated that they chose to purchase in the south end of the barrier island explicitly because of proximity to St. Edwards.

At this point George Lamborn felt it necessary to advise the audience that they should be opposed to the implementation of Common Core in the Indian River County public school curriculum.  He then went on to repeat many of the false claims of the Tea Party about how Common Core is a threat to individual liberty and county sovereignty.  The reality is that Common Core has been implemented in 45 states with no problem. The sole purpose of Common Core is as the name implies, it is a means of giving all students an opportunity to have a competitive edge in the global economy.
Also, the integration into this voluntary program ensures that all students get a good education, even if they change schools or move to a different state.  Common Core has been designed by teachers, parents and education experts to prepare students for success in college and the workplace.  Just as has occurred with the Seven50 organization agenda, the Tea Party is perpetuating myths about Common Core.  Again, research traces these views directly back to the conspiracy theory rantings of Glen Beck.

One of the more outlandish claims that George Lamborn made about Common Core was that California would no longer teach students about Pearl Harbor.  Naturally, such an absurd statement required further research.  Thus, an exhaustive search via the Internet confirmed the falsehood of this claim.  On page 34 for grade ten criteria students are required to analyze the causes and consequences of World War II including “German, Italian, and Japanese drives for the empire in the 1930’s which led World War II.”

On page 37 of the documentation for California’s tenth grade students states under the category of analysis of America’s participation in World War II that students will: “examine the organs of American involvement in the war, with an emphasis of the events that precipitated the attack on Pearl Harbor.”  The Common Core Standards for California State Board of Education were adopted in October 1998.

Common Core is the implementation of national standards, totally optional, for states eligible for Federal funding and it is not a sapping of the sovereignty of states as a few Tea Party zealots claim.

In early April 2013 the Republican National Committee published a resolution opposing Common Core.  They formally registered opposition to things that do not exist.

The final portion of the program involved Bob Solari addressing the issue of pollution and its affect on the Indian River lagoon.  He suggested that South Beach property owners follow the good example of he and his wife who no longer have a grass lawn.  He failed to identify how homeowners could implement his suggestion since most barrier island communities have strict association regulations addressing the issue of lawns.