Disaster Recovery, Community Benefit Plans, Smart Cities - Recommendations

On President Trump's first day in office, he must rescind all Biden Executive Order that are fraught with fraud. Especially Community Benefit Agreements meant to alter the American landscape.

Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs) have been inc

reasingly utilized as frameworks for ensuring that large-scale projects, including disaster recovery efforts, deliver benefits back to affected communities. However, the application of these agreements in the context of disaster recovery, such as following the California wildfires, Hurricane Helene, and the Maui fires, has brought to light several negative impacts and legal challenges, particularly concerning civil rights and contract law.

In the landscape of public-private agreements, Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs) are designed to ensure that large-scale development projects provide tangible benefits to the local community. However, recent scrutiny has highlighted significant legal and ethical concerns within these contracts, particularly through the lens of civil rights law compliance.

The Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) between Clark County Stadium Authority, Athletics Holdings LLC, and related parties in Nevada serves as a case study. This agreement, while intended to foster equity and community development, includes clauses that potentially contravene fundamental legal principles and civil rights statutes. One of the contentious provisions is the 'Waiver of Jury Trial', which mandates that disputes be resolved outside the traditional judicial system, potentially limiting the rights of individuals or groups to seek justice through conventional legal avenues.

Arbitration Waiver of Jury Trial & Severability Contract Law, and Violations In Action.

The Contractual Obligations" of the below Community Benefit Agreement explicitly has provisions in the contract that violates basic Civil Rights law and beyond. These are two screenshots of a COMMUNITY BENEFIT AGREEMENT (this “CBA”) is made by and among CLARK COUNTY STADIUM AUTHORITY, a corporate and politic body and political subdivision of Clark County, Nevada (“StadCo”), and Athletics Holdings LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“TeamCo”). The Authority, StadCo, and TeamCo are collectively referred to herein as the “Parties” and individually as a “Party.”

President BIden signed the American Rescue Plan into law March of 2021, but — a preceding executive order was issued to effectively infuse "Equity" and "Climate Resilency" metrics into all federal matching fund programs and federal agencies — referred to as EO 14008 the first week in office. This EO established the Justice40 Initiative which establishes a federal “whole-of- government-wide” goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution.

NGOs had already created the framework or “playbooks,” and the lens for which every cent of the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act, and The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) would be allocated through federal agencies based on the Justice40 Initiative.

Over 400 programs amongst 16 federal agencies drafted a tripartite (three party contract agreement between municipalities, corporations, and NGOs. The framework under the auspices of the American Rescue Plan expanded to all federal agencies which were required to complete a Strategic Equity Plan based on Executive Order 14008. Note: You can find all agency Equity Strategic Equity Plans online.

Thus, the triapartite federal matching grant fund program was off to the races -- allowing our federal government to bypass violations of federal law. The federal matching grant fund allows a wide variety of public-private contributions, third party radical left ideologically driven NGOs to enter into a Community Benefit Plan contract agreement with local municipalties. But there are a few problems with this arrangement, many municipalities entered into these Community Benefit Plans knownly, or unknownly, violating local charters, federal law, or state constitutions based on several provisions in the contracts.

Many of the Community Benefit Plans have a ‘Waiver of Jury Trial' clause in the agreement. The waiver is a preemptive decision to handle potential legal disputes outside of a jury system, which can have significant implications on how justice or resolution is pursued in any conflict arising from the contract.

As you can see below, the Community Benefit Plan has such a clause, but it explicitly states by signing this agreement you are voluntarily agreeing to the 'Waiver of Jury trial' provisions — this section shall surivive any termination of this CBA.

How does this CBAs violate "legal maxim" of contract law which is the number one rule of all contracts which means "Fraud Vitiates Everything" in a contract. A contract that violates federal civil rights laws is considered null and void, meaning it is legally unenforceable from the start because it involves illegal activity and goes against public policy. Contracts that go against public policy, like discrimination based on protected characteristics under civil rights laws, are considered void and unenforceable.

Under this specific Community Benefit Plan, it specifically allocates quotas contrary to our Civil Rights laws. The contract has a Workforce Diversity provision which includes: Small Local Business (“SLB”) and Diverse Vendor (“DV”) Participation. As used herein, SLB shall mean a business that is deemed to be a small local business for purposes of Section 26(2) of the Act, and DV shall mean a subcontractor or vendor that is owned or controlled fifty-one percent (51%) or more by minorities, women, veterans, and/or disabled persons including: Collaborating with local small, women, and minority business organizations, the Latin Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Minority Contractors, Women Business Enterprise Council, Nevada Contractor’s Association, Western Region Minority Supplier Development Council, Asian Chamber of Commerce, Urban Chamber, and the Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Nevada (collectively, the “Local Chambers”), to identify firms for participation on the Project. This shall include providing bid packages and other stadium-related contracting opportunities to the Local Chambers, so they may circulate the same to their respective members.

But It Gets Worse

TeamCo has engaged a portion of the funding to included a Employee Relief Fund. Employees of TeamCo shall be eligible to apply for grants from an employee relief fund to cover expenses including but not limited to mortgage or rent for a primary residence, essential utilities (gas, water, electricity), food supplies, childcare, and significant medical expenses in times of hardship.

Not only does the Community Benefit Plan provide "living wages" to a pre-defined percentage of a diverse workforce, excluding others — but the contract agreement includes relief funding for housing, utility, food supplies, childcare, and medical expenses. Infrastructure Projects for the community are also part of the Community Benefit Plan including: StadCo shall participate in the County high impact project planning and development process to identify potential impacts of the Project on parking, utilities, public safety, and safe and efficient airport operations.

As part of that process, StadCo shall enter into a development agreement with the County that sets forth the infrastructure improvements required to address the impacts created by the Project.

A contract that violates federal civil rights law is considered null and void, meaning it is legally unenforceable from the start because it involves illegal activity and goes against public policy. Contracts that go against public policy, like discriminating based on protected characteristics under civil rights laws, are considered void and unenforceable.

The maxim "Fraud Vitiates Everything" suggests that if fraud is present in the formation of a contract, the entire contract or the fraudulent part may be voidable at the option of the injured party. This principle underscores the importance of "good faith and honesty" in contractual dealings. While severability might protect certain aspects of a CBA from being entirely invalidated, the presence of fraud, especially if it undermines civil rights, could lead to the entire contract or significant portions thereof being voidable.

Each Community Benefit Plan should be examined based on the specifics of potential fraud, the nature of the civil rights violation, and the “intent and terms” of the severability clause within the CBA.

What an ingenious plan hatched out by the Biden administration to force our nation into "15-Minute Cities" -- bypassing the legislative body -- whether federal, state or local.

President Trump Must Clawback Funds

Several alternatives are available under the new administration including clawing back federal grant monies that violate federal laws. The authority to claw back federal funds often stems from the conditions attached to the grants when they are awarded.

Federal law, specifically statutes like Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibits discrimination in programs receiving federal financial assistance. If funds are found to be used in violation of these laws, there's a legal basis for reclaiming them. The Department of Justice has previously taken actions against states or entities for non-compliance with civil rights laws, as seen with Nebraska in 2024 for segregating people with mental illness, potentially setting a precedent for clawback actions. Federal statutes like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 allow the government to take action against recipients who violate civil rights provisions tied to federal funding.

Issue New Guidance

President Trump must recind EO 14008 Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, EO 14091 Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities, EO 14052 Implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Through the Federal Government. A new administration has the authority to establish clear guidance on any, and all previous funds allocated pursuant to well established laws. New administrations can issue new guidance or rescind previous ones, particularly if they believe the old guidance misinterpreted or misapplied civil rights laws. This is within the executive branch's regulatory authority.

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Given these issues, there's a case for the new administration to reconsider these agreements under President Trump's potential policy to "claw back" federal funds where violations of federal law are evident. This would involve reviewing the legal basis for fund withdrawal based on non-compliance with civil rights statutes and possibly issuing new federal guidance or rescinding previous executive orders to realign federal funding with constitutional and statutory law. Such actions would aim to restore compliance with legal standards and address any bypass of legislative checks through executive action.