How Foreign Playbooks and Funding are Infiltrating Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) and its Affiliate Members and Organizations

**This will be a fact-intensive article but everyone needs to read all of it.
Your freedom depends on it!**

Ever wonder how California turned “blue” in 1992 but never went back? The same could be questioned about any of the states on the map who, once they fell under a far-left stronghold, could never return to their glory. At the root of this is why fair elections are so important in protecting the people from the globalist/Marxist/Communist plan. Because once a region or election office is infiltrated by people who believe themselves to be above the law, we see the erasing of the very thing the law was supposed to protect – the voice and freedom of the People! Without fair elections, everything else is irrelevant.

But what happens outside of elections?
How many “appointed” boards and organizations are running our governments behind the scenes – the REAL policymakers or “recommenders” in the game – funded by special interest groups, non-government organizations (NGOs), and even foreign enemies?

Why do Johnson County Commissioners, such as Shirley Allenbrand and Jeff Meyers, consistently vote against the voice of the people by claiming they have to “stay out of it and leave it to the people with the degrees” and vote for what “staff” wants; while Commissioners Kelly, Hanzlick, and Fast also promote and vote for policies and projects that should be conflicts of interest and/or that restrict individual liberties and increase the exorbitant wages of their staff?

Who are these people holding staff positions, and what agenda are they pushing that is in direct contrast with what the people are requesting? What affiliations, committees, or boards do they serve on, outside of their municipal obligations, and how many of these boards are part of their job requirements?

How did we get this far without the public knowing what was unfolding? Lack of transparency, unchecked conflicts of interest, and treasonous individuals putting their personal, regional, and global agendas above their oaths of office, when they swore to protect and uphold the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitutions of their respective States.

The average citizen is unaware that regionalism is even a thing. They know the Kansas City Metro region is a diverse community with many different counties and cities, and they would rightfully believe that each of those cities and counties operates independently of the others and in alignment with what their individual constituents want. They are unaware of organizations like Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) which spends millions annually funding political ideologies and promoting policy recommendations that are contrary to individual liberties and freedom.

It sounds innocent enough, working together with neighboring communities to make the area better for all, but where does the line between promoting policy that’s best for one county or city merge into that same municipality instead promoting the vision of the region – of other cities and counties?

In Miami County, that noticeable switch happened in mid-2020 when Economic Development Director, Janet McRae, changed the vision statement of the County from one that protected Miami County’s economic interests, to one that aligned Miami County’s interests to that of the region. This shift seems subtle enough to the average citizen who isn’t aware of the inner workings of MARC or of Janet McRae’s involvement on multiple MARC boards, including their Sustainable Places Committee and their Total Transporation Policy Committee.

---

---

As you can see, in one rather seamless transition, one unelected individual, fully vested in MARC policies and ideology, was able to take the County’s vision from one promoting the best interest of the county and its leaders to one pushing a “diverse” and “resilient” united Kansas City metro vision that owes allegiance to “stakeholders” and that is pledging to promote the shared regional vision.

How do we know this came from MARC? Look at their website and see for yourself.

---

---

This is an example of Regionalism in full force, and it is fully orchestrated by those appointed positions within MARC comprised of local governments’ staff members as well as the elected officials serving on the MARC boards, buying into the ideology, and then bringing it back home to introduce and rubber-stamp the plan. But who is MARC and how do they have so much influence?

On the surface, Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) appears to have altruistic intentions. One of their many websites, www.marc.org, describes their work in early childhood learning, transportation, economy, environment, local government, safety and security, and aging and health. It appears from birth to grave, they have a program for somebody. Below is their motto under the focus area section of the website.

But who are they, what are they really doing, and by whose authority?

The Mid-America Regional Council is the nonprofit association of city and county governments and the metropolitan planning organization for the bistate Kansas City region, serving 9 counties and 119 cities. It is an appointed board (not elected) that creates and recommends policy creation for the member cities and counties in the region. But how can that be? Don’t we have elected government bodies in each municipality who represent the desires of the people in that municipality? Don’t they hold public meetings where they vote on their own policies and rules as it affects their independent city or county? Don’t they have public comment where the People are allowed to speak about what they expect the representatives to vote on? Isn’t a representative government supposed to vote for what the people want? One would think, but that’s only the illusion we have fallen for. The “man behind the curtain” is actually running the show, and they infiltrate our local governments via their appointed board and committee members in order to advance the regional (and global) agenda. Sound unbelievable? Read on.

From their website:

MARC’S ROLE IN REGIONAL PLANNING 

MARC serves as both the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the bistate Kansas City region and as the Council of Governments (COG) for the nine counties and 119 cities in the region.

As an MPO — one of more than 300 such organizations across the U.S. — MARC is responsible for transportation planning for the region. This includes both long- and short-range plans. MARC’s Total Transportation Policy Committee (TTPC) oversees the allocation of millions of dollars in federal and state transportation funds each year. Transportation planning is closely connected to many of MARC’s other programs, including air quality and land use forecasts.

---

What is an MPO – Metropolitan Planning Organization?

Federal law requires that an MPO shall be designated for each urbanized area in the United States with a population of more than 50,000 individuals in order to carry out a continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive performance-based multimodal transportation planning process.

---

---

MARC is a board of appointed (not elected) representatives who come together to decide planning and action items to recommend to all counties and cities in its service area. If you heard anything about the recent fights between the City of Gardner, Johnson County, the City of Edgerton, and Miami County regarding banning intermodal truck traffic from cutting through I-35 to 169 via county roads, then you now may have an understanding of who was actually behind the resistance that was trying to stop all municipalities from protecting residents’ safety and the taxpayers’ road maintenance dollars.

That is because MARC’s Total Transportation Policy Committee, in conjunction with its affiliates and Non-Governmental Agencies (NGO), are intent on creating an East-West route from NorthPoint Development’s intermodal facilities in Edgerton to their warehouses in Belton, Missouri – despite what the residents and property owners in the area actually want. This route would save companies millions in drayage fees (dollars per mile paid to drivers who did not want to go north to I-435 and back south on I-35) while costing residents millions in road maintenance fees. They were wanting to shift the burden from the out-of-state companies and force it on the public (just like every other corporate welfare program we are seeing from Panasonic to every warehouse project over the past 10 years.)

Ex-Johnson County Chairman, Ed Eilert, even mentioned on record to Johnson County’s Public Works Director, Brian Pietig, in 2022 that “they” (he didn’t elaborate on who they were) want that east-west route and they were going to get it; despite the upwards of $10 million per mile that Pietig guesstimated the idea would cost. It was obvious Commissioners Hanzlick and Allenbrand were pushing for the same end goal with their repeated resistance to the voice of the people and their continual cries that a “knee-jerk reaction” of keeping trucks routed on the Federal and State Highway systems would cause more harm than good and lies that it would negatively affect ag or local deliveries (both legally exempt from restrictions.)

Even while citizens were repeatedly speaking at public meetings regarding accidents with intermodal semis crashing residents off the road, sharing photos of near fatalities, illegal u-turns, and abandoned semi-trailers, the majority on the Board continued to vote the regional agenda voice and refused to protect the safety and welfare of the citizens. When we look closer at these elected commissioners, we can begin to clearly see exactly where their allegiances lie and why they continually ignore citizens on all matters (not just transportation.)

Prior to his retirement, MARC awarded Ed Eilert a Regional Leadership award because he consistently advocated for regional concepts in order to advance a regional agenda, in direct conflict with his duty and sworn oath to represent Johnson County citizens and the will of the People. This was very clearly seen during COVID.

---

Commissioner Janee Hanzlick is the 1st Vice Chair on the Board of Directors of MARC and the Co-Chair of their Total Transportation Policy Committee (TTPC). So she has a vested interest in enforcing the policy creation desires of MARC. She repeatedly speaks in favor of her pet MARC projects and against the will of the constituents. She is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the regional (and global) agenda and she uses her vote on the Johnson County Board of Commissioners to implement the policy that MARC wants created. She is also the Commissioner who suggested Johnson County follows the lead of Portland and other leftist regions by appointing the sheriff instead of electing him. All of this, without declaring a conflict of interest or recusing her vote on topics that financially benefit the boards she serves on.

---

Miami County Commissioner Rob Roberts, and ex-Chairman of both MARC and Miami County BOCC, also used his commission vote and voice as the chairman to slow repeated attempts by the citizens wanting to forbid intermodal truck traffic on the narrow, ravine-lined Miami County roads. In late 2022, Rob Roberts told the public during their continual push to restrict intermodal trucks, that his sources (MARC) told him that Miami County would have to pay back Federal Funding on any road that they restricted intermodal traffic on. The next week he corrected it by stating they probably wouldn’t make them pay anything back, but it would affect the County’s ability to qualify for future funding. MARC is in charge of distributing those “future” Federal transportation funds, so that really means –Quid – Pro – Quo – don’t make MARC mad or violate their idea of their future plans, or else they might make sure you do not qualify for grant funding.

---

It appears Miami County had ordered a safety and road study from Pfefferkorn Engineering at some point in the past, but this study was never revealed to the public until early 2023 – AFTER the City of Gardner took a leadership stand to protect the residents; which forced Johnson County and Miami County to follow suit. When Miami County finally took this to a vote under the new Chairman, Tyler Vaughan, Rob Roberts still insisted that the study was for the pavement quality not being satisfactory for the weight and that it was not for safety. Although Pfefferkorn Engineering’s conclusion clearly stated, “Additionally these roadways are heavily used by automobile and other traffic and are not suitable or safe as through ways for heavy freight truck traffic.”

Interesting side note, the report released to the public in 2023 referenced the newly-created intermodal (it was created in 2014) and it gave no reference to the 2019 Kubota and Hostess developments on the South side of I-35 that were causing the massive traffic. So what year was the study created? The Miami County clerk’s office could not provide a cover letter showing the date of the study, nor could they find a dated resolution, contract, or agreement ordering the study. However, when viewing the study, one staff member listed, Jonathan Marburger, has not worked for KDOT since 2015. One can only wonder how long MARC member Rob Roberts sat on that study before revealing it in 2023 when he used it to support the commission’s decision to finally restrict truck traffic. How long did he knowingly and willingly put residents at a safety risk by forcing families to share these narrow county roads with the heavy freight truck traffic? One can only wonder, but it appears almost 8 years.

---

So we see that Federal law requires urban areas with 50,000 or more people to be part of a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) like MARC, but looking at their service map, why are rural communities with less than the required population allowing themselves to be pulled into the game? According to Miami County Commissioner Rob Roberts, it’s to qualify for Federal grants and because MARC is 100% responsible for orchestrating the 911 system for the bi-state Kansas and Missouri KCMO metro.

Let’s look at each of these issues individually. As for the 911 system, we should be very nervous that a third-party such as MARC has access to and control of all of the 911 systems in the region. When you see below more of their ideologies and how many cookie jars they have their hands in, it is easy to see the conflicts of interest they are creating. Remember the question about how California and other far-left dem-controlled cities become infiltrated and change for the worse? One doesn’t have to look too far to find that each has their own Metropolitan Planning Organization which also has the goal of implementing their own playbooks. When these organizations believe in socialist policies and promote their climate agenda, and they control the software, equipment, and routing of the 911 system, we see a consolidation of power and “policing” of the communities that should scare any freedom-loving individual who understands the importance of separation of power and checks and balances.

What happens when those freedom-loving Americans who stand on the Constitution, parental rights, individual rights, and God are suddenly designated as terrorists by Homeland Security, the FBI, or other players with histories of inappropriately labeling those standing on these rights as terrorists, as we saw in the 2009 DHS bulletin below and the FBI attack on concerned parents at school board meetings? Do we really trust our freedom to these federal police forces infiltrating our local systems, headed by an organization that believes in an ideology that is in direct contrast to everything we morally hold dear? It reminds me of the appointed sheriffs or the Federal police forces suggested by Obama and others. Our constitutional sheriffs are the last line of defense in protecting our constitutionally-protected rights. Appointing another mouthpiece with the potential to orchestrate the entire system that could punish their political enemies or anyone who opposes their greater plan should make everyone nervous.

---

The second reason for joining forces with MARC that Roberts mentioned was grant funding. We know grant money comes with stipulations, but do people understand how much freedom their elected representatives are selling every time they submit the people to the terms of these agreements? Do they understand the quid-pro-quo arrangement and the performance requirements associated with what they believe to be “free money?”

Miami County commissioners voted for taxpayers to pay Olsson, Inc $125,000 to oversee their comprehensive plan to ensure the voice of the People was heard.  Despite multiple community workshops where Miami County residents stated they valued their rural agricultural community and did not want to be part of the KC Metro area, the draft Olsson, Inc gave the planning commission was packed full of MARC agenda items and the climate change agenda language.

So here is one example of a non-government organization infiltrating a government and changing the voice of the people with policy creation that is in alignment with the voice of the region. When Chuck Adams, Vice-Chair of the MARC TTPC was asked at a Miami County GOP meeting earlier this year why Olsson would do this against the voice of the people from their public workshops, he replied that he can’t speak for them directly but it was probably in order to be closer-aligned in policy for future grant opportunities. He went on to say that if you want the money, you’ve got to play the game. Our lives are not games, and our freedom is not for sale!

---

But is it just about grant qualification or is there an underlying sinister political ideology that is infecting governments and then spreading like the cancer that it is? Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” understood that We the People will not stand for socialism, Marxism, or Communism and that in order to change policy, you must infiltrate from the inside. No institution is safe. We see it in education, medicine, government, and sadly even churches. The seed of a lie is planted and then nurtured and fed with the manure that helps it grow. Many times this process is so subtle that the average person believes they are supporting things that are designed to keep us safe, protected, and good citizens who are helping others to be “safe and protected.”

Like the Miami County Economic Development report, the gradual transition from individual interests and liberties is seamlessly transitioned into collectivism, regionalism, globalism, socialism, Marxism, and eventually communism because this ideology always has a totalitarian leadership ruling over the peons, telling them what to read, what to eat, how much electricity to use, how to run their businesses, what poisons they need to put in their bodies, and how much of their income they need to share with those less fortunate, and what is “misinformation” – all decided by the appointed boards and coalitions or NGO’s with monetary gain in the dangerous policies.

One doesn’t have to look too far up the chain to find foreign infiltration from players like the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the World Economic Forum (WEF), and the World Health Organization (WHO). Think that’s an extreme “conspiracy theory” view that will never happen in the Midwest? Think again. The playbook is being enacted right now.

Current Johnson County Chairman, Mike Kelly, is the founder of Climate Action, KC, a non-profit intent on pushing the political ideology that mirrors the United Nations’ Agenda 21 and Agenda 2030. He was required to step down from his leadership role when he transitioned from Mayor of his illegal sanctuary city, Roeland Park, into his role as Chairman of the County. But is this separation actual or purely for public optics? Can he truly step down from a deeply-held climate change ideology that he has been funded by the European Union to help implement, or did he only transition from his role on Climate Action KC to his role on MARC, who openly pledges allegiance to Mike Kelly’s Climate Action KC Playbook, shares an office with Climate Action KC, and gives grant money to Climate Action KC in order to implement their policies and ideologies? As you can see from the two organizations’ playbooks and cross-promotions on their websites, they operate so closely on projects and political agendas, that it’s hard to tell where one organization ends and the other begins.

One only needs to read the Climate Action KC Playbook to start making sense of the recent UN Agenda push in Johnson County for multi-tenant housing in 15-minute neighborhoods, industrial-scale-solar, electric vehicle grid grants, global warehouse supply chain, reduced meat consumption and more.

Below are some screenshots from “the Playbook” that should have every citizen in the “region” asking questions of their local governments and demanding they disassociate with MARC and their socialist UN agenda that is based on lies, manipulation, and grant money – both domestic and foreign. When Miami County Board of Commissioners were presented with this info in June 2023, Chairman Tyler Vaughan immediately demanded a letter written to MARC removing Miami County from the Climate Action KC Plan references because Miami County Commissioners voted NO to participating when it was originally presented to the commissioners by Mike Kelly in 2019. Yet MARC took it upon themselves to include Miami County in the marketing materials and the plan despite their wishes to remain separate. What else is MARC taking it upon themselves to do?

When looking at the final pages of the Climate Action KC Playbook, where it lists their “Partners,” it’s obvious the potential conflict of interest that some of these entities have; both with the elected officials voting in the action items and with their involvement in projects that cost Kansans.

We’ve already seen how Evergy’s failed spending on renewables is harming residents with their first round of proposed rate hikes. But do the residents know that Husch Blackwell is the law firm where Chairman Mike Kelly is a partner? Or that NextEra is a Florida-based energy company that is forcing the industrial-scale West Gardner solar project against the will of the majority of the residents; with plans to ship the energy created out of state while Kansans are forced to pay for the infrastructure? Does anyone know that NextEra has already tried to get utility designation in order to be able to get eminent domain on properties that are in the way of their destruction? What role did Advent Health play during Covid mandates and vaccine recommendations?

---

Now is it clear how much influence this seemingly innocent organization in charge of making sure that transportation systems in urban areas run efficiently actually has? Do you notice how they are acting outside of their original powers and becoming the supreme policy pusher in the region for far-left political ideology?

Local governments may defend their involvement with MARC, just as Miami County did, by claiming they need to be part of the club if they want their fair share of Federal grants and local benefits. But what about foreign grants? Both Mike Kelly and MARC are listed on the Global Covenant of Mayors website and mention receiving funding from the European Union in order to implement the Paris Climate Agreement. How is this not a violation of Article I Section 10 of the constitution which reserves foreign treaties and alliances for only the Federal government? How exactly is this Federally-regulated MPO accepting and distributing foreign funds without raising red flags? Perhaps it’s through one of MARC’s non-profit 501(c)3 organizations called Mid-America Regional Council Community Services.

Who is Mid-America Regional Council Community Services Corporation, and how informed are the city councils and county commissioners not serving on this board in regards to the fact that this separate corporation even exists? It’s easy to use the two MARC names interchangeably. Shouldn’t the public know about their elected representatives’ involvement in this far-left corporation that has nothing to do with the 911 system or road grants?

Screenshots of their 2021 Form 990 tax return show the two organizations closely related to this corporation are MARC and Climate Action KC – both located at the same address.

The Board of Directors consists of elected officials like Ed Eilert, Janee Hanzlick, Rob Roberts, Curt Skoog, and Quinton Lucas who also serve on MARC’s board.

It shows staff salaries in excess of $1,400,000 (which could also be an overlap of MARC salaries for around $1,200,000 of that)

But what stands out the most is the sources of revenue. It shows government (American) grant funding of $1,667,483, but it also shows additional funding of gifts and grants in the amount of $1,790,305.

Is this where the European Union and other foreign entities are coming through?

Are any of these sources funding from NGO’s and corporate businesses who stand to profit from their affiliation by pushing the global agenda, climate action playbooks, and the continued Covid vaccination?

Who is funding this 501(c)3 to filter the money through to their pet projects and political ideologies? That is a question for the Kansas and Missouri Attorneys General.

This calls for an urgent call for action of every concerned citizen filing a complaint with their respective Attorney General and demanding an investigation into the conflicts of interest, foreign funding, and potentially treasonous actions by Mid-America Regional Council, Mid-America Regional Council Community Services Corporation, Climate Action KC and their partners.

Share this article with your complaints so they can see the vast array of evidence (only the tip of the iceberg) that is pointing to the infiltration of global agendas that are in direct opposition to our Constitutional Republic and that are setting us up for the loss of our constitutionally-protected rights and freedom.

https://www.ag.ks.gov/complaint-center/consumer

https://ago.mo.gov/app/consumercomplaint

Mid-America Regional Council Community Services Corporation Form 990

https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/201824454/202223159349305547/full