Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Religious War in Chevy Chase

The battle over whether Rollingwood should become Chevy Chase's newest municipality is apparently a fierce one:

Residents in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of Rollingwood matched wits at a hearing on proposed incorporation Monday night, during an impassioned two-hour public debate.

More than 40 speakers, evenly matched in support and opposition, rose to address a packed auditorium at the French International School on Woodbine Street. The audience included roughly 250 neighbors who are heading toward a possible referendum vote on incorporation.

‘‘Since this came up, I found out that some of my neighbors who I thought were Shi’ites are really Sunnis,” joked Ted Rockwell of Woolsey Drive.

Some think it is time for Montgomery County to withdraw from this battle and cede Rollingwood to the District of Columbia--pointing out that the contentious territory already adjoins Chevy Chase, DC. However, County Executive Ike Leggett attacked such talk as giving comfort to the enemies of Montgomery County and promised to provide good government from Rockville or help the plucky subdivisions set up their own autonomous regime after a plebiscite on the matter. Linda Lamone and Jimmy Carter have agreed to monitor the Rollingwood's first democratic election since the outbreak of the conflict.