Maryland Politics Watch

Friday, June 29, 2007

Lamone Withdraws Endorsement

Read about it in the Baltimore Sun, and the Washington Post.

Brownback: For It Before He Was Against It

Dan Milbank of the Washington Post reports:

Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan.), a Republican presidential candidate, voted for the [immigration] bill, then changed his vote after defeat was obvious.

Sen. Brownback's presidential campaign web site states:

U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today voted against the Senate immigration bill.

"I voted against the Senate immigration bill because I am not convinced it would fix our broken immigration system and it would most likely repeat the mistakes of the 1986 reform," said Brownback.

I guess honesty isn't one of Brownback's virtues either.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Gutierrez Fights Immigration Warrants

The Washington Post reports:

Things got a bit heated when the issue of enforcing immigration warrants came up last week during Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger's monthly meeting with members of the Latino community.
State Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-Montgomery) was challenging Manger's decision to ask officers to pick up immigration violators and turn them over to the federal government. The civil warrants in recent years have been added to the FBI-run National Crime Information Center database and pop up when a county officer runs a computer check during routine stops.
Manger said he wished the warrants weren't in the database but couldn't ask his officers to ignore them. Manger has been criticized by some in the county who have called him a member of the Minuteman Project, an anti-illegal-immigration group.
The discussion prompted former County Council member Michael L. Subin, who heads the county's Criminal Justice Coordinating Commission, to stand up and defend Manger.
"Anyone who questions the honor of Chief Manger is questioning my honor," Subin said. "If you compare him to the Minutemen, you are calling him a racist and a fascist."
Gutierrez -- who identified herself when the meeting began only as a "citizen and taxpayer," not as a delegate -- reiterated that she felt the civil warrants didn't belong in the database, which was created as a repository for criminal records.
"I give up," Subin said, as he stormed out of the room. "I don't want to waste my breath."
Later that day, Gutierrez and other Latino leaders met with County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) but failed to persuade him to ask Manger to disregard the warrants.

Immigration isn't controversial just at the national level, though I fear that the federal government's failure to address the issue in a serious way will only exacerbate the problem. I'm just glad that the Constitution prevents this from becoming a multi-generational problem like in so many other countries without birthright citizenship. Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment reads:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

While the share of Latinos in the U.S. who are not American citizens is somewhere between 40 and 50 percent, the share of Latinos under the age of 18 who are citizens (and future voters) is over 80 percent. Politicians and parties should take note.

I Love Diebold

The Washington Post reports:

Linda H. Lamone, Maryland's elections administrator, is featured prominently promoting a Diebold Election Systems product that caused delays in last year's elections.
Her appearance in the company's new marketing and sales brochure has critics asking whether she violated state ethics law by publicly promoting a vendor.
"Our election judges just love this product, and so do I," reads a caption attributed to Lamone and placed next to her photograph, referring to Diebold's "ExpressPoll-5000," an electronic poll book that debuted in Maryland in September's primary. "We in Maryland are extremely pleased with the performance of the system during the general election," the caption continues. Lamone is pictured in a state office, smiling and flanked by a Maryland flag.

Lamone wasn't paid for the appearance. However, I don't know why an official is conducting product endorsements for companies with contracts with the State. And, of course, there is the matter of the fiasco with the same machines on their first outing in the primary. Both Republican and Democratic legislators thought the decision to appear in the ad was questionable according to the Baltimore Sun:

"We're not to use public office to endorse a product," said Del. Elizabeth Bobo, a Howard County Democrat and critic of Diebold. "At best, this is an example of extremely poor judgment. And that doesn't even address my concerns with the content of her statements."

Sen. Andrew P. Harris, a Baltimore County Republican, agreed.

"Our top election official shouldn't be appearing to endorse a vendor's product," he said. "We've always approached procurement decisions in an objective fashion, and a vendor's literature would not be a place necessarily associated with objectivity."

Harris said, given that Lamone did not accept money in exchange for her praise, she shouldn't be punished. But, he said, someone "needs to tell her not to do that in the future."

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Raising Taxes and Montgomery

In my last post, I listed some of the potential ways that Maryland could raise additional revenue (read: new taxes) to plug the gaping hole in the budget which would have existed no matter who was elected governor last November. The various tax proposals are far from county neutral; there are big differences between the tax proposals in terms of their impact on Montgomery County.

Democrats may like the idea of taxes which put the pinch on the wealthy but these sorts of taxes inevitably disproportionately are paid by the good people of MoCo. According to the Department of Planning, median household income in Montgomery was estimated as 31% higher than for the state as a whole and higher than any other county except Howard. The U.S. Census similarly estimated that the poverty rate in 2004 was 6.5% in Montgomery as compared to 9.2% across Maryland.

Creating a new upper income tax bracket will thus disproportionately fall on the shoulders of Montgomery taxpayers. My guess that the same is true of efforts to raise the top corporate tax rate since Montgomery is one of the more economically vibrant areas of the state. As anyone who has bought a house lately knows, land isn't cheap here either, so raising the property tax will hit MoCo homeowners hard.

Some may think that this is all good news and that our wealthy county should be ready to pony up the dough. However, much of the County's wealth is reflected in substantially higher costs, especially for housing. People may earn more in MoCo but they have to spend more than they would for an equivalent home and lifestyle elsewhere in Maryland--a reflection of the desirability of living here.

It may be tempting for Gov. O'Malley to raise taxes that hit Montgomery. His political base is in Baltimore and its suburbs remain the top swing counties in the State. On the other hand, Montgomery delivered far more votes to his ticket than any other jurisdiction in the State--and a higher share of its votes than any except Baltimore City and Prince George's.

Some may think that seeing this in county terms is a mistake. Reggie Oldak, formerly a candidate for delegate from affluent District 16, has suggested that it is time to make the state income tax more progressive and close loopholes in the corporate income tax. Perhaps one should view upper income tax brackets as simply as ordinary people versus the wealthy.

Except that many critical services, such as the schools and county police, are funded and carried out at the county level. Poor residents of Montgomery would be a lot better off if these upper income taxes were county taxes instead of state taxes as the revenue would stay here. Raising these taxes at the state level will also make it politically tougher to raise county taxes.

I'm not suggesting that Montgomery should get the same share of taxes back as it pays to the State. It would be a bizarre system if that were how it worked. Nor am I saying that changing the tax system should be off the table. However, Montgomery's legislators better make sure that the County receives funding (not future promises) for its spending priorities before agreeing to any of these proposals.

MoCo is prosperous but it is facing new and expensive challenges in terms of education and transportation to take just two examples. It will take money to meet these challenges. With the largest delegation in the State, Montgomery's legislators should be ready to play politics in the top leagues to protect our interests and not give away the store by agreeing to new taxes before seeing where the new spending will go.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Let's Get Fiscal

Maryland faces a big hole in next year's budget currently estimated at $1.5 billion. Sen. Rich Madaleno's office provided me estimates of how much money (in millions of dollars) some of the different ways we can raise the dough will net:

Raising the Top Tier Income Tax to 5% (from 4.75%)
FY2008: $162.5, FY2009: $325, FY2010: $341.2

Creating Top Income Tax Bracket of 6% (for incomes over $150,000)
FY2008: $175 , FY2009: $350 , FY2010: $367.5

Expanding Sales and Use Tax
FY2008: $313.1, FY2009: $657.4, FY2010: $690.3

Raising Sales and Use Tax to 6%
FY2008: $717.2, FY2009: $750.2, FY2010: $788.6

Raising Gas Tax by 12 Cents
FY2008: $390.2, FY2009: $394.6, FY2010: $399.2

Expanding Sales and Use Tax to Gasoline
FY2008: $449.5, FY2009: $440.1, FY2010: $439.7

Raising Corporate Income Tax Rate to 8% (from 7%)
FY2008: $62.5, FY2009: $125, FY2010: $125

Combined Income Tax Reporting for Business
FY2008: $12.5, FY2009: $25, FY2010: $25

Raising Property Tax (to 13 cents from 11.2 per $100)
FY2008: $100-124, FY2009: $100-124, FY2010: $100-124

Raising Tobacco Tax by $1
FY2008: $206.4, FY2009: $161, FY2010: $157

Doubling of Alcohol Tax Rates
FY2008: $28, FY2009: $28.6, FY2010: $29.1

Slots (Based on 15,500 machines in 7 locations)
FY2008: $0, FY2009: $16.5, FY2010: $412.6, FY2011: $807.4

Slots (Based on 9,500 machines in 4 locations)
FY2008: $0, FY2009: $1.1, FY2010: $109.7, FY2011: $337.3

So which combo platter would you like to order? Anyone have suggestions for budget items to cut and how much money it would save?

On Political Pulse

Kumar Barve, the MD House of Delegates Majority Leader and Tony O'Donnell, the MD House of Delegates Minority Leader will be on "Political Pulse" on Channel 16 TV in Montgomery County on Tuesday, June 26th at 9:30 p.m. and Thursday, June 28th at 9:00 p.m.

Majority Leader Barve and Minority Leader O'Donnell will debate issues relating to the $1.5 Billion budget deficit that Maryland is facing. Some of the possible solutions that are being discussed to solve the looming deficit, including taxes, revenues from slot machines and possible spending cuts will be discussed.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Creating Traffic

Lots 31 and 31A, better known as the parking lots across the street from Barnes and Noble at Bethesda and Woodmont Aves., is becoming the Area 51 of Bethesda. Some of the new traffic is temporary and some is permanent.

Temporary:
Woodmont Ave. will be closed for approximately two years so that a massive underground parking lot can be constructed underneath the existing street as well as the two parking lots.

Permanent:
It will no longer be possible to make a left turn from Woodmont Ave. on to Leland St. due to the construction of a new median designed to block this sort of turn. As a result, Leland St. will no longer serve as a cut through between Woodmont Ave. and Bradley Blvd. or Hillandale St. All of that existing traffic will be dumped on to already overcrowded Wisconsin Ave. and Bradley Blvd.

Woodmont Ave. will be narrowed so that there are no longer two lanes of traffic in each direction throughout its length between Bethesda and Wisconsin Aves., presumably making it more difficult to traverse that stretch of road. I also wonder where Ourisman will unload cars now.

Finally, the 250 new residences will also add cars to the road in Bethesda. You didn't really think that they would all ride Metro?

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Kathy Strom for CC on Growth Policy

Chevy Chase Councilwoman Kathy Strom testified before the County Council for the Town on the proposed growth policy changes:

Good evening. My name is Kathy Strom, I . . . am a Council member of the Town of Chevy Chase. We appreciate the opportunity to appear tonight and present testimony on behalf of the Town concerning the Montgomery County Planning Department’s recommended amendments to the County’s Growth Policy.

As you know the Town is a residential community located adjacent to downtown Bethesda. The Town has been directly impacted by the prior Montgomery County growth policy and will be directly impacted by the policies proposed in this plan. We are currently experiencing a very congested traffic situation throughout downtown Bethesda and the neighboring communities and we are concerned that the real world “on the ground” situation will only get worse as the projects already approved and “in the pipeline” are built. Thus, while we are supportive of the direction in which the Planning Department’s proposals are heading and we appreciate that the current Council is seeking a new direction in growth policy from that which has been in place for the past several years, we wanted to bring to your attention a few specific areas where we believe the policy could be improved to the benefit of our community and the Bethesda area as a whole.

We have three specific recommendations related to traffic:

-We believe there is a need for a more stringent transportation test than that proposed. We need a test that is both practical and based on the real situation on the ground. It is clear to anyone driving in Bethesda today -- without the additional retail spaces, hotels, and apartments that have been approved and are in the pipeline or might be approved under the proposed test -- that congestion is extreme already. This is also important when considering the response time for public safety services which will always rely on the roads.

- We also believe that the traffic mitigation measures under the LATR guidelines that are currently available to developers in exchange for changes to zoning restrictions should be considered more rigorously for real public benefit and, if granted, be strictly enforced.

- We recommend that the Council ensure that traffic mitigation and traffic flow issues relating to all of the approved and pending projects be required to be coordinated. Under current policy, Maintenance of Traffic Plans (MOTs) are considered and approved for individual projects without sufficient regard to cumulative community impacts. For example, there are currently two large projects planned for the intersection of Woodmont and Bethesda Avenues (one of which is anticipated to close an access portion of Woodmont Avenue for two years), two along Arlington Boulevard, and at least one along Wisconsin Avenue near Montgomery Avenue – all which may come to fruition within the next few years and continue on for several years. Access to essential services such as grocery and drug stores which are in the vicinity will be greatly restricted and therefore the impact on our community will be immediate and significant. We may have no choice but to go into the District for such services until all projects are completed and therefore businesses will suffer as well from such uncoordinated, large, simultaneous projects as are currently anticipated for the next several years.

Likewise, we are concerned about the potential for overcrowding at our area schools with the continued influx of residential development of apartments and town homes. Therefore,

- We support the proposed revision to use the Montgomery County Public Schools program capacity figures and endorse the proposed change to discontinue the current practice of borrowing enrollment capacity from adjacent school clusters. We feel strongly that portable figures should not be included in figuring capacity, particularly as the County is committed to eliminating them altogether.

- We do, however, think that a 135% of capacity level as the point at which approval should not be granted is too high and that a lower level would be much more appropriate in light of existing crowding at our local schools.

We will also submit these comments for the record and appreciate the opportunity to provide you with our views on ways in which the proposed growth policy could be improved to better manage future growth, especially in already highly highly developed and congested areas such as Bethesda/Chevy Chase.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Marc Elrich on Growth Policy

Marc Elrich wrote the following letter regarding the changes to the County's growth policy proposed by the Planning Board:

The Planning Board has handed its draft of the Growth Policy to the County Council and it’s decision time. Now is the time for you to get involved. Now is the time for you to contact the Council about why the rate of growth and development and how we pay for it is important to you.

There are some good proposals, some bad and one very bad recommendation in the Planning Board’s Final Draft Growth Policy.

GOOD - The impact fees are higher. For the first time, the proposed development impact fees generally reflect the true cost of providing the needed roads and schools to support new development.

GOOD - The school test is a vast improvement over the current test and is based on the class size reductions that the County is trying to make.

BAD - A School Facilities Payment would allow developers to buy their way into overcrowded school districts and dump more students into schools already at 110% - 135% capacity.

GOOD - The draft Growth Policy explicitly focuses on facility, fiscal, economic, environmental and social sustainability.

BAD - The environmental factors need to be much stronger. It doesn't matter how much traditional infrastructure and services we provide if our air is poisoned, our streams are dying, our farms are being paved, and our planet's baking.

BAD – It acknowledges the importance of police, fire & rescue, and other facilities (such as parks, libraries, recreation and health) but only recommends guidelines - not real tests - for determining adequacy.

GOOD – The Policy takes the quality of development design into consideration as a factor in our quality of life.

VERY BAD – The proposed transportation test is no test at all. It is virtually impossible to fail no matter how bad the roads are. The new Policy Area Mobility Review (PAMR) is so bad that it may negate all the good in the Policy. Unbelievably, the PAMR test declares that the current transportation system throughout the entire County is adequate! We know that just isn’t true. The PAMR test disregards the congestion which locks up most major County roads because you can always ride a bus. So the draft Growth Policy would allow developers to pour more and more traffic on a non-functioning road system, simply because someone might ride a bus. For example, a street with a speed limit of 40 mph is considered adequate if it averages 10 mph in the rush hour and buses average 7.5 mph! As far as this test is concerned, congestion is not a problem.

There’s one test it doesn’t pass –and that’s the laugh test. It tells County residents that the problems they face everyday don’t exist and don’t matter. We can and must do better.

It is true we wanted to collect higher fees that reflect the cost of infrastructure, not for the sake of collecting money, but in order to build the necessary infrastructure. The guiding principle of a sound growth policy isn't how to soak developers, but how to insure that we have the infrastructure that we need. If we can’t provide the infrastructure, no amount of money will make it better. We need realistic fees, but more than that, we need realistic tests. We need tests that allow development to proceed only when the infrastructure is truly adequate. If all we do is collect money, then we fail.

This is a call to action. You need to let the Council know that you want a Growth Policy that makes a more livable County, not policies that trade off our quality of life for a pile of cash. We need a growth policy that reflects three basic principles.

1) Impact fees that reflect the cost of providing the infrastructure for new development.

2) A school test that makes it possible to achieve the school systems goals for class sizes that help our children learn.

3) A transportation test that allows development where the infrastructure is adequate using standards for adequate that meet the community’s expectations. And in places where the roads don’t work, then development isn’t allowed to proceed.

What can you do? Again three easy steps.

1) Write your councilmembers and tell them what you expect in the Growth Policy. Send an email or letter to the Council President, your four At-large and one district representatives. Write in your own words even if it is very short. Form letters and forwarded emails are not effective.

2) Write letters to the newspapers and let them know you care.

3) Attend the public hearings and make sure your voices are heard. The Growth Policy is much of what the 2006 Council elections were all about. Public hearings are June 19, 8:00pm and June 26, 7:30pm. PHED committee deliberations are June 27, July 2 and July 9.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Bring in Da' Noise?

Marc Fisher muses on the problem of noise pollution but it is the reader comments that are a real eye opener. This is one topic on which everyone has an opinion.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Purple Line Advisory Committee

Want to help plan the Purple Line? Now is your chance according to the following MNCPPC press release:

The Montgomery County Planning Board seeks applicants for a community advisory committee to work with its planners as they craft a plan for the proposed Metro Purple Line, slated to connect Bethesda and New Carrollton.

The advisory committee will help planners analyze the transit line's potential impacts on the community. Called a functional master plan, the resulting product will lay out the Planning Department's recommendations for the type of transit - light rail or rapid bus - alignment, and station locations in Montgomery County.

The Maryland Mass Transit Administration (MTA) is in charge of the Purple Line project and continues to study and seek funding for the line. The Purple Line functional master plan will provide a framework for the Montgomery County Planning Board to react quickly to the MTA's recommendations for the alignment of either light rail or rapid bus transit, expected by summer 2008.

Prospective Purple Line advisory committee members will attend frequent meetings through fall 2008. Other tasks will include considering environmental issues and resident concerns and ensuring conformance of the proposed Purple Line with other county master plans. The Planning Department staff plans to hold public outreach activities in concert with the advisory committee.

Representatives from civic groups, businesses, residents, environmental organizations, property owners and the general public are encouraged to apply for representation on the advisory committee by submitting a letter of interest by Friday, July 13, 2007 (details below).

Send letters of interest to:

Tom Autrey, Transportation Planning Division
thomas.autrey@mncppc-mc.org
Fax: (301) 495- 495-1302

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Chevy Chase Town Council Meeting

The Council of the Town of Chevy Chase will hold an important meeting tomorrow. Among other issues on the agenda will be:

Adoption of the budget for fiscal year 2008;
Public Hearing and Council Action on an Ordinance to Amend Chapter 4 of the Town of Chevy Chase Municipal Code to Modify Provisions Related to Structures, Fences, Walls, Trees, Hedges, Shrubbery and Other Plant Growth on Public Property Devoted to Private Use; and
Public Hearing and Council Action on an Ordinance to Amend Chapter 4 of the Town of Chevy Chase Municipal Code to Modify the Method of Calculating the “Established Building Line”.

The budget includes the appropriation by the Council to look at the impact of the proposed Purple Line light rail on the Town. The Council already held a hearing on the topic as well as the budget as a whole, so town residents will not be able to speak on it. However, town residents can participate in the two public hearings as well as during the public comments section.

Teachers Could Answer Questions

Montgomery County plans to revise its sex-ed curriculum after seeing the results of the pilot project this past semester:

Montgomery County sex education teachers would be allowed to tell students who ask that homosexuality is not a mental illness under a last-minute change to new lessons that go to the school board today for a politically charged vote.
Superintendent Jerry D. Weast informed school board members in a memo yesterday of a one-sentence addition to the lessons, which are proposed for all eighth- and 10th-grade health classes in the fall. The lessons were field-tested at six schools this spring.
The extra sentence could be key to preserving the support of the board. Board members have faced mounting pressure from an advisory committee -- made up of parents, educators and representatives of various constituencies -- to bolster the lessons with statements that counter misconceptions about homosexuality. A closely divided board rejected adding such language to the teaching materials in January, when they were approved as a pilot.
"If students ask the question, they're entitled to an answer," said board member Patricia O'Neill, who had planned today to propose adding similar language.

One day, people will wonder how we could spend so much time debating something so obvious.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Odd Pro-Purple Line Letter

Supporters of the Purple Line sent out a letter to Kensington residents arguing that the Purple Line will save Kensington residents from traffic:

How often do you find yourself stuck in Beltway traffic? If you're like me, too often. But we here in Kensington have the opportunity to do something about the gridlock and pollution that frustrate all of us.

I'm sure you've heard of the Purple Line, a new light rail Metro line that has been proposed to connect Bethesda, Silver Spring, the University of Maryland, and New Carrollton. This connection will allow commuters to take Metro between the two branches of the Red Line without going all the way downtown, providing easy access to a rejuvenated Silver Spring. It will connect us to Amtrak in New Carrollton. It will bypass the Beltway traffic jams that deny us convenient access to the academic, sports, and cultural resources of the University of Maryland. And it will provide access to the ever-more-popular restaurants of downtown Bethesda without dumping more cars onto local streets.
The enclosed fact sheet shows how the new Metro line will fit into the existing system. Kensington residents would be able to board Metro at a new Chevy Chase Lake station, directly across Connecticut Avenue from the T.W. Perry lumber yard.

. . .

Thirty years ago, the residents of Georgetown blocked construction of a Metro station. Since then, Georgetown has become choked in traffic and parking lots. Meanwhile, Bethesda has turned into a vibrant center of activity. Do we want Bethesda to go the way of Georgetown, or do we want to maintain and enhance its character?

One wonders if the author has ever driven in the area. The letter touts how the Purple Line will make it easier for Kensington residents to access Bethesda and its restaurants. However, no one in Kensington would ever drive to Chevy Chase Lake, pay for parking, and then pay to ride the light rail to Bethesda. Bethesda is such a short distance from Chevy Chase Lake that they would simply continue on to Bethesda in their car and park there. Moreover, this scenario assumes that there will be available parking at Chevy Chase Lake.

Similarly, why would people ride the Purple Line to New Carrollton when the Red Line to Union Station, where the trains originate, would undoubtedly be quicker.

Moreover, Bethesda already has a Metro stop so the situation is not exactly parallel to Georgetown. Is Ballston destined to fail if no new light rail is built there? In any case, Georgetown has hardly ceased to be a "vibrant center of activity." Indeed, Georgetown is certainly choked with traffic because of its continuing popularity. In any case, Bethesda traffic doesn't exactly move fast during high use periods even if it is not yet at Georgetown level. Of course, Bethesda's streets don't date from the colonial period either.

Is this the best argument that Purple Line supporters can come up with for the proposed light rail?

Thursday, June 07, 2007

First in War, First in Money and Last in the National League

Well I got back from my first Nationals game today with closer Chad Cordero serving up a gofer ball on his third pitch of the ninth inning for a heart-breaking 3-2 loss, the Nats remain in last place, we still are leading the way in Iraq leaving only our position of peace in doubt. With apologies to Charley Dryden, who as the sports editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote the famous line "Washington -- First in war, first in peace, (and) last in the American League...," I see where my home county is leading in something, rah, rah, rah.

My first post to this blog a few weeks ago told of the three-fer we had with Edwards, Obama and Richardson visiting in the span of a few hours. It is no big surprise -- money.

Clinton and Obama are leading in the collection of money from MoCo. But Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd is ahead of Edwards, Richardson and Biden for 3rd place on this list. Interesting...

On the Republican side, it is Romney followed by Giuliani with McCain somewhere down in the middle of the pack. As Arte Johnson's character would say "verrry interesting..."

What is interesting is how much the GOP comes to MoCo to raise money almost as much as the rest of us. Then again MoCo has the most Republicans in the state. Making Montgomery County -- first in Republicans, second in Democrats and last in successful ballot initiatives.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Kosovo Report

I have arrived in Montenegro but you can read all about my visit to Kosovo over at the Agonist, including metrosexuals in the Balkans, why Kosovars love Americans, and the future of Kosovo. They really do like Americans over there. You can shop at a store called Hillary located next to the Route 66 diner on Bill Clinton Blvd. It's sort of like Rockville Pike in Pristina, the capital city of Kosovo--the country is small but the scenery is nice, particularly the spectacular mountains which surround much of Kosovo.

Saturday, June 02, 2007

The Doug Duncan Library???

Well it looks like only a thumbs up from County Executive Ike Leggett separates the new Rockville Library from being renamed in Doug Duncan's name.

My question does not lie in naming something after the three-time County Executive but rather in what's the rush??? Is Duncan on his death bed? Personally he looks great to me.

There is a standing County Administrative order that nothing can be named after someone until they are five years out of office. (Conveniently buried in the last line of the entire article.)

What's the point of having such a rule if you end up ignoring it the very first time you have to use it?

This headlong rush to name something has been led by County Councilman George Leventhal from day one. I understand why George is so hot to trot on this matter. Duncan added him to the "End Gridlock" slate in 2002 without which George would have had a much harder time getting on the Council. So I applaud George for wanting to honor his benefactor. It shows loyalty. Something that is sorely needed.

Still all the applause for Duncan is morbid. I don't like it. It sounds hollow to me; not genuine. Both at the Spring Ball and at the swearing-in for the new Council in December Duncan was feted more with eulogies than honors. You usually name something after someone is dead (or no longer a threat) and the last time I looked our former County Executive still has a pulse. Duncan is a young man (at least to my middle age eyes) and he has "some game" left.

So I ask why now?

Another item left unmentioned in this article is that the two members from Rockville, Duncan's base, are against it. City Councilwoman, Anne Robbins, and local resident Gayl Selkin-Gutman were the two "no" votes. What does that tell you? Disconnect in his hometown perhaps.

Still I return to my only concern -- yes, honor Duncan with something -- but how about following the guidelines that currently exist.

Let's table this idea until December 2011. That is five years and see what the folks want. If Ike wins re-election in 2010 then he will still be Executive when the time limit has passed and he will still honor a man he worked with for many years. I expect George to still be with us and he too can lead the parade for his "Rabbi" (Chicago political speak for your mentor).

I expect there will still be something left in the county to name in his honor another library, a road, a school, a park in 2011.

Naming the library after fallen soldiers from the latest war -- folks that actually have died; not the figurative wreath that is being placed around Duncan's neck now -- is the more genuine one. Fallen warriors should trump living politicians.

Naming the library after Duncan, who played a small role in its design, reminds me of the rush to honor President Reagan with an airport that he had no role in creating. We can do better than that.

Honoring Duncan will be more sincere if the full five years have past. Right now it looks like he has died and this confirms it with a rush to honor a man that has dominated the county for the past twelve years.

Let's spend some time between now and December 2011 thinking of a proper way to honor Doug Duncan. He deserves it.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Maryland Blue Crab Vote

The state Democratic party has been running a Presidential Poll that anyone can participate in. I have. And I think it is interesting to see what the opinion is of those who have voted. It is obviously unscientific so the blog owner here, who is a college professor, may bounce me for even mentioning something so crass. But as the ol' saying goes "when the cat is away the mice will play". So play I will.

Unlike the buzz on the national scene for Obama and Clinton, in our corner of the world Obama is basically kicking butt of all announced candidates -- and not only Hillary's but Edwards and Richardson and the rest of the crew.

The fact that Gore is in second confirms what I have gotten when talking with other political activists the past month or so. Gore seems to be the reprising Mario Cuomo's 1992 role as the favorite son who sits on the sideline with his plane set to take-off and no one on board. I know of several local electeds who would sign up for Gore tomorrow if he announced today. But so far he is doing a Cuomo.

So without the afterglow of Gore's Inconvenient Truth we have a race of Obama and Clinton. I still am undecided between Edwards and Obama. But I am leaning towards Edwards.

Obama seems to be the Howard Dean of 2007/8. It seems all the new political activists are for Obama as they were a political generation (four years) ago. Like I was in 2004, I want Obama to do something to justify his high standing. But maybe it is as one hard-core supporter of Barack's told me after their organizing meeting pre-Spring Ball "about half of the people in the room were never involved in a previous campaign." So Obama seems to have found a way to expanded the base of Dems that the others can only dream of.

Edwards is holding firm in the 3rd position. Can he break away from the rest of the pack and join Hillary and Barack at the head of the parade? He is the strongest 2nd choice candidate. So there is hope for him.

Things will heat up with the 2nd Democratic debate this Sunday on CNN. I plan on getting together with some other activists to see how the players play. I will report on my findings. Until then watch to the MD Dems web site and be ready to vote for your favorite candidate when June rolls around.

Remember, the cat is away. ;)

A Million Little Pieces

Read my first post from Kosovo's capital, Pristina, as well as how "you can't get there from here" in the former Yugoslavia which is done splitting up just yet.

Planning Chair Agrees with the Gov

WTOP reports:

As studies ramp up on the proposed Purple Line, which would connect Bethesda to New Carrollton, transportation officials seem to be looking much more toward the below ground option.

Royce Hanson, chairman of the Montgomery County Planning Board, talked to the Maryland Transportation Authority about it.

"Right now they are doing an alignment study, looking at where the line should go exactly and determining how much of it should be a tunnel or on the surface. And, they are placing a lot more emphasis on tunneling than they had in the past," he says.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley would seem to agree with that assessment. He recently gave a speech to transportation officials asking, "Could you imagine if people 30 or 40 years ago had said, 'We want to build a Metro system, but it all has to be above ground and it can only be fast bus.' What kind of region would we have?"

However, building tunnels is expensive. New state-of-the-art boring systems are very costly as Virginia has found out in the Tysons rail debate. In Maryland, where the state is facing a seriously depleted transportation trust fund, expenses will be even more closely monitored.

The Purple Line is proposed to run through Chevy Chase, Silver Spring and College Park.

"To the extent that tunneling is used, it will probably be less controversial," says Hanson. "But these matters have to be worked out in terms of what ridership is, what cost would be, and we are many months away from having those answers."

Looks like the State is getting more serious about considering tunneling.

Friday, May 25, 2007

Good Morning, Novi Pazar!

You can read my posts over on the Agonist on language politics in Yugoslavia (do Bosnians need a translator to understand Serbs?) and random observations on Novi Pazar.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Mike Miller On Political Pulse

Maryland Senate President Mike Miller will be on the "Political Pulse"political talk show on Channel 16 TV in Montgomery County on Thursday, May24th at 9 p.m. and Tuesday, May 29th at 9:30 p.m.The main topic will be the looming $1.5 Billion budget shortfall that theState is facing and the possible solutions thereto. Also, President Miller discusses his possible retirement, other bills passed during the 2007 Legislative Session, working at his family's general store when he was a teenager and the Iraq War.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Good Morning, Novi Pazar!

You can read my first post from Novi Pazar (means "New Bazaar" in Serbian) over at The Agonist. Still no news on the Purple Line but you can read about how people at the local university run by the Mufti of Novi Pazar think that Wahabism is a bad influence on Muslims who make up a majority of this city's population.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Hello from Belgrade

Hello to all. I've arrived safely in Belgrade. It is wet and chilly here--oddly like it was in DC last month when my friend from Belgrade was visiting us! You can read my cranky description of travel here and some fast first impressions over at The Agonist. Of course, the most harrowing part of the journey by far was trying to check in at Dulles.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Purple Line Planning Meeting

Pam Browning, a leader in the fight to save the trail which currently exists along much of the route of the proposed light-rail version of the Purple Line, sent me the following comments on the Purple Line Planning meeting held yesterday:

The light rail Purple Line is all about development. It was conceived over 20 years ago as a single track trolley--not to solve transportation problems--but as a way to raise development ceilings in Bethesda and along Connecticut Avenue. That explains why there has never been a need for ridership studies. Yes, Sec. Porcari indicated that their studies have shown low projected ridership, but when Senator Madaleno asked Mike Madden for the studies, Mike told him that there had been none since the 1990's. (That's either amazing or unbelievable.) Those earlier studies, by the way, showed greater ridership for the Outer Purple Line.

Now, at today's Planning Board Meeting, Mike Madden stated that their recent ridership data indicates that folks along the eastern part of the Purple Line aren't so interested in using transit to get to Bethesda, but instead are interested in short rides to get to Metro, etc. Mier Wolf pointed out that MTA could save a lot of money by providing Ride-On Buses.

To reinforce the point that development fuels the Purple Line, Ed Asher also came before the Planning Board today and asked the Board to write Chevy Chase Land Company's development plans into the Functional Master Plan. This would be Mega Development around the light rail station on Connecticut Avenue, where CCLC owns 23 acres on the east side of Connecticut Avenue! MTA had previously asked CCLC to develop plans for the light rail station there. CCLC also owns property on the west side of Connecticut Avenue, but Asher said he wouldn't make any requests of the Planning Board regarding that property--today.

You may recall, CCLC was a big (not so popular) player in the development of Friendship Heights.

No doubt Purple Line proponents vehemently dispute her assertions but the lack of ridership studies to back up this major capital investment was a major and shocking surprise to me when I first learned about it. The state and county studies of the Purple Line should include an analysis of the impact on traffic on Connecticut Ave. and other major arteries as a result of new development permitted as a result of the creation of the light rail. My hunch is that most new trips generated by development at Chevy Chase Lake would be taken by car and that there would be a net increase on traffic on both Wisconsin Ave. and Connecticut Ave.

You can see Mike Madden's presentation from the meeting yesterday online. Chevy Chase residents can likely expect an encore performance at the Town Meeting on the Purple Line on June 6th at 7PM in the Town Hall.

P.S. I welcome the comments from "purple line supporter" (I like to think civil dialogue is always welcome even if some of the opinions expressed aren't the same as my own) but would also encourage him or her to identify him or herself, as I do on this blog.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Iowa ... for a day

Welcome readers. As a two-timing participant of the Iowa Caucus you get use to seeing Presidential candidates, their surrogates, high level campaign people and talking heads at the local pancake cook-off. So getting to meet a candidate in person is as normal as road rage... oops wrong analogy. Well, yesterday our little corner of the world was better than Iowa.

Political attention when it is focused on the Capital Region is almost always on the White House and Congress, not Montgomery County. In the span of three hours we had John Edwards, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson come for visits. Normally local political junkies need to travel to New Hampshire the site of the nation's first primary to get this close and personal with the candidates, although face time at two of the events cost serious money. So Montgomery County is in play as part of the key first primary: the money primary.

John Edwards and Barack Obama came for fund raisers at private homes in Bethesda and Potomac respectively. Bill Richardson was at a free event sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council and held at Ohr Kodesh Congregation on East-West Highway. Barack's fund raiser was at the home of Josh Rales, the former Democratic US Senate Candidate.

I was able to attend the Edwards event in Bethesda gratis. I have not endorsed Edwards but my choices have been narrowed to either Obama or Edwards. My Illinois roots pine for the hometown Obama; while my most recent past (I supported Edwards in 2004) pulls for the Carolinian.

This was my first time meeting Edwards and he is as charming in person as I expected. He obviously loves people as he worked the room quickly but not so quickly that it resembled a NASCAR race -- more like an Amish buggy race, first gear but focused.

His theme was an unusual one for Presidential politics. Having heard over a dozen Presidential candidates over the years, I expected something about the deficit, health care or bad, bad Bush. His theme was international. But not the obvious war in Iraq. Rather it was how we could be a source of good in the world rather than being viewed as a bully.

He talked about how we could fund free primary schools across the globe, including here for a few billion (yes, billion) but that was pennies compared to what we are spending on the war with the collateral damage of being the aggressor in Iraq. That spending this money would get young Muslims out of the madrases and therefore away from the recruiters of terrorism. According to Edwards, we would not go it alone. (Maybe we would finally have a "coalition of the willing" that was welcomed.) He envisioned an America that was patriotic without the rest of the world staring down the barrel of a gun.

So it was not the red meat type of speech that I expected from someone running for Mayor of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue but I did notice that Edwards connected with his audience. As a trial lawyer, he is skilled at leading folks to a conclusion. Now is this a winning message? Hard to say. Can this be packaged into a 30 second commercial? I doubt it. Should America's next C-I-C be asked what role we should play on the world stage when our credibility has been destroyed by Bush's blind revenge protecting his father? Yes.

I could not make the Richardson event and the Obama event would not open the doors for me like I got from the Edwards camp, so if you attended one of these two events please post here and share with us what you observed.

The politics is warming up and it is not from global warming. It is the money season.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Welcome Kevin Gillogly

I am getting ready to travel to Serbia, Kosovo, and Montenegro for three weeks for the State Department. In Serbia, I'll be lecturing about American democracy over the course of a week at the University of Novi Pazar, a majority Muslim town in the Sanjak region near the Serbian border with Montenegro. In Kosovo, I am talking primarily about different models of managing ethnic divisions in democratic countries--an appropriate topic as Kosovo is currently administered by the United Nations and divided between its Albanian majority and Serbian minority. Finally, I am finishing up in Montenegro. Hopefully, this time I'll avoid dislocating my shoulder during my visit to this beautiful country which has become independent since I last visited it in 2004.

As this blog about Maryland and not about the Balkans, I'm pleased that Kevin Gillogly has agreed to pinch hit at take over while I'm away. Here is how he describes what he has been up to politics-wise for the past few years:

I have lived in Silver Spring / Wheaton since the early 90's and got involved in local elections when my state senator ran a long-shot race for Congress; he won. Emboldened by Chris Van Hollen's win in 2002, I joined the Democratic Party as a precinct official in District 18. In 2006, I joined up with another long-shot race that of Marc Elrich for County Council for At Large. My track record is 2 for 2 for local issues. Recently moved out of District 18 and now live in Colesville a few blocks south of the proposed ICC. Hmmm maybe that should be my third battle. Good things always happen in threes.

Kevin is a lively observer of the local political scene so I am pleased that he has agreed to drop in while I'm away. If you're curious about what I am doing in the Balkans, you can drop by The Agonist. Internet permitting, I am hoping to blog there about my travels.

Gov Supports Subway Purple Line

In a speech on transportation, Gov. Martin O'Malley stated that he prefers a "subway" version of the Purple Line instead of various above-ground alternatives:

The region has ‘‘one of the greatest Metro systems in the world,” he said. ‘‘But it will not continue to be the greatest if we don’t invest in our own time.”
He pledged to ‘‘advance the Purple Line,” which is envisioned as a light-rail line or a rapid transit bus line.
O’Malley said he prefers a subway system for the Purple Line, which has yet to receive federal approval. An ‘‘obsession” with above-ground lines and rapid bus service has ‘‘stymied the Red Line in Baltimore,” he said.
‘‘Can you imagine if people 30 years ago, 40 years ago, said, ‘We want a Metro system, but it has to be above ground and fast bus’?” he asked the audience. ‘‘What ... kind of region would we have?”

The interconnection between a subway version of the Purple Line and and the already existing Red Line would be much quicker and smoother. Above-ground light rail or rapid bus options would require changing lines via a bank of elevators, probably like the Jenifer St. entrance to the Friendship Heights stop. Besides being safer, it would also save all of the thousands of trees along the existing trail from destruction.

I Feel Thinner Already

Montgomery County has banned trans fats:

Montgomery's measure follows similar legislation in New York and Philadelphia, which ordered trans fats removed from restaurant menus this year and next. The county's new health regulation will take effect in January for restaurants and other establishments serving food and in January 2009 for establishments offering baked goods, other than packaged goods made outside the county.
Sara Lee cakes, for example, will be exempt. Dunkin' Donuts, which bakes doughnuts in its stores daily, will have to comply. The annual church supper, which fits the county's definition of a food service establishment, would have to stop using trans fatty oils unless organizers get a waiver from the county health department. Foods with 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving are allowed.

Locals may miss some treats at the Tastee Diner though:

Gene Wilkes, owner of Tastee Diners in Bethesda and Silver Spring, said the ban will force him to eliminate certain items, such as lemon meringue pie and chocolate cream pie, which he buys from a supplier. His popular biscuits, made in bulk at the diners from a General Mills mix that contains trans fats, will be a no-no. He said he'll begin making them from scratch, most likely.
Wilkes said he has begun to use healthier oil for deep-frying and grilling. And soon, butter, not less costly margarine, will be on the hundreds of pieces of toast his 24-hour establishments serve each day. But he is annoyed about the treatment of packaged foods.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Chevy Chase Donates $10,000 to Rosemary Hills

The Chevy Chase Town Council voted unanimously to donate $10,000 to help upgrade the playground at Rosemary Hills Elementary School, located in the town, at its meeting last week. According to the presentation made by a committee of parents, staff, and the principal, this funding brings the total amount raised to around $25,000. Hopefully, other municipalities in the school district will help them meet their goal of raising $40,000.

At the same meeting, Linna Barnes and Rob Enelow were sworn in for new terms by Town Clerk Andi Silverstone. The Town Council also elected new officers for the upcoming year. Mayor Linna Barnes, Vice Mayor Rob Enelow, and Community Liaison Mier Wolf will retain their posts while Kathy Strom and Lance Hoffman will swap. Kathy will now serve as Treasurer while Lance will serve as Secretary.

The Town will host a meeting on the Purple Line on June 6th at the Town Hall. After a presentation by MTA Project Director Mike Madden, town residents will have a chance to comment on the project. Speaking order in the comment period will be determined by numbers distributed starting at 6:30PM.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Will the Terrapin Kill the Purple Line?

The Washington Post reports that eight students wrote the University of Maryland administration to support the Purple Line:

In an April 25 letter, eight students urged university President C.D. Mote Jr. to "become an outright champion" of the proposed Purple Line, saying the school's "relative silence on the project is casting an unneeded shadow of uncertainty on the planning process." Tunneling a train beneath the College Park campus, as administration officials have urged, could make it prohibitively expensive, the students said.

They asked university officials to avoid "mistakes" made with Metro's Green Line. The College Park station was built almost a mile from the campus of 35,000 students, requiring an inconvenient walk or shuttle bus ride. The letter was copied to 30 federal, state and local political leaders.

However, much like opponents of the above-ground light rail elsewhere, administration officials would much prefer an underground version of the Purple Line:

Henry Kay, the MTA's deputy administrator for planning and engineering, said state officials agree that an aboveground line would be more viable. A one-mile tunnel beneath the campus would cost roughly $200 million to $300 million, about 10 times the cost of a one-mile aboveground line, he said.
Kay said university officials have long favored an underground system out of concern for pedestrian safety along busy Campus Drive, the school's main road, where a transit line probably would run. Although the exact location of a campus station hasn't been determined, Kay said, it probably would be near the campus center.
"We're working to convince them it can be built and operated safely," Kay said. "We've seen a lot of examples elsewhere where light rail or buses operate through campuses in a very safe way."
The university "is a major constituency along the line," he said. "We're not going to implement this project over their objections."
Daddio said the students were responding to a letter that J. Frank Brewer, interim vice president for administrative affairs, sent to state officials in late March, stating that "the university does not see 'at grade' [light-rail transit] as an option in the center of our campus."

The Diamondback reports that the University's lack of support for the light rail could be the final blow to the project:

But with a price tag that could exceed $1 billion, questions remain about whether it will receive the necessary federal funding.
Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-Prince George's and Anne Arundel) said the university's uncertain stance could quash the Purple Line's growing support.

While the university has no official veto on the transit-way, Peña-Melnyk said its clout has made its blessing essential to push similar projects through local bureaucracies. In the past, the university's political pull has won millions of state dollars for conducting traffic studies and building new academic buildings.

"Perhaps we could go forward without them, but it's better to act with honey than vinegar," she said. "The university doesn't have a vote, but any project needs consensus."

If the school opposed the plan, "that will kill the project," Peña-Melnyk said. "Dr. Mote needs to retract that letter."

Associate Vice President for Facilities Management Frank Brewer said the university did not oppose the Purple Line, but rather any alignment that might run it at ground level through Campus Drive.

"It's a safety concern," he said. "If you've been at Campus Drive in the middle of the day, it's just the most congested place in the world as it is. The Purple Line would just add conflict."

Instead, Brewer proposed an underground track or routes that would skirt the campus periphery.

But Madden said cost constraints forced the MTA to rule out both options long ago. MTA traffic monitors have already scouted the road, and will release a traffic study to clarify the Purple Line's potential impact this summer.

Remember that there isn't even a ridership study that validates the idea of building the light rail above ground. The politics of this proposal increasingly look bad. Its political support is wide but not very deep. Councilman Steve Silverman made the Purple Line the centerpiece of his unsuccessful well-funded county executive bid last year. Gov. Martin O'Malley supports funding the Purple Line but he has made the ICC his first priority and also supports the Baltimore Red Line as well as the Upcounty Corridor Cities light rail which have far less opposition. Our green governor may also be reluctant to tear down thousands of trees along the existing trail--a necessary part of the project. Did I forget to mention that the state faces a $1.5 billion deficit?

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Stormwater Management

Only in her second year in the General Assembly, Delegate Jane Lawton (D-18) sponsored the major piece of environmental legislation to pass this year. Here is a synopsis of the legislation which was lauded by the Baltimore Sun in an editorial:

The Stormwater Management Act of 2007 is the strongest stormwater law in the country. It requires developers to use Environmental Site Design (ESD) as the primary method for managing stormwater. The purpose is to curb urban runoff, which is a significant and growing source of pollution in our State's tributaries and in the Chesapeake Bay. Urban run-off carries pollution from parking lots, roads, and other impervious surfaces to the Bay. This run-off carries nitrogen, phosphorous, bacteria, sediment, insecticides, herbicides and metals such as copper, lead and zinc. These are the pollutants which are destroying sea life in the Bay and are harmful to its recreational use as well. If runoff is not managed properly, it also washes out streams, as the rainfall hits asphalt and accelerates the heat and the flow, entering streams at speeds that erode stream banks and scour stream floors.

This legislation is needed to ensure that as development increases, we are doing all we can to protect our tributaries and the Bay. The facts show that low impact design techniques are usually less expensive in the short and the long term. Such site design is a versatile planning tool and flexible enough to be used on most projects. The bill provides that when ESD cannot work, the developer is allowed to use standard management practices. The new regulations are not applied to small projects like infill development on single lots.

Makes me proud I worked on her campaign.

Duchy's Letter on Virginia Tech

In a letter to the Washington Post, Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At Large) rightly points out the lack of funding and coverage of mental health programs:

The May 7 front-page article "Cho Didn't Get Court-Ordered Treatment," about the failure of Virginia's mental health system to get treatment to Virginia Tech shooter Seung Hui Cho, missed an important point. It is one thing for judges to order that individuals get help, but if there aren't comprehensive, fully funded and effective treatment programs in place, such directives are merely good intentions with no place to land.

It is not the fault of judges or of families of the mentally ill when society's goals are thwarted by the system's shortcomings. It is the responsibility of political leaders to ensure that treatment programs are in place. As a clinical social worker, I agonized with families about the emotionally and financially draining path to recovery, a road that is full of obstacles and setbacks. As a government official, I'm dedicated to public services that provide families with the resources they need to help loved ones.

The Virginia Tech tragedy can help us to understand that in cases like this we must not blame the victim, the courts or law enforcement.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Where the Sidewalk Begins

According to the Gazette, Kensington Councilman Al Carr is pushing for a new sidewalk as a way of improving pedestrian safety in his town along Connecticut Ave.:

Mayor Peter Fosselman started planning the meeting in March following the death of Karen Shprintz-Grossman of Potomac. The Temple Emanuel schoolteacher died from injuries sustained after she was struck by a car while crossing Connecticut Avenue at Dresden Street.
Three fatalities have happened near Dresden Street since 1991.
‘‘Connecticut Avenue is not the Beltway,” Chris Schiponi, of Kensington, told the panel of representatives. ‘‘How many people have to die in our town before you take action?”
A sidewalk on the southbound side of Connecticut Avenue from Washington Street south to Saul Road may help reduce pedestrian fatalities, Carr said.
‘‘You can walk from the District all the way up Connecticut on sidewalks except for the gap right here,” Carr said of the missing sidewalks on that stretch of Connecticut Avenue.
Officials with the State Highway Administration said in 2002 that installing a sidewalk was possible but expensive, and not much has changed in five years.
In 2002, a steep slope in the area would have required larger easements from property owners and retaining walls to hold back the dirt at an estimated cost of $228,000.
County Councilwoman Nancy M. Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park, who once served as mayor for that town, said she noticed improved driving conditions on Strathmore Avenue after SHA expanded the sidewalks and installed more streetlights. . . .
Del. Jeff Waldstreicher (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington said he lives near the University Boulevard intersection and noticed a ‘‘bottleneck” effect that may be causing problems all along Connecticut Avenue.
‘‘We need to ease the traffic through the community core,” he said. ‘‘Traffic slows so much right there that when people get freed they jet out of there.”
Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington said the state lawmakers could hold SHA’s ‘‘feet to the fire” in order to keep traffic discussions and solutions coming.
Steps need to happen to develop Kensington into a community where residents feel safe walking around town, Madaleno said.

Pedestrian safety was also a factor in WMATA's surprise decision to cancel development at the Forest Glen Metro stop:

As residents continued to raise concerns about pedestrian safety in and around the Metro area, and county officials worried the project may not mesh well with the surrounding single-family detached homes, however, WMATA has stopped the talks with developers.
The next step for WMATA is to continue working with Montgomery County and the State Highway Administration to ensure community concerns, specifically pedestrian safety, are addressed before any other plans are formulated, Bottigheimer said.
Community members are happy that the Metro property will remain untouched for now.
‘‘We were very encouraged to hear them talk about pedestrian safety,” said Adam Pagnucco, a member of the Forest Estates Community Association. ‘‘That’s what we want to hear.”
The nearby Forest Glen Road and Georgia Avenue intersection was named the most congested intersection in the county, according to the 2006 Highway Mobility Report, which was released by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and some residents have called for a tunnel under Georgia Avenue.
Pagnucco said residents were concerned about the already congested intersection getting worse with added housing and the school system being inundated with more students than it can handle. He said nearby Oakland Terrace Elementary School already has several portable classrooms and is about 300 students over capacity.
Paul Gordon, president of the Forest Estates Community Association, sarcastically called the intersection ‘‘our favorite intersection of death.”

No doubt the County's sluggish housing market also played a role in killing the project for now. Hopefully, any new plans will address these pedestrian safety concerns when WMATA is ready to try again.

Gazette on Planning Board Meeting

Someone at the Gazette must have thought my remark at the Planning Board Forum on growth policy in Montgomery County was pretty snappy; they made it their lead quote in their article about the meeting:

The County Council needs to make more realistic decisions in forming its policy that guides and limits growth in Montgomery, residents said at a public forum Saturday at the county Planning Board’s offices in Silver Spring.

‘‘Building a whimsical bench by a bus stop does not mitigate traffic,” said David Lublin of Chevy Chase.

‘‘Let’s stick to the plan ... not allow these little fudge factors that allow the plan to become eight times larger than the plan says,” said Lublin, who was among about 100 residents and others with interests in development at the meeting.

I confess to wishing the second quote had been more coherent but I hope the gist of the idea was clear.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Report on Growth Policy Forum

The Montgomery County Planning Board held its Growth Policy Forum on May 5th at M-NCPPC headquarters in Silver Spring on Saturday. I attended the meeting along with Pat Burda, the Chair of the Town of Chevy Chase Long Range Planning Committee.

Presentation of Growth Policy Recommendations
Karl Moritz, Chief of the Research and Technology Division of the Planning Department, presented the report and recommendations of his department's Growth Policy Study. The actual report is long and hard to digest so I recommend the Summary Report to get a good overview of the recommendations. It would be great if the Department would post a copy of Mr. Moritz's powerpoint on their website. Unfortunately, his presentation was longer than the hour alloted to it so some important slides whizzed by the audience.

The recommendations were complex and hard to digest. However, a few points grabbed me. The Planning Department made a few recommendations that should tighten measurements of growth capacity which should make it harder to gain approval for new developments or subject developers to increased fees if developments are approved.

First, the Planning Board wants to revise the definition of school capacity so that the definition is closer to the MCPS definition of capacity. They also suggest raising the school facilities payment, the extra money a developer pays when projected increases in students are above the capacity of the schools to absorb them. The staff also recommends that the practice of borrowing capacity from another school cluster should cease.

I believe that Mr. Moritz admitted that this fee has never been assessed in the past and no development had been stopped due to problems of school capacity. However, I couldn't tell if this would change if the staff recommendations are adopted. Did anyone else who attended the meeting catch the answer to this question?

Changes in the calculation of transportation capacity were also proposed by Planning Department staff. The primary recommendation was the adoption of new standard for assessing whether an area has additional capacity called the Policy Area Mobility Review (PAMR). Without going into the gory details, places with better public transit and less traffic will tend to pass this test which appears to measure the length of time it would take to make a trip either by transit or by car.

I couldn't help but notice that virtually all areas of the County would be deemed to have additional transportation capacity under the proposed standard. One wonders if the standard was selected independently of knowledge of its impact on growth policy. While Jim Humphrey questioned the new measure, I wonder if any problems with the standard relate more to the levels deemed acceptable rather than standard itself.

Panel Discussion
After this introductory presentation, Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson emceed a lively panel discussion on growth policy which even included "lightening rounds". (Maybe he can replace Bob Barker if this job gets too tough?) The panelists came from diverse backgrounds. Business interests were well represented. Georgette "Gigi" Godwin is President of the MoCo Chamber of Commerce. Chris Weber is the Director of Planning for Federal Realty, perhaps best known as the largest developer in downtown Bethesda. Bob Spalding is a project manager for homebuilder Miller and Smith. Ralph Bennett is the President of Bennett Frank McCarthy Architects, which designed both King Farm and Clarksburg Town Center. Leonard Bogorod is a real estate consultant with Robert Charles Lesser & Co.

Advocates of limits on growth or major changes in development policy in MoCo were also well represented on the panel. MoCo Sierra Club Vice Chair Pam Lindstrom and Neighbors for a Better Montgomery Executive Director Drew Powell were both on the panel. Jim Humphrey is Chair of the Planning and Land Use Committee for the Montgomery County Civic Federation and a longtime advocate of limits on growth. Amy Presley is President of the Clarksburg Town Center Advisory Committee and led the team that uncovered the violations of county laws which plagued that development.

Jim Soltesz is President of Loiederman Soltesz Associates, a major planning, engineering, and environmental services firm. Stuart Rochester is best known as a historian and author of Honor Bound: American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, but has been involved in land use issues for two decades and lives in Burtonsville. The panel discussion was lively and interesting but ran over the expected time by about 30 minutes which was a pity because it began to feel repetitive in the last 20 minutes.

Pro-development advocates expressed feeling appalled at the idea that the County was reaching "build out" (i.e. that additional growth in the County should cease) and argued that growth adds revenue to the County which enables it to provide services. They (and Mr. Moritz) pointed out that growth was slowing down in percentage terms, a factoid made less compelling by the basic math fact that an increase of 100,000 people is a smaller percentage increase on a larger population base.

Panelists disagreed about the idea of greater density at Metro stations. Pam Lindstrom repeatedly mentioned that studies of growth in Arlington showed that greater density around Metro stations resulted in no increased traffic. However, another panelist stated that only around 20% of people who lived near Metro travelled by Metro.

Several panelists mentioned the need to take into account the environmental impact of growth, though there was naturally debate about whether this cost should be borne by additional fees placed on development. Bob Spalding argued that many of the increased fees which were already in the proposal would significantly raise costs to developers and translate into higher home prices, though I wondered if at least part of the cost would be absorbed by the developer as lower profit even if his point had some merit.

Chris Weber articulated the importance of providing incentives to encourage development where the County wants it to occur. I think this may have simply meant that the County should continue to build and maintain garages and support the Metro (and other similar public amenities) as in downtown Bethesda. At this point, I think it is safe to say that Federal Realty needs no further encouragement to develop its properties there as they are already chomping at the bit.

I should add that Mr. Weber was disarmingly honest, admitting that he was part of the transportation problem as he and his family live in Howard County and he commutes around 30 miles to his office in Montgomery every day. The "Chris Webers of the world" became a synonym for people with long commutes by the end of the meeting.

Someone else pointed out that the Kentlands and King Farm occurred within Rockville and Gaithersburg and that thinking should occur about how to encourage similar smart growth developments in unincorporated parts of the County. Anyone have any thoughts or comments on this point?

Community Input
The two most influential members of the audience were Council President Marilyn Praisner (D-4) and Councilman Marc Elrich (D-At large). Marilyn Praisner took to the mike for a few minutes before the community got going. Both councilmembers spent a good deal of time at the meeting and talking with attendees.

Virtually all of the comments I heard during the portion of comments I was able to stay for seemed to ask for further tightening of capacity standards for growth. One woman asked how the Planning Department staff could view so many schools as having additional capacity with all of the portable classrooms around the County. Another vehemently argued that there was no more transportation capacity in East Silver Spring.

Your gentle blogger also stepped up to the mike. I called for eliminating the ability of developers to get around transportation capacity limits through the provision of various amenities that do nothing or almost nothing to mitigate traffic. The audience applauded when I said something along the lines of "a whimsical bench at a bus stop does not mitigate traffic."

I also argued that the ability to buy and sell air rights subverted the intent of the Master Plan. For example, if the developer of the Pier One property on Wisconsin Ave. successfully acquires the air rights of the nearby church, the developer will be able to construct a much taller building which will loom over adjoining neighborhood of single-family homes.

The increased height will make it harder to achieve the transition desired between the high-density commercial district and the single-family home residential area. It will also make it less likely that the design goal of having tall buildings near Metro but declining height as one gets away from the location of the stop. In short, I was trying to argue that builders should be able to construct buildings within the Plan that fit within the character of the area but should not be allowed to use these measures to build larger developments than originally envisioned in the Master Plan.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Controlling Growth MoCo Style

Montgomery County's Planning Board has begun considering new strategies for controlling growth. Taxes are definitely on the agenda:

In a wide-ranging discussion that will continue for several sessions, the board offered little comment about the proposals outlined by its staff in a report of more than 300 pages. But the call for higher taxes appears to mirror recent comments by Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson, who told a County Council committee last week that drastic measures, such as a major increase in the gasoline tax, might be needed to have a real impact on traffic congestion.

Among the board staff's proposals are doubling taxes that builders pay to fund schools to $21,000 on a single-family detached home; nearly tripling taxes for transportation to $10,810 on a single-family detached home; and increasing the recordation tax on residential home sales from $6.90 to $10 per $1,000 of home value.

Montgomery is already well-known for having the highest transaction costs for acquiring a home of any county in the nation, though I imagine that the new taxes will help cover more of the costs associated with new development. Of course, the home recordation tax would impact not just the sale of new homes but old ones as well.

Some may also question whether the county needs to work to control growth when the County has just experienced its slowest population growth in years. On the other hand, they continue to build condos like gangbusters in Bethesda and I imagine that the builders expect someone to buy them, so they current slow in population growth may just be a lull.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Another One Bites the Dust

The much-debated Purple Line light rail won't go down Sligo Ave. in Silver Spring:

The state has eliminated one proposed route for the Bi-County Transitway that would go down Sligo Avenue in East Silver Spring, though other alignments in that neighborhood are still being considered that would feature tunnels.

. . .

Planners are still studying two proposed alignments in East Silver Spring, Madden said. One route would snake from the Silver Spring Transit Center down Bonifant and Ripley streets at grade to Wayne Avenue. Another would go down Thayer and Silver Spring avenues.
Both routes are designed to move the transit system from the Silver Spring Transit Center to Long Branch. Ultimately, the transitway will run from Bethesda to New Carrollton.
MTA is considering deep tunneling along part of the alignment down Silver Spring and Thayer avenues, Madden said.
‘‘Originally we thought it would have to be constructed by cut-and-cover,” he said. ‘‘Now, based on our analysis, we’re only considering deep tunneling.”
With cut-and-cover construction, MTA would have dug a trench for the transit system to run in, then covered it with a roof. It is usually considered less expensive than deep tunneling, but in this case, Madden said, the costs do not appear to be that different because the tunneled portion of the route would not be that long.
East Silver Spring residents support deep tunneling, Colvin said. ‘‘We would like to see deep tunneling completely under East Silver Spring.”
Residents do have some concerns about the two remaining proposed alignments — like how traffic will be affected, for instance — but support mass transit and are willing to find a mode that suits the neighborhood, Colvin said.

If deep tunneling is the way to go and viable in Silver Spring, why not consider it elsewhere?

On Political Pulse

Miranda Spivack, a reporter for the Washington Post who has written a series of interesting articles on issues arising from the current Montgomery County budget battles (and one today on apparent overtime abuses in certain parts of the County Government), will be on the Political Pulse TV Show on Thursday, May 3rd at 9 p.m. and Tuesday, May 8th at 9:30 p.m.

Political Pulse is on Channel 16 TV in Montgomery County.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Chevy Chase Election Results

The Town of Chevy Chase has just posted the election results. Incumbent Councilmembers Linna Barnes and Rob Enelow were reelected. Rob Enelow placed first with 345 votes followed by Linna Barnes with 309 votes. Scott Orbach fell short in his bid to return to the Council after his defeat last year with 161 votes. Six votes were cast for write-in candidates.

A total of 458 ballots were cast, including 110 absentee ballots. Only two ballots were spoiled. Interestingly, 97 people decided to bullet vote and cast a ballot for only one candidate based on the results. I suspect that most of the single-shot votes went to Scott as Linna and Rob were jointly endorsed by a couple of groups of town residents. However, one cannot really know if this is so without examining the ballots.

My interpretation of Rob and Linna's victory is that this is a resounding vote of support for the Town's new strategic plan and approach since the moratorium. The results should provide a major boost for several initiatives over the next year, including efforts to use the Town's new authority for the state to further regulate development and redevelopment as well as the expenditure of monies to assess the impact of the Purple Line. I think residents also supported the Town's efforts to promote an environmentally-friendly town as all candidates--an idea supported by all candidates.

It is also a validation of the effort to have a more inclusive and participatory process in running of the Town. All Town Councilmembers now spend a great deal of time working with committees composed of town residents. When Bill Hudnut was mayor, he worked hard to promote civility even as the Town discussed extremely contentious issues. I think Linna and Rob have worked hard to continue and build on this approach and voters supported that as well.

Congratulations to Linna and Rob. Thanks to Scott as well--elections matter a lot more when someone takes the time and effort to put themselves out there to provide voters with a real choice.

Chevy Chase Town Meeting

Yesterday was a busy day in the Town of Chevy Chase. We voted to elect two members of the Town Council--returns are still pending--and held the annual town meeting.

Kudos to Sue Hill and the other members of the town election committee along with the town staff for making sure that the elections ran like clockwork. Under their leadership, the Town extended election hours earlier in the morning. The elections were also widely advertised, including signs posted by the entrance to the Town reminding people to vote.

All four members of the District 18 state legislative delegation (Sen. Rich Madaleno, Dels. Jane Lawton, Ana Sol Gutierrez, and Jeff Waldstreicher) spoke at the Town meeting about the recent legislative session. Sen. Madaleno touted the major success of Del. Lawton, a former mayor of the Town, in sponsoring the major piece of environmental legislation which passed this year. Karen McManus came to represent Rep. Chris Van Hollen's office.

The chairs of the Town's five committees reported to the Town. Community Relations Committee Chair Monica Medina explained that her committee was recruiting block party captains to help organize block parties around the Town. Interested residents should contact Belinda Wilborn at the Town offices.

Environment Committee Chair Joan Rood outlined how her committee is working on ways to enhance the Town's tree canopy, including providing new incentives for planting new canopy trees. The Environment Committee is also seeing if the Town can participate in the County's proposed RainScape initiative through which the County would help residents figure out how to absorb more storm water on their property. Finally, the Committee is working on developing a Town noise ordinance since the County's ordinance is unenforced.

Land Use Committee Chair Julia Miller said that her committee has assisted a Town in hiring a company to figure out how to use the new authority that the state has granted it to regulate land use as well as the setback ordinance. Presumably, this means that the Town will consider taking a more aggressive approach toward regulating development and redevelopment in the Town once their company produces its report.

Long Range Planning Committee Chair Pat Burda reported on the many matters being followed by this committee, including the efforts by yours truly to track development in Bethesda, including the potential of projects at Woodmont Ave. and Bethesda Ave. to close both Woodmont Ave. and access to the tunnel under Wisconsin Ave. for long periods. The committee is also trying to get the 4-H center designated as legacy open space and buffer open space around the west edge of the Town. In addition to also monitoring Purple Line developments, the Committee is also considering potential changes to the governance structure of the Town.

Public Service Committee Chair Bill Pritchard rounded out the committee reports with his committee's efforts to improve public services, including efforts to get PEPCO to work to reduce the number of power outages in the Town.

Treasurer Lance Hoffman delivered a lightening fast report and extremely thorough report on the state of Town finances. The good news is that revenues from the Town's share of the state income tax are up dramatically over the past few years, enabling the Town to both improve services, run a surplus, and set aside money to purchase open space or for capital improvements. The amount of revenue collected from the property tax has remained stable due to consistent reductions in the property tax rate. The budget is available online and I think (and hope) that Lance plans to post the excellent graphs from his powerpoint there as well.

Mayor Linna Barnes then conducted a hearing on the proposed budget and the tax rate. Most discussion focused on the Town's potential expenditure of $250,000 to assess the impact of the proposed light-rail on the Town, or least examine the state study. Many people spoke on both sides of what turned out to be the issue of the day. John Barnes led off the discussion with a firm statement lauding the Council's approach on this and other issues, urging the Council to "get on with it."

I argued that it is appropriate to place a place marker in the budget for this expenditure. The new transportation would allow more development and density at both Chevy Chase Lake and Bethesda which could have an enormous impact on traffic on Connecticut Ave. and Wisconsin Ave. and the Town. At the same time, there is no ridership study indicating how many people the Purple Line light rail would carry and thus that this is a wise capital investment--a point brought home even more strongly by David Steeds.

Opponents politely pressed for a study which would represent all viewpoints, or argued that the study was unnecessary as the state plans to spend substantial amounts on its own study. Several proponents of the expenditure, including Pam Browning and Terry Banks argued passionately that the Town should fight to protect the existing trail as valuable and beautiful green space which would be destroyed by the light rail.

No doubt more will be heard at the hearing on the issue to be held at the Town Hall on June 6th. I hope the discussion is as civil as it was last night. While people testified on the budget last night, the budget will not be finalized by the Town Council until after the hearing.

After setting the town tax rate at 2.3 cents per $100 of assessed valuation (a rate that the people of Chevy Chase Village can only envy as their pay many multiples of that for their independent police force), Mayor Linna Barnes adjourned the meeting.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Monday, June 25, 2007

Friday, June 22, 2007

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Friday, June 15, 2007

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Monday, June 11, 2007

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Friday, May 25, 2007

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Friday, May 18, 2007

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Monday, May 14, 2007

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Friday, May 04, 2007

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Blog Archive

Maryland Politics Watch's Fan Box

Followers

Contributors

Disclaimer

MPW Series

Links

Our Comment Policy