The Endless Season of Politics as Usual in Prince George’s County

    It is election time in Prince George's County and the sign-stealing, character assassinating, issue avoiding campaign process is in full swing. And, to keep the county in a state of agitation and the pot boiling, so to speak, the County Executive and the County Council Chairman are continuing their non-conversation extending the eight years of figure pointing right up to the bitter end. The hospital is on life support, and the Chair of the Council is suggesting yet another analysis of the cash situation, which even the least among us knows is dire. On the other hand, the County Executive has sent badly needed cash that is apparently from the county's general fund in such a manner as to preclude council oversight or action.
    Bruce Depuyt, on his NewTalk blog at TBD.com, reports that the transfer, according to the County Council Chair, "appears to circumvent the budget process and may be illegal." The nature of the report highlights the parochial bickering that is a feature of ineffective government on the part of all the players. How is it possible that we are talking about the legality of a transfer to a critical institution rather than talking about how we are going to fix the problem of the Hospital's chronic cash flow? In deed how is possible that we are still talking about the unresolved financial problems of the hospital at all? We are talking about a transfer that might have taken place by other means, but one way or another is needed to address the unbillable costs of providing primary care treatment to the Washington area's uninsured.
    Prince George's County has spent eight years with a council and executive at odds with each other for a myriad of impenetrable reasons spotlighted by attacks on and of personalities. Part of this is our own doing, for gathering together in special interest groups representing local areas, communities or projects, we demand that our elected official pay attention only to our particular special needs. Our single-minded pursuit of our own special interests guarantees that our politicians and their politics mirror the county to a tee. Eight years and we still have not addressed the operating cash position of the hospital system. In a building owned by the county, there are no resources or support to upgrade the facilities; no plan as to how we are going to operate in the 21^st
    The problems of the hospital are large and difficult, but we can not solve even the small problems without personal attacks. And woe unto a supporter who does not blindly rally around the politician, let alone dare a critique, for he or she is quickly denied access and consigned to political limbo. There is no ability or place for agreeing to disagree; everything in Prince George's County is one way or the highway. The fractured politics of Prince George's County enables groups with money to take charge of the dynamics of decision making filling the vacuum of an electorate in self inflicted disarray now encouraged by moneyed interests..
    The question should be: Why does the hospital still need cash support from without? How many more studies do we need? And let's remember it is election time. What is the coherent, cohesive plan for the cash strapped hospital? Where is the proposed in detail plan of action by the candidates for county executive? How will they address the root problem of the hospital and health care, and, as importantly, how will the council and the executive solve this seemingly endless crisis together?
    I hear no plan, I see no plan - there is no plan. But I am aware of the efficient sign stealing program, the determined, focused efforts to suppress dissent and discourage debate of new ideas and old policies, and the assorted, sundry slams at candidates' characters. In this Prince George's County's politics is second to none. As I wrote earlier, a candidate for executive with a clear, concise plan has no chance to be elected. County executive campaigns running towards a political center are unelectable in Prince George's County

The Politics of Fear in Prince George’s County

    Sadly politics in Prince George's County is rarely about the issues but rather always about the cult of personalities. Instead of debating differences in positions, some of the political class tries to make the pressing issues of the day disappear in favor of sign stealing and assorted non issue tricks of the political campaign trade such as information obfuscation.  While things are bad at the council level campaign, it is worse in the county-wide executive race. Here issues do not matter at all. The history of race relations "colors" the political calculus, and one candidate may win by taking advantage of the split with in the African-American community. Environmentalists, conservationists and preservationists are lining up behind the candidate who is supported by the same interest group that wanted to develop east along the Patuxent. At this point, the traditional environmental community that has no connection to the existing African-American communities and rarely addresses issues of environmental justice wants to elect those who believe development consists of paving our way to prosperity.

    Meanwhile, the traditional African-American power centers are fighting each other much in the same way that Baltimore fights Prince George's County in State policy questions rather than building a coalition of political dominance. By having two strong determined candidates focused on one another, the possible front runner is allowed to finesse his divergent constituents' positions and needs It is amazing that environmentalists have so soon forgotten the way of the world under the previous administration in their haste to latch onto a personality with whom they feel comfortable at the expense of their ideals and causes.

    Which candidate do we really think is going to protect the last open spaces? This is the question that is not being answered. For many it is a needless question for they see plenty of land crying for development and pavement. Which candidate do we think the "land development at any cost means prosperity" special interest is more likely to support? The inability to talk about development as the only tool of economic prosperity of course presumes that land is infinite. The short term thinking has no plan for what happens when all the green space is covered, because the interested parties will have made their money and moved on and out. Instead of debating the pros and cons, I hear conversations about intellect and judgments of personal capabilities made by people from afar through the lenses of factoid journalism handed out in 30 second sound bytes.

    So let me be clear: the issues of development and the environment are being subsumed by issues of race and class. This is outrageous, unfortunate and dangerous to the future of the county and its ecosystems that provide services to all the people who live here. Which team of interest groups will be more likely to defend green spaces and river ways, clean air and clean water, parklands and natural areas: those from the administration that came before the Johnson team or those who struggled to right the environmental wrongs and set us on a new course of action. Who is going to stand up and say no to more pavement and concrete in the rural tier and work to bring true quality of life development to our established communities beyond the building of an occasional strip mall or industrial storage units?

    Prince George's County is steeped in the politics of patronage, in itself not a necessarily bad thing, but here taken to an extreme. Once one publically endorses a candidate woe is to him if his candidate does not win. So we speak not of issues but of personalities couched in the racial code of intellect and charisma ignoring the actual discussion of the best policies for the county. Should we develop the rural tier? Yes or no. Should we encourage more mall retail services into our developing tier? Yes or no. Should we be concerned about the demands on our service infrastructure development in the south county will bring and who will pay for this over the long run? How come it is more cost effective to build a new mall than to rehab and old one? How can we bring quality jobs through business development initiatives to our established communities instead of encouraging more bedroom subdivision development for people who work outside of the county? The discussion and debate between those who believe in developing everything and those who believe in limitations on developments as a sole economic engine is a necessary and needed conversation with the truth most likely being somewhere in between.

    In the end, politics in Prince George's County is based upon fear born of history and kept alive by self-interests. Fear of having no influence, fear of race and fear antagonizing the land development industry and the unions. This fear is why we steal campaign signs and why we are constantly chastised by the Washington media which, through its negative reporting, encourages the fractured, parochial politics that infest our discourse and actions in Prince George's County. We are better than this Prince George's; we have nothing to explain to anyone; we have only to stop being afraid.

Let’s Compare Arthur Turner's Accomplishments to the other 4 Candidates for Council in Prince George’s County District 6 rather than Steal his Signs

    Stealing my "Arthur Turner for Prince George's County Council District 6" sign by walking 40 plus feet onto my property inside my 6 foot fence into my field has moved me from passive to active support of the only man qualified by his record of citizen support for the position. Trying to silence my opinion now leads me to a louder statement of support of Arthur Turner and a closer look at the record of active county involvement over the last 15 years of all the candidates. I am not interested in familial relationships, but in demonstrable action. I am not swayed by whom one knows, but by what one has accomplished.


    I have to wonder what the criteria for support was used by the media, given a cursory comparison from the internet of Arthur Turner's record and advocacy, as compared to the other four candidates:

	THE OTHER FOUR CANDIDATES		ARTHUR TURNER
Davis	Title I Program Family and Parent Involvement Coordinator for Prince George's County Public Schools		1. Coalition of Central Prince George's County Community Org. – President
Davis	The ARC of Prince George's		2. Towns of Kettering Home Owners Association – President
Davis	Prince George's County NAACP		3. United Communities Against Poverty (UCAP) – Chair of Board
Davis	Chaired, Freddie Mac Early Childhood Grant Fund for the Prince George's Community Foundation		4. Prince George's County Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee -Former Chair (3 Terms)
Davis	Elected to the Prince George's County Democratic Democratic Central Committee in the 25th District		5. Prince George's County Chamber of Commerce Quality of Life Committee – Former Chair
Davis	Appointed to Park & Planning Commissions Airports Advisory Committee		6. Elected Vice-Chair to the Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee (25th Legislative District)
Davis	Appointed to the 2000 Prince George's County Charter Review Commission		7. Board of Directors Prince George's County Library Foundation – Member
Davis	Appointed by the Governor in 2007 to the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund (MAIF) Board of Trustees, Derrick was elected Chairman of the Board in December		8. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA – Blue Line Extension Advisory Group Committee) – Member
Johnson	Shaw Area Optimist Club		9. Largo-Lottsford Area Sector Plan—Planning Advisory Group – Member
Johnson	Girl and Boy Scouts		10. PEPCO Community Advisory Group (CAG) – Member
Johnson	Shiloh Baptist Church Sunday School		11. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA – Transit Oriented Development Advisory Committee) – Member
Johnson	Ivy Community Chairites of Prince George's		12. Prince George's County Citizens Police Academy – Graduate
Johnson	Washington Fisk Alumni Association		13. Andrews Air force Base Honorary Commander
Johnson	St. Mark;s Volunteers		14. Leadership Prince George's-Graduate
Polk	police officer with the county for twenty three years		15. Volunteer of the Year." Awarded by the Maryland Community Action Partnership/Maryland Head Start Association
Johnson	Sisters to Sisters Empowerment		16. "Bridge Builders Award." Presented by The Prince George's Community Foundation
Johnson	Largo High School PTA & Cheer;eaders		17. Appointed Prince George's County Liquor Inspector.
Johnson	NAACP Freedom Fund Award		18. Spent hundreds of hours meeting with developers, their attorneys, and the MNCPPC to negotiate for the options we want
Johnson	Literacy Council of Prince George's		19. Leading voice for upscale retail and quality, white tablecloth restaurants, fighting long and hard for the shopping and dining experiences
Johnson	Prince George's Coomunity College Foundation		20. Worked for the opening of Arena Drive-Beltway Exit 16 24 hours a day
Johnson	Prince George's County Community Foundation		21. Opposed to the construction of Jack Kent Cooke Stadium
Polk	Police officer with the county for twenty three years		22. Leading advocate for better customer service at our existing restaurants and retail stores
Polk	Mentor Attorney to other attorneys participating in the Maryland Pro Bono Foreclosure Project		23. Reached a landmark agreement with the developer of the new Capital Heights Shopping Center. The developer agreed to our demands that no fast-food restaurants
Polk	Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Board of Trustees, where he is currently the Vice President		24. For over a decade a leading voice calling for Prince George's County to diversify our economy by focusing on federal and state government agencies and attracting them here
Bethea	Prince George's County resident for over 20 years		25. Convened a hearing of the Maryland Board of Public Works to discus moving the Department of Planning to Prince George's County
Bethea	District Court Commissioner-Prince George's County		26. Over 70 links to articles that chronicle thousands of hours that 27/ Arthur has invested as an unpaid volunteer
Bethea	Maryland State Police-Communications-Prince George's County		27. Community involvement and activism was featured in the Prince George's Suite magazine
Bethea	Counselor for Intellectually Challenged Individuals		28. Long-time advocate and supporter of the Kettering Largo Mitchellville Boys and Girls Club
			29. Arthur acted and led a community-based group that was successful in its fight to keep the Forestville State Police barracks open

Stealing Signs Prince George’s County Politics

    This afternoon, September 4^th, I walked the 1200 feet to get my mail and saw that my Arthur Turner for Council sign had disappeared and so saw the signs of a campaign turned ugly. Someone is running scared. Someone running for Councilman Dean's seat is afraid of Arthur Turner and his record of action and his accomplishments. Someone had to walk onto my property some 40 feet from the road and over my horse fence to remove the sign. Instead of a record of involvement, someone is running a race of darkness with no record of having done anything for the citizens of the 6^th district in Prince George's County; he or she has nothing better to do than to trespass and steal political signs.


    It is no secret that I have worked with Arthur for over 15 years on many volunteer boards serving the community as an unpaid volunteer. I can personally attest to Arthur's track record? Where is the record of citizen involvement of the other candidates? If another candidate has an equal or better record, why steal signs? Why not speak about his or her accomplishments? Perhaps the answer is that the other candidates do not have over ten years of community involvement, so the only thing they have is theft.


    Arthur Turner has been there when the community needed a voice. Where were the others? A quick check of the web sites of those seeking to represent Prince George's shows Arthur commanding the activist high ground relegating, I suppose, his opposition to the low ground of stealing signs.

•Coalition of Central Prince George's County Community Org. – President

•Towns of Kettering Home Owners Association – President

•United Communities Against Poverty (UCAP) – Chair of Board

•Prince George's County Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee -Former Chair (3 Terms)

•Prince George's County Chamber of Commerce Quality of Life Committee – Former Chair

•Board of Directors Prince George's County Library Foundation – Member

•Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA – Blue Line Extension Advisory Group Committee) – Member

•Largo-Lottsford Area Sector Plan—Planning Advisory Group – Member

•PEPCO Community Advisory Group (CAG) – Member

•Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA – Transit Oriented Development Advisory Committee) – Member

•Prince George's County Citizens Police Academy – Graduate

•Andrews Air force Base Honorary Commander

 

Am I biased? You bet. Am I now mad? Durn straight. Will I use the remaining days and this blog to shine a light on what the other candidates have been doing, or not doing, for the last 15 years to support the county? Count on it! Should have left my sign alone, and spoke about your accomplishments; the idea that someone who would stoop to this thinks he or she should be a political leader is outrageous.


If you want change, you need Arthur Turner; if you think stealing signs will solve our problems, vote for….

A Conversation with Michael Hethmon; Candidate for Md House of Delegates district 27A

    A couple of weeks ago in August, I had the opportunity to sit down with Michael Hethmon, a candidate for the House of Delegates in 27A, a sprawling two-delegate district which includes Accokeek, Clinton, Cheltenham, all of the South County south of Route 4 and east of Highway 301, plus the northwest quarter of Calvert County.

We talked for two hours about his views and ideas for his district, for Prince George's County and for Maryland. Thoughtful in his research, philosophically prepared in his politics and wide ranging in his knowledge, Mr. Hethmon comes to the political arena with substance behind his positions. His views are consistent across a wide range of issues that face District 27A, the county, the state and the nation.

    Mr. Hethmon is a conservative in the widest meaning of the word. He is dedicated to conserving natural resources for future generations, he is determined to conserve the traditions that have enable society to reach this point in history, and he is drawn to a fiscal sense of responsibility that depends upon the inherent conservation of options that a balanced budget brings. Hethmon is quite certain that the political process in Maryland is broken in large part because of the 112 years of one party control of the state legislature. In his opinion, this unitary system does not readily allow for new ideas. He wants, for example, to "shift spending from out-of-control entitlements to needed infrastructure and promote tax holidays for businesses that create new high value jobs in Maryland". Hethmon is eager to participate in the reapportionment process that will be taking place next year to, in his words, "…end the gerrymandering of my district, 27A,"

    The philosophical under-pinning of and impetus for Mr. Hethmon's policies and political positions are seen in his idea of a "…three-legged stool of population sustainability issues, institutional change issues in the legislature, and the structural budget deficit facing the state." He is convinced that "…the unwillingness of the political leadership to acknowledge the interdependence of these factors is fueling a "race to the bottom" in Maryland, along the lines of what is happening in California." It is this carefully crafted and considered line of reasoning that links his views into a coherent policy position. The interconnectivity and conservation relationships reinforce Mr. Hethmon's positions and build a rational and logical statement of principles that guide his political understandings and his points of view.

    Mr. Hethmon is engaged and focused on natural ecological system preservation and conservation, from historical preservation to environmental protection. He is very aware and informed about ecosystem resources and the value they add to public quality of life expectations. He is quite specific in his recognition that there is only a finite amount of land, and that economic development based only upon building on open spaces is unsustainable. He is vocal in his support for a transparent open process that will protect and enhance the eco-resources of the county and the state. He proposes to "save the Bay by fighting taxpayer-subsidized sprawl [and would use] cutting-edge land use practices" to protect ecosystem services.

    Along with environmental resource protection, Hethmon is active in historic preservation issues and lives in an historic house in Croom. Preservation of tradition and conservation of resources go hand in hand with the needs of small business – something Mr, Hethmon knows about as he helps his wife run her granite fabrication business, Granite Grannies Inc., in Upper Marlboro. As a property owner and as a business person, he is aware of the flood of costs that are incurred daily in order to maintain a house and a business. He is engaged in his neighborhood, sharing his legal expertise on land use and environmental issues of importance to the neighborhood and District 27A.

    In keeping with the understandings of Dr. Malthus, Mr. Hethmon's world view notes the finite nature of resources and, accordingly, the limited ability of nature to supply basic resources to an ever-increasing population. With this in mind, Mr. Hethmon would work to "screen out illegals from Maryland jobs and taxpayer-funded public benefits with the proven federal E-Verify and SAVE eligibility screening programs." He is determined as a Delegate to enforce existing laws equally and to distinguish sustainable legal immigration.

    The core idea of conservation extends to the arena of social policy. From making parents responsible for student discipline to steadfastly protecting the traditional definition of marriage as an institution between a man and a woman, Mr. Hethmon has thought through the power of conservation and offers it as a viable alternative to other world views. Consistent, creative and collaborative define Mr. Hethmon.

    I could have talked with Mike for another two hours, but the Amish market needed the table and we needed to go face the challenges of the day. I was impressed by his rational, well thought out, disciplined approach to conservation and conservative policies. He recognizes the importance of consensus, and the power of new ideas. He is not afraid to challenge the status quo, quite willing to support what works and fix what does not in the House of Delegates, and seek solutions that truly benefit the citizens as a whole.

Prince George’s County Dumps $19 Million More on Bad Idea

    The politicians of Prince George's County and those in Russia in the Kremlin share an affinity for short selling ecological resources for parochial near term gain of a few well placed individuals. In Russia a country that spans 11 time zones, the last old growth oak forest supposedly protected by law, is scheduled to be paved over for a interstate project; in Prince George's County a critical wetland and ecosystem refugia is scheduled to host a county-wide waste transfer station. Once completed these two projects for ever change the dynamic natural services in the interest of near term progress. Both governments think they can pave their way towards prosperity by using up every bit of their fast disappearing natural resource systems, using them up in a non renewable fashion. Neither government has a plant as to what happen next.

In Russia the government recognized through planning and law the value and importance of the almost five hundred acre forest. However. short economic expediency has made the forest a target for a road to connect Russia's two major cities. The forest has no presentation in the Russian government and so it is least expensive route for the new road. Likewise the wetlands of the middle Patuxent recognized by local and national agencies, is doomed to short sighted solutions to a long term problem. The wet lands of this Maryland river are already dramatically impacted by lax local officials who look the other way when "[t]reated sewage, also called effluent, saturates Jug Bay waters. The Western Branch tributary in Prince George's County, 1 mile west of the Sanctuary, holds the largest WWTP [Waste Water Treatment Plant] within the Patuxent River watershed. This treatment plant processes waste from throughout a large section of Prince George's County and releases up to 20 million gallons of effluent daily into the Western Branch. Western Branch, in turn, empties into the river. At times during the year, over 50% of the water in the Patuxent River has been processed in a waste water treatment plant." {Jug Bays Wetlands Sancuary) As in Moscow, politicians are addressing much needed infrastructure challenges by taking the path of near time least resistance.
    Calculating the costs to the resources such as clean air or clean water are not part of Prince George's County's simple arithmetic. In fact the now 19 million dollars of proposed over runs suggest that the county is incapable of doing any calculation whether environmental or budgetary. The bill to address the growing costs of the ill-conceived water transfer station was heard last week – CB-12-2010 An Act concerning the issuance and sale of General Obligation Bonds to finance the Waste Transfer Station capital project in an amount not to exceed Nineteen Million Six Hundred Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars ($19,675,000). The Patuxent Riverkeeper, Fred Tutman, told me that "[t]he irony is that there may be some broad truth to the idea that onerous uses are not fairly distributed in the County, but heaping a fresh industrial trash venture on top of a region related to the drinking water supply and where the County has already spent millions and decades preserving open space is pretty silly."
    How did the citizens of Prince George's County get into this mess? First it seemsthat our county leaders have decided that no one will need needs clean water or clean air in the future or that it will magically arrive from somewhere free of charge; that there is no value in green space that can not be superseded by the immediate economic gain of a few continues to bedevil planning. Then there are historic issues that color the conversation, "The familiar shell game of taking noxious uses and sticking them on the community that lacks power du jour, or that is the "odd man" out is a protocol from a different era. It has outlived is usefulness. Surely we know that any neighborhood that hosts such uses takes a black eye? This is especially true in this latest instance when the selected site is an especially bad and unacceptable site for this purpose." Hiding a bad site choice under the very valid concerns of historic abuse of minority and economically challenged neighborhoods is symptomatic of our current random development process. Our leaders expect to be able to create a quality county by legislating planning and development one small parcel at a time with no concern as to how the pieces fit together, and much like as in Russia they do this by creating isolated community interests divided against one another inside a larger plan that benefits a few today and costs everyone tomorrow. 
   I am going to let the Patuxent Riverkeeper, Mr. Tutman, eloquently sum things up: "… a stronger truth is we don't want it [the Waste Transfer Station] adjacent to a nature preserve or draining into Maryland's deepest and longest intrastate river. The simple "truth" that these uses have to go somewhere does not soften the bitter blow that wherever they go produces blight and injustice. Whether in Russia or Prince George's we need to get wise that these pitiful choices are not solutions at all. Such measures only defer real solutions. All over this land, the landfills, dumps, incinerators, rubble fills, feed lots and other projects that bring waste, blight, a legacy of smell, ugliness and yes, social stigma to any host neighborhood is the product of expedient politics. We spoil land and place forever, stigmatize communities and conduct business as usual. Someone has to suffer? It has to go somewhere? It was your turn? Pretty hollow stuff. The only thing more certain than our need for convenient places to dump our trash is our penchant for bad politics. How sad, how bad, how wrong."

See also:

Friday, October 30, 2009 Land-use, Leadership, Elections, and Prince George's County

Monday, July 20, 2009 Prince George's County Council invades the rural tier with intense zoning change at last minute

Thursday, March 26, 2009 Prince George's County's 19th century land use plan

Sunday, March 22, 2009 Does Prince George's County have a Plan - that means anything?

Friday, September 19, 2008 Endangered Species of the Western Branch of the Patuxent River also:Upper Marlboro development to feature a hotel with trash site over look

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 Prince George's County proudly decides:A waste transfer station in the county seat also: Waste transfer station on the Patuxent River

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 Upper Marlboro's New Development Center Piece

Conversation with Arthur A. Turner, Jr

Sitting down with Arthur Turner to talk about the people and politics of Prince George’s County is something that I have been doing for almost 15 years. And sitting down with him is a stretch, for Arthur has always been a man on the move. I met Arthur in the 1990s when both of us were new members of the Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee. Even now I can hear Arthur asking me about details of the 2000 General Plan with his characteristic straightforward queries about upscale shopping, commercial and professional office space, and county infrastructure plans. Arthur worked tirelessly for access to Arena Drive. Demonstrating his reach and connections to seats of power and to decision makers, Arthur worked with three Governors, Glendening, Ehrlich, and O'Malley to seek the funds necessary to have the project included in the budget, and followed the project through to completion. When I met Arthur he was a community activist and leader and he still is; having grown in experience and knowledge but still the same Arthur to me – focused on the good of the people he loves and the well being of the county in which he lives.

Arthur has always had a holistic approach to the needs of the county and its diverse communities. He has called repeatedly for development that creates quality work and opportunity for the people of Prince George’s County. He has never been afraid to speak his mind or to act for the communities he loves. As an example, Arthur was a part of a lawsuit against the former owner of the Washington Redskins, Jack Kent Cooke. The suit was in opposition to the building of FedEx Field. As a concession to Arthur and his group, the Coalition of Central Prince George's County Community Organizations, Jack Kent Cooke built the Sports and Learning Center at his cost and give it to the county. Because of Arthur’s efforts, County residents have been enjoying the Sports and Learning Center for 11 years now.

He has consistently demanded funding for libraries and schools, for community centers and recreation for all the citizens of the county. For the decade and a half that I have known him he has not been afraid to speak truth to power whether it is development around Metro stations or the construction of the Purple line. Arthur has always asked why Prince George’s County can’t have the benefits from development that have accrued to other jurisdictions. Determined to bring to Prince George's County needed upscale shopping centers with upscale stores, Arthur fought long and hard to get the Woodmore Towne Centre project approved through the maze of the Maryland National Capital Park & Planning Commission. As a result of his long and determined efforts, central Prince George’s County now has a Wegmans, in addition to a Best Buy, and a Costco scheduled to open in October. Coming later will be two major flag hotels, a conference center, and commercial office space that Arthur Turner enabled. He has never shied away from the core principles about which he speaks daily. He asks for upscale shopping and has supported developers willing to bring quality of life to the county. He has spoken to me many times about a higher expectation of excellence from our government and our planning.

And Arthur has done more than just speak. When I needed a new director for the county library foundation board, Arthur quickly said yes – of course, he made a deal – I had to agree to serve on the United Communities Against Poverty (UCAP) board in exchange. Whether he is chair of a non profit or director, or just an interested citizen, he is always ready to ask for help for those who cannot not ask for themselves. And he does the same today as he will do tomorrow as his over 140 newspaper interviews on assorted topics of importance in the county attest. A man of integrity, Arthur never stops asking questions. Over the years we have spoken of history and race, money and poverty, class and distinction, ecology and farming, and through all these conversations, his questions were formed to help him make the county a better place to live and work.

Conversation with Joseph L. Wright - Candidate for Prince George's County, MD State's Attorney

I had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Wright and have a wide ranging conversation.  I am open to similar invitations from any candidate running for any office in Prince George's County.

Joseph L. Wright is running to be the next State’s Attorney in Prince George’s County. I had a 90 minute opportunity to speak with him and to get to know him. He now lives in the same community where he gre up giving him a good foundation for understanding the issues facing the county today. His life in the county and his connections to its people are strong indicators of his principled dedication to a better county. Knowledgeable about history, committed to the law, and aware of current social challenges, Mr. Wright is very personable and a skillful conversationalist so much so that I thought I was being interviewed at first.

A “people’s’ prosecutor, Mr. Wright is not afraid “…to tackle difficult issues”. He is determined to address policing issues and not afraid to bring charges of police brutality before the courts. His study of the law at Howard and his on the scene witnessing and writing in Virginia Beach in the 1980s, prepared him to do what should be done for the good of the community. As a community prosecutor, Mr. Wright’s day to day professional experience in the prosecutor’s office is key to his campaign’s claim that the county needs someone who understands the law and the impact of the enforcement of the law. Mr. Wright is very concerned about illegal businesses and business operations whatever their root cause. He believes it the State’s Attorney’s role to go after drug and other illegal operations to the full extent of the law including business that may front for such criminal activities.

Mr. Wright took pains to explain to me the challenge of prosecuting a similar number of crimes with a staggering dissimilar number of prosecutors. Baltimore with over 200 prosecutors and Washington, DC with over 400 on staff, work on the same case load level as Prince George’s County’s 75 prosecutors. This lack of staff, in Mr. Wright’s opinion, results in a constant triage and a resulting appearance of dysfunction with the community which finds it hard to make contact with the State’s Attorney’s office based simply on the number of cases assign to each prosecutor. The candidate is cognizant that this is not realistically going to change in the near future do to continuing economic constraints, but he is equally sure that it must be addressed sometime in the future.

Mr. Wright is committed to reaching out, sitting down and speaking with the residents of Prince George’s County. He would send his staff out into the communities, and would revisit and extend the outreach programs of the State’s Attorney’s office. He might even take a look at creating a citizen’s advisory committee. Fairness before the law is a watchword for Mr. Wright who thinks that even thought sentencing guidelines might needs tweaking from time to time, the idea behind them helps create a level playing field across the State in matters of the law. Mr. Wright in answer to my question about updates to existing legislation that affects his office that he would ask policy makers to take a look at truth in sentencing laws and such issues as good time served credits. Asked what other laws he might like to see modified, he suggested that a review and simplification of current fire arms laws to make them more useful in the enforcement of existing law would be appropriate. As the conversation moved along these lines, Mr. Wright noted that in the juvenile court system, sentencing punishes and rehabilitates, while in the adult court system sentencing was fully punitive. Consistent and thoughtful, Mr. Wright stated that the death penalty was an appropriate tool, when the circumstances dictated, for the legal system.

Mr. Wright believes that the voters of Prince George’s County should assess and judge the success of the State’s Attorney’s office on its transparency; on whether the citizens believed the office has made the right decisions; and whether the office had represented the interests of the county in its actions and decisions. He is very positive that the current operations of the prosecutor’s office compare well with other Maryland county offices. Prince George’s County’s leadership in mortgage fraud and economic crime are hall marks of the first rate capabilities and of the State’s Attorney’s office in Prince George’s County.

Professional, experienced and dedicated describe Joseph L. Wright. Thoughtful, intellectual, and philosophic relay the dynamics of our conversation. 90 minutes of conversation could have easily gone on all day, for his breadth of understanding and his grasp of information allow Mr. Wright to speak on issues from current politics to environmental justice. Using the tradition of knocking on doors, and unafraid of new generation apps such as social media, Mr. Wright is running full speed to do the job he loves to support the county and its citizens.

Having only interviewed Mr. Wright, I have no way of comparing him to the other candidates, but I can ay that I was impressed on a personal level by his candor and thoughtfulness, and would encourage you to reach out to him and ask him your questions.

Don’t Start Watering in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties Yet

Don’t Start Watering in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties Yet 

(links to tips from earlier blog)

 
WSSC’s mandatory watering restrictions are still in effect. This applies to all WSSC customers, both residential and commercial in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties. The earliest that the mandatory water use restrictions could be lifted is Tuesday, July 6.

Mandatory watering restrictions include no outside water use, use only full loads for clothes washers and dishwashers, limit flushing toilets (do not flush after every use), and use water only when necessary (shorter showers, turn off faucets after washing hands, etc.)

For more information, go to: http://www.wsscwater.com/home/jsp/homeAlert.faces

Call for Maryland Constitutional Convention

Maryland voters have a chance to call for a constitutional convention. To find that the elected officials are not very supportive should come as no surprise, for those in power and this in apposition to affect policy a rewrite of the constitution is a invitation alter the know pathways to power. In a sense a rewriting would do exactly what Jefferson and many founding revolutionaries wanted a handing off power to a new generation faced with new information and new challenges.


A constitutional convention could examine the political and policy needs as well as the economic burden of having a bicameral legislature. Since the mid 20th century the Senate of Maryland has not represented the counties of Maryland, but rather due to federal constitutional question, as duplicated the House of Delegates by representing artificial aggregations of voters. Nebraska has demonstrated that two houses are not a necessity.

Further more the current almost 140 year old constitution has parts that have no seeming influence or standing before our courts such as article 4 of the state Bill of Rights. A state convention could examine the whole existing document and pare away the parts that no longer are considered in the day to day contracts of life. At over 47,000 words, the current state document invested with its historic baggage and current attempts to update is perhaps a document unreadable except by the legal and political class. For a constitution to be relevant to the citizens it needs to be readily understood, plain in its intents and broad enough to address tomorrow’s unforeseen events.

Thomas Jefferson addressed the ideas of change in his Commonplace Book, writing that 'All human constitutions are subject to corruption and must perish unless they are timely renewed and reduced to their first principles.” [Algernon Sidney - in Discourses Concerning Government, Sect. II, Par 13,] Jefferson was not afraid of change and in fact believed it a remedy for the stultifying aging of traditions of generations now past. He would have applauded Maryland for taking yet another clear-eyed review of the state’s constitution with a new younger generation’s eyes and views of the state of the state.

Jefferson knew that in a viable vibrant democracy there was nothing to fear when good people gathered to talk about how they would live together saying to Ralph Izard in1788 that it is "[h]appy for us that abuses have not yet become patrimonies, and that every description of interest is in favor of rational and moderate government. That we are yet able to send our wise and good men together to talk over our form of government, discuss its weaknesses and establish its remedies with the same sang-froid as they would a subject of agriculture." As a true revolutionary, he did not fear what the morrow might bring, but encouraged each generation to discuss the laws that bound its members together. "A generation may bind itself as long as its majority continues in life; when that has disappeared, another majority is in place, holds all the rights and powers their predecessors once held and may change their laws and institutions to suit themselves. Nothing then is unchangeable but the inherent and unalienable rights of man." Jefferson wrote to John Cartwright in 1824.

A Maryland Constitutional Convention would be an opportunity to examine a more grass roots form of government. This will not sit well with today’s Tories, but should resonate with citizens who feel disconnected with the obscure and distant processes of today. What better way to bring greater citizen collaboration with their government than to involve them in the creation of the form of government. There should be no doubt that the present established elite will be full of fury and filled with scorn for the very idea that the people of Maryland might want to fully reexamine the functions and mechanics of governance. And even more important a Maryland Constitutional Convention will be an opportunity to bring young people and their concerns about the future into a general discussion about the role and government and the responsibility of the citizens.

Opposition to a constitutional gathering will come from those afraid of change, from those whose immediate gain is rooted in the patterns of the past. Opposition comes from those who are delighted that the majority has no clear connection to the political process and is disinterestedly disenfranchised. The claim will be raise that the current constitution works well enough, and that is true for the very small percentage of people who are directly connected to its complications and fully vested in its perpetuation. I have no doubt that the current special interests will make the case that change is too expensive and in deed it would be – for them. They will not be concerned that most citizens do not vote and seem to not care, because the 47000 words require deep pockets to navigate and full time resources to take advantage of. Most Marylanders are disenfranchised from the very constitution because of its layered complications and dusty irrelevant history to the dangers of today. We should bring on a Convention; we should elect delegates to the convention who come representing ALL the constituencies of the Free State representing a full and diverse spectrum of opinions of Maryland’s tomorrow. Now is the time for a Maryland Constitutional Convention; now is the time to examine the future.

Garden water & care tips for the mandatory water restrictions in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties

Prince George's County along with Montgmoery County Maryland is under a water use restriction order.
WSSC workers have removed the failing section of pipe in the 96-inch water main at Tuckerman Lane and Gainsborough Drive in Potomac. They are now preparing a new section of pipe for installation.  Work is on schedule to be complete sometime Monday, if there are no complications.

 Meanwhile, mandatory water restrictions remain in force for all WSSC customers in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.

Customer water usage has dropped 8.5 percent, far short of the one-third reduction WSSC needs to ensure service for all customers, adequate pressure for fire protection and a reserve in case of a major break. 

Until repairs are complete, it is imperative that all business and residential customers:

Stop all outside water use – no watering lawns, gardens, flowers; no washing cars, no topping off swimming pools

Use water only as necessary – i.e., shorter showers and turn off faucets after washing hands

Limit flushing toilets (do not flush after every use)

Limit using washing machines and dishwashers (wash full loads only)

When repairs are complete, the pipe will be recharged, the water quality analyzed, service restored and restrictions lifted.  The failing pipe was detected by WSSC’s acoustic fiber optics monitoring system. It heard the “ping” of wires breaking in the 41-year old water main. Those wires provide strength for the pipe. When they begin breaking, it’s a signal the pipe is weakening.  The monitoring system was installed in the pipe three years ago, and by 2013 will be installed in all of WSSC’s large water mains. It provides WSSC advance notice of when problems are beginning and an accurate location of the problem.
link to WSSC - Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission 14501 Sweitzer Lane Laurel, Maryland 20707


Meanwhile, my garden is drying up, tomatoes are beginning to flag and my azaleas are beginning to show signs of stress.  WSSC has provided swome tips:

Draft-Tips on Keeping Your Plants Happy During Mandatory Restrictions

Contact: Kimberley Knox (301) 206-8100 kknox@wsscwater.com

WSSC’s Mandatory Restrictions require that WSSC customers NOT use WSSC water on their lawns, gardens and other landscaping. But here are some ways that your landscape can still keep green during the mandatory water restrictions:

Place one to two inches of mulch around your plants.

Use water from bathing or washing dishes. Soap will not harm plants

Use water from cooking vegetables or pasta.

Collect rainwater and use it on the plants that need the most help.

Collect water from your shower rather than letting it go down the drain.

While waiting for you shower to heat up, collect that water in a bucket for your plants.

In the kitchen, rather than letting the water run until the water is cold (or hot), collect the water and use it for your plants.

Use water collected from your dehumidifier on your plants.

In the future, drought-tolerant plants will make a lovely garden. For an example, go to WSSC’s demonstration garden at Brighton Dam Visitor’s Center’s parking lot.

Have an idea of your own? Go to WSSC’s “Friends of Brighton Dam” Facebook’s Discussion Page and share it with others.  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=56844268643&v=app_2373072738&ref=ts

Suggestions Courtesy of: Wanda MacLachlan, Area Educator - Residential Landscape Management,
University of Maryland Extension

********************************************
On a lighter note, under the fun things to do heading:
Invasive species issues are the flip side of endangered and native species challenges. If we did not think our natural areas were worth saving we would not be concerned about the impacts of invasive exotic aliens. So it is important to get out and mingle with the natives and see what we are trying to protect and preserve.

Terrific Tree Tour Along the Patuxent River -- Sat., July 10, 9 a.m.-11:00 a.m.

Free and open to everyone. Learn about trees from MD DNR Forester James Eierdam. Sponsored by Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, this tour will show mature trees that are native to the mid-Atlantic region and can add beauty to any landscape.

Pigtail Recreation Area 5500 Greenbridge Road, Dayton. 301-206-8233.

Join your neighbors in Prince George's, Montgomery and Howard counties in helping to keep the watersheds along the Patuxent a delightful home for wildlife and a wonderful place to visit. These watersheds are under the stewardship of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. Brighton Dam is at 2 Brighton Dam Road, Brookeville, MD.

Have you joined our "Friends of Brighton Dam" or our "Friends of Western Branch" Facebook Pages? By becoming a fan, you'll get all of the latest information about environmental education events and cleanups around WSSC's property on the Patuxent and Western Branch. Check us out!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=56844268643&ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=135296253164704

http://www.meetup.com/WSSC-Patuxent-Corps/calendar/list/

Prince George's County Continues to Pave its Way to Prosperity

At the April meeting of the Prince George’s County Historic Preservation Commission, the issue of development of additional townhouses along the historic and scenic Suitland Parkway was on the agenda. The Town Center at Camp Springs was finishing the development referral process for the latest additional townhouse pod next to the National Historic Register and County Historic Site, the Suitland Parkway (#76-A-022). As a Commissioner, I expected to be presented with a comprehensive overview at this late point in the process with a summary of all the decisions that had been made previously based on a process that had included key interested parties such as the Historic Preservation Commission and the U.S. Department of the Interior. Instead I was treated to a perfunctory last-minute show in which I gradually felt I was expected to simply vote to approve as a courtesy annoyance rather than as a member of a formal organization with specific duties.

The staff presentation was elegant but failed to include expected context settings such as historic and present aerial photography. Establishing exactly where the development was in relation to anything else in the area was difficult-to-impossible. The presentation failed to show that the Historic Preservation Commission had been involved in the early stages of the development, but through inference suggested that we had made substantive decisions. Nowhere in the presentation was it made clear what specific contributions, if any, the HPC had made early in the process. What was made clear was that the federal government’s interest in the project had been overlooked, leading this Commissioner to wonder that, if the process could miss the Department of th Interior, what else had been missed? And of course, had they completely omitted to include the Historic Preservation Commission at the appropriate stage in the process as well? The planning staff answer was that indeed, somehow at least once there had been a failure to communicate with the Commission or its staff.

When added to the information provided by the U.S. Department of the Interior as to potential view-shed problems and loss of ecological resources such as of mature trees, the project began to take on the look of a preordained approval. Because the HPC was presented with this information at the last moment in the detailed site plan portion of the process, with no time for further consideration, creative workable alternatives were not able to be considered. And so the Commission was left with the choice of choosing vinyl siding colors, a decision choice that simply made a mockery of the purpose of the HPC’s and its role. The HPC was treated as an annoying after-thought and nothing more.

We were told that the property owner has a right to remove the green space and use it as he sees fit, even if this means externalizing his costs on to the greater public by destroying in detail the view-shed of the international gateway to the capital of the United States. The planning staff, in support of the developer, noted that landscapes are by definition not historic in this case. This of course is true because the property is outside the environmental setting. Attempts to consider conservation plans that had been earlier adopted and now seemed to be discarded were not considered, as they are beyond the purview of the Commission. But in fact contrary to the planning staff’s suggestion, such things are within our purview as indicated in the ruling of the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation this week against a proposed wind farm project’s view-shed impact because of “…the indirect and direct effects of the project on the collection of historic properties would be pervasive, destructive, and, in the instance of seabed construction, permanent. By their nature and scope, the effects cannot be adequately mitigated at the proposed site.’’

The ideas of ecological system services were not considered mostly because they are extremely inconvenient to this case. In valuing this project, staff and the developer found any preservation costs may be adequately addressed by externalizing these costs of development onto the greater community of the county and the country. In economic terms, the property owner has a rivalrous good which he proposes to consume in order to produce another rivalrous good. Rivalrous goods are those things whose consumption by one consumer prevents simultaneous consumption by another consumer. The use of the land is considered economically excludable. The Suitland parkway on the other hand is both excludable and rivalrous. This means that it is available to everyone but could be lost if the public trust is subverted. The question then becomes, does the property owner have the right to raise the value of his private property at the expense of the public good?

In speaking of parkways, U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd said. “It is a wonder way over which the tourist will ride comfortably in his car while he is stirred by a view as exhilarating as the aviator, may see from the plane” (Loon, 2003).[1] Rather than this inspiring vision, what we will experience if this project goes through is to be awe-struck by the back side of a row of three-story tall townhouses where once stood a scenic landscape. The presentation implied that 700 feet of landscape is more than enough to satisfy any visual impact from a user of the road. Parkways are intended to present “stunning views to and from the city [that] are created by careful placement of vegetation around the motorway” (Loon, 2003), The Future of Parkways in the Landscape). Loon further notes that today some “parkways will need to merge into the tight urban context and form a cohesive and fluid relationship between the motorway and the landscape.” Nowhere is there a suggestion that repeated views of the backs of townhouses will add or enhance the special nature of any parkway. Staff’s comment that the landscape is not part of the Commission’s responsibility and in not part of the historic nature is manifestly incomprehensible. The only party not interested in the landscape’s impact on the historic highway is the developer and property owner. The view is however consistent with the idea that Prince George’s County can pave its way to prosperity for a few.

During the presentation, the Commission was informed that there were other townhouses already built along the parkway. We were to infer that a stare decisis situation existed that excused the destruction of the parkway in detail and piecemeal. The idea seems to be that doing something wrong the first time is the reason to continue doing something wrong until there is nothing left more to destroy. It does seem that this is one of the primary functions of a Historic Preservation Commission: we are to stop and preserve in the face of chronic loss, not for our own immediate needs and desires but for future generations.

The concept of ecological systems that provide resources to mankind was completely missing. Somehow the staff decided that the informing services of the local ecosystem were the only ones worth protecting. In fact it was clear that there was not regulatory or perceived value in the supporting and provision services. Both deGroot (2002) and Constanza (1997) clearly, concisely, and explicitly link historic information services to the regulating and fundamental landscape services.[2] One may not parse an ecosystem into convenient slices for short-term gain and have a sustainable system. The project will enhance the speed at which invasive species, for example, will come to dominate the landscape between the townhouses and the roadway. I do not believe the developer plans to pay for the ongoing maintenance of this area, so it will fall to those of us who not only lose another piece of scenic view-shed but will now also have to bear the cost of the landowner’s unimpeded choices. And let me be clear, the landowner’s choice was in part made possible by a flawed process that is not working and will result in a public cost.

We the Historic Preservation Commission were effectively sidelined and rendered ineffectual by a process that had been altered, abused, and subverted. And because the citizens of the county are unaware of what was happening, there is no reason to change the ghostly machinations and furtive perceptions of backroom deals as the major pathway for development. Our politicians tell us that there is no other way, that we must accept lower design standards and less consideration than other counties. For if we do not let the system work as it has always done, the generous developers will go away and leave us stranded. The HPC had no decision worth making, for all the decisions had been made long before we were brought into the process. The slicing and dicing of the parkway will inevitably lead to the destruction of the very nature of the parkway. We preserved nothing at all, but rather increased the rate at which the nature of the parkway will slip into a vague and undefined state. Our county must be about more than how much money a few people can make by using up a finite resource. The nationally-recognized parkway is in danger of becoming a national example of what not do to and how not to plan.


[1] Loon (2003), The Future of Parkways in the Landscape.
[2] deGroot et al. (2002), A Typology for the Classification, Description and Valuation of Ecosystem Functions, Goods and Services; Constanza et al. (1997), The Value of the World's Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital

My thanks to Stephanie Stellick for taking the time to edit, correct and gently nudging this essay into a legible document