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

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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

County executive campaigns running towards a political center are unelectable in Prince George's County

If you run for elected office in Prince George’s County, and you run towards the center as a moderate, you cannot win, for politics here are all about the extremes. Prince George’s County would never consider electing an executive who pledged to be radically moderate, and who would reach out to all sides of any issue. Instead those who seek the edges of political ideology and work to label colleagues in such a way as to guarantee no cooperation in the future are the ones most likely to win an election.

We cauterize our debates and personalize our positions relegating polite and meaningful dialogue to the warehouse of tired tropes. To win we need to run campaigns based upon personal attacks and innuendos. The actual needs of the county are secondary to establishing ad hominem dominance. We are therefore a county of personalities and not solutions. Instead of working on a platform that would reestablish dialogue with all parties in the political conversation, we work to discredit each other for perceived past failings rarely related to the pressing problems of the present.

We should be working towards a consensus government of conversation around the political center reaching out for ideas from all parts of the continuum of political discourse. The ideas about job creation should be a priority in our public conversation, not the silence of mean spirited personal attacks of style. How are we going to bring long lasting quality jobs to Prince George’s County? This is the question sure to not win an election based upon charisma ad not substance. One does not win an election in Prince George’s County on a platform of moderation and deliberative consideration of all points of view. We are faced with choosing the person who can best corral us into small special interest groups playing each of us off against the other. The next county executive will not win by running on the idea that almost every group has something worthwhile to offer to our ongoing challenges.

We are assured that because our politicians run from the silent center to the noisy extremes that the next county executive will sooner or later be pitted against the planning board and the county council by the very same special, local, parochial interests that were aggregated together to elect him or her in the first place. New ideas created from a broad outreach to a wide range of political positions are a death warrant for election as the next county executive. We, the voters, feed the dynamic urge to cater to local fringes of special interest and this, by necessity, demonize those that may be in disagreement. As an example, we have a demonstrable inability to connect land use and our development community to the environmental preservation and justice constituencies. In this county you are for one or another; never both.

I would love to run for county executive on a platform of common cause with multiple competing special interests. The very idea dooms any thought of electability to the dust bin of the hopeless causes. We can see now the impossibility of a candidate who offers to listen to both unions and business and is willing to craft a consensus position. Instead our politicians will pick one or the other as if the positions are mutually exclusive, polar antagonists that are never to be reconciled one with another. This county like many jurisdictions is trapped in the idea that doing the same thing over and over again will someday give us a different result. We support personalities not position, and anyone who would try to listen and build bridges must be a dreamer and therefore a loser.

Prince George's County takes a holiday from governance til after November

For citizens of Prince George’s County, Maryland who take an interest in the complex governmental interactions of and relationships of county government to the park & planning commission, today was the date of decision as to whether Mr. Byrd will be confirmed as Chair of Prince George’s County’s Maryland National Capitol Park and Planning Commission. Having been nominated by the County Executive as is his prerogative under current law, the county’s Council summarily voted the nomination down.

The vote is supposed to be about the qualifications of the nominee. Instead the vote was on the idea that the current executive being term limited should not actually be doing any governing. The county with this decision is remanded to a do not make any decision or make any moves form of government. Somehow because of term limits at some point in the second term a county executive should stop exercising his authority and sit back and let campaigns and their partisans direct the course of government. The idea is that we should make no decisions until the election and that government should be frozen is beyond strange and is the direct result of term limits: what we have in this county is government in pieces and by factions frozen in the status quo. And the next County Executive will face the same problem, and will encounter the same inability to govern in his or her second term.

In Prince George’s County, politics are the dynamic interaction between me and my special interest and you and your special interest, without any attempt to interact with each other. This of course is why we mostly fail to get anything done; we cannot talk to each other and see a common goal. And it reinforces my early posts about how not to win an election in this county. For if you have a detailed comprehensive plan and try to bring everyone together, the embedded special interests of personalities and parochial interests will unite to prevent any support. We are a county about personalities, and any campaign run on ideas is doomed. We never get to the point of discussing the merits or qualifications.

Instead of running the government, our political elite will be focused on running November’s elections. The word has gone out that there is to be no change, no difference, and no movement in government for the next six months. And the up-coming elections will be not about issues and the lack of government capabilities this last year (due to term limits in part) but rather about who can aggregate the greatest collection of personalities and local non-county wide interests.

Prince George's County at odds with itself works through a political appointment

Once more, Prince George’s County finds itself engaged in an internal tempest that is partially, at least, created by term limits. The furor is over perceptions, but the law is clear: the County Executive is exercising his right under current law. The current Chief Executive, Jack Johnson, wishes to nominate as Chair of Park & Planning a new person and thereby effectively remove the current Chair. The new appointee if confirmed will serve until either the summer of 2013 as would the current Chair if re-nominated, or until the law is changed – which ever comes first. Some have said that had the County Executive done this when the first term had expired in 2009 things would somehow be different. However the outcome would be the same as far as the length of service for whomever is in the Planning Commission Chair; either way the seond term ends in the summer of 2013, or until the law is changed.

More than 20 people vociferously and most eloquently pleaded for the Council to, in their collective words, “do the right thing” which in their opinion would be to ignore either the County Council’s charge under law to consider the qualifications of the nominee or deny the nomination because it is not “the right thing to do”. What comes across is the idea that when we do not like a law, we should just set it aside. Most of those who testified in opposition spoke to the nominee’s excellent credentials, but spoke of some unspecified higher duty that should be considered by the County Council. This is dangerous thinking at best. Perhaps if the opposition had started earlier, changed the law to synchronize Panning Commission’s Chair’s new term length to coincide with that of the County Executive the melee would be palatable, but they had not. The second term overlap was not a major issue until the County Executive exercised his legal right. What we are left with is a struggle that gives politics a bad name for some, and excites others to rise to a state of full unbridle panic. Because we have term limits which create an unaccountable second term for County Executives, the only statutory question we face is whether this nomination is legally constituted and whether the nominee is qualified. When we add political ambitions to the mix we quickly lose sight ot the law making this issue a volatile and divisive one in Prince George’s County.

I have had the great privilege and opportunity to work with Mr. Sam Parker, the current Chair, and am a fervent admirer of the direction he has taken the Commission and the work he has done and might have done. As much as I might want him to continue, however, I am not the County Executive, and the decision is not mine. We elected Mr. Johnson to make these decisions, and we chose to encumber him with term limits, which prevent him from running again, and deny us from compelling him to reconsider this course of action. Term limits are not Mr. Johnson’s doing but ours, the voters.

That said, I have known professionally Mr. Byrd for almost as long as I have known Mr. Parker. While I have not worked as closely with him, I am significantly impressed with the opposition’s testimony in support of his excellent credentials. In fact I was quite taken by the breadth of support of his qualifications from those who oppose his nomination. How could so many so adamantly opposed find so much worthy of support in the life long professional achievements of Mr. Byrd?

Term limits deny us the ability to hold politicians accountable. Term limits underlie this latest battle among the partisans of parochial Prince George’s County politics. We must remember that from the tyranny of the majority there is no escape but treason; that we have a system of checks and balances to prevent the majority from wildly and capriciously running rough-shod over the legal landscape. The idea that our laws should be based upon the whims of the moment is has impact on our ability to attract investment and therefore jobs. Change is good and necessary when conducted deliberatively and directly. Laws ought to be changed and updated and debated on the merits. Change based upon ambition and desire of the moment is a recipe for infighting and short sighted alterations.. Term limits guarantee that even when we are not paying attention, the system will clean house without our input or notice thereby providing a lazy man’s way to democracy. Term limits are put in place so an electorate does not have to spend much its time or effort that might arise from being involved in the political process. Term limits help us to not pay attention to our obligation to participate in politics.

Prince George's County - a non-candidacy for a new year

The New Year brings to Prince George’s County news that we shall soon be saved from the deadly scourge of pot-bellied pigs in our midst. Unable to fix the chronic school system, keep world class research jobs in the county or to contain the destruction of the rural tier, we can feel safer knowing that our neighbors will not have pet pigs. The duty to enforce the bewildering array of laws within the county is not in question, but the inability to find a way to quietly find a solution to the public-good-threat from a 14 year old pet is indicative of how far we have not come.

How nice it would be if our government had found away to bring employment opportunities for the current residents of Prince George’s County. Would it be too much to ask for a package of incentives to lure the federal and state government to open offices in our county? How about a WAMATA that encourages development around metro stations? Could we not find away to present a package of incentives that would encourage redevelopment in partnership with our established communities?

These ideas require political leadership; leadership that can find ways to rise above the politics of the small while considering local needs, no easy task. I wrote about a Prince George's County candidate platform guaranteed to lose an election with a platform for my non-candidacy. Instead of pig control, I think finding the resources necessary to establish ambulatory health and care services should take precedence. Instead of creating a night-mare for one person based upon inflexible rules and legislation, I think we should be searching for meaningful work with dignity that would pay a “living wage” reflecting the true value of a person’s work.

But sadly we will continue to bicker and dicker, and wonder why nothing changes. We will make the same political decisions and choices over and over again, getting the same results every time; and we shall be surprised - continuously. We shall call for change; but be afraid to try anything new. We shall cast our net for leadership into a small pool of self selected pre-approved politicians dreaming of things that are not to be. We may find ways to control the potbellied pig, but we will not find solutions to our real problems until we are ready to join as a new, special-interest group of energized individuals.

Prince George's County - A County Executive can lead

Were I running for County Executive I would offer the following concrete ideas. As County Executive I would immediately begin to address our established communities’ needs to raise the level of wealth and to reduce the concentrations of poverty in some of our elder communities focusing on making good schools, safe neighborhoods, quality health services, recreation, and other quality-of-life amenities (e.g., nearby retail service, employment, and cultural institutions) more available to all residents. I would base the specifics upon seven basic principles:

1. The desirability and benefits of walk-able, compact, mixed-use, mixed-income, racially diverse, livable urban cores and neighborhoods that are characteristic of “21st century” cities; 2. The need to make land use decisions in a way that ensures the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, and incomes; 3.The entitlement of all residents to a safe and healthful environment where they live, work, and recreate; 4.The value of encouraging retail businesses and service providers to stay or locate within the urban communities where their customers live; 5. the critical role of accessible local and multijurisdictional transportation alternatives in economic development, in reducing traffic congestion, and in minimizing urban land devoted to surface parking; 6.The need to unlock the value of vacant, abandoned, and/or underutilized property in the developed tier of established communities; 7.The unique character of a community’s historical, cultural, artistic, architectural, and natural resource assets and the need to preserve them.

I would immediately work through the public outreach, personal communication with the County Council and County Delegation as well as the municipalities and NGOs of the county to implement the following ideas:

1. Promote new private investment and reinvestment in the developed and developing tier using: Brownfield development tax credits and a Full-Time employment new hires graduated tax credit
2. Address existing government barriers to developed tier revitalization
3. Discourage state decisions and policies that subsidize and support sprawl
4. Target investments to maintain public infrastructure already in place (Fix-It-First)
5. Allow timely assembly of lands and property needed for urban redevelopment with full and complete input from both the property owners and the neighborhoods involved.
6. Expedite government decisions on the appropriate reuse of environmentally impaired property while protecting human health and the environment
7. Provide for “green infrastructure” as a catalyst to make urban areas more livable and to complement efforts to protect water quality
8. Encourage a wide array of options to provide for affordable housing with reasonable proximity and access to employment opportunities
a. Promote the adaptive reuse of historic buildings in urban cores including a green certification for agricultural tax rates in developed/ing tier
9. Support government collaboration with local neighborhood organizations in the development and evaluation of revitalization efforts

I full understand that these positions as part of my already announced platform are based on the idea that we need a New Way in Prince George’s - not more of the same. I believe that the people of Prince George’s County do not need to follow in the shadow of anyone, but can show the way for a new generation of ideas. Proud in its diversity, Prince George’s County can dare to lead; Prince George’s County can seek solutions from all point of view and take the best for its tomorrow.

And saying this, I realize that the prophets of the few and doom would cast their negative aspersions – the fear of a few would dim the passions of the many, and the torrents of reasons as to why we must follow the tired pathways of the past would cloud the light of change. So we will elect more of the same and complain that nothing ever changes once more.

Land-use, Leadership, Elections, and Prince George's County

My county which is named after the Danish husband of Queen Anne of Great Britain has almost 171 square miles of euphemistically described “undeveloped” land. Because of the proximity to the capital of the United States, a major industry, if not the major industry, in the county, is development and is concerned with “developing” the “undeveloped” land. Developing land in Prince George’s County Maryland is the business of leveling forests, paving farmland, and draining wetlands so that greater numbers of people can find work and housing, as well as shopping and recreation at a lower cost to the developer than would be had if the focus was on re-developing already disturbed and degraded areas.

There are at least three types of property owners in the “undeveloped” area: those whose families have lived and worked the land for several generations, those who bought the land to escape urban living or those who invested to profit speculatively on a near term land sale. The first group looks to work with a developer to develop his property to realize an inheritance and in many cases to find away to escape the hardships of the land for a better quality of life elsewhere. The second group comes from the city having made enough money to sustain the rigors of “country” living, while the third is interested in the maximum immediate value to be gained in a sale.

Because the leading economic force in the county is development there is little impetus to find a more sustainable program for building wealth in the county. As long as there is cheap land why encourage other redevelopment or creative reuse projects which may cost more? This leads to development which tends to move people further away from mass transit, into new communities that need strip malls to provide a platform for basic necessities all of which must be supported by ever increasing infrastructure such as roads, schools, and emergency response facilities and personnel. The initial capital for these infrastructure additions comes from the development project cost calculations. However there is little long term maintenance support built into the initial outlay so on going long term maintenance and upkeep must come from the existing tax base which cannot afford to maintain its own infrastructure let alone new challenges. The social Ponzi scheme works well until the land is exhausted.

The result of this process is that investors and developers instead of asking politicians to create incentive zones for employment and construction in areas already ecologically compromised, instead find ways to allow the design and possible construction of shopping malls in flood plains next to nationally recognized wildlife critical areas adjacent to ill-advised future waste transfer station sites. The speculator who purchases such a property of course wants to recoup and maximize the investment at the expense of the general public using the claim of helping the public. The fact that few would want to shop next to a waste transfer station is not brought up in the hope that the public will not notice.

Adding to the morass of conflicted motives is the idea that clean water, clean air and functioning ecosystems will cause developers to flee because the cost is too great or because buyers may be adverse to a clean environment. I know it is presumptive of me, but were I the county executive, I would be focused on quality of life for those already here. I would be tilting at the wind mill of our school system, and working to create legislation that would encourage renovation through development and revitalization of our transportation hubs. Above all I would focus on bringing jobs to out existing communities rather than building more communities we cannot support. This of course is a platform for election defeat as the only economic development plan for the county would pull out all the stops to label this idea the raving of an unqualified and irresponsible visionary.

The idea that a functioning ecological system is an anathema to development is rooted in practices and cultural expectations of the past. It is not an either or proposition but a question of sustainability for land is not infinite and we are dependent for basic services such as drinking water and waste filtration on these land based systems. We cannot keep building storage facilities and dumps in our communities labeling them opportunities. Since the end of World War 2 the citizens of this county have heard over and over again that quick development of open spaces and warehouse construction will bring wealth. It may have, but where does this wealth live? Development has to be a balance between the immediate needs of investors and the long term health and welfare of the residents left behind. We need to envision incentives that encourage reexamination of our existing infrastructure through private public partnerships in our established areas. We need to find away to pay a fair price to those who want to leave the undeveloped tier while making it clear that here is no more extension of infrastructure support for dense construction into that region. We need to build new libraries and schools in our already existing communities not build more communities in the rural tier so that we have to find funds for new schools there. (we do need to maintain our schools and support in the rural tier none-the-less)

I would propose for our established communities an incentive program for businesses that create at least 25 net new full-time positions and pay a minimum of 150% of federal minimum wage and would allow, in special circumstances, a company to create as few as 10 new full-time positions paying at least 400% of the federal minimum wage. This is the kind of legislation that we should be discussing, not how to do a last minute development end run next to nationally recognized wetlands in the rural tier.

Living Near Green Lowers Anxiety, Depression Rates, Study Finds - Bloomberg.com

Living Near Green Lowers Anxiety, Depression Rates, Study Finds - Bloomberg.com

Samuel Dean and Council save a small piece of Prince George's County, Maryland's Rural Tier: Woodland (Crain's Corner) Saved

At a meeting of the Prince George’s County Council on Tuesday September 15 2009, a small section of county history and more importantly the county’s ecosystem was saved for a while more. With all evidence pointing towards a decision to pave over acres of open space in the rural tier, the county council bravely reversed course and voted to save Woodland and parcels destined to become a shopping center called Crain’s Corner.

Now having passed this test, it is time to think about the land and its owners. How can they be compensated while protecting the environment and the history? Preservation is about more than just doing nothing with the land. The property owners have an economic burden incurred in the maintenance and defense of their large parcels against invasive species for example, and no one is expecting them to personally finance a public open space. One idea would be for the county agricultural marketing office to begin working on creative uses for what was once product farmland. Another would be to consider sustainable “green” residences as permitted by current zoning as a show place for what this county could do with 21st century designs sympathetic to the history and the environment of the area.

This said I want to take the public opportunity to thank my Councilman Samuel Dean, as well as others on the council. Mr. Dean, who has a commendable history of listening to communities first, for his work and vote that saved a piece of Prince George’s County for a better day. With his help and his vision to include communities in design and development from the beginning, we can boldly seize the moment and be an example to the rest of Maryland.

New "sure to lose" in Prince George's County political plank

I presented my “sure to lose” political platform (Prince George's County candidate platform guaranteed to lose an election) a few weeks ago. Writing about how to lose an election for county executive in Prince George’s County, besides running as a Republican, I offered up a detailed agenda. On further reflection, I find that I need to add a plank devoted to county health care.

With 80,000 uninsured adult residents who are without adequate preventative medical options putting a strain on the hospital system and a scarcity of primary care physicians making it hard for communities to get care outside of the emergency room, I would include the following “sure way to lose” plank in my platform:

NEW: I shall work to provide the resources necessary to establish ambulatory health and care services. Prince George’s County shall find a way to provide a medical health care safety net. To this end, as county executive, I will expand and strengthen existing safety-net capacity (exploring both private and public options), invest in new health and medical infrastructure, work to increase assistance in the enrollment of entitled citizens into Medicaid programs, and actively pursue regional partnerships. The county cannot continue to grow at the expense of those with lesser economic means.

Prince George's County Political Dream

The current political vision for Prince George’s County is myopic. It looks at and responds to local parochial issues that are extremely important to the few involved. The leadership fails to connect these neighborhood concerns to one another and to the greater good of the County. In a normal setting a part of the solution would be a common plan, but because all issues are dissected and parsed to the lowest common, expedient denominator and defined in terms of the specifics of one spot, the political establishment follows no plan; all decisions are ad hoc and of the moment floating on a political sea of inconsistency. The leadership responds to the financial exegesis and the corresponding, political and economic dynamics that result from making decisions on the fly.

The next County Executive needs to go into the neighborhoods of Accokeek and Bladensburg, Suitland and Laurel, Upper Marlboro and North Brentwood, and directly and repeatedly demonstrate the commonality of the challenges. The idea that the rural tier is spoiled and pampered and so needs more concrete, and, that the established communities are tired and too expensive to redevelop economically must be put to rest. Infrastructure capital must be invested in our established communities. We need to build a world class library in Bladensburg; we need to actually follow the new development plan for New Carrollton and be ready to take advantage of the coming purple line; we do not need to have MXT zoning in the rural tier, but should use it and other zoning tools carefully and with full community participation to design enhanced redevelopment that brings meaningful employment to our existing communities and the county. Building new neighborhoods on open agricultural land when our existing neighborhoods needs so much is done because the profits made are greater in the rural tier, not because it is impossible to enhance what we already have.

We should be aiming our government spending at public safety partnerships with NGO’s and non-profits to provide access to quality of life for the children and citizens of established neighborhoods on a per capita basis. This would ensure that the rural tier is not left out but would focus our attention on the communities in need and perhaps ultimately encourage locating new housing or businesses where the infrastructure is. If you want rural life it comes with non urban amenities; if you want the whole enchilada you choose to live in a city. We should be encouraging through government services new homes and businesses to locate in our redeveloped and reinvigorated high traffic, public transportation accessible communities. Why do we think that creating and supporting new environmentally unsustainable neighborhoods far from public transportation is a good idea when we cannot support what we already have?

And the answer that new development provides a much needed cash flow for today’s government is a short term, myopic self serving reply. This development simply puts the burden of addressing infrastructure expectations of the new communities onto the backs of the county in the future as a whole including the established neighborhood that already are challenged in meeting their own basic needs.

Our Prince George’s County vision of the moment uses a market preference model of profit now thereby avoiding the necessity of addressing long term obligations both financially and ecologically. It is the classic recipe of mounting problems left for another time and another generation. We build infrastructure but have no plan for supply the programmatic funds to operate the structure in the future let alone maintain it. Pot holes and extra curricular activities like music in schools are examples of this short sighted thinking: build the road – build an auditorium, no one to fill the holes - no one to play the music.

In the end, citizens lose faith in the system ever addressing their needs because there are no visionaries willing to take the heat and fight the momentum of the moment. People who are fed up and have the means simply leave; those who dream write blogs. Where is the debate and the outrage? Until they come there will be no change; just the same old same old business as usual.

Prince George's Political Leaders have only one vision and it isn't green

Prince George’s County’s current political leadership has only one vision for county growth. Lacking any other idea it believes that pavement is the answer to everything. Attacking those who would preserve open space, the elite want to pave their way towards prosperity. While neighboring counties get ready for week long celebration of agriculture and open spaces, ecology and the environment, Prince George’s Plans to remove more acreage from the rural tier. Instead of addressing the needs and challenges of existing communities, the county’s leaders set out to add demand upon the already stressed county infrastructure adding demand to police and fire, health and education. And who will pay for these costs? The very communities that are already under serviced.

In the name of economic development, Prince George’s County commits future infrastructure resources to the rural tier instead of supporting established communities. In doing so, it also grinds up and destroys the fragile ecosystem services that supply clean air and clean water to the county. And who will pay? The established communities that lie forgotten and ignored. Where do we put our money for new libraries, at the same time that we cannot keep old libraries open the entire day? We look to the newer communities needs and forget the old. The county builds the new libraries because now the new communities rightfully point out that they too are under served and need county wide service that provide quality of life amenities and enhancements.

Some leaders in Prince George’s County feel that property owners in the rural tier who oppose development are doing so for self interest. The political class notes that rural tier property owners have their piece of heaven and don’t want to share. However the leadership’s plan would be then to destroy the very thing they think they are arranging to share. Better to obliterate nature than to allow a few to serve as stewards of our diminishing resources is the new way backwards of Prince George’s County. In partnership with this thinking are some owners who feel that the rest of the county owes them sewer road and water improvements; that the established communities should pay to pave under the rural tier makes no sense but the facts on the ground seem to validate this new Prince George’s County vision for yesterday’s tired future: an upscale Target at every corner; a 7-11 for every neighborhood, and plenty of parking so we can drive more cars.

Prince George’s County’s leaders are proudly looking to the past for ideas as they think they claim to move forward. While the rest of the world begins to address ecosystem services, this county thinks that ecological considerations are someone else’s problem. Instead of reinvigorating established neighborhoods we build new neighborhoods and ask the old one’s to support the enhancements in the name of progress. While some counties celebrate open space and quality of life, Prince George’s County’s leadership plans to pave it under, and then go visit county fairs in other jurisdictions complaining that we can’t have these quality attractions here

Prince George's County candidate platform guaranteed to lose an election

How to lose an election for county executive in Prince George’s County, besides running as a Republican? Let me offer a sure to lose campaign platform. Let me know if you think this (did I miss anything?) is a sure way to lose an election in Prince George’s County.

1. I pledge to work to increase public participation in the process of government. To this end I will work to create new and novel politically engaged local and neighborhood organizations with a voice at every level of policy and decision making.

NEW: I shall work to provide the resources necessary to establish ambulatory health and care services. Prince George’s County shall find a way to provide a medical health care safety net. To this end, as county executive, I will expand and strengthen existing safety-net capacity (exploring both private and public options), invest in new health and medical infrastructure, work to increase assistance in the enrollment of entitled citizens into Medicaid programs, and actively pursue regional partnerships. The county cannot continue to grow at the expense of those with lesser economic means.

2. I am dedicated to the principle of equal access to societal and environmental resources. I will therefore insist on “…the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” I will enable policies that replenishes the earth; favor an energy efficient economy; and enable citizens to live by supporting and protecting the integrity of our ecosystems and its services.

3. I am determined to create a sustainable economic system that can creates decent jobs with a good standard of living for all people and maintains a healthy ecological balance. Meaningful work with dignity will therefore pay a “living wage” which reflects the true value of a person’s work.

4. I will follow the County General plan in all decision making, and desist from the current policy of ad hoc decision unrelated to or in opposition to the General Plan. Upon election I shall immediately call for a review of the plan by all stakeholders and constituencies.

5. I believe that a core mission of government is to provide security for the community. Public safety and public health are fundamental responsibilities of government. Support for public safety employees will be direct, unequivocal and continuous. At the same time, I will call for people to step up take an active role in making our city safer through community partnerships and through new and existing grass root organizations.

6. I believe that we all have a duty to educate our children. Education is a family matter in partnership with government. As with public safety, I will call for people to step up take an active role in making our city safer through community partnerships and through new and existing grass root organizations. I am committed to closing the learning gap of economic inequality. I consider education to have three equal parts: family including faith based organizations, public schools and libraries. Education is not limited to classrooms and therefore I will support access to outdoors events, recreation, sports and cultural programs that not only provide instruction but enhance quality of life.

7. I shall lead by example and by direction your government agencies towards outputs of excellence. I shall give them the tools to do the best job possible from clean roads without potholes to permits without unnecessary delay. I shall go to the tax payers explaining the project and lay out the costs. We shall seek to reduce or cut programs for which taxpayers are no longer willing to pay, remembering that government has an obligation to protect minorities.

8. I shall seek partnerships with business to retain or reengineer existing jobs; we shall work to bring new businesses and new opportunities for employment to the County. I shall call for competitive taxing strategies to encourage businesses identified in the General Olan to operate in Prince George’s County. I will enage by all means available the federal and state agencies to choose Prince George’s County as their next building, offices or program.

9. I will continue to support, enhance and enable community involvement with land use decisions seeking new ways for local citizens to be heard and not ignored.

10. My actions and policies will be motivated by long-term goals. I shall move to protect valuable natural resources, safely disposing of or encouraging the recycling of all waste, while developing a sustainable economic system that does not depend on continual expansion. I shall counterbalance the drive for short-term profits by assuring that economic development, new and old technologies, and fiscal policies are responsible and fair to present and future generations who live here now or will live with the results of our actions.

Prince George's County Council invades the rural tier with intense zoning change at last minute

Well at the last moment in the dark shadows of probable big moneyed interest of the council chamber, Prince George's County invaded and invested the rural tier (Woodland - Crain Corner) ignoring its own planning strategies and destroying three centuries of history in the hope that it can continue “mauling/malling” its way to prosperity. While most counties and forward thinking municipalities are trying to preserve ecosystem services, Prince George's County blithely figures that as with all its other problems, it can simply pretend that someone else somewhere will rescue it when the time comes. When the county is paved over and green space is at a premium Prince George's will be known as the parking lot of the Washington metro area devoid of ecosystem services, and wondering why when it could have been the leader it chose to follow tired worn out models long shown to be dysfunctional. Asphalt is not the future, it is the past; the future is building sustainably something the present majority of the Council simply doesn't get. This is the same council that placed a trash waste transfer station one mile from their newly designated MXT use (no where near public transit) site in a rural part of the county and thinks that world class hotels will be lining up to have high rise over-looks with a view of a trash haulers. And worse the transfer station is right next to an environmental critical area of the central Patuxent River of Maryland, but no matter Prince George’s politicians know that water comes from the tap and a clean river is not their problem, nor clean air for that matter. And one mile away they are planning to entice cutting edge office workers to smell the stink of shady planning.