Voice Mail
June 2004

The Takoma Voice welcomes all correspondence. We remind readers that the opinions expressed here are those of the writers. Letters may be edited for length or clarity. While we strive to print every letter, we reserve the right to refuse any which we deem inappropriate for a community forum. Name, address, and phone number must be included.

Send correspondence to:
The Takoma Voice
P.O. Box 11262 Takoma Park, MD 20913
fax: 301-891-6747
e-mail: voice@takoma.com

Ehrlich misunderstands multiculturalism

I suggest that Governor Ehrlich needs to apologize for his comments about multiculturalism being "crap" and "bunk." Governor Ehrlich is very proud of his German roots. This indicates that he is a multicultural person himself: he prizes his American and German roots. His comments show that he does not understand the concept of "multiculturalism." In practice, he enjoys the advantages of a multicultural society: he attends the German Festival, he goes to the annual German dinner and he has even been the German of the Year.

Ehrlich is very lucky to be a fourth generation immigrant. This is why it is hard for him to understand the struggles of first generation immigrants.

Herman Ehrlich must have mourned for the land he left behind and must have struggled to learn English in his adulthood just as all immigrants do.

The adaptation of an immigrant to a new culture is a natural process that involves pain but also growth. Adaptation is not automatic, it is a process that can be fast or slow depending on the person and the resources the new society offers. The adaptation process is a different phenomenon from multiculturalism.

This is what Ehrlich has mistaken.

– Claudia Rodríguez
Takoma Park, MD

Keep US moving in a forward direction

It’s critical that we stay the course with G. W. Bush.

This isn’t the time to break in a new President; especially one who flip flops on every important issue. President G. W. Bush will once again be my pick this coming election. Hope he’s the rest of America’s choice too!

–P. L. Shontz
Silver Spring, MD

Chili, music, and beer add up for Kerry

The House of Bill and Marcia Rock rocked for John Kerry. Over $13,000 was raised for John Kerry at our house party. We had more than 150 people come sign in and enjoy good company, good music, and good wine and beer. The kids played along Long Branch Creek to the sound of music and cicadas.  Some folks came from as far away as Baltimore and northern Virginia.  

The auction was a great success–even the kids’ lemonade stand and bake sale worked wonders.

Peter Ettinger and Ted Kelly from XM Radio UPOP played emcee and had great fun with the auction.

State Democratic Party Chair Ike Leggett gave a rousing speech, and our own District 20 Delegate State House Ways and Means Chairperson Sheila Hixson joined the party to keep the Kerry Bandwagon rolling.

Takoma Park City Councilmember Heather Mizeur wore her other hat as Domestic Policy Adviser to Senator Kerry and gave a great speech representing the Kerry campaign. Heather and Deb also contributed an outstanding vegetarian chili and Takoma Park Councilmember Marc Ehlrich wandered around looking fit and trim, eating sparingly of the 15 different chilis available.

Thanks to all who came. Our job is not finished yet, and our group plans more events over the summer. It’s amazing what a small group of enthused, energetic people can achieve together. We hope all who came can plan something local in their own neighborhood. You really can make a difference.  A lot of effort and cooperation resulted in a great event and the best part is we had a fantastic party.  

Thanks very much to everybody who helped out and came. There is more to come. It really is time to stand up and do something, and we proved you can have a lot of fun doing it.

– Bill and Marcia Rock
Takoma Park, MD    

Protect our bears

I have written to Governor Ehrlich asking him to put a halt to the upcoming Black Bear hunt in Maryland. I have yet to receive a reply and so would like to remind the Governor that there may be less than a hundred Black Bears remaining in the State. How can he possibly sanction a hunt under these circumstances?

In coming up with this number I am using the Division of Natural Resources’ own study done in the year 2000. That is the last time that bears in the state were actually counted. At that time only 92 individual bears were identified. Many bears die annually already from various causes while only four cubs a year survive to 12 months of age.

The DNR has managed to make the public believe their studies on bears are current and accurate when in reality their one major study is now four years old and relied on a "modeling" device to arrive at the final estimate. This modeling device is arbitrary and does not account for all the bears that have been killed since 2000.

No matter how the math is done, the answer is the same: less than 100 bears left in the state after a fifty-year ban on hunting.

The Governor must see that this hunt will be viewed as a disaster for generations to come.

–Patrice Green
Parkton, MD

What were they thinking?

Mayor Kathy Porter and the rest of the previouss City Council owe the Takoma community both an explanation and an apology for the "secret" employment contract signed with City Manager Rick Finn in September of 2003, and for misleading the public concerning Mr. Finn's employment status.  The agreement became public recently and is available for viewing on the Sustainable Takoma website: http://sustainabletakoma.org/IssuesActions.html

 The agreement was signed on September 8, 2003, the same day that Mr. Finn announced his resignation to be effective July 11, 2004.  Following Mr. Finn's announcement the Mayor opined that after stepping down as City Manager Mr. Finn may be retained by the City as a consultant on an as-needed, temporary basis to help with transitional issues.  What the agreement reveals, however, is that Mr. Finn will be retained by the City with his full pay and benefits (estimated cost to taxpayers - $75K+) through Jan. 15, 2005.  Further, Mr. Finn will be assigned to manage the City Hall reconstruction project and other "special projects".  The agreement also "does hereby release and forever discharge Finn from any and all grievances, complaints, claims, demands, actions, causes of action or suits of law or in equity of whatsoever kind or nature that the City or its representatives may now or hereafter assert against Finn."  [Layman's terms -- the City can't hold Mr. Finn accountable for any of his actions which may be detrimental to the City's interests.]

 Why would the Mayor and City Council permit Mr. Finn to go through the charade of announcing a bogus resignation effective July 11, 2004, knowing full well that Mr. Finn will be on the City payroll with full pay and benefits through Jan. 15, 2005?  Did they think that no one would notice on July 12, 2004 that Mr. Finn hadn't departed?  Given the problems encountered by the City Hall reconstruction project under Mr. Finn's tutelage and his removal as lead person for reporting to the Council on the status of the project, why would the Mayor and City Council assign him continuing responsibility for overseeing the project?  Why would the Mayor and City Council give Mr. Finn complete immunity from being held accountable for his actions?  What recourse will the City have if a future audit or other review of City activities reveals malfeasance on the part of Mr. Finn?  Perhaps the most important question which needs to be answered is why did the Mayor and City Council deem it necessary to enter into a secret agreement with Mr. Finn and pledge to keep the contents hidden from the public?

Secret contracts at taxpayer expense have no place in an open, democratic government.  Ms. Porter, we are waiting for an explanation and an apology.  What on earth were you thinking?

–Jack Carson
Takoma Park, MD

Debt is not healthy

By now most residents know that the Community Center is going to cost a lot more money than originally advertised. How much more is unclear but Howard Kohn recently estimated that it would take $12M to $13M to complete the three phases outlined in the Opinion piece he wrote in the May Voice with Councilmember Bruce Williams.

Keep in mind the city is now dealing with cost overruns from change orders and adjustments–some due to excavation issues–that could drive that estimate even higher. With only some of the overruns factored in, the current phase of the project is projected to cost $8.9 M.

The Community Center is going to have a budgetary impact on Takoma Park for a long, long time. While Councilmember Bruce Williams’ weekly updates on the project are a step in the right direction towards accountability and transparency, unfortunately they do not show the "whole" picture. They are "to-date" snapshots that don’t project costs for yet-to-be-resolved change orders and adjustments that may be quite significant.

But the financial reporting in Mr. Williams’ and Mr. Kohn’s Voice opinion piece is even less enlightening. Certain statements in their piece do not meet even the most basic transparency test. If continuing support–which Eric Bond urges for this project–is going to be maintained, residents need to know exactly where we stand.

Below are statements Mr. Williams and Kohn made in their opinion piece followed by additional clarifying information gained from Mr. Williams’s updates and council discussions:

"A majority of the funding is in the form of grants designated for the CC, although the city is contributing a significant portion."

Of construction costs projected as of May 17th for construction through Spring 2005, the city will have to come up with $4,492,065; meanwhile state, county, and federal grants designated for the CC will total roughly $100K less at $4,399,450. Keep in mind the city’s share of total costs will rise as the costs of change orders and adjustments are negotiated and come due. Despite eternal optimism on the part of the Mayor and some Councilmembers, it seems highly likely that the city will be footing the bill from here on out.

Recently, County Councilmember Tom Perez warned the City Council not to expect any more money from the County.

"The city’s share includes a $2 million bond and $500,000 in general funds."

True as far as it goes but an incomplete picture: In addition to the $2M the city has already borrowed for the project, the balance of the city share of currently projected costs is roughly another $2.5 M, not the $500,000 that Mr. Williams and Mr. Kohn imply.

So far the city has been financing this share by using city revenues. Mr. Williams’ weekly updates presume that the city will continue to make up part of its costs by using general operating and reserve funds from both this year (2004) and next year’s (2005) budget. Again keep in mind that the city’s share will rise as additional costs for the current phase become known.

"The City is paying the rest out of a separate fund established to finance stormwater improvements."

What Mr. Williams and Mr. Kohn mean is that to make up the remaining costs, the city is planning to borrow an additional $400,000. The Mayor often refers to this as borrowing "from" the stormwater fund. But there is no $400,000 pot of money in a separate fund waiting to be tapped.

Rather the proposal is to take out a commercial loan and have part of the annual stormwater fee residents pay go to repay the $400,000 principal and accumulated interest. The fee residents pay each year to support this fund is dedicated to storm drain maintenance, meeting environmental mandates of pollution abatement and erosion management, and stormwater capital improvements.

Why is how much this project will cost and how it will be financed important? To complete the Community Center, the city will have to make significant budget choices to not spend on other arguably pressing needs.

Residents have a right to see all the fiscal cards on the table. For example, the city council is exploring borrowing $2M to $3M to fix the backlog of street repairs. Some residents believe rather than resorting to debt for street maintenance, the council should find the resources inside the current $14M budget.

To fund both the community and fix the roads without resorting to debt, hard choices need to be made. Debt can often appear to be the easy way out, but it isn’t always healthy for the city in the long run.

–Jane Lawrence
Alain Thery
Co-chairs, Sustainable Takoma

Districting Trivia

Here’s a bit of Maryland political trivia for you. How many delegates to the Maryland House of Delegates are elected from single-member districts? Turns out the answer is about a third of the 65 electoral districts have only one member, while the rest have 2 or 3. The answer would be trivial except for one thing: almost all of the single member districts are located in Western Maryland, Southern Maryland, and the Eastern Shore, places where more conservative voters live. In the more liberal or progressive areas, almost all of the legislators are in multi-member districts.

As Mike Tabor pointed out in a recent column, the "trivial" fact may help to explain why the state legislature is often more conservative than the state seems to be. It means, for example, that a liberal enclave like Takoma Park is included in a legislative district that goes far beyond the city boundaries to include more moderate to conservative voting areas in the north of Montgomery County. To get elected to the legislature from Takoma Park, one must satisfy a relatively wide range of voter political preferences. To get elected from Western Maryland, Southern Maryland, or the Eastern Shore, it may be enough to be conservative.

Redistricting occurs every ten years. Deciding whether to change from multi-member to single-member districts is not easy, and convincing legislators to make the change will be harder still. If we want the state legislature to take action, the time to worry about this issue is now.

–Karen Czapanskiy
Takoma Park, MD