July 2006 Archives

Not “odds and ends” because issues before the City Council never seem to end.

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RENT CONTROL

Under considerable outside pressure from the county, the city council pushed through an ordinance creating rent control exemptions, even though the form of the overall rent control ordinance is still being hashed out and will not be written for months. Why? Because the county wants non-profit-owned, subsidized rental units NOT to be rent controlled.

If you think that is confusing, dear Reader, you are not the only one. Gilbert has been making The Mighty Effort to get his brain around this, and just when he gets one end secure, the other end snaps back - like trying to put a twin-bed-sized contour sheet onto a king-size mattress.

The urgency seems to be due to at least one pending sale of an apartment building to a nonprofit organization and this exemption must be passed into law so the purchase can go through. Otherwise, the property will go to other buyers who will likely convert to condos.

“Why?” you may ask, oh, confused Reader! Why do nonprofit landlords need rent controls to be lifted so they can make a profit, while “for-profit” landlords are subject to rent control and therefore not allowed to make as much profit (or no profit, according to many landlords). This apparent contradiction has been noted by for-profit landlords in tones ranging from loud to derisive. Litigation has been mentioned. Again.

Unfortunately for the proponents of rent control who support these exemptions, the explanation is a bit murky. This has had the effect of handing a blunt instrument to rent control opponents to hammer them with, as they have done for a number of weeks during “citizen comment.” Lately, that portion of the meeting has been more like “lawyers’ threat time.”

The reason non-profits have to make a bigger profit has to do with the potential profits from the eventual sale of a property being figured into the rent of a for-profit building. Selling the building for profit is something a nonprofit owner can’t do, so they need to have higher rents. That’s what your Gilbert understands, anyway. By the way, low income tenants in these non-profit-owned buildings will not pay the entire rent, they pay a percentage of their incomes and the government picks up the rest.

There was a lot of concern when the council started looking at exemptions to rent control, because homeowners with accessory apartments were afraid they would lose their current exemption. The city staff, who sometimes seem at odds with the council on rent control, had recommended that all exemptions other than for non-profits be dropped, and this rang alarm bells (and then councilmembers' telephones) all over the city.

The council kept the exemption for accessory apartments, however. It is in the new ordinance along with the exemption for non-profits.

THE GYM

The city will be hiring a firm to do a feasibility study for the gym. The staff took proposals and recommended the ANCL Architects firm. The council will vote to award a contract July 31 and the study should take about eight weeks. So, in the fall we will know how feasible (in other words, "how expensive") the construction of a gym is.

OLD TOWN DEVELOPMENT, LEGACY FUND

The developer ICG/Takoma has dropped plans for its ambitious and controversial residential development on the “Taliano’s” property. Word is that the property will continue to be used as commercial space, and that Bruce Levin, a local developer who had a small interest in IGC, will buy out the rest of the project from the other partners.

Even though this project’s potential traffic/parking nightmare is no longer a threat, the local neighborhood association is still pushing the council to get a grant from the Community Legacy Fund, a state loan program, to create a comprehensive parking solution for Old Town. Parking has long been a problem for the area’s residents and businesses.

    
PARKING AROUND THE COMMUNITY CENTER

A consultant presented proposals to create up to 57 parking spaces in the area around the municipal building/community center. Some of them were no-brainers, such as putting in parallel parking spaces on Maple. Others were potentially controversial, such as buying the PEPCO substation property on the corner of Maple and Philadelphia and turning it into a parking lot, or moving the cul-de-sac barrier several yards up Grant Avenue to create a 4-car mini-lot. Of course, it would not be the Takoma Park way to discuss automobile traffic without giving equal time to bicycle and pedestrian traffic. crosswalk “bump-outs” and streetscaping on Maple Avenue were also recommended. Alas, they lamented that there was no place for a bike lane. Hopefully, the consultants will consult with the Safe Roadways Committee which recommended marking the Maple/Philadelphia intersection with “sharrows” - chevron shapes showing lane is shared by bikes, and work something out.

Staff recommended, and the council agreed, that the simplest, least controversial steps be taken and the parking situation then be reassessed.

PARKING PERMITS

In amazingly quick response to citizen complaints, the council acted to establish a parking permit zone in the Belford Place/Conway Avenue/New Hampshire Avenue neighborhood. It seems that in order to avoid parking lot fees at nearby Belford Towers, many tenants park on the surrounding streets. This has resulted, residents say, in lack of parking for homeowners, litter, and altercations. Colleen Clay, their ward representative, worked diligently on this one for her constituents. She even tried to contact Belford Tower’s absentee landlord (a large corporation) but to no avail.

The permit required for the situation is without precedent in the city. Current permitting ordinances are set up for business hours to prevent commuter parking, but here the residents were asking for 24/7 coverage. That may come later, but the ordinance the city passed July 24th restricts parking from 7:00 pm to 8:00 am.

SPEED HUMPS

What could be more “Takoma Park” than speed humps? Councilmember Colleen Clay, in a careless moment, revealed that speed humps are her “least favorite traffic calming device.” If that doesn’t spark a recall movement, it will be only because she spoke in the course of proposing two speed humpizations - “one or more” speed humps to be built on Woodland and Lower Conway Avenues. Councilmember Elrich was a bit put out that the Woodland Avenue residents were able to get nonstandard speed humps - they requested humps that are more “bike friendly” and gentler than the city’s standard hump, but he was assured that the humps would be built to the county standard, so there were no extra expense sincurred in hump-design.

The hot summer weather brings out the mosquitoes, ticks, and politicians. The latter were biting fiercely at the Takoma Park Independence Day Parade, and the Old Town Farmers' Market two days prior (and since). Swarms of color-coded campaign volunteers buzzed around the voters, handing out literature, fans, and balloons.

Such a large crowd of voters this close to the September primary would normally attract campaigners, but since the parade includes incumbent politicians in the line of march, yet bans challengers from taking part, the sidewalk action along the parade route is particularly frantic.

It was good too see our local pols and those who aspire to be pols in the parade or along the route, but it was a bit galling to be handed literature promoting such persons as Nancy Floreen, who ran successfully last election for county council on the developer-financed, pro-Inter County Connector (ICC) "End Gridlock" slate. Her campaigners had a lot of nerve showing their faces in such strong anti-ICC territory as Takoma Park.

One might say the same about George Leventhal, but George, besides being one of the evil End-Gridlockers, gets a lot of credit for promoting other environmental programs, notably getting Montgomery County to obtain a percentage of its energy from renewable resources such as wind-power. George proves it is possible to walk the right path even with one's head up one's . . . um, in the dark.

George, being an incumbent, was allotted a place in one of the parade's vintage cars, but he chose to walk behind it so he could squeeze as much voting flesh as he could. When ribbed about needing to run to catch up with his car, he responded by saying no, he was running for office, thereby winning Gilbert's grudging respect on the basis of his QQ (Quip Quotient). A politician who demonstrates creativity and quick thinking with a good quip deserves at least respect, if not your vote.

Also walking instead of riding was city council member Colleen Clay, decked out in her American-flag theme shirt and looking more like a politician aspiring for higher office than most of the ones who actually were. Some didn't even show up. For instance, Peter Franchot, District 20 State Senator running for State Comptroller was represented by a small, fluffy, white dog. Presumably Franchot, figuring he's got a lock on the local electorate, was campaigning in a less locked locality instead.

Local candidate, and former city councilmember Heather Mizeur was also not spotted (by your Gilbert, anyway) at the parade - possibly for similar reasons. Her campaign volunteers were plentiful, however.

Ida Ruben, incumbent candidate for District 20 State Senator, stayed in her convertible, waving and smiling. Her supporters bobbed their yellow balloons at her (most of them in this case being too young to vote, but old enough to reach out for a free balloon). Some cheered her, including an old friend of Gilbert's, a resident of District 20 but not of Takoma Park, who is less than impressed with Ruben's challenger, Takoma Park's own Jamie Raskin. He grumbled that Raskin seemed to be campaigning against George Bush, not Ida Ruben. He found this to be presumptuous and inappropriate. He also felt that Raskin's campaign kickoff fundraiser was outrageously expensive ($50). So, there's one vote against Raskin. Astute political junkies have pointed out that, despite your Gilbert's observation that Takoma Park's population is not the majority in District 20, it nevertheless turns out in greater numbers than the rest of the district for elections. So, Gilbert admits that Raskin may very well carry the primary with ease. Being a realist (some would say a curmudgeon), however, he holds out for the worst-case-scenario, especially when progressives convince themselves they are about to win something. Gilbert says watch out for a backlash or a more-than-expected number of votes from women and moderate Democrats. And there's always the possibility that Raskin may stumble or that Ruben (or surrogate) could smear him. One look (OK, TWO looks, you can't see both in one look) at their respective websites shows clearly the Ms Ruben is outclassed - unless her strategy is to look so pathetic that she gets the sympathy vote.

The man who covets her seat, Jamie Raskin, prowled the sidelines of the parade route, looking very much the earnest-man-of-the-people in his shiny white shirt and tie (no coat, and shirtsleeves rolled up, of course). Dozens of blue-t-shirted campaign volunteers went the rounds with him, or in other groups. His signs were more numerous than mushrooms after a heavy rain. The smell of inevitable victory drifted through the air like the sweet, appetite-rousing scent of a neighbor's barbecue.

Meanwhile, city councilmember Joy Austin-Lane has dropped out of the county council race, and Marc Elrich is still running, but, this week anyway, for an at-large seat, not for county district 5. His fans were everywhere - both the human and cooling sort. His effort is not as giddy as Raskin's, though he is also a favorite son.

Both Austin-Lane and Elrich jumped off the track the moment Valerie Ervin, aka "Astroturf Val," declared her District 5 candidacy. Astroturf Val is on the county Board of Education (though she has served a mere 19 months of her term). Until recently she was chief of staff to county councilmember George Leventhal, and as such already has a close working relationship with the existing council, all of whom, she says, endorse her. The head of CASA endorses her (signaling that she will carry the torch of Tom Perez, the departing District 5 representative who has strongly represented Latino interests). Joy Austin-Lane has endorsed her and even joined her campaign rather than run against her. Clearly, Astroturf Val is the Anointed One.

Why then, is Gilbert filled with foreboding? Despite her reputation as a progressive and her endorsements from All The Right People, Gilbert is troubled by a number of things. Not least of these is the feeling that the advantage she enjoys in the race as a councilmember's staff-person is not only unfair but disturbingly close to incestuous. Gilbert wonders if she would act more as a representative of the council than the citizens. More disturbing is that her rhetoric is full of phrases that sound good but don't amount to much. On transportation issues, for example, her opponent (more on him below) clearly states a plan for promoting light rail and limiting development, whereas Astroturf Val calls for "a transportation plan that makes sense." Makes sense to who? She calls for "clean air and water and green spaces," yet she advocates replacing the county schools' grass playing fields with artificial turf. [Homework assignment for Ms Ervin: a one page essay on how "Urban Heat Island Effect" from artificial turf will impact on the health and safety of young players on the field and contribute to the Metro region's artificially-high temperatures and air pollution.]

Her stump speech, as presented at the Takoma Voice candidate forum June 24, was a string of Hallmark Card platitudes, such as "The journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step," interspersed with the standard list of voter issues - safety, education, affordable housing, clean air, civility, transparency and so forth, with no actual positions stated on any of them. Then she rounded it out with a Martin Luther King quote: ""There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right." Odd, since she had just said nothing remotely unsafe, impolitic, or unpopular. She finished up with the rousing yet circular and meaningless statement, "I am running . . . because it is the right thing to do."

If this is "progressive," I'll eat a plate of artificial turf.

Before Astroturf Val hopped into the car for the parade Gilbert hopes she boned up on local issues. At the candidate's forum she professed she'd never heard of the Residents Committee Tax and Service Duplication Issues (TASDI) Report documenting the inadequate rebate we get from the county. This was just after she reassured the assembled citizens that she would represent Takoma Park well because she'd lived for the last two decades just a few blocks away. The TASDI Report has only been one of the Top Five political issues in Takoma Park for about two years.

Her opponent Hans Riemer was also present at the parade, but campaigning on the sidelines since he is not an elected official. Riemer looks very young, but he says he is a highly accomplished activist of national stature having served as a director of the Rock the Vote voter registration group, and as a lobbyist working to defeat Bush's Social Security reforms. These and other experiences show he is able to accomplish big things, he says to counter Ervin's advantage as a council insider.

Your Gilbert does get a whiff of Great Ambition from Reimer due to his national experience and the fact that he's only been registered to vote in Montgomery County since 2004, and he wonders if the county council is just Reimer's quick stop on the way to higher office. Still, Gilbert prefers a "progressive" candidate who backs up the claim with substantial proposals - or at least more substantial proposals than his opponent. Reimer is a staunch supporter of the Purple Line and has definite ideas about how it should be built (ground-level in Bethesda, tunneled in Silver Spring). Ervin supports the Purple Line as well, but notes the "concerns" about the routing of it in the Sligo community. Reimer says that the Purple Line is just a start, he envisions a countywide light-rail system. He wants to further the use of mass transit by encouraging the establishment of town centers that are transportation hubs. This would mean, of course, curtailing development in areas that would subvert this plan - especially in the northern part of the county, and along the route of the ICC, if it is actually built.