"Dear Council Members and County Executive Leggett,"

An email from Ms. Cathy Fink to the members of the Montgomery County Council and the County Executive.

From: Cathy Fink

Date: Sun, May 1, 2011 at 4:14 PM

Subject: Rock Creek Hills Park-

To: councilmember.andrews@montgomerycountymd.gov,

councilmember.riemer@montgomerycountymd.gov,

councilmember.leventhal@montgomerycountymd.gov,

councilmember.navarro@montgomerycountymd.gov,

county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov

Cc: ocemail@montgomerycountymd.gov,

councilmember.berliner@montgomerycountymd.gov,

councilmember.elrich@montgomerycountymd.gov,

councilmember.ervin@montgomerycountymd.gov,

councilmember.floreen@montgomerycountymd.gov,

councilmember.rice@montgomerycountymd.gov

May 1, 2011

Dear Council Members and County Executive Leggett,

I have just returned from a meeting of concerned members of my community deeply upset about the possibility of a middle school being considered for Rock Creek Hills Park. Some of you- Marc Elrich Valerie Ervin, Nancy Floreen and Harold Levanthal, have been on the council long enough to know of my long history and activism in the county on behalf of education, music education and many other important issues. Mr. Leggett-you’ve been seen actually singing with Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer on the song “Big Strong Muscles” at one of our annual concerts.

I am deeply opposed to a school being built in Rock Creek Hills Park. I am also extremely upset at the way in which the process has been handled to date. The process of moving this site to the top of the list for consideration lacks honesty and transparency and seems to have been designed specifically to NOT include input, discussion or consideration from the community here. The school board should be ashamed and you should be ashamed with and for them. To call this a last minute slight of hand is polite.

Our community is coming together to respond to this and to work with you to look at other locations for a school. The list of reasons are many. They include the quality of life for those who live in the neighborhood regarding the quantity of traffic, noise and overcrowding of the space. They also include the hugely diverse population of people-all ages, races and teams for both girls and boys who utilize the park every weekend and after school. They will not want to lose Rock Creek Hills Park. This green space in our community is critical to the quality of our lives here-it is where we exercise, meet and greet our neighbors and take our children to play-all without driving to another community. I do not want to lose that.

As you know, I am an education advocate. I am honored to pay taxes to support education in the county even while I have no children attending the county schools. But I believe this location is the wrong choice for a new middle school. I am also under the impression that the amount if available space is a compromise for what the School Board recommend for a middle school. Why compromise when there are many other spaces, including non-park spaces, yet to be fully explored?

I vote, I pay taxes and I will be active on this issue. In fact, *I will be contacting each of you for a personal meeting this week* to speak specifically about my opposition to this plan. I know you will be hearing from many others in the community.

I urge you to please reconsider your positions and look at other locations for a new middle school.

Sincerely,

Cathy Fink

9811 Haverhill Dr.

Kensington, MD 20895