Save Rock Creek Hills Park? Well, we sure tried!: "The rules have suddenly changed mid-way through and we have to ask why."

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

"The rules have suddenly changed mid-way through and we have to ask why."

An article by Sarah Gantz in today's Gazette quotes Bruce Crispell of Montgomery County Public Schools as stating that it is "impossible" for a feasibility study committee to vote, but then points out that MCPS's Dennis Cross presided over such votes at two meetings of the feasibility study for B-CC middle school #2 on the site of Rock Creek Hills Park:

"Because anyone can attend each meeting without obligation to attend every meeting, the group cannot have an official membership; without an official membership, it is impossible to vote, [Crispell] said.

...

However, Cross has called for a vote at two meetings. ...at the third meeting, July 13, the group voted to eliminate four of seven designs..."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: I have noted to your group on FB that the feasibility advisory commitee for Edison-Wheaton, led by Dennis Cross, voted numerous times. We also had minutes. They are posted on the MCPS construction website.; August 10, 2011 at 8:53 AM

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Who Said That?

"When the [Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission] developed [Rock Creek Hills Park] in the early 1990s they accepted funds from the Program Open Space. This is a program managed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to distribute funds from the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund to preserve open space. The use of Program Open Space funds was inconsistent with the reclamation terms of the transfer agreement under which the M-NCPPC took title to the property. This was the case since use of these funds places restrictions on future public use of parks, in contradiction with the terms of the original transfer agreement..."
– Dr. Joshua Starr, Superintendent, Montgomery County Public Schools.

From the MCPS Site Selection Advisory Committee Minority Reports:

The B-CC High School NAACP Parents' Council wrote that they "... cannot support the recommendation to build the new middle school in a potentially racially divisive and socially isolating location. ... We, therefore, ask the Superintendent and the Board of Education to decline to adopt Rock Creek Hills Local Park as the site for the new middle school."

The Lyttonsville Civic Association wrote that "...MCPS staff set inappropriate boundaries for discussion... ...MCPS staff cut off discussion to insist that a vote be taken before the committee had finished considering all their options. Staff ... made procedural rulings that affected the ability of some representatives to speak freely. Some representatives voiced concerns that they were being led to a predetermined conclusion."

Ms. Brooke Farquhar (Parks Department) wrote: "Costs were not thoroughly evaluated in the process and misinformation may have prejudiced the votes of committee members.... The process lacked a robust analysis. The potential sites should have been analyzed more thoroughly, based on detailed information that would allow consistent comparison across the sites."

Mr. Frederick V. Boyd (Planning Board) wrote: "[T]he rating process used for selecting sites did not provide a real opportunity to consider the community character and quality of life consequences of choosing a candidate site. ... [D]escriptions appear to have been written to enable easier consideration of some public sites..."