Save Rock Creek Hills Park? Well, we sure tried!: "Nothing has changed..."

Saturday, July 2, 2011

"Nothing has changed..."

"Those of us in the Seven Locks community can only read [a recent] Gazette and respond, 'Been there, done that.'

In a new record for Montgomery County Public Schools, there are not one, not two, but three allegations of malfeasance by the school system in conjunction with the school board. One comes from County Council President Valerie Ervin, who has shown herself to be extremely responsible in the recent budget debate, one from the Rock Creek [Hills] community, and one from parents alleging a violation of the open meetings law regarding the new superintendent search.

We of the Save Seven Locks group spent two-and-a-half intense years fighting MCPS for exactly what they are trying to do to Rock Creek [Hills]. Nothing has changed since then...

We learned in the Save Seven Locks fight years ago that once the council approves the budget for MCPS, they have virtually no say in how it gets spent. This leads to major conflict as we saw then and see now. It's a silly way for government to work..."

- from a recent letter in the Gazette by Jay M. Weinstein of Bethesda.

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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..."