The following was submitted by Risa Misra of Mt.Airy
On May 7th I’ll be voting for Bob King for Mt. Airy Town Council.
Bob moved to Mt. Airy in 1992 because it was a nice place to raise children. For the past 20 years he has worked to enrich the lives of an entire generation of children through his efforts with the Mt. Airy Youth Athletic Association (1994-2001), the Mt. Airy Parks and Recreation Commission (1997-present), and Calvary United Methodist Church(2007-present).
In 20 years, Bob has seen Mt. Airy’s landscape change. Through it all he has consistently worked well with volunteers, Town and County staff, and elected officials to further our best interests by acquiring parkland and generating ball fields, bike and foot trails, and recreational programs for citizens of all ages.
Bob understands the challenges of maintaining a vibrant community, one that remains affordable and provides a high quality of life for the majority of existing residents, and also supports local businesses. He understands that good schools, good roads, a safe and reliable water supply, and local recreational and employment opportunities are necessary for this generation and future generations to thrive.
Bob’s long record of service shows that he is willing and able to reach across the table to make good things happen. I believe that is exactly what Mt. Airy needs.
You know it’s bad when they call in the “big guns.” Where has Todd Eudy been hiding? Under a rock? Isn’t he the guy who barely shows up for Water and Sewer Commission meetings, but Pat Rockinberg and gang argue he can stay on even though the council developed rules and guidelines for such instances. Well, yes…I believe he’s the guy.
In this weeks Gazette, Eudy states
“I appreciate how he (the Mayor) frequently references and carries out the vision of our residents as reflected in the 2007 Town Survey.”
Let’s gets one thing straight. The 2007 survey was analyzed only for political purposes serving the Rockinberg anti-growth, anti- business political machine agenda. If Rockinberg was really behind what the residents wanted, he wouldn’t have promoted a “not in my back yard” response to the Rigler Annexation proposing a community center. A community center that 63% of the residents said they wanted in the infamous 2007 survey.
Mount Airy will be much better represented when the new survey is completed by the Be Local, Mount Airy group. Results will be analyzed objectively by those who do not have an agenda or a political ax to grind.
In 2006, Eudy did nothing but bring hate to our community. Divide and conquer was his motto. He savagely attacked three council members who worked tirelessly for this community trying to bring the amenities that this community needed and still does. I’ve made many friends on the"other side" since that time I would never want this community to go backwards in time. The kind of venom and animosity Eudy brings to the table is what we all must stand up against and demand better. I hope residents will see Eudy for what he really is, a shit stirrer, and understand the reasons why he is suddenly surfacing--there's an election year coming right up.
Do you remember “The Quorum?” How could you forget? Well, one could argue that’s exactly what we have now with Pyatt, Strong and Helt; Helt being the wild card for sure. You never know which way the wind is blowing with Helt, but typically and as of late…it blows towards Rockinberg and gang. (BTW, who he has positioned in every commission and every nook and cranny of our Town’s government.)
This new “Quorum” is anti-economic development and developer, anti business, anti work where you live if possible, anti collaboration of all stakeholders in the community, and with the exception of Helt on occasion, have shown they are not willing to embrace different ideas, solutions, recommendations and suggestions in order to work together to solve problems.
They don't even accept the notion that we have any problems.
Leaders have vision. Leaders can see things from all angles and embrace different ways of looking at a situation, issue or problem. Leaders embrace their team and work with each person to develop a healthy, strong, professional relationship among colleagues.
Those are not the traits of our current Mayor.
Don’t agree with his opinion? He will write a letter to the editor instead of discussing in a mature, business like, adult manner. If you write a letter regarding your opinion, he sicks one of his goons after you. (Eudy, Blatchford, Basement Boy Falletta, Curley) Want to obtain documents under Freedom of Information as a resident? He will charge you. Want to be annexed in to Town (not a resident) he will go to bat for you! (Hmm. I wonder what the politicians were going to get in return?)
You may think he’s doing a bang up job, but I ask you this Mount Airy; Since he’s become Mayor...
Has he fostered an environment where business feels confident? NO.
Has he worked with MAMSA, Economic Development and the Planning Commission to create a strong foundation where business is encouraged and welcomed into our community? NO.
Has he utilized the 2007 survey and it’s findings to bring a community center or something for teens to do? NO.
A middle school for Frederick County? NO. (In fact, he didn't even know that the Frederick County students no longer attended New Market Middle.)
Has he taken the steps to come up with solutions to Mount Airy’s long standing infrastructure problems, such as Water, Sewer and Traffic? NO.
There’s been much discussion lately about our “reserve” funds. The reserve funds have been sitting, earning interest from impact fees developers are required to pay for FUTURE INFRASTRUCTURE.
Wake up Mount Airy. Those funds aren't for emergencies or to balance the Mayor’s Budget. Those funds are a promise to YOU, the residents who have been waiting for two decades for Mount Airy to get with the program and fix it’s infrastructure problems.
Shame on you, Todd Eudy or anyone else who thinks this Mayor is showing leadership. Real leadership starts with action; not false promises, lots of empty talk…. and most of all, spin.
--On Economic Development, Our Commercial Tax Base and Living Where You Work..
Perhaps it's time for a new survey?
It appears we have a Mayor who really isn’t getting the big picture of why economic development is so important for Mount Airy. At February 23rd's special meeting of the Economic Development Commission and the Town Council, the Mayor said>>
“I don't see a huge push or need for Economic Development beyond what we already have, we already have a good mix.”
There in lies the problem.
The philosophy of the Mayor, 2 councilman (Pyatt and Strong) and the entire Planning and Zoning Board towards the “greedy developers” is ‘go away.’ The Mayor also said>>
“We need economic development and the business here more as a convenience.”
He went on to say that the residents need to make more of an “effort” to support local businesses to ensure their survival. He states>>
"How we can help our residents and these businesses is to foster these businesses only as a convenience. If we don't support the businesses here in Mount Airy, those conveniences will go away. What I think EDC should focus on to help to foster these businesses and keep them thriving is a shop where you live campaign. We can educate these people, because if we don't frequent these businesses, we're not going to have them. I think that will help build our commercial tax base and keep our businesses thriving."
Really?
Don’t get me wrong; I try to frequent our local businesses as much as possible. I would hope other residents do the same; I mean, who wants to drive to Frederick, Columbia or Germantown? But the Mayor has it all wrong. It’s not the resident’s responsibility to patronize local businesses in order for them to survive. I, along with my fellow residents make our own choices when it comes to shopping for groceries, gas, eating out etc. It's a free society. That’s how it works.
Oh and by the way Mr. Mayor, encouraging a shop where you live campaign in town is just one component of EDC. Shopping here in Town will not grow the commercial tax base.Only new businesses opening their doors will add to the commercial tax base.
It’s the Town’s responsibility and in the Town’s best interest to ensure the Town remains a viable, attractive and welcoming place to start a business. A diversified business sector brings additional foot traffic for other businesses and creates a climate that would entice residents to make the choice to stay local more often.
The word “developer” is a bad word in this town, and the development community has been treated very poorly. Half the residents in this Town wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the development community and for the good hearted life long residents who said YES to us moving to their Town to raise our kids and open our businesses.
EDC Commission member Frank Dertzbaugh said “If we can’t at least bring potential investors in the door, and get them through at least a concept, then they will lose interest with all the other hurdles they will have along the way which are many.”
It’s an uphill battle to even get a project to the concept stage. It has become the mission of this administration and the Planning and Zoning Commission to create an atmosphere of negativity with no creative out of the box solutions to infrastructure challenges.
It's no secret that Mount Airy has a water issue...it's been that way for nearly two decades. The truth? These Town officials don’t want to find water. They don’t want to find a solution. The Mayor said so himself>>
"We have water for every resident in Mt. Airy now; I don't see a huge deficiency. I don't think we need big ground water and that's one of the things I campaigned on. We don't need these big resources. We have water resources.Now we need some more to build out center street. We are limited and I don't think we need to take great gains to change what we already have."
How quickly we forget when we hit a dry spell? If it were really up to them, they would seal the Mt. Airy borders. Perhaps they should just build a fence?
EDC member Mike VantSant said "there are a couple of very key things in the enabling legislation, and one that jumps right out at me is to promote the ability to work closer to home.” To which the Mayor replied>>
"A lot of people had a choice when they moved to Mount Airy of places to live and working the same area, while that can be some what desirable, I don't think that's the number one desire of the people that live here, to have their job immediately adjacent to where they work."
Wow! I'll say it again.. Really?
The Mayor is out of touch with reality and with most residents and business owners in this Town. If we have the opportunity to work closer to home, most people would jump on that, that doesn't mean we want to become an "employment hub." It just means that we create more opporutnity whether it means more jobs for our Teens, stay at home Moms or business professionals.
Most businesses are eager to see business development. Businesses want to grow. They want the town to be a place where prospective business owners can come and be treated with respect, given an honest process and not subject to the political BS of the almighty Planning and Zoning commission.
Businesses in Mt. Airy-if you want to grow and prosper, it’s time to take a stand against the unorthodox treatment of our development community. Stand up if you believe Planning and Zoning, Economic Development, and the Town Council should all work in concert to create an atmosphere that is conducive for economic growth and vitality in our small Town.
My name is Donnamarie Needle, and I’mmarried to Norm Needle, my husband of 21 years. We have two children; Josh, age 15 is a freshman at Linganore High School and Alexa Rae, age 11 is a fifth grader at Twin Ridge Elementary School. Josh plays percussion for theLinganore HS Marching Bandandhe’salsothe drummer in his own band. Alexa swims competitively for the Health Unlimited Hurricanes and The Mount Airy Ridge Seals and plays club soccer for LUYAA’s Black Venom, a WAGS team.
We moved to Mount Airy in 1996 when Josh was 18 months old. Like many Mount Airy residents, we were attracted by Mount Airy’s small town charm and thought it would be a perfect place to raise a family, away from the congestion, crime and big development of Germantown and Montgomery County. We liked the idea of being part of a small, close knit community within walking distance to schools, downtown shopping, a bite to eat or a Sunday stroll for ice cream.
Mount Airy is our home, and I’m proud to be able to give our children the opportunity to grow up in a Town where everyone really does know your name. For the most part, Mount Airy has been good to us, with the exception of politics, or should I say the political shenanigans that we have witnessed over the years.
How it all started.
During the summer of '99 Mount Airy imposed a water ban. Apparently, during times of drought, Mount Airy had difficulty with its water supply. (Really?) If you recall the summer of ‘99, it was pretty brutal and a water ban with two small children didn't make for a fun summer.
Needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled with being cooped up inside all day, banned from filling up a baby pool or running the sprinkler for some relief. Why didn’t Mount Airy have enough water? Who was doing something about it? Why was the Town continuing to permit the building of new homes in Summit Ridge and Twin Ridge and other parts of Town while all of Mount Airy was under a water ban?
With a 5-year old and 9 month old in tow, I decided to march right up to Town Halland lodge my complaints directly to Jerry Johnson, the Town Mayor. He seemed empathetic to the plight of a young mother without a sprinkler and listened intently to my passionate protest, however, it was apparent that his hands were tied.
I came away from that protest with the realization that we obviously didn’t do enough research on adequate infrastructure or Town politics when we selected Mount Airy as the perfect place to raise a family. Soon after I became aware that schools located .5 miles from our home were only for Carroll County residents and that our kids would attend Middle School and High School way beyond the Town limits.
There were many questions. Why didn’t Frederick County have more than just an elementary school in Town? Had we chosen the wrong side of Town to live? Besides, what crazy person decided to put a county line right through the middle of a Town anyway? The entire school thing never made any sense so when there was a rumor about a possible Mount Airy High School in 2005, I got involved. That was the moment of my descent into politics.
Political shenanigans; that’s the reason for this blog. Tina Grogg's article in The Grogg Report not only tells it like it is, but what perfect timing! As we sit here with only a few days left until Mount Airy's next election, the old fear-mongering "crew" has surfaced. Over the next few days we will introduce the truth about Mount Airy's Crazy Town politics. I hope you will follow along with me and my fellow bloggers on our journey to Election Day 2010, as we expose the shenanigans and focus on how Mount Airy really can do better! Yes we can!
