"another example of less-than-transparent wheeling and dealing"

To: boe@mcpsmd.org
Cc: "county council" <county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov>, ocemail@montgomerycountymd.gov
Sent: Wednesday, March 9, 2011 6:03:29 PM

Subject: Nick's Organic Farm

To the members of the Board of Education:

I am writing to express my dismay both with the decision regarding the lease on Nick's Organic Farm in Potomac and with the process by which the decision was made.

I am a professor who teaches (among other things) the history of agriculture and sustainable farming at Georgetown, as well as a former resident of Montgomery County and an avid customer and fan of Nick
Maravel, one of the real gems in the regional sustainable farming community. I brought students to Nick's Buckeystown farm last semester and they were in awe of his deep knowledge and experience of farming.

The decision to use this land, farmed organically for 30 years (as far as I know, unparalleled in the DC area and a major achievement), for sports fields is a short-sighted one that will detract from the community. I have school-aged children who play soccer; I understand the value of and need for sports fields. But there are more and less appropriate places for them when they are needed. I would wager that in its soil fertility, biodiversity, and overall ecological health, this land is now unlike any other single parcel of land within a 50-mile radius of DC. It will be murdered within two years of its conversion to sports fields - three decades of irreplaceable work undone in a moment.

So the Board has just committed what is basically an environmental crime. But in addition, the public comment period was outrageously short. This feels like a rushed process, not one designed to truly
solicit public input and to involve the community in decisions about how its resources are used.

There is, sadly, precedent for this. I used to be a resident of North Woodside and the handling of the old middle school, which was leased to Yeshiva for 99 years at fire-sale prices (in a neighborhood where the
population of children was rapidly growing) was another example of less-than-transparent wheeling and dealing that basically ignored community input and permanently appropriated (for all intents and
purposes) a valuable community resource in the interests of short-term solutions. It's a pity that in the eight or so years since that debacle played out, things haven't changed much in Montgomery County.
Nick's Potomac Farm is an irreplaceable gem for the local community, the sustainable farming community, people who enjoy buying local and humanely raised food, and a national community of farmers struggling to
find sources of certified organic seed. It's a shame that Montgomery County's school board didn't trouble itself to learn more about what remarkable things were taking place on that land before deciding to
terminate the lease with Nick Maravel. And shame on the members who voted to lease a public resource like this to the County for soccer fields without appropriate hearings and public debate.

Sincerely,
Meredith McKittrick