In the past 12 months our County Executive has successfully moved 49.5 acres of public school land AWAY from the use of public school children without public input, discussion or debate into his decisions and very, very limited public notice. Less notice gives the public less time to be informed and respond.
No big deal. 49.5 acres of public school land isn't important. Schools aren't overcrowded and new school sites aren't needed, right?
- In November of 2010, County Executive Leggett surprised the public by announcing that he was selling a 19.5 acre public school site to a private entity. After years of negotiations behind closed doors, the Leggett plan was rushed through the Council and fast-tracked by the Governor and Board of Public Works. The whole thing was over in a few weeks.
- In March of 2011, the public was again surprised to discover that County Executive Leggett had been working for at least 15 months behind closed doors to turn over another 20 acres of public school land to another private entity.
Now, according to the Gazette, County Executive Leggett has written to the County Council President to complain that Councilmember Phil Andrews is taking too long to push the County Executive's curfew legislation through the County Council. 4 months of public discussion must seem like an eternity to the County Executive. Council President Valerie Ervin said she wasn't going to use her "position as council president to go over the chair [Phil Andrews] of the committee."
But good news for the County Executive, according to the same Gazette article, Councilmember Roger "pull the plug" Berliner is the "presumed successor" to the position of Council President. Look for less "public" in the public process in the coming months!
Hi Janis
ReplyDeleteAre we trying to Save Brickyard Road (from those noisy, pesky kids?)
It is important to look at realistic numbers of kids that will play at the Brickyard Road Middle School site until it is used for a public middle school.
• Proposed nonprofit Youth Sports League. If we use Brickyard Coalition figures, the number of school kids using the land every weekday for 4 or 5 months per year . 540 School Kids per day!!
• Proposed nonprofit Youth Sports League. I think we can agree that the BC numbers are wildly inflated. A realistic number would be one or two teams of 15 kids each per day for each of the 4 fields. 60 to 120 kids per day.
• Current Commercial Farming Enterprise. Number of kids using the land while it is fenced off and being used for a commercial farming enterprise. ZERO kids per day
Does the Parents Coalition think it’s better for zero kids to use this future public school land or 60 to 120 kids per day to use the site? I think that the great majority of the time, you and the Parents Coalition are spot on and a great advocate for the kids. I don’t think that you are on the kids side in this one situation.
On a related note, I would like to congratulate the Churchill girls soccer team in winning the 3A Maryland regional championship and mention that the overwhelming majority of high school athletes in all sports start out in one of our nonprofit youth sports leagues like MSI. I always found that Potomac has a high concentration of kids that play youth sports as Potomac parents recognize the value of this wholesome activity.
Thank you for responding to me as I know I have been a thorn in your side.
Bernie Mihm Jr.
longtime volunteer youth sports coach in MCPS/MCRD/MSI/SSA
I haven’t mentioned the weekends yet but it’s great news for those of us who advocate kids sports.
ReplyDeleteA realistic figure would be two teams of 15 kids each playing on each of the 4 fields, 4 games a day. That adds up to 720 kids per day over a 9 to 10 hour time period. That compares to zero kids per day under the soon to expire commercial farming operation.
bernie mihm
Hi Janis
ReplyDeleteI stupidly wrote this one up a little too early in the morning and made a mistake in simple math. Here is the corrected version with the correct math. Again, thank you for your advocacy for our children. Although we may disagree on this issue, I am a great admirer of your positions on many other matters and your hard work. bernie
I haven’t mentioned the weekends yet but it’s great news for those of us who advocate kids sports.
A realistic figure would be two teams of 15 kids each playing on each of the 4 fields, 4 games a day. That adds up to 480 kids per day over a an 8 hour time period. That compares to zero kids per day under the soon to expire commercial farming operation. It also compares with the use of a normal middle school (Julius West, Ridgeview, Kingsview) with two to four ball fields.