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Thursday, June 6, 2013

Rapid transit in Montgomery County

Rapid transit in Montgomery County: could "Bus Rapid Transit" be the answer to Montgomer County's traffic nightmares. Dr. Paula Bienenfeld and Dan Reed join us in the studio to shed some light on the proposed plan. Allison Seymour reports

13 comments:

  1. I saw this report on Fox 5 this morning.

    Paula did a great job! Dan Reed, of course, represented development interests as he has done for many years. I have no doubt that a high-paying job at Rodgers Consulting awaits Dan in the near future. As far as the lack of citizen input regarding BRT it concerned, it’s shameless, but then again developers are driving the process. Those developers/land owners, who have the most to profit with BRT stations near or bordering their properties, have hired $600/hour land use zoning attorneys to secretly lobby Planning Board members, Montgomery County Council members as well as the Montgomery County Executive himself. The developers pay-to-play, they win big… taxpayers, citizens and victims of eminent domain lose big. Welcome to Montgomery County! ;)

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  2. Dan Reed's current job is working for Friends of White Flint, a developer funded organization.

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  3. Would this have anything to do with the huge, spiffy brand-spankin new bus maintenance depot off Shady Grove Rd. near ICC?

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  4. Bethesdanow.com is running a poll. What would it take for you to use Bus Rapid Transit? Please add your answer here: http://www.bethesdanow.com/2013/06/06/afternoon-poll-what-would-it-take-for-you-to-ride-to-brt/

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  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  7. Anonymous, Barnaby Zall began the 'Friends of White Flint' blog when the sector was first being discussed. He has property within the WF Sector, I believe. Or he did. Simmilar to 'Communities for Transit' set up by the developers. Nope, no communities involved. Unless you include the real estate developer community and the Friends of Legget community.

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  8. To Anonymous June 11, 2013 at 11:01 AM: You are right, the “Friends of White Flint” PO Box is no longer P.O. Box 2222, White Flint Station, Kensington, MD 20891-2222, it has been recently changed…

    With the association with the ‘anti-diversity’ English Language PAC, it’s no wonder that they got a new mailbox. The FACT is, P.O. Box 2222 WAS the “Friends of White Flint” PO Box for quite some time as can be seen in the following links:

    Friends of White Flint web links showing PO Box 2222 (there are many more examples):

    FOWF Facebook page (not updated with “new” PO Box yet):

    https://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-White-Flint/220698511290612?sk=info

    This one actually shows a sample of Friends of White Flint stationary with the 2222 PO Box:

    http://www.docstoc.com/docs/89366096/Friends-of-White-Flint

    PDF of Friends of White Flint stationary with PO Box 2222 to the Montgomery County Planning Board:

    http://www.montgomeryplanningboard.org/agenda/2009/documents/Whiteflintaddendum.pdf

    Sample of many other independent sites showing FOWF 2222 PO Box:

    http://www.nonprofitfacts.com/MD/Friends-Of-White-Flint-Inc.html


    Here are links regarding of the same PO Box (2222) associated with the English Language Political Action Committee

    http://fec-political-committees.findthedata.org/l/22402/English-Language-Political-Action-Committee

    http://fec-committee-contributions.theblaze.com/l/2396/English-Language-Political-Action-Committee

    Before YOU start making unsubstantiated claims, perhaps YOU could Google the data and check for yourself.

    The statement and association remain a FACT: The faux citizen group, “Friends of White Flint” and the (xenophobic) English Language PAC ARE connected via their addresses (former and current) and more importantly, through their faux “leadership,” Barnaby Zall and his wife, Jan. Next time, the Lerner Corporation should find a less controversial tax-exempt/commercial law attorney to front for its faux citizen group.

    Lastly, other than the fact that his nickname should be Mr. Development, Dan Reed’s involvement with the "Friends of WHITE Flint" is a real puzzlement. Why would he associate himself with people like this?

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  9. Wow! Who took my "six-figure funding to run FoWF"? I just haven't seen it lately, and I could use the money. We present our financial records at EVERY Board meeting, all of which are well-attended by people who aren't on our Board, since all our meetings are public. Our bank balance at the end of April was $25,851, by the way.

    In fact, I never, ever received "funding to run FoWF" much less six-figure funding or "vast sums of money paid to Zall." I put my own money INTO FoWF. I, like every single one of the FoWF Board of Directors since its founding in 2009 has been a volunteer, and none have taken a dime. Money for Friends of White Flint comes only from its membership dues, and is paid by residents, residential associations, businesses (like mine, and neither I nor my law firm do real estate, property, development, zoning or any other type of work that affects the White Flint Sector Plan), and yes, from developers and property owners. But the FoWF Board is made up of equal numbers of residents, businesses, and property owners, so no one group dominates.

    FoWF held ONE meeting at Lerner Corp a few years ago. That was to showcase the opening of their new LEED-certified building, one of the best (at the time) in Montgomery County, and something that FoWF pushes for.

    My blog, referenced above, was never "set up by the developers." I set it up, and was the main contributor for many years. It got thousands of hits every month, and at one time was the third-most popular non-commercial blog in Maryland.

    And my only property in White Flint is my HOUSE. That's right. I'm a resident, just like Paula Bienenfeld, who lives down the street from me. If she's a White Flint resident, so am I, but then she knew that, because I met her at the first meeting on the White Flint Sector Plan and we worked on the same team on our portion of the plan. In fact, we rode together to some of the meetings. My big deal is parks, bicycles and New Urbanism (getting people out of their cars by building the right way), as anyone who has listened at any of FoWF's more than 200 meetings over the last four years would know.

    FoWF started as a pro-bicycle group, but quickly moved into advocating for safe streets, New Urbanism, and other sustainable measures in the Sector Plan. We paid for the only real community-based "town hall" meeting on the White Flint Sector Plan, held at the NRC and featuring Royce Hanson and John Robinson, the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Planning Board working on the White Flint Sector Plan. Later we paid for one of the country's top transportation planners to come to White Flint and do individual traffic calming plans for each neighborhood in White Flint. I could go on, but not worth the time.

    Who are the idiots who post these total lies anonymously? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE @ Anonymous and Anonymous(2)? Are you so divorced from reality that you think posting as "Anonymous" will save you (or the Parents Coalition) from liability for false statements and defamation so you can say anything you want, without regard to the truth?

    Barnaby Zall
    direct dial 301-231-6943

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  10. From: Dan Reed
    Sent: Monday, April 24, 2017 3:19:34 PM
    To: Dan Reed
    Subject: Can you help me get on the Montgomery County Planning Board?

    Dear friend who lives in Montgomery County,

    First off, I apologize for spamming you. But I have a big announcement to make: recently, I applied to be on the Montgomery County Planning Board, which makes decisions about development, transportation, and parks. And I could use your help to get appointed!

    WHAT DOES THE PLANNING BOARD DO

    The Planning Board works with community members and elected officials to make Montgomery County a better place to live. It reviews and approves development, creates long-term plans for the county's growth, manages the county's park system, and makes recommendations about historic preservation.

    The Board has five members who serve four-year terms, and one member must step down this June. This spring, the County Council will vote to appoint their replacement.

    WHY I'D LIKE TO BE ON THE PLANNING BOARD

    I grew up in Montgomery County and have lived, worked, and attended school all over the county. My day job is being a professional urban planner; the rest of the time, I’m a writer and community advocate. In both roles, I’ve worked to help this county, and communities all over the United States, tackle some of its biggest challenges: coping with growth, helping people get around, ensuring economic and environmental justice, and creating lovable, durable places.

    As a Planning Board member, I hope to help the board, the Council, and community members promote affordable housing and access to jobs; push for better design and historic preservation; support high-quality parks and public spaces; and most importantly, find new and innovative ways to get the public involved in their community.

    WHAT CAN YOU DO

    Your support means a lot to me, and showing it is easy. All you have to do is email the County Council at county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov by May 11. (Please encourage your friends who live in Montgomery County to do the same!) You can write your own email, or you can use this sample text:

    Dear members of the County Council:

    I urge you to appoint Dan Reed to the open seat on the Montgomery County Planning Board.

    As a trained architect and urban planner, Dan has years of experience working with communities facing many of the same challenges we have in Montgomery County. And as a community advocate, he's worked to get people excited about and involved in the future of our county.

    Dan Reed's experience and perspective will make him an excellent addition to the Planning Board, and I encourage you to vote for him.

    [You can add your favorite signoff here.]

    AND FINALLY, THANKS!

    I wouldn't be doing this without all of my friends, family, and readers. I am deeply grateful for your support, and I’m excited to get involved in this community in a totally new way. Finally, if you have any questions or just want to say what's up, please don't be a stranger!

    Take care,
    Dan

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  11. Great afterthought:
    "When you are up to your neck in alligators,
    it's easy to forget that the goal was to drain the swamp."

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  12. Another over-the-top development supporter for planning board. The planning board is appointed by the elected county council. Yet another reason for why 70% of voters supported term limits.

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  13. https://youtu.be/Z2xxrvNZSW4

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