"Skin lacerations, gashes are open wounds for months, increased injuries" from NEW RMHS Artificial Turf #zeolite #plasticgrass #MoreBandages

At the November 8, 2018, Montgomery County Board of Education public hearing on school facilities a Richard Montgomery High School student gave public comment about the injuries caused by the new artificial turf at the school.  Watch her statement below.

The Board of Education calls this a "best practice."

The Board of Education used $562,721 of Operating Budget funds to pay for this artificial turf.  That means they sacrificed teacher salaries to pay for this new field.  They did not use Capital Budget (bricks and mortar) funds.  There is no money available to replace this field again.
Students will need to buy more bandages.

MCPS and MSI are Planning to Blast the Intersection of 270 and Falls Road with Stadium Light. Impact on Drivers is Unknown. #Gambling @mcps @mocoboe

This is the lighting plan for the Julius West Middle School - MSI fields.

Google Maps Intersection of 270 and State 189 showing location of
where 10 stadium lights will be installed for private soccer club.

   MSI Soccer wants to put 10 Stadium Lights at the Intersection of 270 and Falls Road by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

...This means that between 700 and 800 street lamps would be needed to produce as much light output as the stadium lighting - for the MSI fields at Julius West Middle School #270 #FallsRoad @mcps @mocoboe

   Rockville Planning Commission Testimony WECA 18-04-04 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

Brickyard Coalition and its Convenient Memory Lapse

Yesterday, I received an odd email from the Brickyard Coalition, here in Montgomery County.

Here is the 'breaking news" from the Coalition - they have decided to endorse Doug Duncan in the upcoming Democratic Primary for County Executive. 

Are they serious?  I asked them, and have yet to get a response.

Remember back to 2003 when Steve Silverman, then a County Council member, went public with his plan to bring affordable housing to the Brickyard site?  Here is the Gazette article from November 19, 2003. 

Turns out, that a few weeks before, the COUNTY EXECUTIVE DOUG DUNCAN demanded that the Montgomery County Board of Education turn over all property not currently planned for school purposes.  You can see the March 22, 2004 Board of Education memorandum below. 

Even more surprising at the time - the County and the Board of Education had been turning over numerous school sites, in secret, without any public hearing or notice.  We were only tipped off to this transfer because of Steve Silverman's slip of the tongue.

Without going into all the history, many of us learned a lot about our elected representatives, who we thought we could trust.   The resulting battle also cost a lot of folks a substantial amount in legal fees.

Even after the property was "saved" from housing, the ever trusted right hand to Mr. Duncan, Jerry Pasternak, subsequently tried to turn the Brickyard property into soccer fields.   With more legal fees.

What has changed?  Can we trust Doug now?

Brickyard

So - did the Brickyard Coalition simply forget? Has Doug Duncan changed his mind about the property? Is Jerry Pasternak still Doug's right hand go to man?  Or does Doug still want to use the property for housing? If I were a member of the Brickyard Coalition, I would think carefully before I would endorse an official who generated much angst and huge legal bills for my neighbors.

Memory lapses seem to be abundant this election year. 

Maybe the motto of the Parents Coalition should be "We keep files so you don't have to."