Progressive Neighbors Debate: County Council At-Large Candidates

This was just posted today by Progressive Neighbors. Thanks to Terrill North, who moderated, for sending me the link. The group's YouTube channel is here: http://www.youtube.com/user/ProgressiveNeighbors.

Double the Lyons, double the fun

Lyons is the tallest guy (with the silver tie)

The Gazette seems to be having trouble adjusting to its new Wheaton-Takoma-Burtonsville-Silver Spring edition, which purports to cover all those areas. The newsstand edition I pulled out of a plastic bag at the Ben & Jerry's in downtown Silver Spring yesterday has not one, but two columns by Post-Newsweek CEO Chuck Lyons, who's been writing a column on a regular basis since he was the publisher of the Gazette during most of the '90s.

Lyons must have just attended the reunion of his high school graduating class of 1964, because he wrote about the early 1960s in an "edited commentary [that] was presented at a high school reunion in Owosso, Mich., this past weekend."

As he has done frequently throughout the years, Lyons steered clear of the local scene, opting instead for a trip down memory lane, exploring the somewhat overworked theme of young people growing up in the America of the early '60s. 

"We were optimistic. Our president, John F. Kennedy, said we were going to land a man on the moon. His wife, Jacquelyn [sic; it's Jacqueline], labeled our era the American Camelot, likening it to the legendary King Arthur's Court, defined as a place or time of idyllic happiness."

He looks back on those years with fondness and a humor that will be most appreciated by his classmates, but also probably by anyone who went to high school. Then again, Lyons is talking about high school in Owosso, Mich., which as he describes it was idyllic. Jobs were plentiful, patriotism and school spirit were the order of the day. It was "safe."
"The best moment was running out from underneath the cement bleachers of Willman Stadium onto the field before the game and jumping into a circle of blue and gold while the band played, "Go You Owosso," on a frosty Friday night in November. That was Americana," he writes.

Not sure if I'd say Americana, which suggests papers, documents, that type of thing. "America" would probably suffice. 

In any case, taking forever to get to the point, the Gazette liked Lyons' column so much they printed it twice -- on pages A-13 and A-15, where it takes up most of the space above the fold. 

I can understand that they can't find anything to write about in the area covered by the regional edition, which includes well over 100,000 people. But the column wasn't that good. 

If I ever get around to writing about my days at the Gazette, back in the '80s under Davis Lee Kennedy, Jim Hazel, Koko Wittenburg and then Jack Murphy, I'll discuss the way the paper gets put together. It can't be too much different than when I was there. They're still making the same mistakes. 


In the meantime, enjoy the tunes on my You Tube page,  entitled "Rock, Sir," in tribute to Mr. Kennedy, mentioned above (and shown below). The Dilk is now the editor/publisher of the Current newspapers, which are quite good and successful. DLK can be seen here uncropped, with D.C.  councilman Jack Evans and his wife at the CAG gala. (I'm guessing Creative Arts Guild but I don't know. just checked: It was the Citizens Association of Georgetown 2009 Gala)

Free Bird

             

Perhaps that's a sign that I really am "inside-the-Beltway," that I've been here so damn long that Admiral Stockdale's immortal words seem appropriate (although for a while, I had let my mistyped "Why I am here?" remain online. Embarrassing, very embarrassing).

Living here for an extended period, it's hard for your life not to become imbued with politics. Every issue is boiled down in the Washington Post to GOP v Democrats (I'm the latter, btw -- not a member of any organized party, etc.).

But I felt I should try to explain why I'm doing this blog, which will, I hope, become part of the soon-to-launch TBD.com operation launched by Allbritton Communications, which owns Politico (the story on the front page of the site right now [update 8/2: don't know what it is now] is "Speaker defends troubled majority," by David Rogers. Yes, David Rogers, formerly of the Wall Street Journal, who just sold his house on Philadelphia Avenue -- or did he? [Doesn't look like it; despite information provided to me by someone who is usually reliable -- hint: sometimes I call her "my wife" -- I have been told by Ward 1 councilmember Josh Wright, one of the few to have read this blog thus far, that Rogers "actually lives across the street from me and I do notthink he owns a house on Philly." OK, so Rogers lives on Maple and may or may not be trying to sell his house. Hey, when doing this blog thing you gotta break the ice with an error. That's a rule. I'm not perfect, never said I was. OK, enough groveling.]

[The rest of this is irrelevant, but I stuck the link to Vanishing Point in there, so I'm not going to delete all of it.]

Should we check it out and publicize that information, since we're a blog and there are no limitations, because we want to feel like Barry Newman in Vanishing Point, hurtling toward the edge while being counseled by a blind DJ?

Nah. Too much work. And Rogers, just to finish the aside, is what you would imagine a reporter should be -- a little disheveled, his shirt partially untucked, a tie hanging from his neck, knotted  below an unbuttoned top button.

Yeah, and sometimes he chews gum!

But enough about Rogers; I'm not asking him to the prom, I'm here to supposedly fill people in on some Takoma Park news.

First I have to include this snippet I sent to Jeff Sonderman of the TBD operation. I think he may be delaying approval of my entry into the "community" because, really, I ain't got a blog yet. I'm hoping this little entry will remedy that. 

How much copy do you need to officially call yourself a blog? I think the latest standard adopted by the Society of Internet Bloggers is either 1 word, 1 image or 1 video. An audio file really doesn't count because, uh, that's really 90s, y'know? I mean, that's just plain weird.(Then again, there's Mel Gibson's telephonic antics...But they're already established, those Radar people). To start things off, you need to slap a pic or a vid or the word "Beauty" on the web, and you can call yourself a Grade A certified American blogger.

Anyway, this is what I sent Sonderman, in response to TBD's request for information about my yet-to-be-born blog:

Category for blog: Community ["News" wasn't available on the list of a dozen or so categories.] [Added Aug. 5: Here are the categories I was given to choose from: 

• Crime
• Politics
• Education
• Transportation
• Weather
• Entertainment
• Dining
• Lifestyle
• Sports
• Business
• Community
• Technology
• Environment
• Government
• Development

Name: Steve Davies [the name I told them I wanted to use for my posts. It's my real name, so I figured it would be easy to remember]

Logo: Simple, boring. I like it. They'll use this for ID purposes, not me – unless I want to. Can't say, exactly.

Very short description: Covering news -- government operations, business, people, politics and environment -- in the People's Republic of Takoma Park, Md., and the Takoma neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Description subject to change without notice by the blogger.

Then I went keystroke-happy, writing...[it's been edited somewhat from the original.]

I promise to provide a merely slightly varnished -- perhaps even jaded -- version of happenings in Takoma Park, a city of about 18,000 located (completely) in Montgomery County that borders Washington, D.C. to the northeast and Prince George's County to the west (oooh, lemme check that, OK?).

A city known for community activism and involvement, which has been called the Berkeley of the East but also, perhaps more appropriately, the People's Republic of Takoma Park, a city that had the courage to pass a resolution stating that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney should be impeached and to resolve that cage-free chickens are better than factory-farmed ones. Takoma Park, which had  an extensive recycling program well before most other cities, which provides its residents free compost created from leaves picked up at the curb. We also have a corn silo -- organic corn only, please -- on city property to service the members of a cooperative who have corn-burning stoves.

Some may ask incredulously, What is there to write about? A better question is, where to start? It may be the oldest cliche in the book, but Takoma Park is a microcosm of so many other urban/suburban areas, demographically split between homeowners and renters, extremely liberal (beyond the mainstream on that score), struggling to make ends meet as the recession drags on, dealing with crime and immigration issues, trying to "re-green" itself after having long ago lost its reputation for being a pacesetter in that area. Incredibly diverse and progressive, but also strangely conservative. The local historic preservation group has always been influential, but it's taking years for them to finish renovating their new home at Takoma Junction [added 8/2 – Look for another 21-person task force to be appointed to address the issues at that maddening intersection of Carroll, Old Carroll, Ethan Allen, Sycamore, and Grant, with the Co-op, the Park (often referred to by other appellations), the gas station, the fire station, the vet's, the dry cleaner, the framers, the bike shop, the Laundromat, the auto shop, Jet Postal and the Falafel truck. Nah, not much happening there. Oh, and – the city-owned lot next to the co-op – what to do about that? Develop? Sell? Turn it into a water park? I vote, only half-jokingly, for a Water Tower that would provide water to thousands and make money for Takoma Park. Let the collected rainwater flow through a specially designed conveyance/filtration system, using rocks to slowly leach the water of any dangerous toxins. A  carbon filtration system would complete the process, leading ineluctably to the moment when Mayor Bruce Williams grabs the first bottle of TakomaWater off the assembly line and quaffs it as flash bulbs pop and the assembled crowd applauds.]

A younger generation has moved in and probably doesn't fully understand how things work in Takoma Park. (Come to think of it, people who have lived here for decades have no clue). Ignorance of city affairs is widespread. The homeowners -- most of them white, but we'll get to stats later -- are likely as not working for a federal government agency or a liberal nonprofit, trying to save the world from various scourges. But when you're fighting Climate Change, poverty, a broken educational system and crooked politicians, you don't have a lot of time for the mundane matters of city government. The fact that change seems to come slowly, in odd fits and starts, may be one reason most people avoid city affairs.

There is a strong minority of involved people, however, who have been active in the community for years, and can be counted on to voice opinions on one topic or another. But it still can be work to follow the goings-on in Takoma Park.  Despite the presence of two newspapers, the Takoma Voice and the (erstwhile) Takoma Gazette (now the Wheaton-Silver Spring-Burtonsville-Takoma Park Gazette), many important stories remain untold. It's my humble hope that I can shed some light on things here by providing people with information -- something to INFORM you about local affairs. I certainly will not be shy about voicing my own opinions, but they'll be pretty easy to recognize and distinguish from the cold, hard facts. Links to documents and video footage will be used to illuminate.

The city web site is often inscrutable (it's undergoing a makeover at some point, according to a survey posted a while back); the Ward boundaries are not well publicized or explained, and so are generally unknown. The city boundary itself also can be malleable. What exactly is in Takoma Park? I'm told, in fact, that no one actually knows which political entity has jurisdiction of certain areas along the city line with Prince George's. I hope to bring you more on that if this thing, this blog, lasts.

To allude pointlessly to one of my favorite movies, Takoma Park is a little like Lumberton, the small town in David Lynch's Blue Velvet. Obviously, it's unique because of its history, its proximity to Washington, D.C., and the incredibly talented -- and eccentric -- people who choose to live here.

But as in Lumberton, there is much in Takoma Park that remains below the surface. Maybe we'll unearth some of it here.

Bare-butt bicyclist in from the Coast?

Here's a release from the Takoma Park Police Department about an overexposed and over-excited biker on Sligo Creek Parkway. You also can view it at the police department's Blogspot site. The police also reported they made two arrests in connection with an alleged hate crime and assault on NH Avenue in the wee hours of today. Sounds like it took place at the IHOP.
---------------------

NEWS RELEASE

City of Takoma Park Police Department
7500 Maple Avenue • Takoma Park, Md 20912

Contact: Public Information Officer Catherine Plevy, 301/891.7142 or 240/338.2901

August 3, 2010 (Noon)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On [Sunday] August 1, 2010, at approximately 9:18 a.m., Takoma Park Police responded to Sligo Creek Parkway, between Flower Avenue and New Hampshire Avenue, for reports of a subject riding a bicycle exposing his buttocks. Officers responded to the location and tried to make contact with San Francisco, 27, of no fixed address, who refused to stop his bicycle.

While still attempting to make contact with Francisco, asking him to stop so officers could talk with him, he swerved the bike trying to hit the officer, which ended up pinning the officer against the steel fence and guard rail. Francisco then lost his balance and fell off of his bike. He then jumped up in a fighting stance yelling obscenities at the officer and making threats. Francisco was arrested and charged with assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He was transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit.

# # #

Duchy remembers Jean Cryor

Trachtenberg

Cryor

It was nice of MoCo at-large council-
member Duchy Trachtenberg to include a tribute in her latest newsletter to Jean Cryor, a former state legislator from Potomac who was a Montgomery County Planning Board commissioner when she died (text below; the newsletter hasn't been posted on the Web yet).

The timing seems a little off, however. Cryor died Nov. 3. It's now almost nine months later. I don't know about Duchy, but I've moved on. [added later: By no means do I wish to denigrate Cryor, but c'mon, that was three seasons ago.]

Here's the item:

In Memoriam: Jean Cryor

As we mourn the loss of Jean Cryor, I want to extend my deepest condolences to her family, friends, and colleagues on the Planning Board.  Over the course of her life, Jean Cryor served the community she loved in so many ways. She was a journalist, a District 15 Delegate, and at the time of her death, she was a Commissioner on the Montgomery County Planning Board. There’s something great to be said for service—it leaves a legacy that reaches far and wide.  We are the better for her commitment; and we celebrate her accomplishments and service to our County.

I may be wrong on this (I invite you to correct me, please), but I believe Cryor was one of the last Republicans to hold elected office in Montgomery County. Trachtenberg, naturally, is a Democrat.

Of course, I am not suggesting that party affiliation had anything to do with the delay in recognizing Cryor's passing. That would be unthinkable. But perhaps the fact that there are elections in our future had something to do with the timing of the tribute.