Village Green/Town²

I had planned on doing a little time travel on the blog today but the family cold has caught up with me. I'm taking a sick day and I hope to get this post up tomorrow.   Have a great Halloween! Posted with Blogsy

Every once in a while I realize I am getting older. No, this is not going to be a post about remembering dial telephones or skate keys or Captain Kangaroo. Nor is it about aches, pains, wrinkles or falling asleep after one beer. It's about this: Who is DJ Biz Markie? You see? Old. But one thing I'm not too old for is celebrating the right to vote. In a time when many voters meet roadblocks when they go to the polls, our laws in Maryland mean we have plenty of time for early voting. We don't stand in line for four hours. We don't find our right to vote challenged or diminished by discriminatory voter ID laws. In Maryland voting is easy, and convenient. But it is certainly not "ho-hum." Generations of people you will never know worked and fought for your right to have a voice. Their work, and your choice, is worth celebrating. Now voting is a serious thing, not to be taken lightly, and not to be entered into without thought and research. And yet our right to v...

You can vote during lunch In and out, won't be late You can vote after work polls are open 'til eight. Ridgely Run, Miller Branch, and Harpers Choice Are ready to serve you, so please use your voice! Remember the power in saying, "I choose." If you don't use that power? You guessed it: you lose. *****   Early Voting runs today and tomorrow. All designated Howard County Polls will be open from 7 am to 8 pm on Election Day: Tuesday, November 4th. So vote, get your sticker, wear it with pride. And tell a friend to go vote!   Posted with Blogsy

Tom Coale has some great ideas. Whether you have read about him, seen him in a public forum, or talked with him in person, I've no doubt you've gotten a taste of this. In fact, I'd go so far as to say he has many excellent ideas. For more depth, take a look at his website. His take on the issues facing Ellicott City and the State of Maryland is thoughtful, smart, creative, and dynamic. Two things stood out to me as I tried to sum it up: Tom believes in the power of smart government to make a positive impact in people’s lives. Tom will continue to advocate for community engagement to make sure that Maryland’s solutions are your solutions. And yet--what makes Tom Coale the right choice for Ellicott City isn't just his ideas. It's something more than that. In March of 2012, he wrote these words about an upcoming election: But I will say this -- beware the temptation of voting for someone on ideas alone. The real measure of an elected official is not in wha...

        Posted with Blogsy

Highly recommended posts from the past week:   From Heather Kirk-Davidoff ( Grounded and Rooted in Love ) Do Events Build Community? From Alice Marks ( HoCoHouseHon ) Chicness and Privilege From Eric Freed ( Away from the Things of Man ) Haircut Faux Pas From Duane St. Clair ( HoCoConnect ) Outside a Building in Downtown Baltimore From Lisa Marini Schlossnagle (Lisa B, Mrs. S) And the Next County Executive Should Be... We have an excellent assortment of bloggers in Howard County. Perhaps, after reading one of the above, you'll want to nominate the writer for a Mobbie .     Posted with Blogsy

It's Saturday morning. I just got up to make a coffee and turn on the heat. It is chilly in the house and I'm sitting in my husband's recliner under a fluffy blanket. The drapes are still closed but I can see sunlight peeking in at the edges. The house is quiet. While I sip my coffee things are already well underway at the Democratic Headquarters on Stanford Boulevard, where they are having an Early Voting GOTV rally. There you will find energized volunteers and supercharged campaign staff fueling up with extra coffee. They will be working from now until Election Day is over. Indeed they have been working already for quite some time. Why? We may get tired of TV ads and Internet ads and telephone calls and mailers. In fact, as the election draws near it is hard not to want to find a quiet place where those things do not exist. But they do have a message for us. Behind all the organized outreach are people. People who care. These are real human beings who care about comm...

Last night the Howard County Parents for School Music ( HCPSM ) had their regular monthly meeting.* As a part of their goal of music advocacy, HCPSM has reached out to Board of Education Candidates since before the primary in order to share pertinent information with HCPSM membership and the greater community. Candidates were invited to attend meetings, and to complete a survey: (1) Outcome 3.1 of HCPSS's Vision 2018 states that "HCPSS collaborates with family and community partners to engender a culture of trust, transparency, and mutual respect." How is HCPSS currently performing to meet this goal, and what specific actions would you, as a member of the Board of Education, advocate? (2) Parents of children involved in music programs have voiced concerns about the sudden, unilateral implementation of an untested elementary model requiring schedule changes that have a negative impact on music education. Yet the strategies in support of Outcome 3.1 in HCPSS's Visi...

It all started when I vented my frustration on Facebook: Parking your political van and trailer plastered with your signs in the right hand lane on Oakland Mills Road with the flashers on is not only rude and illegal, it is also a serious hazard, Mr. Colavita...How many times do I need to report this to Tell HoCo? And it went on from there: It's even worse when he does it on 95 North, like he did yesterday at 6:45 am! This has got to stop. He was on Tamar the other day. I didn't realize he was doing it all over the place. So far have seen this on 175, Thunder Hill Road, Ducketts Lane, and Oakland Mills Road. It is illegal. I've seen it on Stevens Forest frequently and somewhere else off a main highway where I was surprised to see it. Ugh ugh ugh He visited me here in Elkridge driving a golf cart. I haven't seen his van/trailer combo. Yup - I've seen it so many times in so many places now I'm ignoring it altogether. Perhaps that's the point? LOL I called the ...

I read a critique of my blog, in the comments section of another blog, no less, describing me as being "in the tank" for a particular candidate. Okay. Stop right there. "In the tank"? I do not think that expression means what you think it means. In the Tank: "self-interestedly involved; surreptitiously supportive" and in extreme cases "corruptly influenced." And, later, "bought and paid for". From NYT , "In the Tank" "...the meaning of go into the tank gradually shifted toward working on someone's behalf, often with the hint of backroom deals or at least inappropriate devotion." From Slate , "Explainer Goes in the Tank" At the very least, "in the tank" suggests being supportive when you ought to be impartial. No. Just--no. This is a blog. I am not a journalist. Having opinions and expressing them does not violate my Prime Directive. Disagree with me all you like, but for heaven...

I've been taking notes throughout the campaign for County Executive. When I sat down last night to put them into some kind of shape for a blog post, they stubbornly resisted the usual treatment. So I'm just going to give it to you straight. These are the qualities that keep coming up when I examine Courtney Watson's candidacy: Confident Willing to listen Sound judgement Grounded, Good roots, yet Reaching upwards and outwards Willing to invest Risk and balancing risk Willing to work toward creative solutions that mean good policy-- good policy that lifts up everyone. Open to helping others, Open to taking risks. Balance   I think that balance is key in my support for Courtney Watson. In Howard County we are blessed with many riches, but not all are blessed. We need someone whose policy will be inclusive. We want to encourage new business, wise stewardship of the environment, support for young families, quality of life for seniors. We want our schools to be pla...

I read this post from Bill Woodcock of The 53 last night, hoping to see what I had missed at the PTACHC County Executive Forum. It was not what I expected. Please take the time to read it today. No matter who you plan to vote for, it is worth the time to think about what we stand for in Howard County and what is important to us as we elect a County Executive. We are more than the struggle for one election. We're a community of citizens. I agree with Bill that "this is not Howard County." Do you?   Posted with Blogsy

Yesterday morning, from 8:30 to noon, Columbia Association hosted #ColumbiaSpeaks. Were you there? If you weren't, you can see some community input by searching the hashtag, #ColumbiaSpeaks, on Twitter. There's also some discussion on the Columbia Facebook account as well.   I'm doing a completely non-scientific survey. If you live in Columbia, and you weren't there, what were you doing?   Dear Columbia Association, between 8:30 am and 12 noon--   I was hanging out at home with my husband--our daughter was at her grandparents. Time with spouse, without parental responsibilities--priceless.         Posted with Blogsy

As we get closer to the election, and try to sift through the candidates for the Board of Education, I wanted to talk about one of the issues that is at the forefront of many minds in our community: the achievement gap. Here is some interesting information. "Music education seems to benefit children across the board. And it turns out that the least privileged among them may be the ones who benefit from it the most." This quote comes from "Why Music Education Matters", a post by Blake Madden. Contained within the article is this section, "Arts Education in General Significantly Benefits Disadvantaged Youth". In 2012, the National Endowment for the Arts released a report titled The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth: Findings From Four Longitudinal Studies. It made the case for arts and music education, using more than twenty years’ worth of academic results. Focusing specifically on children from lower socioeconomic status or "low-SES" ba...

On Thursday night, while husband is at school having a meeting of choir parents, I drop off teen at Peabody Chorus, then head to Second Chance with a craving for chili dogs (no onions). A woman dining alone is not a big deal these days...with an iPad...and 2nd Chance always feels like home. Ping! Facebook Messenger-- Hi!! Anyone able to pick us up at the Dobbin Center? Car is dead :-( I need to finish dinner at Second Chance but then I could? That's great. We're gonna grab something to eat from Panera, so take your time! My neighbors on the corner were stuck, sent out a call via Facebook to our little group of neighbors , and boom! problem solved. I am deep down a shy person. I have really learned everything I know about this kind of neighborliness from my husband. He has been a great influence on my behavior. If it's the kind of thing Richard wouldn't hesitate to do, then I feel comfortable doing it, too. It truly is something you have to learn. The good news i...

Yesterday my older daughter and I had coffee together at this Starbucks on Route 40. Now, this may be just another unexceptional Starbucks among many to you, but to me it is special. It is featured in the Tales of Two Cities post of May 15, 2010, where WordBones bumps into Courtney Watson and they discuss the state of the campaign over coffee. We all have our fandoms, or "geekdoms", as my teenaged daughter likes to say. Somehow Howard County, Columbia, community building, blogging, politics, education, villages and neighborhoods have become mine. And so, some places are not just places to me. If all of this geekdom had a map, these places would be highlighted with special markings and labels. Where are your important places? Where did you make a difference, take a stand, make a friend, support a cause? Who did you meet, and what did you learn along the way? I joked with my daughter that they should put up a plaque inside the Starbucks commemorating the date when the blogger a...

Yesterday, after I posted about Saturday's CA Community Engagement meeting, a friend said, "While I appreciate child care, Saturday mornings are usually busy for families. Fall festival at nursery school this weekend for us. I also appreciate the desire to hear from more voices but would like CA to seek them out rather than passive engagement." And when I started thinking about active rather than passive engagement, two organizations came to mind. I'd love to see the Columbia Association go where the people are, like the Burp Better folks or Healthy Howard. That's it! CA needs a Street Team! So I asked my friends on Facebook. Columbia peeps! Where are a few places you go, every week, in Columbia? Farmer's Market, Library? Help me make a list. RC Community Center, Hobbits Glen Golf Course (lately), HCC (oops RCCC is Ellicott CIty) Swim center, Supreme, Dorsey Search village center, Jackson Pond (weekly at least in summer, less but often now). Pathwa...

If you live in Columbia, the Columbia Association wants to know what you think. They have already been soliciting your ideas through Inspire Columbia , an online space for sharing suggestions for community improvement. This Saturday they are hosting a community-wide event. Their goal? To bring more people together--different kinds of people, people they many not have heard from before--to discuss what matters most to them about Columbia. " Columbia Speaks: CA Listens " will be held this Saturday morning from 9:30 to 12 noon at the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center. A social hour begins at 8:30. Click the link to register. Columbia Association (CA) wants to hear more from you — and from more of you. That's why the External Relations Committee of the CA Board of Directors will be hosting "Columbia Speaks. CA Listens," a community input meeting. The meeting will be on Saturday, Oct. 18, from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center (10431 Twin Rivers Rd...

What made Howard County go backwards? In the 1990's frank and open discussions about condoms with our high schoolers was essential because AIDS was out there, it was a death sentence, and the most important thing was to protect our kids. Now even saying the word condom in front of a high schooler is publicly condemned and all our sex education is abstinence-based. This is just crazy. I saw two films over the last week that I'd like to recommend to you and to the Howard County School System. One is Coming Out , from Nick News and Linda Ellerbee, and the other is Let's Talk About Sex , directed by James Houston. It is clear to me from recent events that we need to have a community conversation about healthy sexuality and how we as a community support that for our kids. Just saying "don't talk about it, don't do it"? Doesn't work. "Coming Out" addresses middle schoolers and their journeys as LGBTQ individuals. The movie is prefaced by Linda Elle...

Today PTACHC is hosting a Round Table discussion with Board of Education candidates. You can sign up here . The reason that sign-up is requested is that the format will be less like sit-and-listen and more like "speed dating". Participants will get a better chance to be "up close and personal" with each candidate. If you have a question that you really want answered, today might be a good day. If you want to see how candidates operate when charged with interacting with small groups of constituents, today is definitely a good day. Although I am tempted by memories of the old "Dating Game" tv show, I would not encourage you to ask those old standard questions like: I'm shopping at the Farmers' Market. Which item of produce are you, and why should I choose you?" I have plenty of more serious questions. So do you, I'll bet. Unbelievably, I have a prior commitment and can't attend. (I know, right?) I am hoping that one or more of my readers...

Tom Coale, Democratic Candidate for the Maryland House of Delegates, District 9B: Candor. Collaboration. Confidence. As I listened to Tom Coale speak at his fundraiser at Portalli's on Thursday night, I realized how much those things mean to me as I look at this election. I'm looking for honest, open leaders who aren't afraid to work with the community. I'm looking for positive energy, a genuine desire to do good. Tom is really the embodiment of those things. Yes, I know it sounds hokey, but you don't have to spend more than ten minutes with him to realize he's the real deal. Now, I don't have the experience to analyze what motivates people to come out for political fundraisers but I'm hoping that the reason this event was packed was precisely this: a true endorsement for what Tom stands for. And a desire to be a part of that. An aside: Portalli's did a great job hosting the event, and they now have a rooftop deck space--who knew? As I left, I went...

I was startled to read this article yesterday, which presents, in my opinion, an incomplete and narrow view of what Oakland Mills is all about. You may recall that Bill McCormack was the member of the Village Board who was unable to answer my questions about what their definition for "reinventing" Oakland Mills was, or what body of evidence they were using to justify their actions. As a resident and former Board member in Oakland Mills, I'd like to ask you to look further than one newspaper article to understand what is really at stake here. I highly recommend the following two blog posts by Oakland Mills resident Heather Kirk-Davidoff. " Stop Bombing, Start Building" " Who's Not Here?" In conclusion, I'd like to share the Facebook post from Oakland Mills resident Ian Kennedy. This has been bugging me all day. (Referring to the Baltimore Sun article.) Because words matter, right? And there are a lot of words in there that are divisi...

I attended Monday's PTACHC meeting. Stephen Bounds, former hcpss BOE member, and now on the staff of Maryland Association of Boards of Education, was on hand to give a presentation on the role of a Board member. He handed out paper packets of a Power Point presentation, moved through it briskly, touching on the main points. Then it was time for questions. In addition to Mr. Bounds, present board members Sandra French and Ellen Giles, plus past members Diane Mikulis and Larry Cohen were there to respond as well. It was interesting how many different questions people raised that touched on responsiveness, accountability, and transparency in one way or another. Some were system-level, some were school-level. But what struck me in the responses was an overall tone-deafness to people's desire to be 'plugged in" and empowered. Mr. Bounds did an excellent job in his presentation, focusing on the main points of what the job description for a board member looks like. Where he f...

Just realized I have an early breakfast meeting, so no blogging for me. In the meantime, upcoming events of note:   Thursday : Celebrate Main Street with Tom Coale, 5:30 PM (Portalli's) The Ball's in Your Court: Can Civility and Sports Coexist?, 6:30 PM (Miller Branch) Saturday Oakland Mills Annual Cultural Arts Festival , 11:00 am, (OM Village Center) Sunday PTACHC Round Table Discussion with BOE Candidates, 4:00 (Atholton HS) And, looking ahead to October 18th, Columbia Speaks, CA Listens, 9:30 AM, (Wilde Lake Interfaith Center) Please note their will be no evening Board of Education meeting this Thursday so that that BOE Members can attend the Civility event at Miller Branch. (You can't make this stuff up.)       Posted with Blogsy

Today I want to speak to an issue which has been a recurrent, although not overwhelming, theme in the comments section lately. Certain readers seem to think that I have an obligation to write about this or that thing which is bothering them. In addition, if I haven't written about their topic of choice, they thereby automatically assume all sorts of things about my motivation. It doesn't work that way. This is my blog. I get to choose what I focus on. You can read it, or not read it, and of course express your (civil) opinion in the comments. But the direction of the blog is not determined by the readers. It's not a ouija board, and I don't "owe" anyone, so to speak. (Although I am open to suggestions.) It brings to mind the wonderful words from Dennis Lane's disclaimer on Tales of Two Cities: DISCLAIMER STUFF THIS IS A PERSONAL WEB LOG ABOUT STUFF AROUND HERE. THE OPINIONS AND VIEWS OF THE BLOGGER ARE JUST THAT, OPINIONS AND VIEWS OF THE BLOGGER, NOT THE ...

An interesting occurrence last week made me think about a way in which women in politics differ from men. Take, for example, Courtney Watson. Now, there's nothing in her experience, ability, intelligence, or energy that sets her apart in any way from male politicians in Howard County. And yet there's something she won't, no--can't--do. And it bears examination. That's right. You won't be seeing Courtney Watson "play the Wife Card." And why would she? Of what importance is the temperament of her spouse to voters? Oh, I know that trotting the wife out is a time-honored political move. It lends a folksy air, a bit of human warmth. But when I thought of how ridiculous it would be for Mrs. Watson to shine the spousal spotlight on Mr. Watson, I realized just how ridiculous it is, period. This is not to say anying negative about Robin Kittleman. But, no matter how awesome she may be, she is not a reason to vote for her husband. I saw a similar example arise...