Skip to main content

My Mother and the County Executive

Lovely photo opp this week over in Gateway for the County Executive. It appears he has great things in mind for this area and is kicking off an initiative to enhance Columbia's corporate park.

The vision, which will be crafted with input from property and business owners and in partnership with the Howard County Economic Development Authority, the county's business incubator and economic development agency, aims to transform Gateway into the top business center in Maryland, Kittleman said.


Now, not everthing makes me think of my dear departed mother, but this certainly did. Remember when you asked for more spaghetti at dinner and your mother said you needed to finish everything else on your plate first? Or you asked for a new toy and your mother pointed out that you had never really played with the last one you asked for? Or perhaps you wanted to have a friend over but Mother had a vivid memory of how you weren't 
finished cleaning up from the last play date?


I think Mother would have something to say about this Gateway venture. She'd say, "Now, Allan, what makes you think you can have that Gateway project when you haven't finished Long Reach Village Center? Maybe if you do a nice job with that, we'll think about Gateway."


The Kittleman administration came into office and pretty much halted any existing agreements pertaining to the Long Reach Village Center. Whatever the Ulman administration had laid the groundwork for was scrapped. The new administration was going to do things "the right way." That was in 2014.


Have you been to the Long Reach Village Center lately? I'm not seeing any evidence of things being done "the right way." And I would really like to see progress there, because that Village Center should be serving the racially, ethnically, economically diverse village of Long Reach.


Let's imagine that the County Executive were saying this about the Long Reach Village Center:


The vision, which will be crafted with input from property and business owners and in partnership with the Howard County Economic Development Authority, the county's business incubator and economic development agency, aims to transform {the Village Center} into {a vibrant retail and community gathering place in Columbia} Kittleman said.


Pretty cool, eh?


My mom would say, if you want people to trust you with Gateway, you have to prove you can do things like Long Reach. You have to show your work.


Does the demographic surrounding the Gateway project appeal to Mr. Kittleman more than that in Long Reach? I think it's an important point to consider. Mr. Kittleman' friends have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to discredit County Councilman Calvin Ball, in whose district LRVC is located. But let's be honest: the most stunning rebuke to 
Dr. Ball would have been the vibrant revitalization of the village center. 

It just hasn't happened.


And now we're supposed to shift our attention to a different, exciting initiative. I don't think so. I think Colonel Gateway can hold the fort until Mr. Kittleman and his team finish what they started in Long Reach.


As always, comments are welcome here: https://www.facebook.com/VillageGreenTownSquared/?ref=bookmarks


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Getting Fresh

One of my favorite days in the Spring comes when this year’s list of Farmer’s Markets is released. That happened this week. New this year are markets in Old Ellicott City and the “Merriweather Market” which, according to the address, will be located here . I mistakenly thought at first glance that it was in the new-construction part of the Merriweather District. I find the name confusing considering its actual location. I’m going to guess that this market is an initiative of the Howard Hughes Corporation because the name seems chosen more for branding purposes than anything else.  Alas, the market in Maple Lawn is gone. The thread on the markets on the County Executive’s FB page will provide you with quite the education in who actually runs the Farmers Markets vs what people often think is going on. Short answer: they are not  chosen nor run by the county. Each market is an independent entity, sometimes started by community volunteers, other times supported by local businesses...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

What Kids Are Thinking

  It’s a Monday in February, and if you guessed that a lot of Howard County students have the new cell phone policy on their minds, you’d be right. It will mean big changes and it will be stressful, no matter how much good we hope it will do in the long run. But on this particular Monday cell phones might not be top of mind, as amazing as that seems. Some kids will go to school wondering if they or family members will be seized by ICE. Some will fear that their parents’ employment will be purged by the ongoing rampage of Elon Musk and his cronies through Federal Government. Some fear heightened and renewed racism as programs that supprted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are vilified and destroyed.  Some worry that it soon won’t be safe for them to use the bathroom in school anymore. It goes without saying that some kids fear going to school every day because of the prevalence of school shootings.  And look! Here’s something new to fear. That old hate group, Libs of TikTo...