Priorities

First things first. If you live in Columbia and your village is having an election, vote.

VOTE.

If you live in Oakland Mills you can also buy Spring plants, see an art show, and get a homemade cookie.

And of course, there's that whole concept of civic duty. The People Tree can't be passive, folks. Those people are all actively reaching for better things, right? I hate to think what a passive People Tree would look like. Seriously droopy, Wilted, even. An embodiment of community failure.

And that's not who we are. Show me that's not who we are.

I tell myself every year that I'm not going to get worked up over Village elections. And yet I do, because I feel strongly that we could be doing a much better job at getting residents involved in Columbia community building. Year after year the winners are more than happy to claim victory without acknowledging the ludicrously low turnout. We move through the cycle again and again without improving it.

From HoCo Rising, April 28, 2014:

Wouldn't it be amazing if one of these candidates humbly said "My village has nearly 10,000 residents and we only heard from about 300 of them.  I see it as my job over the next year to broaden our outreach and increase engagement." 


I take a dim view of residents raising the spectre of Rouse whenever it suits them. But really, when I look at what CA elections have become, I do have to wonder what he would think.

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On another note: you are invited to the Transgender Day of Resilience Picnic at Centennial Park today, from 11 am to 3 pm. More information is here. As a teacher and a mom I have become extremely concerned about the damage that is done to transgender students when schools and communities are not accepting and supportive. I'm a big fan of transAAction Maryland and PFLAG Rainbow Youth Alliance for their work in our community.

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