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Some Love for CA?



Possibly as a response to recent discussions about whether Columbia should go the incorporation route, or as a result of the CA Board debacle, the folks running social media for CA posted the following:

"What is CA?" You asked, and we answered! Check out our new series ASK CA where our resident experts answer submitted questions.

Got a question? We'd love to hear from you too! 

Drop a comment with your questions or send them to communications@columbiaassociation.org.

Check back to see which questions make the blog! 

Read the first edition here: bit.ly/3RM9X3O

It’s certainly true that many local folks don’t really understand what CA does. A very long time ago I tried  to put it in context along with other local institutions in a post called The Gift That Keeps on Giving.

Moving up: the Columbia Association. Heads up: "the Columbia Association (CA) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit service corporation that manages Columbia, MD., a master planned community..." This means CA is not a government entity. You may laugh, but it isn't all that clear to many. After all, we do have elections...

In the Oakland Mills Village Center they own The Barn (Youth and Teen Center), The Other Barn (Village management and events), and the Ice Skating Rink. It is to the Columbia Association that you pay your assessment fee each year. Open Space, tot lots, and a variety of activities and amenities, so many that I am afraid of leaving something out. Within the monies that you pay to CA is a portion which they are authorized by prior agreement to collect on behalf of your Village--in my case, Oakland Mills, to support individual village programs. 

Yes, CA Elections are visible on the horizon and perhaps a push to communicate what the Columbia Association is and does is in order. I look forward to reading what questions are submitted by community members. For heaven’s sake, ask them a question. It will be embarrassing if nobody does.

I wonder if anyone will ask about this startling screenshot that turned up on Twitter this week.

Dark humor meets the Columbia Association. Yikes. I must admit that my brain processed that as, “Every night the town votes one resident to sacrifice to the CA Board,” which says more about my current state of mind than theirs, I think.

Back into the sunlight. I’d like to give a tip of the hat to CA for the Valentine-themed photos they ran yesterday on their social media accounts. As I have recently taken them to task for centering white people in their photographs, I want to give them credit for a more diverse offering in their Valentine set.


Photo credit: @imiivo

This last photo I want to share was posted Monday, and may be a nod to Black History Month. I adore it.


Photo credit: @imiivo

I wonder if any these were taken when the Columbia Association was looking for people to be the Face of CA last summer. I also wonder if these are the work of local photographer @imiivo, who did the earlier photos I featured about the Columbia Conversation. I’ll see if I can find out. 

UPDATE: These photos are the work of Shané Gooding @imiivo ! 

Imiivo was recently featured on the County Executive’s Facebook page marking the opening of their new business location in Savage Mill.




Back to the beginning: What is CA? Read the first post in the series and tell me what you think.



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