Skip to main content

Columbia Votes! But not where I live


 

Let’s start with quick look back from Priorities, April, 2017:

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.


*****

Columbia elections are this Saturday. If you live in Oakland Mills you can come to the OMCA Earth Day Celebration, 11 am to 2:00 pm, in the Courtyard at the Other Barn.



But you can’t vote. Why? Because the OM election is uncontested. That means no one is running against current CA Rep Karen Emery, and none of the Village Board seats are in contention, either. I haven’t heard much buzz about this year’s elections until this week when the Columbia Association started running promotional material on social media. 


Image from Columbia Association social media accounts


Thank goodness for The Merriweather Post blog for putting together this piece:

Columbia Association Board Elections - - A Rundown of the Three Contested Races, Jeremy Dommu, The Merriweather Post 

It is thorough, and - - I think - - very helpful. If you live in Harper’s Choice, Owen Brown, or Wilde Lake you should definitely take a look. Even if you don’t, it’s a good jumping-off point as to how these things work.

I find it disheartening to see people running on old, outdated, and unhelpful issues. And this is not always limited to incumbents. In particular, running to 1) reduce the annual charge and or to 2) return the control of Symphony Woods to CA. 

As to item number one, everything around us has become significantly more expensive over the last four years. How can we see that it is more expensive to purchase goods and services but claim that the Columbia Association can run successfully with less money? Does your personal budget work like that?

Item number two: while the Symphony Woods property (now known as Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods) was controlled by CA, it did nothing but languish. Since its establishment in 2014 the Inner Arbor Trust has done more to care for the land and make it enjoyable and accessible to Columbia residents than CA ever did while it was under their control. 

“We did a terrible job, now give it back to us” is not a campaign slogan I am willing to take seriously.

I was reminded by a reader of this blog that these elections are worth caring about because the newly elected board will be selecting the new CA President. That’s certainly something to think about. UPDATE: Have since heard rumblings that this is not the case.  

UPDATE OF THE UPDATE: CA Names new CEO., Friday, April 19th, 2024.

If Oakland Mills had a contested election I would definitely be learning about the candidates and would not miss the opportunity to vote. 

But…

I don’t know. My gut feeling at the moment is that we’re just going to keep celebrating our old futility rites because we don’t know what else to do or how to create something better.

What do you think?


Village Green/Town² Comments




Comments

Post a Comment

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...
1 comment
Read more

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...
1 comment
Read more

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...
1 comment
Read more