Village Green/Town²

The following is my testimony at the County Council hearing on the County Executive's Budget for 2016: I am here in support of the allocation of 1.395 million dollars in the County Executive's Budget for Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods. This park is an integral part of an entire network of improvements made possible by the Downtown Plan. As we all look to support a vibrant Columbia in a successful Howard County, we need to get moving now on making the park a reality. I read a great story in the Sun today. A family in one of the older Columbia Villages--my village, Oakland Mills--loved their neighborhood and school so much that they decided to add on to their house rather than leave to look for a bigger one somewhere else. Not only that, the owner found a way to add a home office--as a tree house. Talk about creative reuse--this is pretty amazing. We talk a lot about how important it is to attract younger residents and young families to Columbia. But we all know real love i...

This article by Amanda Yeager, with video by Jon Sham, has everything I needed to make me happy this morning. Columbia family takes revitalization to new heights with treehouse Read it, read it, read it. Highlights: Columbia Oakland Mills Revitalization Working successfully with RAC and Planning Board Councilman Calvin Ball providing background info Phil Engelke (OM resident extraodinaire and Planning Board member) Talbott Springs Elementary School Young families Neighborhood Tree Houses! Read the article, watch the video. Think about all the things that are right with this picture. This is the future of Columbia. This is building community in Oakland Mills. An enormous HoCo Holler to everyone involved in this story, and to Amanda Yeager and Jon Sham for presenting it so beautifully. Now, more than ever, I am thankful for my vibrant, creative Oakland Mills community. And now I want my own treehouse. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-ho-cf-tree-house-text-043...

Too many people used social media yesterday to pass judgment on what is going on in Baltimore. That is their right, I suppose. It is a right that comes from privilege. A privilege which can be blinding. "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?" Matthew 7: 1-5 As a friend of mine said last night, "It's easy being white." Being born white into our society makes things easier for us in so many ways that it adheres to us as our armour of normalcy. And we judge the stories we hear, filtered by our armour. "Well, I wouldn't do that ," I hear you say. How could you possibly know? Last night I saw discourse that made it ab...

On the bottom of the shelf, hanging from hooks, are the enormous coffee mugs. All of them are recent acquisitions: gifts from students, mostly. On the next shelf up, the matching mugs from our earthenware set of dishes, ample in size. Up one more shelf, mugs which would have been of normal size when we were college students. They now look awfully small. And on the top shelf, a rather dainty set of matching flowered mugs which are used only on special occasions when people are visiting and we are passing 'round cookies on a plate. Truth be told, we only really like the enormous mugs. They hold more, and we love coffee. So we reach for them first. Then, when we run out, we work our way up the shelf. Most of the time we only make it through the earthenware set before the dishwasher has run and we are back to the big ones. Sometimes, though...dishes are piling up and we find ourselves forced to use those "little" mugs... We don't really ever pause to think, "why hav...

Ah, Spring. We long for it. We keep it in our hearts through long winters. We envision the return of flowers, mild temperatures, sunny afternoons. And yet. And yet it doesn't take long for Spring allergies to kick in and make many of us miserable. There's just not enough medication in the world, it seems, to relieve the symptoms. And no word of a cure in the offing. For me, Spring is bringing other things I am allergic to, for which there is no known treatment or cure. Columbia elections. Nobody votes, nobody gets it, nobody cares, and we'll just do it again next year. Warmer temperatures bring more opportunities to censure girls for their clothing choices. School budgets that reflect only views of management without meaningful input from parents and staff. Politicians who "don't want to interfere." Last night brought out a whole new allergic reaction for me--to people who seem to be reasonable neighbors and acquaintances who keep words like "ani...

Okay, Columbia, we need to talk. Today is Election Day in Columbia's Villages and if past elections are any indication, you're not going to vote. In her Baltimore Sun article about the elections, Amanda Yeager noted: In a March letter to the community, Columbia Association President Milton Matthews emphasized the importance of Columbia's elections. "Even before Columbia was officially founded, James Rouse did a lot of community outreach," Matthews wrote. "To this day, resident participation remains a cornerstone of Columbia." On the other hand, blogger Candace Montague ( From the Scratchpad of an Urban Bushwoman ) has lived in Columbia ten years and has never voted. Why? In yesterday's post she lays out her reasons. 1. I like things the way they are. 2. The Board isn't me. 3. Village rules and regulations don't interfere with my pursuit of happiness. Columbia in theory is the People Tree. Columbia in practice is people going about ...

This article from NPR's Goats and Soda page was a delightful antidote to a lot of what has been ailing me this week. The title? Mr. Toilet And Mr. Condom Think Jokes Will Save The World Take the time to read it. It's fascinating. The author investigates a session at the 12th Skoll World Forum for Social Change, entitled, "What's So Funny? The Role of Comedy in Social Change." Reading the article made me think of something that is too often in short supply in Howard County: a sense of humor. We are all guilty of taking ourselves and our issues too seriously upon occasion--some of us more often than others. One has only to think of the brouhaha which ensued when the Board of Education went after Cindy Vaillancourt for using the word "condom" at a dinner session where high school students were present. In fact, the more serious they became in their protestations of impropriety, the more hilarious they themselves became. I really think the entire sc...

Village Elections are this Saturday. Had I mentioned that? This morning Tom Coale put in a good word for Dan Woodruff in the Dorsey Search race for CA Board Representative, saying: Dan is a personal friend of mine, but I've admired his commitment to Dorsey's Search long before I had a chance to work with him. He is a fiscally minded community volunteer who knows how CA works. He linked to the Baltimore Sun/Columbia Flier editorial on the election, which endorses Woodruff. Reading further, I was amazed to see their endorsement in the Long Reach race. They are endorsing Janet Evans rather than Ed Coleman. What a mistake. Well, this won't be the first time I have been at odds with the Baltimore Sun/Howard County Times editorial board. A quick run-down of the two candidates in the Long Reach CA Board elections. Ed Coleman: Has extensive experience. Has previously served one term as CA Rep. Has volunteered for a decade. Pro inner arbor. Pro village center redevelopment. Pro fi...

In honor of Earth Day I decided to revisit the site of several of my Earth Day clean-ups: the stub end of Timesweep Lane. Frequent readers of this blog will remember the time I decided to create my own personal "improvement association" in its honor. In the time since, Howard County responded to neighborhood pressure and dropped the idea of creating an entrance to Blandair Park on Timesweep. The opposition, organized largely by residents of the neighborhood next to mine, Emerson Hill, claimed a park entrance would bring noise, traffic, trash, and crime to a quiet residential area. Well, I went back yesterday. I admit I was so disgusted by the nastiness and scare tactics of the anti-entrance faction that I haven't even wanted to walk over there to see what it looked like. But now I know. This is the quiet neighborhood street they fought to maintain. A hanging chain and a warning sign. Trash overflowing and on the ground. Piles of trash left out days before trash ...

It's been about a year, I think, since the Facebook page was founded. "Celebrating Columbia, MD, and its Future" has done just that. It has seen a few heated discussions, but overall has been true to its goal: It is not meant to replace the popular "You Know you Grew up in Columbia" FB page, but to instead provide a better forum for more in depth, civil discussions about the future of Columbia, with an eye on the past and inclusive of all views. The posts here will be monitored by admins only to keep the peace, with minimal intervention or attendee changes. Let's help impact Columbia's future! Over the last year, two main themes have emerged. 1) Beauty in nature. I continue to be amazed at the variety of nature and wildlife photos taken here in Columbia. They have given me an appreciation of our dedicated Open Space in a way that no written description ever could. 2) Progress. But not the progress you might think. Once of the posters highlights historic ...

There was a time when I cared more about social norms. And then my daughter hit middle school. It's hard enough to have a child in middle school going through the transformation from child to teen, without also having to deal with a school culture of requirements at every turn. the culture of high stakes testing the culture of the Superintendent's Vision 2018 the culture of appropriate behavior the culture of appropriate dress My daughter has had a few exceptional teachers who light up her day with the joy of learning. Most have been in the good to very good category. Luckily only a very few have been just plain dreadful. But the overall environment of the school has become increasingly limiting. At a time when I long to see her valued, supported, challenged, and championed, instead I see her, along with her peers, face censure, annoyance, apathy, inflexibility. I have come to the point where I almost don't care about the rules anymore. And I am, and always have b...

Developers. There, I said it. Recruited by developers, in the pocket of developers, paid off by developers. Nasty accusations. And I have been on the receiving end of some of them. And so have some of my friends. Why, just in Oakland Mills alone-- Some years ago I served on the HOA Board for my community. Directly before the spring CA elections, a guest speaker came to talk to us about the issues in the upcoming election. The predictions were dire. Our visitor believed in the true vision of Columbia, but at the same time, heartless developers were going around, handpicking candidates who would do their bidding to run against the true Columbians. It was pretty convincing. This person was, by all appearances, calm, rational, and pleasant. I found out later that what was said was completely untrue. ( Crazymakers in the Community, 8/30/12) The word "developer", when uttered by a particular faction in Columbia, is the weapon par excellence. When members of the communit...

When I was little I didn't understand all those ads that ran during the evening news for Anacin, Doan's Pills, Rolaids. Now I do. These are products meant to ameliorate the complaints of middle age. And, presumably, it was the middle aged who were watching the news, concerned about the state of the nation and the world, and plagued by various aches and pains. This morning that would be me. I woke up with neck and shoulders aching and I can't seem to find the right distance between my eyes and the iPad. I want coffee but I don't want to get out of the recliner to make it. A sad state of affairs, I know. It's no surprise that my mind is filled with things that "just don't make sense." I suppose you could call this the VG/ T² "Get Off My Lawn" edition. In no particular order, things that don't make sense: CA Headquarters moving out of Downtown just as Downtown is really taking off. Pioneers who claim to protect the legacy of Rouse trying ...

Today is the Day of Silence. Sponsored by GLSEN , Day of Silence began: In 1996, students at the University of Virginia organized the first Day of Silence in response to a class assignment on non-violent protests with over 150 students participating in this inaugural event. In 1997, organizers took their effort nationally and nearly 100 colleges and universities participated. In 2001, GLSEN became the official organizational sponsor for the event. Day of Silence is a student-led, school based event. Why? GLSENs 2009 National School Climate Survey found that nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students report verbal, sexual or physical harassment at school and more than 30% report missing at least a day of school in the past month out of fear for their personal safety. Moreover, two of the top three reasons students said their peers were most often bullied at school were actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender expression, according to From Teasing to Torment: School Climate in Americ...

At Monday night's meeting of the PTA Council of Howard County, an interesting moment occurred when a parent asked about opting out of PARCC testing. They had been told they could not opt out for their child. Period. The moderator said that although Maryland is not an " opt-out " state, one could "refuse" the test, and that this precise wording was necessary. In fact, she said, speaking as a private citizen, she had refused the test for her children and the school gave them something else to work on while the testing was in session. A parent responded that her school told her that if she didn't want her children to take the tests, she would have to keep them home or make other childcare arrangements for those days. The moderator informed her that the school can't actually say that. (As an aside, I know a parent who offered to keep her children out and was told that this was not permissable, that the school would test them as soon as they returned.) A...

Good morning, Oakland Mills campers! Our village election is drawing nigh. have you received one of these flyers yet? Take a minute to read this before you vote. It represents a fresh and much-needed direction in Oakland Mills Village politics. These people have gotten together to run for the Board because they are for something, not against. I want to take a moment to recommend them to you because they bring the best overall qualifications to get the job done for all people in our village. Here's what they've got: Experience working to support our schools through PTA involvement. Participation in neighborhood and community-wide initiatives. Past Board experience. First-hand knowledge of the Master Plan process. Experience working cooperatively with Columbia Association and Howard County. A track record of working successfully and respectfully with OMCA Village staff. A commitment to working for all our residents: homeowners and renters, varying inc...

Local Man fulfilled a childhood dream yesterday by breaking the commuting record of well-known Columbia Man, seen above, right. Columbia Man set the original record of nineteen minutes door-to-door in March of 1971. Local Man proudly posted his route and his time at approximately 7:30 am. He came in at a brisk seventeen minutes. Reached by phone, Local Man was elated. "I've been building up to this for years," he explained. "Columbia Man's record has been untouched for a reason--that man is a legend." When asked what's next on the horizon now that he's accomplished this amazing feat, Local Man appeared unsure, then made this suggestion-- "I'd like a hat like his. You know, it's a cool hat. Distinctive, even." Those of us here at VG/T² send our heartiest congratulations to Local Man on his achievement. Columbia Man could not be reached for comment. ***** Image above right is the iconic Rouse Company ad "There goes the 8:11 to Co...

I had a hankering to eat outdoors last night, so I convinced my family to go to the Tomato Palace. Eating at the lakefront is a pretty rare event for us. It just doesn't come up on a regular rotation of dining out choices. By the time we had picked up M. from youth group it was after seven, and a bit too chilly and breezy for eating outside. It was clear when we arrived that we weren't the only people who wanted to be by the lakefront. The Tomato Palace was full, and we had to wait a few minutes for a table. That's pretty good for a Sunday night, in my opinion. (But I am not an expert on the lakefront restaurants. Maybe they're busy every night?) We were seated next to a large party celebrating a family birthday. The gentleman appeared to be in his eighties. They were a happy bunch. I wondered if they had many years of family celebrations at the Tomato Palace. As we walked back to our car after the meal, and negotiated the narrow roads that lead back to Little Patux...

People in this town are inordinately fond of taking James Rouse's name in vain, that is, "this is what Rouse intended" or "that's not the Columbia of Jim Rouse." In fact, this has happened with so much regularity that it has almost become a stick to shake at people you don't like. And I fear that its overuse renders Mr. Rouse less meaningful to 21st century residents, not moreso. An eye opener to me was this sentence, which I heard for the first time at the100th Birthday Celebration held last year at Merriweather. If you work in Columbia, you should be able to live in Columbia. -- James Rouse The context in which this was raised at the birthday event was racial equality in housing. But it was also noted that Rouse's dream was bigger than that. It's clear by the groundwork he laid that economic opportunity was a priority as well. This appears to be less widely known by the folks who are trying get rid of affordable housing as a method of n...

It may be a button pulled off a coat, paint scratches on a door, or a tub of ice cream in the sink. One little unexpected thing that catches the detective's eye in a mystery show can be the undoing of the criminal. We train ourselves to look for that little thing as the camera pans the crime scene. "It was hiding right there in plain sight," says the detective. On the other hand, sometimes one little thing leaps out in all its incongruity. This is the stuff of humour. A duck, for instance. This duck turned up in Annapolis last night and was photographed by Dylan Goldberg, who works for State Senator Guy Guzzone. He's been putting in some long hours with the legislature in session. Something about this duck just knocked him for a loop. Okay guys very funny but who left their duck in the state senate courtyard? He refuses to leave, won't stop quacking, and is obviously very concerned with the budget. Clearly this duck is somewhere he doesn't belong. And to a yo...

Yesterday the Howard County School System relea sed the following information: The Howard County Public School System is partnering with PFLAG Columbia-Howard County to help increase levels of understanding about topics central to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students, faculty, and staff. This, my friends, is a really big deal. And it is a very good thing. Here's an example of a situation where this partnersnip with PFLAG would really have helped. Remember this? Don't Ask, Don't Tell (December 17,2013) Seventh-grader M. has explored a variety of causes through the years. Disability awareness, the need for adequate recess time in schools, and the importance of arts education are a few of them. This year she has taken on new cause which has been educational to the whole family. At one time it would have been called simply "Gay Rights", then evolved to LGBT Rights. But M. corrects me to say "LGBTQ". And so I learn a little more. As she has grown u...

Sometimes things we work on take a very long time to be accomplished. This press release from David Greisman of the Columbia Association caught my eye yesterday. Reporting on ongoing construction at the Dorsey's Search Meeting Room property, he states: Work on the Meeting Room began in mid-March. The project will double the size of the building, which will provide more opportunities for the daycare facility that rents space there, add more space for meetings and expand the bathrooms and changing rooms for Dorsey Hall Pool. Something about that rang a bell to me. Didn't I read about that somewhere? Oh, here it is in Tom Coale's blog, HoCoRising , from October of 2013: When I first came on the CA Board back in 2011, I asked the Dorsey's Search Village Manager to tell me her "wish list". After reviewing some of the smaller things like a replaced vent, new paint, and window shutters, she said "that Meeting Room is too small." Dorsey had rented out...

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Obama, I am so sorry to be canceling our plans at this late date, but it seems that Sasha and Malia will not be able to accompany my daughter's middle school class to see Romeo and Juliet today at the Chesapeake Shakespeare Theatre in Baltimore. I know they were so looking forward to joining us for this highly educational and inspiring Arts Education experience. And we would have loved to have them join us. But a last-minute note from the school indicates that only one certain style of dress has been deemed to be appropriate. And to be honest, I just don't think your daughters ' sense of style would be, well, accepted. The email states that, Proper Dress Code for this theater experience include : knee-length dresses and skirts, dress pants or khakis, button down shirts with collars, polo-style shirts, and dress shoes. Yes, I must admit I was taken aback by the knee-length requirement for the girls. Especially since no such requirement was listed on the o...

Spring is here. Is it really here? Are we absolutely sure? It seems almost foolhardy to trust in it this year. Many of us have been looking anxiously for those perennial signs from Nature that the season is finally turning. We will wear lighter jackets, leave the front door open, work in the yard. We will relax into the warmth, instead of bracing ourselves against the cold. The theme of rebirth is a big one this time of year, whether you are pondering it in church or at the garden center. We talk about new life arising from death. We clear away the remnants of winter from our garden beds and smile at the little green shoots which mean another season of growth and blossoming. We look forward. We plan, we plant, and we savor the anticipation. Around town there are signs of rebirth in other ways. People are trying new things. I have been observing friends and acquaintances taking leaps of faith, starting new ventures, leaving the past behind. A sampling: Courtney Watson is spearheading a ...

As a relatively new subscriber to Baltimore Sun's daily digital edition, I have found a nostalgic pleasure in reading the advice column, "Ask Amy". Yes, I orginally subscribed in order to get unrestricted access to the Howard County news online, but I'm still trying to take advantage of the daily Sun as well. Ongoing stories in Baltimore include school budget deficits, concern about crime, fluctuating opinions about the mayor, development deals that may be too sweet, neighborhoods which are pockets of long-entrenched poverty. And then there's sports, weather, the comics and Ask Amy. Advice columns used to be quite popular in newspapers. Long before national syndication was a thing, local newspapers engaged readers by encouraging them to send in their questions on personal problems and etiquette. I found a reference that dates back to 1798, in England. Advice columnists then were known as "agony aunts" or "agony uncles" 'if male. (Useful...

Huge tip of the hat to this collaboration between Rick Leith at Howard Community College and Barbara Kellner and the Columbia Archives. Oh, and a shoutout to Blair Ames for writing about it.   For the past four years, Leith has had students in his English 121, college composition, class work on a semester-long project surrounding Merriweather that culminates with students submitting audio and written history documents to the Columbia Archives. This is my idea of what "Excite Columbia" could be all about. Leith is connecting with young people, engaging them through a topic that is meaningful to them, and asking them to make a contribution to their community through interviews and research. And the end result is that both they and the community are better for it. Everybody wins.   "My goal is to collaborate with the community in a real, meaningful way, so that the students can understand that they are a member of a community and that they need to be civically eng...

A famous Gertrude Stein quote, spoken originally in reference to Oakland, California: The trouble with Oakland is that when you get there, there isn't any there there. It has been recycled and reused many times and its meaning has evolved to mean a place which lacks a sense of place. Like Columbia Gateway, perhaps? We all bristled at Julia Louis-Dreyfus' disparaging account of working on Veep in a warehouse in the Gateway, but deep down were we in quiet agreement that there's just no "there there"? Well, community belongs to those who are willing to work to make it happen. And last night at a meet-and-greet for local hero Colonel Gateway, held at Aida Bistro, I saw a room full of people hungry to be a part of ADG Creative's initiative to give Gateway more of a sense of pride of place. So what if some disdainful out-of-towner described Columbia as "home to one of the dreariest American landscapes imaginable"? It's our landscape. We may laugh ...

Catching up on goings on at the Board of Education this morning. It looks like they've decided to revisit the Condomgate affair after all this time. In a 5-2 vote, the board has approved the following statement: It is the responsibility of the Board to set the example of protecting our students from inappropriate language. Therefore we are taking positive steps in order to set the tone for responsible discourse. So, here goes--no more ketchup, mustard, and or relish for school lunches. Why? Well, the discussion of "condom-ents" could be distressing, especially for younger children, and is really best discussed in the home. Similarly, in Social Studies units, teachers will be instructed to focus on home ownership and rental homes, with no awkward conversations about "condom-iniums." "We just can't be too careful in providing a wholesome environment for our children," the guidelines explain. Finally, the Board will no longer participate in any ...