Village Green/Town²

My husband insisted that we go to Millennium Park. We had one day left before returning home, and we were flying out of Chicago. A friend dropped us off after lunch at a riverside restaurant. It was hot. I didn't know what the point was. The sun was beating down, it was rather humid and I was having visions of cooling off at the Art Institute. But my husband was insistent. We kept moving forward. I sensed his excitement. And then we arrived at the Crown Fountain . No still photo could communicate the experience, but click on the link anyway. People of all ages were gathered to cool off in the spray. Children frolicked--yes,they still do that--dancing and laughing in the mist. Others rested on benches at the periphery. Many were gathered to watch the amazing video component of the fountains. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. I began to pay attention. When we arrived at the Jay Pritzger Pavillion I started taking pictures. On the top left you see the Pavillion. It is beautiful....

A recent changing of the guard on the Oakland Mills Village Board has produced a curious effect. Meeting are running longer. And longer. And longer. I noticed that now they will be starting the meetings at seven pm instead of seven-thirty. This may be in an effort to prevent meetings from running so late into the evening, or it may be that they just want more time for meeting. Oh. My. Goodness. How I hate long meetings. I hate sitting that long. I hate the panic that sets in when you realize that people feel they have an endless amount of time to regale you with every facet of their point of view. I hate the frustration of realizing that nothing significant will be accomplished. I hate the almost certain outcome: that residents, especially younger ones, will give up and go home in the face of interminable meetings. The vocal slice of Columbia that turned out this year to "take back Columbia" is doing more than just taking the reins of power. They are, quite literally, taking...

I just returned from a trip to visit family in Laporte, Indiana. Visiting Indiana for us means getting a taste of small town life. We soak up the beauty of older homes on criss-cross streets, and of Main Streets that have old fashioned architectural detail and personality. With the exception of our peculiar devotion to Dairy Queen (the closest one back home is at Arundel Mills Mall) all the restaurants we visited were individually owned. We noodled around shops in the tiny town of Chesterton, some beautiful, some off-beat, some retro-funky. We visited a butcher's shop which made its own beef jerky and sold actual bones for your dog to chew on. Margo got to help work on a float for the Laporte July 4th parade, walk in the sand along Lake Michigan, ride in the middle of the front seat of a car with bench seats, and watch as I struggled to remember how to drive a car with the shifting mechanism sticking out of the steering column. (Hint: it was hilarious.) Laporte has five small lakes...

Today's post comes from Michael Cornell, CA Board Rep from River Hill.   Transparency 2.0   Recent events at a CA Board meeting have revealed more than a few kinks in the system. Minutes into the meeting on June 12th, a motion was made to amend the agenda. The item being added concerned the Inner Arbor Trust – a non-profit corporation created by CA to develop the Park in Symphony Woods. Added to the end of the agenda, discussion started rather late. A motion was made at approximately 10:40 pm to declare the Trust in violation of the easement agreements. If passed, the motion could lead to delays or cancellation the development of the Park. Protocols outlined in our governing documents were collectively ignored, skirted, subverted or abused – by those who ran for office on the rally cry of transparency. Actions taken last minute, off agenda proposals made in the wee hours, are by the very nature anathema to transparency. Transparency is now something dragged out when a det...

I sent this letter to CA President Milton Matthews on June 16th, copying in the entire CA Board. I have received only one response, from River Hill rep Michael Cornell. That's a pretty poor response for an extremely important issue. So I thought I'd send it again, to our entire community. There's a CA Board Meeting tonight, if you'd like to add your voice during the Resident Speak-Out. ***** Subject: In reference to Board Meeting, June 12th Dear Mr. Matthews, Welcome to Columbia. I look forward to learning more about your ideas as you settle in to our community. We are on the brink of many wonderful improvements. I am excited to see Columbia moving forward. I must say that I don't think that the recent behavior of CA Board Members Avery, Klein, and Swatek on June 12th was at all an example of putting the best foot forward as you begin to work together. As you are new to Columbia, it puts you at quite a disadvantage to be compelled to decipher their mystifying ac...

I've never been so close to an election before. I have never known so many people personally who were running for public office. It has been educational and exhilarating. And, at times, stressful. As much as I have been inspired and hopeful, I have also been indignant. What some people do when they want to win makes you question the whole process. I'm thrilled for Tom Coale. It's difficult to find any other words. Running for the right reasons, doing it the right way, he made small-minded attempts to derail his candidacy shrink down to nothingness. How? 1) Just by being himself. 2) Empowering others to get involved. I'd like to see a whole lot more of that in politics. I'm excited to see that candidates for Board Of Education whom I supported will be advancing to the November election. In particular, it is lovely to see Cindy Vaillancourt as the top vote-getter. Ms. Vaillancourt has continually showed respect for parents and the community in the educational proc...

Almost one year ago I attended Tom Coale's announcement to run for the newly-formed 9B seat for the Maryland House of Delegates. I wrote about the significance of his choosing to stand in the middle of everyone as he spoke. I am sharing that post again today because everything that has happened in the last year has borne those observations out: Tom is the kind of leader who is willing to take risks to reach out to others. He sees leadership as an interactive process. He is honest about who he is, he is open about his views, he is positive in his message. Last year: In Medias Res This Year: On the Brink Tom Coale's candidacy is more than an ambition of one man. It is the promise that one really good person in public service can make a difference, and that his success will open the door to others who have the same goals: working together to make things better for everyone. If you think Annapolis needs someone like this and that Ellicott City deserves representation like this, sha...