Merry Christmas!

Taking a few days off to travel south this week. However, before leaving, The Western MoCo observer wishes you and your family all the joy of the holiday season, and a very healthy, happy and prosperous new year!

Do They Know It's (omitted for fear of offending somebody)?

In the spirit of Christmas (yes, there it is - I said it: CHRISTMAS! Seems you have to be very careful these when uttering that word for fear of "offending" someone), and to keep in the spirit of the previous music-related posting, I humbly offer for your listening enjoyment the following version of "Do They Know It's Christmas" as performed by another great musician from my home state of New Jersey, Mr. Pete Yorn.

....And Now for Something Completely Different

Here's a shameless plug for a band I've loved for years....

The Smithereens hail from my homestate of New Jersey (Carteret, specifically) and have been making great music for over 20 years.

They'll be releasing a "new" album in January entitles "Meet the Smithereens." It's new only in the sense that it's chronologically new; the material is "old," i.e., it's Smithereens remake of the first American release by The Beatles ("Meet the Beatles") - a band whom the Smithereens were greatly influenced by. According to the press release, "...the Smithereens have rerecorded the album in its entirety, and the result is a fun and nostalgic trip through 12 classic songs done Smithereens style." It sounds wonderful.

Clink on the following link for a a couple of full-length clips from the album.

Incidentally, the boys will be back in town on Friday, January 12, and their show at the State Theater in Fairfax will be a record release party for the new album. See you there!

Gas Tax - Catch the Fever!

This is one tax idea I can really get behind. Seems the County Council adopted a resolution supporting an increase in the state gasoline tax. The added revenues would be used to fund mass transit projects in our traffic clogged region.

I don't know about you, but during the last spike in gasoline prices earlier this year, I noticed a significant drop in the amount of rush hour traffic. Presumably people got jiggy with the whole mass transit idea once their wallets and pocket books were adversely impacted by higher gasoline costs. I spent a fair amount of time living in Europe where gas costs are much, much higher, and mass transit usage is also much, much higher. Believe me, the comparatively low prices we pay for gas only encourage more commuters on to the roads each day. An increase in the gasoline tax might just help encourage a lot more folks to find their way onto buses and trains, and off the roads.

River Road Repair - The Epic Continues

Seems I'm not the only person who's been annoyed by the seeming lack of progress - indeed a total lack of work, period - on the River Road storm drain repair near Potomac Village. As I mentioned in earlier posts, the work started some months ago and was going great-guns until, suddenly, it stopped cold in October. The workers disappeared, not to be seen again until this week when I spotted a lone construction crew guy and somebody operating what I'd call an excavator or mechanical shovel or similar thing.

Over the weekend I saw this in the Potomac Almanac and it caught my eye. Seems other folks in Western MoCo who rely on River Road are getting fed up by the glacial pace of the work, and the resulting traffic tie ups morning, noon and night.

I like the following quote by Potomac Elementary PTA head Diana Conway, whose frustration is palpable: "'It's a failure of thinking, of forethought (by SHA), of not thinking of the unintended consequences of a project,' Conway said." I'd say that's almost an understatement, given the lack of outreach and communications by the MD State Highway Authority.

Who knows? Maybe a little public pressure is exactly what's needed to get things started on this project once more.

Obey Your Media Overlords, Ike Legget!

You have to hand it to the editorialists at the WaPo; they get points for sheer nerve.

They run the following editorial (re. marching orders) directed at incoming County Executive Ike Legget, but commit the sin of omission. In this case, they omit virtually any concrete methods for addressing the Mr. Leggett's task at hand. Instead, they hide behind the usual vague and unspecific platitudes that fail to supply any useful steps for actually improving the situation. Apart from its obvious disingenuousness, it offers the WaPo cover to come back later when things don't go the way they had hoped, and say "we told you so." Read on:

Crunchtime for Mr. Leggett
He's got clout. Now he should use it.

Monday, December 4, 2006; A18

IN TERMS of political capital, Isiah "Ike" Leggett must qualify as a zillionaire. Having served 16 years on the Montgomery County Council while hardly making an enemy, he won the race for county executive last month in a landslide without breaking a sweat or raising his voice. The man has clout.

He'll need it. Many or most of the voters who gave the Democrat his mandate are expecting some quick and certain signal that business as usual must change in the county, especially when it comes to growth and development. At the same time, Mr. Leggett has the experience and smarts to understand that slamming the brakes on Montgomery's growth -- which in any event is modest by regional standards -- would be self-defeating; in particular, it could threaten both future revenue and the already paltry stock of affordable housing. For Mr. Leggett, who takes office next week, squaring that circle will be job No. 1.

Some 45 percent of Montgomery's land is set aside for a large agriculture reserve and for parks. Much of the remaining 55 percent is already built to capacity. Still, planners expect the county's population of some 930,000 people to swell to 1.1 million or more in the next 20 years. That growth, driven by a booming regional economy, will demand effective political management as well as a sound regulatory framework. For now, Mr. Leggett is talking about resurrecting growth controls that the county relaxed in 2003. Better procedures may be in order, but moratoriums make little sense and will only be self-defeating. Mr. Leggett must make clear to the public that, even with tighter controls and more public input, development is a fact and a net benefit to the county. (Where’s ANY mention of the fact that infrastructure simply failed to keep up with the development witnessed under “Developer” Doug Duncan’s watch? Where’s any mention of a specific method for addressing growth issues that the WaPo editorialists would like to see. No, they’d rather speak in vague generalities, then sharp-shoot later on when elected officials fail to meet the Post’s lofty-but-unstated methods for actually dealing with the effects of growth. The near-permanent state of gridlock on the area roads is a direct result of the county’s failure to meet growing demand for improvements in the transportation and social services areas when unchecked development was Duncan’s order of business.)

In addition to his landslide victory, Mr. Leggett starts with another important political edge: a political style so soft and soothing that his interlocutors are sometimes scarcely aware that he is not necessarily on their side. To that he will have to add and articulate a vision for the county and for making decisions in a headwind. Some early tests of his ability in that regard will come on schools and immigrants.

On schools, Mr. Leggett should show that he supports what has been an expensive but critical and ongoing project to close the achievement gap that has left too many African American and Latino students behind. Maintaining momentum for that project will take not just a budgetary commitment but also active public support from Mr. Leggett. (Why the Post choose to laser-in on racial and ethnic gaps, when school crowding and space limitations are an equally pressing concern is a mystery to me. When there’s 35 kids in a classroom, any race or ethnic group will suffer because a teacher simply can’t effectively control a group that large.)

He also faces an immediate challenge on the issue of decent treatment for immigrant workers from the city of Gaithersburg, which has refused to build a day-laborer center for dozens of its own residents whose work is clearly in demand locally. All eyes will be on Mr. Leggett to resolve what has become a venomous dispute between the county, which insists that Gaithersburg accommodate the workers, and the city, which remains recalcitrant. By acting firmly and soon to establish a center -- preferably within Gaithersburg's city limits -- Mr. Leggett can send an early signal that he is in charge. (This is hilarious to me. The Post says it’s those “immigrant workers from the city of Gaithersburg” who need help. Are they immigrants from Gaithersburg - who I guess are emigrating to Rockville or Silver Spring or Germantown!?!? – or are they ILLEGAL ALIENS who are demanding government and taxpayer-funded services? I think they’re referring to the later. In either case, The Post Media Overlords have spoken – and Leggett better fall in line, or risk falling out of favor with the effete snobs in the WaPo editorial salons.)

Sign Language

I spend a fair amount of time in my car, mostly traveling along River Road to or from Bethesda / Potomac. For the most part, it's a beautiful, scenic drive through the woods and, yes, past the McMansions of the rich and well-off.

In the past year, though, a rash of rather vulgar and unsightly graffiti has popped up along my commute, and as a taxpayer I'm highly annoyed. I'm referring to the defacement of the traffic signs on River Road, Glen Road, Travilah Road, Esworthy Road, Piney Meetinghouse Road, and some other smaller local roads. Someone with a HUGE political axe to grind has decided it's entirely appropriate and acceptable to deface signs with bumper stickers and spray paint in a sad attempt to inflict their feelings on everyone else. Here's the stop sign at Esworthy and River Roads (click for an enlarged view):

I REALLY resent this sort of destruction of public property, just to make a point about a political viewpoint that may or may not be shared by anyone else. The county road crews replaced one bumper stickered / spray painted stop sign at the intersection of Esworthy and River Roads a month or two ago, only to have it defaced again almost immediately. If I had to guess, I'd say this vandalism is the work of someone living in the immediate area. It's shameful and sickening that otherwise responsible individuals would stoop to such juvenile actions to express their opinion. Would those same individuals be as understanding if the signs were being defaced by people making opposing viewpoints, or perhaps by people making sexual or racial comments? I highly doubt it.

Anyway, it's my dream to stumble upon this person or the persons in flagrante so that I can report them to the police. I like Western MoCo, I appreciate order, and would to help preserve the beauty of the area, and I resent having to waste scarce tax dollars replacing or repairing road signs that have been ruined by some thoughtless person or persons.

Cell Hell

If you live or work in Western MoCo, then you’re probably already aware of the generally spotty and random cell phone coverage in the area. Those of us in Darnestown have long struggled with dropped calls and absent service. Now, the folks in Poolesville will also get a nice Christmas gift courtesy of Cingular, who’s decided to take their cell equipment from the town’s water tower and go home. The whole story can be read in this week’s Gazette.

The sad state of cellular affairs in Western MoCo is bad and getting worse, it would appear. The folks in Darnestown went through a rather protracted era of communal hand-wringing about the cell tower issue when some residents reacted strongly to the prospect of a monstrous steel cell tower blighting their semi-rural landscape, and possibly obstructing their otherwise rustic view from the living room window. The town elders and the civic association opted for a “flagpole” cell tower in the center of town, which looks like this one in Massapequa, NY.

A couple of national cell service providers have their equipment on the new cell tower-disguised-as-a-flagpole, but notably absent is Verizon, the cellular provider I use. I’ve long been frustrated at the horrendous service I get in Darnestown, and many neighbors agree with me. It’s not unusual to see cars pulled over at the entrance to my street, drivers on their cell phone, completing that last call before they enter no-man’s-land at the end of the street, where cell service disappears completely.

Want an exercise in pure, unmitigated frustration? Try contacting Verizon via email and asking them about service quality. My most recent exchange went something like:

Me: Hi! I was wondering if Verizon was planning on installing their equipment on Darnestown’s new cell tower-disguised-as-a-flagpole?

Verizon’s Automated Email Response Generator: Hello! Thanks for your inquiry! Did you know we never stop working for you? Our goal is to provide the best possible cell service! Thanks for contacting us! Did we answer your question?

Me: Well, er, no. I was wondering if you were planning to install your equipment on Darnestown’s new cell tower-disguised-as-a-flagpole?

Verizon’s Automated Email Response Generator: Hello! Thanks for your inquiry! Did you know we never stop working for you? Our goal is to provide the best possible cell service! Thanks for contacting us! Did we answer your question?

(repeat endlessly, cue sound of firsts smashing keyboard in blind rage)

You see, although Verizon (and now Cingular, it seems) are in the communications business, the art of communications - person-to-person, that is - is apparently a lost art for them. In fact, any attempt to reach them, in my experience, has been roughly as rewarding as closing my fingers in a car door.

I feel Western MoCo deserves better. I’d like to see the county be a bit more proactive in this area, but that’s probably hoping for too much. After all, they were willing to sell us down the river with the recent planned roll-out of Verizon’s new FiOS service. Many of us will now have to wait until roughly 2013 to see FiOS in our area, at which time global warming may render the whole thing moot.

In any event, I’m not holding my breath. And by the way, if it had been up to me, I’d have installed a nifty cell tower-disguised-as-a-tree rather than the flagpole. It’s not that I’m against flagpoles; I just like the perennial Christmas Tree sort of look that these babies have (I'd even paint those blocky cellular do-hickies and make 'em look like Christmas Tree ornaments!).

I'll bet if we had offered to name the cell tower-disguised-as-a-flagpole after outgoing County Executive Doug Duncan, the whole process of obtaining reliable cell service in Western MoCo would have gone a bit more smoothly. After all, isn't Developer Doug the businessman's best friend?