Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Floreen blames residents for bus depot debacle, Rockville Mayor & Council drafting Westmore letter

Montgomery County Council President Nancy Floreen was asked to comment on the Carver bus depot controversy in Rockville yesterday. Can you guess who she attributed the depot crisis to? Take the Rockville Nights quiz:

a) the developer, which should have identified a new depot location

b) herself and her colleagues, who unanimously voted to fund design and construction of a bus depot at Carver on February 9, and didn't take their ultimate responsibility to locate a new site before voting for it seriously? And who now claim they don't read the legislation they vote for?!

c) you, the resident of Rockville?

Answer: C

That's right, the delay in finding a new bus depot site is the fault of "County residents who engage very actively."

Whoops!

The bus depot site search has been "very hard for all communities to have to deal with," Floreen said yesterday at a press conference. She confirmed the Council will now take up the matter in June, but offered no solutions at this point.

"I don't know how we'll handle that," Floreen told reporters. "This issue has gone on for how many years, (shouting) ten years? Attribute it to County residents who engage very actively."

Well, I guess we'll remember that in November 2018. Whether its refusing to take responsibility for the decisions and votes that got us here, or butting in line ahead of residents at the public meeting, the level of arrogance on the County Council is simply astonishing.

Meanwhile, Rockville Acting City Manager Craig Simoneau informed the Mayor and Council last evening that Montgomery County and Montgomery County Public Schools have both rebuffed their invitation to speak at their May 23 meeting on the bus depot issue.

Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton brought up the bus depot issue during Old/New Business later in the evening. She proposed that the body send a letter opposing a second depot planned for 1000 Westmore Avenue in Lincoln Park, saying that she would like to provide "a strong statement from the City of Rockville to support the community."

Newton outlined the objections the City should enumerate. The site is in a historic African-American community which has been there for over 100 years, she noted. It is also adjacent to a historic African-American cemetery, and would pose a safety risk to children walking to Lincoln Terrace Park.

Finally, Newton said, a bus depot "is not in keeping with the plan for their community," referring to the Lincoln Park Neighborhood Plan.

The letter is expected to be finalized by the next meeting.

2 comments:

  1. Really? Floreen is faulting us for being active in our community? OK, I'm going to be active in voting her out.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That pesky democracy thing

    ReplyDelete