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| Looking north up the new extension of Grand Park Avenue that opened seconds earlier |
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| Rose Park will be bookended by L.L. Bean (at right) and a future restaurant addition to the left of this scene |
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| Plantings along the edge of Rose Park looking toward Rockville to the north |
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| A "terraced" grade and water features are highlights at Rose Park |
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| This building on the west edge of Rose Park is expected to be a future restaurant |
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| View of Rose Park from outside The Henri |
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| The Legacy Tree recently planted at the edge of Rose Park |
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| Short Cut City: Now you can enter Pike & Rose from the rear, by taking this new Rose Avenue from Towne Road... |
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| ...then turn right at this intersection onto Grand Park Avenue to reach the parking garages |
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| At 4:00, construction workers unlock the gate at Grand Park Avenue and Trade Street that has been a dead end for several years |
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| Gate opening |
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| Removing the cones |
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| I am the first "civilian" on the new block of Grand Park Avenue |
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| The Henri apartments, and the aroma of fresh asphalt |
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| Future home of Sur la Table at the end of August |
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| Across from The Henri is the Canopy by Hilton hotel, and this is the future event space for wedding receptions and more |
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| Even better is this roof deck area that can create an indoor-outdoor space for events |
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| Lobby entrance of The Henri |
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| Looking back down Grand Park Avenue toward Old Georgetown Road from in front of The Henri; this block is quite dark in the late afternoon |
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| Facade of The Henri |
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| Canopy by Hilton hotel (opening January/Februrary 2018) topped by 930 Rose condos |
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| Sephora, opening August 3 in The Henri |
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| Sephora |
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| Sephora is already fully-stocked inside |
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| Future restaurant space at the northeast corner of The Henri |
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| Looking north toward the next block, Rose Avenue and Rose Park (R) |
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| Looking east on Rose Avenue with future L.L. Bean at left, and Canopy by Hilton at right |
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| Looking back toward Phase I and Old Georgetown Road from Rose Avenue |
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| Rose Avenue |
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| Pinstripes rooftop deck |
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| The Henri, as seen from Rose Park |
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| Cement mixer arrives in front of the Canopy by Hilton |
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| Canopy by Hilton topped by 930 Rose condos |
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| As All-American as you can get |
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| Working on windows at future L.L. Bean store |
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| Canopy's ground floor tenants will be Nando's Peri-Peri, Taylor Gourmet, Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa and bluemercury |
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| Construction worker poses in front of future entrance to Canopy by Hilton/ 930 Rose condos |
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| L.L. Bean |
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| Gelberg Signs installing the signs at Pinstripes |
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| Main sign at Pinstripes |
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| Outdoor dining space for the bistro at Pinstripes |
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| The Henri |
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| The north end of the property at Prose Street remains a closed and active construction area |
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| Prose Street looking toward future Porsche of Bethesda dealership |
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| View from the intersection of Prose Street and Grand Park Avenue |
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| Loading dock or parking garage at The Henri |
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| The CEO of Pinstripes was on the premises yesterday |
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| Let's walk back to Phase I... |
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| ...to look at H&M, opening at the end of August |
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| The signs are up at H&M |
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| New mural being added... |
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| ...right before your eyes |
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| One of the first vehicles to drive through Phase II |
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| But pedestrians weren't forgotten... |
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| All clear |
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| Phase II is "Here & Now" |
96 comments:
Your Rockville blog has timestamps correctly set in Eastern time. Why can't you get your Bethesda blog to do the same? Maybe this is why people don't take you seriously regarding your hand-wringing over the MoCo crime reports.
78 photos for just one article?
And all loading in the homepage on the desktop version?
Please take Blog Design 101, Dyer.
Images 11 through 26 are all the same! If you want to show the street being opened, you would have done better by combining those in a single GIF.
Nice post! This is great.
5:17: Do you want to see Phase II at Pike & Rose or not? This is all being seen for the first time - of course there are a lot of photos.
i for one don't want to see it. and most certainly not with 100 photos.
have you considered an album? haha who am i kidding im posting this at 5:50 in the morning supposedly.
Now the other articles are on the second page, less commented on when not on first page. Even for someone interested in P&R, it's too many photos. Especially the second by second documenting the opening of the road, do a gif for god's sake.
Have you called 311 about the crime dataset?
"This is all being seen for the first time"
Nah, I saw it all yesterday in beautiful 3D.
Judging from the clear skies and the angle of the sun, these photos were taken yesterday afternoon. Why didn't you publish this then?
#BreakingNewsMyAss
In just a few years, crappy old Westbard will look as nice as this.
And Fortune 500 execs will have a two-seat ride to Dulles Airport via the extended Purple Line. Boeing HQ in Westbard in 2023, I dare say?
6:16: Uh, because it takes a lot of time to put an article like this together, and website traffic drops at night? Think about it, Einstein. The article began by telling you these photos were taken at 4:00 PM.
6:20: No, Westbard won't look anything like this because Equity One is not Federal Realty. Their plan for Westbard is a series of boxes lined up in a row on either side of the road. No Fortune 500 exec rides light rail 2 hours to the airport, by the way.
I'll give you Boeing HQ at Westbard in 2023, but only if I'm elected to the Council.
The parking situation there is horrible. Montrose parkway is a failure--all that money spent and open land lost, and little or no time saved from the old Montrose road.
5:12, I thought this was the Rockville blog based on this story.
So are there any playgrounds at the parks there? I didn't see any in your photos. A park with just a couple trees is useless to my toddlers.
"The parking situation there is horrible. Montrose parkway is a failure."
You should sue whoever wrote your ESOL dictionary. A parkway is not a parking facility. You're lucky you didn't get a ticket.
What's wrong with the parking situation? I've gone a bunch of times and the garages are huge, easily accessible, and there are always open spaces.
6:41: There will be an interactive water feature at Rose Park. I did not see playground equipment.
6:32: One big problem is the traffic signal timing on Montrose Parkway - it is horrific. Part of the County Council's #WarOnCars. I've talked to engineers at MCDOT, and "off-the-record," they've told me they're furious about some of the design modifications made to the road for purely political reasons. We should be letting traffic engineers make decisions, not the County Council, many of whose members can't find the doorknob to get out of the room.
Thanks for the update. I'm happy to look through your pictures.
Did they offer any guesstimates on the Taylors & Nandos openings? Will those be ready before the hotel?
Is that your announcement that you are running for the council?
Is that a campaign promise?
I do hope you get elected then! Thanks, Robert, for promising good things and delivering!!!
6:45: My advice is to use the Trade Street garage, or enter the Old Georgetown Road garage FROM Old Georgetown Road on the lower level. Turn ratios are a nightmare on the upper level in the latter garage when busy.
I live near pike and rose and its TERRIBLE. They have brought in nothing but yuppy stories and people who go there are all soulless. Just a waste of a development
6:32: One big problem is the traffic signal timing on Montrose Parkway - it is horrific. Part of the County Council's #WarOnCars. I've talked to engineers at MCDOT, and "off-the-record," they've told me they're furious about some of the design modifications made to the road for purely political reasons. We should be letting traffic engineers make decisions, not the County Council, many of whose members can't find the doorknob to get out of the room.
What in the world is a "political" road design change?
6:54: Anything from deliberately-long red lights to artificially-low speed limits to compromised interchange designs. You know, like Hans Riemer's idea to have a 15 MPH speed limit? No professional traffic engineer would ever sign off on these ideas, hence they are political or ideological changes.
pike rose is so fake and pretentious that it completely attracts the out of area crowd who wants to spend in evening in a faux-rich place on a night out. Problem is they dont know how to use/get out of a parking garage. So you only get douche soulless people who have money then people who want to act like they have money.
6:52: They have great restaurants, although I'm disappointed Carluccio's is gone. I would certainly shop at H&M.
6:49: That is a good question, I would have to inquire about that.
"I'll give you Boeing HQ at Westbard in 2023, but only if I'm elected to the Council."
So you are running for council...
I hate Robert's personality and politics as much as the next guy, but thanks for covering this. And thanks for resisting the desire to nonsensically throw in the word "moribund."
Saith Robert Dyer @ 6:31 Dyer Savings Time:
"No, Westbard won't look anything like this because Equity One is not Federal Realty. Their plan for Westbard is a series of boxes lined up in a row on either side of the road."
I'm looking at these pictures, and they sure look like "a series of boxes lined up in a row on either side of the road." Is Federal Realty your undocumented sponsor?
"No Fortune 500 exec rides light rail 2 hours to the airport, by the way."
A ride from an extended Purple Line station at Westbard, transferring to the Silver Line at McLean, and going to Dulles Airport from there, would take far less than "2 hours".
7:39: No, the buildings along Grand Park Avenue are all different heights, unlike the Westbard plan where you'll have 3 boxes of similar height lined up on the shopping center site, and then 3 or 4 buildings across the street. The designs on paper have a cheaper, more cookie-cutter appearance than the buildings at Pike & Rose. There's also no evidence that Regency Centers will attract the kind of tenants Federal Realty does at their higher-end properties.
I like Pike and Rose....but parking is still a issue that prevents me from more frequent visits.
FIX THE PARKING (not you Robert)
6:52am Gap & Nike are "yuppy" stores? They cater to everyone. The retail mix at Pike & Rose is great.
Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea, Photorhea.
Robert Dyer just silently confirmed that Federal Realty is his sugar daddy angel investor.
Robert pretends like Justice Tuesdays never happened. Gotta pretend like he didn't ally with the church. Betrayed by Robert Dyer!
is this an ad? if so they should get their money back.
I just came so hard after scrolling through those pictures. Those cranes get me everytime.
Saith Robert Dyer @ 7:49 AM Dyer Savings Time:
"No, the buildings along Grand Park Avenue are all different heights, unlike the Westbard plan where you'll have 3 boxes of similar height lined up on the shopping center site..."
It looks like the buildings at Pike & Rose go up to 20 stories or more. It's a lot easy to have buildings with differing heights in that situation. I'm all for that in Westbard. What about you, Dyer?
Hi 6:52, what non yuppie store do you own?
I concur
Maybe, but certainly not iPic. He confirmed he intentionally doesn't cover iPic because they didn't invite him to an event.
That's a really good point.
I wonder if gang violence has spiked in the past 10 days. If there was someway to access crime data.
I am forced to concede that Pike & Rose is in Bethesda and not Rockville. 47 have commented on Robert Dyer's Bethesda blog but none have commented on his Rockville blog.
"I am forced to concede that Pike & Rose is in Bethesda and not Rockville. 47 have commented on Robert Dyer's Bethesda blog but none have commented on his Rockville blog."
North Bethesda, not Bethesda. They are two distinct localities, like Virginia and West Virginia. I think that's where a lot of the confusion stems from. Some people think the term is making the area part of Bethesda, which it is not.
I was there today in the early afternoon. The main garage (by the movie theater) was blocked off for some kind of renovations. The other garage was nearly full, and features death-defying turning radiuses to maneuver. Poorly designed.
Oh, I did see Berliner eating at one of the restaurants with 2 females. I let the guy eat in peace, but I really had to resist the urge to give him a piece of my mind about his staunch opposition to even studying a second Potomac crossing.
The MoCo Cartel provides Bethesda Beef with the crime reports to stop Robert from reporting. Robert reports the real news, not that garbage that Bethesda Beef posts. If the cartel wanted to change, they should provide Robert with the data and not Steve Hull, since Robert is someone the people can trust.
Looks like the MoCo Cartel filled in Dyer's hole, on St. Elmo Avenue.
Turns out that it was part of street repairs all along that block, and the hole was simply where maintenance crews had removed damaged pavement in preparation for laying new asphalt.
Dyer could have learned this if he had bothered to contact a live person.
I think they were installing the H&M signs where they blocked off the entrance.
I saw Berliner too - talking loudly on his cell phone in the common areas.
12:51 that pot hole had been there for weeks. Within 24 hours of Dyer's report it's filled. That's results, folks.
3:02, correlation hardly equals causation.
Berliner still live on the Pike?
Robert Dyer sure loves taking credit for other people's work.
12:51: You have no clue what you're talking about. As 3:02 noted, that pothole has been there a long time. It was definitely not manmade - unless you want to claim that the County is now intentionally creating dangerous potholes instead of filling them.
6:16: I'm the only person who brought this pothole to wider public attention yesterday. Whose "work" am I taking credit for? The County Regional Services director for Bethesda spent his Wednesday using taxpayer resources to promote and benefit the privately owned small and slightly-failing magazine in town. Illegal.
From Dyer's article Wednesday July 26, 10:00 AM EDT:
"Watch out for the massive pothole in the "hot right" turn lane from St. Elmo Avenue to Woodmont Avenue. It's a tire-size sinkhole, filled with rainwater. No word if there are any alligators down there."
"Easier to avoid, but a problem if you wanted to use street parking on the north side of the next block of St. Elmo by Tapp'd Bethesda, was the utility work going on there."
That wasn't "utility work". When you were taking photographs for your article, the street repair crews from the MoCo Cartel had already started repairs along Woodmont and St. Elmo.
The pothole had been there for weeks= not related to utility work in the street. It was only filled after Dyer's report.
"The County Regional Services director for Bethesda spent his Wednesday using taxpayer resources to promote and benefit the privately owned small and slightly-failing magazine in town. Illegal."
Apart from such links not actually being "illegal", the last time Hartman linked to Bethesda's news site of record was July 11.
6:54: Sorry, that pothole was there weeks before that work crew showed up.
7:05: You must have missed his illegal linkpalooza to the small and slightly-failing magazine in this week's taxpayer-funded newsletter.
Yes, old sport, using taxpayer funds to boost the sagging fortunes of a private business is indeed illegal.
Regardless of how long the pothole was there, you can't claim credit for getting it fixed since the crews were already there to do the repairs before you published your article.
"Yes, old sport, using taxpayer funds to boost the sagging fortunes of a private business is indeed illegal."
So if Hartman linked to you, you'd be opposed to that too, on principle?
7:45: I would recommend he follow standard government protocol and not link to anybody outside of County, State or federal websites.
If he is going to have these links, he must link to all Bethesda news outlets, including mine. If he just links to one, he is clearly trying to benefit that publication.
7:44: Yeah, okay, punk. They waited all these weeks, and then just magically filled it right after my report.
Did you just say he shouldn't break the law, but if he does break the law he should break the law with my website also?
"follow standard government protocol and not link to anybody outside of County, State or federal websites."
More fiction by Robert Dyer.
Why does Ken often link to a commercial magazine site instead of just linking to the County site? Presumably he has some incentive to do so. Worthy of investigation.
He's basically driving traffic to a one particular magazine. Traffic=Revenue. Is that proper?
On the county dime (taxpayers $), Ken is sending revenue to a friend's website. Nice to help a friend with several failing businesses, but please don't do it on the taxpayer's dime.
Why withhold reports from Dyer such as on the Edgemont II development that no one else had? A lot of questions. Meanwhile, residents are turning to Dyer to help on potholes, pedestrian safety and other issues in our downtown.
9:18 PM
9:09PM here..I'm not Dyer and I have a right to speak out.
Dyer is the only person who uses his name.
8:23: Wrong. There was no personnel on St. Elmo Avenue. That was a separate utility issue on the next block. The only resurfacing being done in downtown Bethesda right now is on Bethesda Avenue.
Why Hartman links to the small and slightly-failing magazine should be investigated by the Inspector General. Is there money under the table, or is it simply a quid pro quo in exchange for favorable coverage in the magazine?
8:15: Nope, I said it is illegal when he links to only one Bethesda news site. Government linking to outside websites isn't illegal by itself, but is inadvisable from a cybersecurity and liability standpoint. But when it's done to financially benefit a particular business, then it becomes illegal.
It was a pleasure to view this photoshoot of the opening of Phase II Pike & Rose. You caught the gate opening; you caught the mural going up. It makes us feel we got to be right there, and Life is full of little moments to enjoy. Some stop and smell the roses. It is quite all right if it is one rose and it carries the scent of fresh asphalt. Kudos!
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Robert Dyer sure loves taking credit for other people's work.
6:16 PM
Really? Here's a better example: George Leventhal spearheads the raising of the minimum wage. Hans Riemer fights it the whole way through. In the end (I watched the video of the vote), Hans Riemer waits until enough hands have gone up and the raising of the minimum wage is going through. He THEN raises his hand (consistently flipping so as to try to stay popular, rather than stick to any actual convictions).
The press had a heyday, because afterward, Hans Riemer was bragging to them that he was happy with the result and that he had actually spearheaded the cause. George Leventhal was outraged and yelled at Hans Riemer in front of the press how dare he try to take credit as he, George, had been the one to spearhead it, and Hans in fact had opposed the whole thing all the way through, up until he realized he had been licked and now did not want to be on record on the losing side.
I would call that a better example of taking credit for other people's work.
5:26: "Helpless Hans" at his best!
Wait. You said "...follow standard government protocol and not link to anybody outside of County, State or federal websites." Where does it say that? And so you're saying it's not illegal (as you have previously said) but just I'll-advisable for cyber security and liability reasons? Or it is illegal when it benefits a particular business? So if he posts your links too then the cyber security and liability issues remain (which you now encourage or don't care about if he links to you also?) and the legality is fine because he posts to multiple sites? How many does he need to post to in order to count? 2? 3? Or just yours also?
6:07: None of the other Regional Services Centers in the County link to news articles on outside websites, and you'll rarely see government websites in general do so.
I just keep repeating myself here, but what makes it illegal is that Hartman is only linking to the small and slightly-failing magazine. So his motive is not to inform, or else he would link to the many more useful articles on my site as well. His motive is either political (they give glowingly positive coverage to County government in exchange for the links) or financial (they have a secret agreement that Hartman will promote them illegally in taxpayer-funded emails).
No links (my recommendation), or link to all Bethesda news sites. Otherwise, it's clearly illegal to use taxpayer-funded government emails as a marketing tool for the small and slightly-failing magazine.
Sure you keep repeating yourself without providing valid sources or actually answering the questions.
Show the law that you are referring to. Show the law and prove that it is "clearly illegal". Prove his motive. Show the rules on cyber security and liability reasons you mention. Show the "standard government protocol" you are referring to. L
Otherwise no one will just take your word for it
I have seen the newsletter link to a multitude of sites, yours included.
7:13: You need to see a law that says it's illegal to use taxpayer money to profit a private business? You actually have a doubt about that being the law?
Hartman has linked to my site twice in a year or more. He links to the magazine every day.
Nice of you to delete my comment. What? The truth doesn't belong?
It was a repair that had been called into 311.
Go look for yourself. Unless that was your 311 call, it wasn't about you.
"You need to see a law that says it's illegal to use taxpayer money to profit a private business?"
Yes, I need to see the law that states that you cannot provide a link to a for-profit business.
If there is one, then linking to you was illegal and stop complaining.
So are you saying that any government link to say The Washington Post is using taxpayer money to profit a private business?
8:03: You are extremely dense. You don't understand the basic legal concepts of corruption. It's not "linking to a for-profit business." It's using a taxpayer-funded email to promote a particular website over others.
8:00: Given that the pothole was still there, 311 didn't "get it done." My article did.
What taxpayer money is being used here?
8:17: The Post writes very little about Bethesda. We're talking about the media outlets in Bethesda that regularly publish news about Bethesda. You can't use taxpayer-funded emails to promote just one of those. Link to all, or link to none.
You're dangerously close to Saul Alinsky territory with your repeated droning on with the same questions over and over. "If every letter must receive a reply, send 30,000 letters." - Saul Alinsky
8:21: You've never heard of Constant Contact, which the County pays for its mass emails? It's right at the bottom of every Hartman newsletter. The servers, the devices, the IT support, the software, even Hartman's time on the County clock - all of that taxpayer-funded. Are you really as clueless as you sound?
contant contact is a very large service. people can have a business and a personal account.
8:45: County emails are not sent via a personal account.
Constant Cpnact is my favorite Bigelow tea! I love the delicate mix of orange peel and allspice.
"The servers, the devices, the IT support, the software, even Hartman's time on the County clock - all of that taxpayer-funded."
So how much in those funds is actually needed to create and save the HTML tags that link to Bethesda's news site? Probably just a few cents for each link.
And why do you hate private news so much? I'll bet you love Pravda, Izvestia and Xinhua.
Does droning on about "moribund Montgomery County" put you dangerously close to Saul Alinsky territory? Or an number of your repeated droning on with the same issues over and over?
I'm 8:21 and not tech savvy so I asked you a question which you answered thank you but so rudely. Not every question is a challenge of your position, jeez.
Can you picture Councilman Dyer holding a press conference and saying, "you're dangerously close to Saul Alinsky territory with your repeated droning on with the same questions over and over"?
So the law you reference says if the external website rarely writes about the area then it's not illegal to link to them?
Still avoiding the question.
Show the law that you are referring to. Show the law and prove that it is "clearly illegal". Prove his motive. Show the rules on cyber security and liability reasons you mention. Show the "standard government protocol" you are referring to.
11:58 Yup learned my lesson
Ken has the entire county bureaucracy at his finger tips, including a huge well funded PR arm. Yet, he has to wait for one of his friends interns regurgitate the PR with poorly written copy so he can link to his friends blog. Weird!
No way 3:53 really believes the intern thing. Lol.
Oh hey look Ken linked to Robert today. You happy now? Lol
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