Notoriously anti-car
Berliner, Riemer found
new election-year love
for open roads as drivers
raged against blockade
The illegal closure of Leland Street to traffic from Woodmont Avenue has been reopened by the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, which did not go through the required public process to block access to the street. After mass public outcry, the County Council was caught with their pants down on this, and quickly sought to distance themselves from the decision on social media.
In reality, Councilmembers Hans Riemer and Roger Berliner are on the record favoring such street closures up until this point. Riemer and Berliner wholeheartedly voted for a full closure of the end of Westbard Avenue at River Road in the Westbard sector plan - an even more restrictive closure than the Leland blockade. Neither expressed the views they are claiming to have now, in the face of a public firestorm, and both are on the record as solidly anti-car and anti-highway.
Another strange bedfellow to enter the scene was Greater Greater Washington, one of the leading organizations waging a War on Cars in the D.C. Metro area. Closely allied with Riemer and Berliner and supported by development interests, GGW is a regular agitator for creating more difficult driving conditions to discourage automobile use. Now they are opposed to a street closure? Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, folks.
 |
| Scars left behind by the bollards |
Berliner and Riemer's fellow carpetbagger David Alpert wrote in GGW that, "at some times in the past and in some places, the streets are/were much less busy." In reality, Leland Street used to be far busier than it is today. It used to be a major shortcut to reach downtown Bethesda from Little Falls Parkway. That ability to turn left onto Woodmont no longer exists today.
Alpert went on to add: "Forbidding driving one (sic) one connecting road to satisfy some residents while making traffic worse for everyone else is not the best approach, here or anywhere else in the region."
Can I quote him on that? I just did. I'm looking forward to this new David Alpert supporting making driving in Montgomery County a faster and more convenient experience in the future.
Yet Montgomery County closes or restricts access to countless streets on a regular basis (they just usually go through the legal public process, unlike this case). If Berliner and Riemer are being honest and have had a conversion on street closures, does this mean we can expect all of the closed roads that add to the congestion on main arteries countywide to reopen soon? If not, we'll know this was just a publicity stunt by two politicians running for office next year.
79 comments:
Reimer and Berliner clearly don't read this blog or Dyer would have been charged with slander and defamation long ago. The county council didn't have anything to do with the closures, but they did force the re-opening.
Greater Greater Washington's article reached a far bigger audience than yours. That's probably why they got results and you didn't.
Your last article on this was 12 days ago. Don't try to claim credit for others' work.
I'm all for pedestrian safety but this one was ridiculous. I researched old maps after reading a comment on BN about this being a former state highway. Sure enough it is, and anyone with a map can see it's obvious important route between Bradley and East-West Highway. Homeowners should look at a map before buying a house.
"Notoriously anti-car Berliner, Riemer found new election-year love for open roads as drivers raged against blockade"
No, it's not, Birdbrain.
7:31: I had the FIRST article. I broke the story, old sport. Don't try to claim credit for others' work.
7:27: Berliner not only reads it, he told me I was doing a "great public service" in publishing it.
7:38: You left out a couple of bullet points - I'm founder and publisher of Suburban News Network, and Alpert declined to identify who funds his pro-developer website when asked directly by the Washington Post.
Kind of like Moonie-era Washington Times. "Google it."
What's "Suburban News Network"? Is that business registered anywhere? Is the name trademarked? Does it have any readers? Does it have endorsements from anyone besides Robert Dyer?
"Kind of like Moonie-era Washington Times."
What does this mean? The Moon family still owns the Times, as it has from the beginning.
Have you ever worked for a Fortune 500 company? I have, and it looks like Dave Alpert has, too.
Now can they return Little Falls Pkwy back to 2 lanes as well?
7:54: Thousands of readers. I just quoted an "endorsement" from Berliner - one of your own guys!
7:56: I'm talking about the golden era, when the Rev. Moon gave them a billion dollars. They're not getting that kind of money from the church these days.
8:15: Hear, hear. That was illegal closure number one - and both closures still have me wondering if the bollards manufacturer is a donor to the Council.
Agreed.
"Thousands of readers"
Do you have any actual data to support this? All the data I've seen shows that Bethesda Magazine gets 10 to 20 times as many readers per month as you do.
"both closures still have me wondering if the bollards manufacturer is a donor to the Council."
There's your next research project, Robbie. Shouldn't be too hard to find out, one way or the other.
Disappointed in Reamer. I thought he was progressive enough to join European cities in banning autos from city centres. Instead, he reopens a road to autos.
Does posting first always mean the end result is to your credit?
What about things that you post first but don't get done? Is that to your credit as well? Or just the good things?
"Tim" @ 8:50 AM sez baaaaaaaa
Dyer operates a network of local news sites covering MoCo.
@ 8:51 AM - It's like that time last month when Dyer saw construction crews and equipment filling potholes, snapped a picture of one that hadn't been filled yet, wrote an angry article, and then claimed credit for the repair the next day.
8:48: What kind of a mentally-ill person saves an off-topic comment, and just keeps posting it every time it's deleted? The facts I laid out about Charlottesville don't get any less true as you keep reposting it. Even the Post and New York Times reported about the police inaction. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with Leland Street.
Interesting that a handful of Leland residents were able to get the Council to bend and approve closing this initially.
Meanwhile, the Council utterly ignores all of the neighborhoods that stand against the Westbard Sector Plan.
I was outraged at the closure as well. It's a PUBLIC ROAD! The residents on Leland are the worst. So, so selfish. Didn't know it was an illegal closure. Figures.
Berliner is anti-car for sure. He came out staunchly against even _studying_ a second Beltway crossing a few weeks ago. His proposal is to add HOV lanes to the existing American Legion Bridge, and widen the 270 side of it. That should be done too, but we need a second crossing.
As for GGW, I was surprised they took that stance also, but I don't think they're in cahoots with MoCo politicians. I think they took it on because they are opposed to traffic decisions and road closures being made without a public process -- as most of us were.
Actually I know Alpert indirectly through friends, and he used to work at Google, and his funding comes from being an early employee there and getting great stock options.
Dyer: Did you report this to the MoCo Inspector General? I think someeone at MCDOT should be fired -- they failed to follow the process. If people hadn't made a stink, it would have remained closed. I contacted 311 2 weeks ago (no response) and also emailed the MCDOT project manager a week ago (no response). Sadly, it seems like we only go action once a Council member contacted them. That's not how government should work.
"War on Cars"
LOLOLOLOLOLOOOOOOOOOOOOL
Meanwhile this blog has declared its own War on Reality.
It is a bad pattern. Residents had no advance notice. Usually with a major traffic pattern change, there is advance notice. My guess is MoCo Council knew this would be unpopular, so better to quickly just do it.
Residents had no notice about Wisconsin Lanes closed for the Apex demolition.
Residents should demand that the Council tells them what process is being g put into place so this never, ever happens again.
You consistently go off topic in your posts and comments as well. Set the precedent.
The bollard manufacturer being a donor is a total joke, right? Hahahahaha
What's the public notice law or requirement? Asking nicely.
"carpetbagger David Alpert"
Do you even know the meaning of that term?
"carpetbagger" = (((Teh Joooz)))
really robert? you delete my comment? truth hurts. guess you didn't want anyone to see it. you're so dishonest with your audience and probably yourself!
Robert you are going off subject and you are indeed a carpet bagger stop complaining, get out of your moms basement that creepy background of your videos makes you wonder if you have little kids prisoner down there with you, and one last thing, Hans will body slam you through a coffee table again!!
Robert Dyer: "We don't yet know all the facts about that tragic incident."
9:54 AM raises a good point. What is the legal procedure for such street closures, and how was it violated in this case? "Illegal" means a bit more than "I don't like it".
@12:42PM: The county official responsible for the closure admitted in a letter that he failed to post public notice of the closure or hold a public hearing. There's a county regulation that requires the director to do both things.
Might I suggest a downtown Bethesda bus tour for Mr. Reamer? Get him acquainted with the area before blocking streets.
I read about that. For what types of thugs do they need to post public notice or hearings? Putting up a sign? Bollards? Painting lines? Etc.? I wonder what the threshold is.
*things
That's a really good question. Is there a list or rule on what needs to have a public hearing and what doesn't?
This seems to be the pertinent regulation. (You'd think a Council candidate would be able to cite relevant regulations when asked to do so. Alas...)
Dyer is a life long Bethesda resident, hardly a "carpet bagger" like Alpert.
Dyer is very active in local Bethesda issues and is the publisher of several local news sites covering MoCo.
So, while Dyer is serving the community, Anonymous is throwing insults and making ad hominem attacks.
2017 in Bethesda media, folks.
12:42: Actually, I reported that information back when I broke this story a week before anyone else - there had to be a public meeting, and a sign posted with notice of the closure. Neither was done.
3:14: I already did a month ago, old sport.
Robert, why did you delete my comment thanking your reader for providing a link to the regulation?
Hi Dyer, many of us having been asking for a link for a while now. Did you really provide it a month ago?
3:37: Because it also contained an insult and false statement about my blog.
4:16: Do you need a link to MVA to prove that people have to renew their driver's licenses, Saul Alinsky?
"If every letter must receive an answer, send 30,000 letters." - Saul Alinsky
"...Greater Greater Washington, one of the leading organizations waging a War on Cars in the D.C. Metro area. Closely allied with Riemer and Berliner and supported by development interests, GGW is a regular agitator for creating more difficult driving conditions to discourage automobile use."
This is bullshit, Dyer - one of the many examples of why you will never be taken seriously as a "journalist". GGW is not "waging a war on cars" - what they want is a level playing field between cars, transit, biking and walking in planning and funding.
10:57: Yeah, it's somebody who relocates to a different area with a nefarious agenda and purposes, usually involving quick attainment of economic or political power that is rightfully owed to the locals. Once again, my use of terms was spot-on.
Hey Dyer - if you don't want "30,000 letters", then it might be a good idea to answer questions as you receive them, rather than stonewalling. Not a good indicator for your performance a potential Councilmember.
4:45: I could post links all day to their War-on-Cars articles over the years, opposing everything from a new Potomac River crossing to the Barney Circle Freeway to the Montrose Parkway. Opposing more parking in D.C. where there isn't anywhere close to enough now. And in favor of taking whole lanes away from cars on Rockville Pike, Georgia Avenue and 16th Street. They are viciously, utterly opposed to private automobile travel.
4:50: You reveal yourself to be a carpetbagger, because you apparently don't know that you can't be "born" in Bethesda unless you have a natural birth at home. Suburban Hospital doesn't have facilities for childbirth.
I never "moved" from anywhere. I am a lifelong resident of Bethesda, who like everyone else who is, was born in a hospital outside of Bethesda.
Good luck getting professional help with your obsession with Robert Dyer's personal information, biography and vital stats.
"Good luck getting professional help with your obsession with Robert Dyer's personal information, biography and vital stats."
Dyer forgot to sign in as Sheepshill. LOL
5:18: I never "forget to sign in." All comments I post are signed, unlike you, who is too much of a coward to post your real name.
"unlike you, who is too much of a coward to post your real name."
You is a coward? Is our children learning?
If you say it then yes.
Did you just refer to yourself in the third person? ��
I'm looking forward to the Council debate when Hans is struggling and he ends up yelling "But what hospital were you delivered in? Answer the question!"
Big issue to debate!
It seems folks new to Bethesda who end up with jobs blogging about it don't understand where Bethesda residents have babies delivered. This could be a teachable moment for the interns and paid staff.
After what happened to me, why the hell would anyone else post their real name?
Seriously. Why? Remember, my ordeal started when I disagreed and asked a question.
At this point I read this blog maybe once a week. Or if my husband tells me that someone mentioned my name or that variation that only came into being to spew nasty remarks at me.
A) it's your freaking blog. of course you'll put your name on comments
B) we have only your word that you never post anonymously
C) Saul Alinsky tactics are not in play here, except by you
D) Who the heck is Dave Alpert? Why do you talk about him so often?
E) I'm being nice here and warning you again that you'd best be registering that SNN name is you want to keep it. That NJ guy is ramping up.
Holy Cross was/is a Catholic hospital
Why did mention that Dyer is Catholic get deleted?
Why did the listing of nearby hospitals that have maternity wards get deleted?
No insult in the list so why was it deleted?
Georgetown is a Catholic hospital, too.
Yup, morning break time. How's that new job going?
Remember that time he commented the exact same thing within one minute on two different articles, one as himself and the other as a shill? Good times.
OMG! The Rockville blog. Did you read his interaction with someone about the Rockville High School incident? Brutal.
do most or any other news websites delete comments that the author doesn't like about them?
And just as quickly Elm and Woodmont disappear. Funny how they only posted on threads that had deletions.
They'll probably be back at lunchtime. Or afternoon break time. Or after the 5PM whistle blows.
Lunchtime and there go the comments. *poof* they're gone
Wow..
So many comments from residents here about Leland Street closing and it seems 99% are against it. Reminds me of the Westbard Plan debacle, except that had even less support (at least a handful of Leland folks approved this). Will the Council ever learn? This is why we have term limits, folks.
"So many comments from residents here about Leland Street closing and it seems 99% are against it."
Really? I count only 8 comments out of 72 that express opposition to to the closure of Leland Street. That is 11%, not 99%.
This is really snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Dyer could have politely noted that the road was reopened, without vitriol, and credited the work done by his loyal readers. Instead, I heard about the reopening from an old woman in my building and read about it here a day later.
8:31pm I'm sure your neighbor is glad you refer to her as the "old woman".
You can't even attack Dyer without insulting additional folks
Read Dyer daily and follow him on social to keep informed.
Old sport?
Dyer sure is protective of "Elm". He deletes every comment directed at him.
Must be mom.
How is calling someone an old woman insulting her? It's only a description like tall, short, young, old, red-head, gray haired, glasses, short hair, long hair.
Elm, you're rather hyper-sensitive. I guess Robert gets it from you. I promise not to call you an old woman.
It's only in ways you're unhappy with yourself that you are bothered by similar trivialities.
Why is "Elm" ordering everyone to follow Great Leader? You never see comments like that at Betty Beat.
Post a Comment