Civic associations in Springfield, Wood Acres, Fort Sumner, and Sumner have already made $5000 contributions to the lawsuit legal fund, and Brookdale made a donation to a separate fund supporting Macedonia Baptist Church's effort to preserve an African-American cemetery the County Housing Opportunities Commission wants to build a parking garage on.
Some engaged in the lengthy Westbard land-use battle are waiting to see if the Kenwood neighborhood will make a similar contribution, as they are one of the communities that will be most-impacted by any new development at Westbard.
In related news, a new petition has been launched to protest the cemetery parking garage plan, this one targeting County Council President and County Executive candidate Roger Berliner (D - District 1).
"The Westmoreland Citizens Association has doubled its support for the legal fund supporting Bethesda residents' lawsuit against Montgomery County over the illegal approval of the Westbard sector plan, by making a second contribution. Their latest donation is $5200."
ReplyDeleteWow, that second contribution alone is ten times Bain Capital's contribution to Hans Riemer's campaign.
Why does this blog continually present misleading information? Isn't it true that the only thing we know for sure is that there was a cemetery on the site at one time? And that further investigation is required to determine whether there are remains under the current parking lot? (The fact that the site is currently developed is also never mentioned here.)
ReplyDeleteThis is dangerously close to #FakeNews.
5:18: We know that there was a cemetery, and that there is no evidence whatsoever that the graves were ever relocated. You can't win in court by saying you *believe* the bodies were moved. You don't have a shred of evidence to support that fake belief.
ReplyDelete5:18AM - Agreed.
ReplyDeleteStep one:
Find out if there are actually, prove-ably, human remains at the site.
Step two:
Everything else.
What if there isn't? What then? All this money and time spent for nothing.
What if there is? All this money and time wasted that could have been used to find out early on, and this could have been resolved by now.
There is no direct evidence that there is, either.
ReplyDeleteCircumstantial and hearsay evidence, sure there is that.
You can't go to court saying you "believe" the bodies are there. And have them determine that for a fact. The court will require direct proof.
"You don't have a shred of evidence to support that fake belief."
ReplyDeleteJust like you don't have the evidence to say that the graves are there now. The burden of proof falls on the plaintiffs not the developer, county council, planning board, HOC, or whoever else they're suing.
6:31am BuzzFeed, HuffPost, Vox, etc would enjoy your assertion that you must have a "print medium" to be a journalist or news outlet.
ReplyDeleteThe rapidly shrinking circulations and tiny magazine racks in local stores attest to the fact people don't read print.
There is no journalist certification or super secret press badge.
Any questions?
Let's be clear: The county council, planning board and their appendages don't care about this because these folks are black. There's more than a strong whiff of institutional racism at play.
ReplyDeleteRemember, these folks were swindled out of their land decades ago and then had their graves desecrated. The Original Sin of Westbard.
I do 6:38 AM, what are you responding to? I am guessing someone called Dyer out on not being a journalist, which is debatable, but I am curious what they said.
ReplyDeleteNo need to blame this county council for the sins of the past.
ReplyDeleteIt's silly and does no good. Were things done wrong in the past? Probably yes.
What matters, now is if the land contains graves or not.
The color of any remains, if there, doesn't matter. Shouldn't matter.
This is an "are there graves in the land" issue.
It's my understanding that the Church would very much like to conduct an independent archaeological investigation to determine the presence (or absence) of remains - but they are being stymied by HOC. HOC leases Westwood Towers and is the only entity which may give permission to allow the investigation. That's why cemetery advocates keep going back to HOC - to seek the permission that they need in order to conduct a cemetery delineation.
ReplyDeleteAnd now about this article - thank you for the latest report on the generosity of the Westmoreland Citizens Association. Is there a working theory as to why Kenwood Citizens Association does not contribute to the cause? It seems really strange that Kenwood sits on its hands and doesn't get involved, especially given the effect that this over-sized project will have on their neighborhood. Kenwood looks naive and "asleep at the wheel" compared to the other surrounding associations.
9:32AM - Then that is what the argument should be: who is doing the survey and when. period.
ReplyDeleteAnything else is noise.
So I keep asking this question and I keep not getting answered. These neighborhoods are joining up with the church not because they care about the graves, but only because they are against development of the Westbard area. This seems to be my understanding on the situation from Robert's reports and the comment section here.
ReplyDelete@12:08 PM. Yes, this is pretty much what I have gathered as well. The neighborhoods agree to support the church, but only because they are at odds with the developers as well and are trying to make the developers lives a living hell.
ReplyDelete@12:08 - What is your question? It's not clear from your comment -- is it whether the neighborhoods support the Church as a moral matter versus as an anti-developer matter? Why does it need to be one or the other? Perhaps it's a bit of both.
ReplyDeleteI remember that local survey results indicate that 84% of the residents do not want a parking garage on the cemetery, or in the Willett stream buffer. That sounds like a reasonable and well-supported position for the residents. Residents would like an opportunity to memorialize the historic African-American community that once existed in Westbard and also an opportunity to save the Willett naturalization effort. That is not really "anti-development" - it's anti-over-development, especially of special areas (cemetery/stream buffer).
The developer and the county brought all the Westbard problems on themselves; residents are merely reacting to bad planning decisions. I'm glad that there are MoCo residents who are willing to challenge the renegade council and planners.
I believe what 12:08 is asking is whether the neighborhoods are jumping on whatever bandwagon they can hitch themselves to, whether they believe in that bandwagon or not, if they think it could promote their own cause.
ReplyDeleteThe Magazine was at the soft opening of George’s Chophouse. Dyer - no invite. How’s that for a metaphorical bodyslam, Bobby. Guess your nastiness is catching up with you, old sport. Looking forward to the article in Bethesda Magazine soon.
ReplyDelete