Leggett blows off Bethesda black cemetery advocates at NAACP meeting

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett pointedly ignored advocates for the historic Moses African Cemetery on the Westwood Tower property in Bethesda at an NAACP meeting last night in Rockville. About seven community members holding signs referring to the cemetery waited to ask Leggett to take action to protect it, during a Q&A session following Leggett's remarks to a packed room. When it was time to take questions, Leggett's finger pointed to just about any other place in the room than toward those advocating for the cemetery.

Leggett certainly recognized most of the cemetery advocates, as some have sat in on negotiations between Macedonia Baptist Church and Leggett's office earlier this year. And they were holding signs referring to the cemetery. The County Executive took many questions on other topics, then abruptly departed the room.

Among those waiting to ask Leggett about the cemetery was Harvey Matthews, who was a resident of the lost black community along River Road until 1959, when his family was swindled out of their land - which now is home to a Whole Foods Market. The episode was indeed odd - advocates for a black cemetery, who have the stated support of the local NAACP chapter in their quest to save the graveyard from a plan to build a parking garage atop the graves, being pointedly snubbed by Leggett, the first African-American to serve as a County Councilmember and Executive in Montgomery County.

Leggett nominates Howard Denis for WSSC appointment

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett has nominated a safe and solid choice for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, former Maryland state senator and County Councilmember Howard Denis. Denis lost his District 1 Council seat to Roger Berliner in 2006.

Since then, the Republican has worked on Capitol Hill, and is currently Senior Counsel to the United States House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He is also an alternate member on the National Capital Planning Commission.

A liberal Republican, Denis was swept out in an election year dominated by anger over the Iraq war, and the presidency of George W. Bush. He has been a longtime resident of Friendship Heights.

Denis will be interviewed by the County Council on Tuesday, January 12, at 9:45 AM.

To get a sense of just how long some of the councilmembers have been in office, several interviewing him from the dais tomorrow served alongside him. Former Maryland state delegate Robin Ficker is gathering signatures for a ballot initiative to limit County Councilmembers to three terms. If the petition effort is successful, and voters approve the measure, four sitting members of the Council would be forced to step down in 2018.

Local restaurateur Roberto Pietrobono (Olazzo, Gringos & Mariachis) says he is supporting the term limit initiative, due to the Council's stonewalling defense of the County Government's liquor monopoly.

Get free stuff as Ride On bus celebrates 40 years serving Montgomery County

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett will celebrate 40 years of Ride On bus service this coming Monday, May 11, at the Executive Office Building in Rockville at 1:00 PM. Leggett will be joined by U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D), Delegate Charles Barkley (D), and County Councilmembers Sidney Katz (D-District 3) and Hans Riemer (D-At-Large).

While the gathering of Democratic officeholders will mark the anniversary, many people are not aware that the Ride On system was actually launched by a Republican - Montgomery County's first elected County Executive, James Gleason.

If you can't make that ceremony, you can celebrate with some free giveaways at the Bethesda Metro station next Tuesday, May 12. From 4:30-6:30 PM Tuesday, Ride On employees will be at the Metro station to thank you with free water bottles, t-shirts, reflectors, fans and transit bags.

Next Friday, May 15, at 7:00 AM, there will be a public demonstration of a new Ride On bus feature - a "turn warning" system that can alert pedestrians and cyclists - in the parking lot at Dawson's Market in Rockville Town Square (facing N. Washington Street). County representatives will show how to load a bike onto a Ride On bus, and cyclists will ride free all day. May 15 is Bike to Work Day.

Hopefully, all of the celebration for what is a fine transit service will inspire county elected officials to address Ride On's aging fleet, which includes buses that burst into flames (most recently in Takoma Park) and too-limited schedules on some routes (Ride On 23 in Bethesda, for example).

Perhaps too much attention has been given to their shiny new object, the $5 billion Bus Rapid Transit boondoggle, and too little to the bus service actually in operation.