STREET SWEEPING TO AFFECT BETHESDA STREET PARKING STARTING THURSDAY, APRIL 11 (PHOTO)

Be alert for signs prohibiting on-street parking around downtown Bethesda later this week.

Starting Thursday, Montgomery County will be conducting Spring street sweeping operations in Bethesda. As you can see from this sign along Woodmont Avenue, you may not be able to park on certain streets during that period.

Signs are popping up now, so plan ahead if you utilize downtown street parking.

You may have seen Bethesda Urban Partnership's street sweeper before. It makes regular rounds to keep downtown Bethesda clean. But the county sweeper is doing a more-thorough cleaning. Hence, the parking restrictions.

NO WAY TO SPIN BETHESDA POST OFFICE DEBACLE

ABC7 has finally discovered - with a little help from panicked Montgomery County politicians - that the new Bethesda post office at 6900 Wisconsin Avenue has no parking... ...oh, just 4 months after I first wrote about it here on this blog.

Unfortunately, the channel was being used by the county officials who are actually to blame for the whole fiasco.

After waiting for over 2 months, the county establishment is now bringing all of its insider power to bear on anyone and everyone who could potentially provide parking for postal customers.  It's being made abundantly clear to those entities that it is in their best interest to comply.  Now.

Publicly, however, the media appears willing to present a different narrative:  that all of this was a complete surprise, and that Chris Van Hollen (and possibly other yet-to-speak-publicly officials) is going to come to the heroic rescue of the citizens of Bethesda.

Ha.

Enough with the baloney.

There's no way you can put a positive spin on an overpaid Congressman and county council not being involved in the process of closing every post office in town, and selecting a new site.  That is the most basic, bread-and-butter constituent service issue a politician could ever confront.  And they just weren't engaged.  What were they doing instead?

Now Channel 7 is saying, "sources tell ABC7" that a solution will be announced next week.  Well, of course it is.  But it will literally be too little, and too late.

Hence the spin machines are working overtime.

But there are only heroes in white hats in the imaginations of the politicians of Montgomery County.  We need a new post office, with drive-up drop boxes, ample parking and in walking distance of downtown residents.  Period.  And, we need a full investigation - media and otherwise - of what Van Hollen and the council knew about the post office decision process, and when they knew it.

Now that's a story for ABC7!

VAN HOLLEN VS. USPS RE: BETHESDA POST OFFICE IS A FARCE FOR THE AGES

Congressman Chris Van Hollen released an "I really, really mean it this time" letter yesterday, grandstanding over the 6900 Wisconsin Avenue Bethesda Post Office fiasco.

Van Hollen certainly knows how to provide a good chuckle to start the day.

By day's end, the USPS had once again asserted its primacy over our stumbling congressman, who was left wildly but ineffectually swinging at the Postal Service, which held him off at arms length.

Van Hollen is no dummy - keep in mind, he actually beat a Kennedy in Montgomery County (in Sargent Shriver's backyard, no less!) to get his seat.

But his two letters - written long after the new Post Office had already opened, and even longer after I had exposed the folly of the new location this past Spring - are an entirely farcical exercise.

Beyond the fact that USPS continues to ignore him, the larger question remains unasked by local media:

Did Van Hollen and the Montgomery County Council

a) Pay no attention to a matter as significant as the closure of two Post Offices in an area with many senior citizens, and have no familiarity with the town of Bethesda they represent, to the extent that they had no idea there was no parking at the selected site?

OR

b) participate in the relocation process, and give their approval to the move, despite the reality that there was no parking?

Either answer is embarrassing for these elected officials.

The county and national Democratic Party is letting Van Hollen twist in the wind for a while on this, partly as punishment for his failure to stop the Tea Party victories of 2010.

Pretty soon they'll step in to save him, though, and it won't be of much help to Bethesda.

That establishment is now floating the idea of reopening the historic Post Office near the Bethesda Metro station.  That would take care of the "walkability" issue for many downtown residents.

However, the 7400 Wisconsin Avenue site would do absolutely nothing to solve the problems for those who need to drive, are disabled, or are senior citizens who cannot walk safely and require vehicle access.  It is the loss of the former Arlington Road facility, with its ample parking and drive-up mailboxes, that is most devastating to the Bethesda community.

The fact is, this was a rush job allowed by local politicians to open the two sites for development as quickly as possible.  USPS has acknowledged it acted under great pressure.

Van Hollen is right; we need a new downtown Post Office.  The problem is, I wrote about that need last Spring, it was even linked to by Bethesda Patch, and yet Van Hollen had not a word to say about it at that time.

Then it opened, his constituents went nuts when they found out there was no parking, and all of a sudden Van Hollen is blustering and grandstanding.

Instead of answers to tough questions, we the taxpayers are being treated to a farcical fiasco.

CHRIS VAN HOLLEN ON NEW BETHESDA POST OFFICE: "WHAT ROBERT DYER SAID."

Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D - 8th District) made his first public statement on the Bethesda Post Office fiasco yesterday, and it was remarkably similar to what I said three months ago.

He said we need a different location.

Duh!

It's clear that Mr. Van Hollen and the Montgomery County Council either lack familiarity with downtown Bethesda, or were not engaged in the process of selecting a new post office site for their most affluent constituents.  Many of whom are senior citizens.

Both cases are likely true, especially given the number of carpetbaggers on the council.

What is a bigger issue for a politician than the location of a post office?  This would be one of those hot button situations like the placement of a school or substation.

These are the kind of bread and butter issues that, when handled with great attention, diplomacy and a small amount of common sense, earn respect for politicians like Howard Denis or Barbara Mikulski even among their partisan opponents.  And - judging by the Denis/Mikulski records - keep them in office.

Managing a post office move is just the sort of close-to-home matter we elect politicians to deal with.  To represent our interests.  And to prevent from becoming a fiasco, which this has.

At least Van Hollen is speaking out now.  Not a single member of the county council has spoken about the post office issue as of this morning.

Where have these politicians been?  What have they been doing?

But despite Van Hollen's political power and large staff, all he can say is... what Robert Dyer said.

Three months ago.

The fact is, there simply is no space for parking at this site.  Any agreement now reached under political pressure will not provide adequate spaces for the customer base of an entire town.

We should be glad one politician has belatedly gotten religion on the post office issue.

"We need a new post office."

We need new leadership.

FIASCO! NEW BETHESDA POST OFFICE HAS NO PARKING FOR POSTAL CUSTOMERS!!!

WARNING:

POSTAL CUSTOMERS

COULD BE TOWED AWAY!

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive!!!

Ashton Kutcher is apparently now Postmaster General, folks.

Remember my expose months back about the nutty location choice of 6900 Wisconsin Avenue for Bethesda's new Post Office?

And how I pointed out the small lot, without enough spaces for USPS customers?

It just got worse.

Turns out, you can't even park in that lot!  Despite USPS claims to the media that "parking would be available," there is currently zero parking available for post office customers.

Bethesda Chevy Chase Services Center Director Ken Hartman is alerting Bethesda residents to the fact that they may find their cars towed away, if they park in the building's adjacent lot.  He urges you to park at the Staples/CVS garage, and walk over.  Definitely good advice.

This revelation has turned a terrible location choice into a complete fiasco.

A post office.  With no parking.

Is this going to be in the late night monologues, or what?

This is an absolute disgrace.  A wealthy city like Bethesda has a completely inaccessible Post Office.  Why have a post office at all, at this rate?

The new site should have been centrally located, in a walkable area with parking nearby.

Apparently, the USPS did not even do due diligence in securing parking for its customers.

And local politicians didn't even review the basic details, or notice what a crazy location it was.

Now, suddenly, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D) "has learned of this situation and is working with the US Postal Service to come up with a solution."

What were these guys doing when the decisions were being made?

Are they going to pay the towing charges for innocent customers?

All this because elected officials put the developers first, instead of their constituents.

Embarrassing.