Having lived in Rockville over 20 years, the behavior displayed on Monday night at city hall was the most depressing I have ever witnessed. To think that the controversy and the yard signs affected one Bealls resident so severly that he screamed “why do you hate us” was superceeded by the tone and language of conversations between residents on opposite sides of the issue. “Civil” was not a word that applied to any of the behaviors. I have always noticed the presence of Chief Treschuck at these meetings and I’m grateful he handled each confrontation in his graceful way.

When I saw the face of a young child, present with her parents, terrified by the “conversation” between two men in the lobby, I realized how much damage is being done in the city and to the city. Yes I want Beall II but even more I want to live with civilized humans as neighbors, not with “gangs”.

The rest of us never dreamed of having our own houses when we were out-of-school whether high school or college even if we had children., which is OK because we believed in working hard towards a goal. We rented rooms, had roomates in efficieny apartments and saved our money if we dreamed of a better circumstance. We went to school part-time and financed our own college tuitions, got better paying jobs when possible and often worked 2 jobs to make ends meet. This used to be the American way.

We middle-class (or lower middle-class by Rockville standards) are the true neigbors to the BGII…the ones who live on N. Adams, Van Buren, and within a block or two. We cannot afford the liberal agendas of the wealthier Rockville residents because we are struggling to pay our own mortgages and our own bills, particularly the tax bills.

Roald Schrack

While I was speaking, someone in the lobby yelled “Why do you hate us?” and if that was directed at me, I want to say that I don’t hate anyone; I just wanted all voices in the community to be heard, mine included.

I’m glad to see that so many people care deeply about this and have been willing to invest time and effort to come up with a solution that would leave as many people as possible satisfied. I’m extremely disappointed to see the project killed, if that is what happened last night, over what appears to be a technicality rather than a reasoned process that came to its logical conclusion.

I was also disappointed to hear that no action could be taken because it would not be sensitive to the voice of the community, with the implication that those of us who spoke in favor of the project (and have blogged about it, and read every scrap of information we can find about it in an effort to understand the arguments, and tried to stay informed despite the fact that we don’t live in West End and can’t be part of the negotiations) are somehow completely irrelevant.

Neither of those things sent a message to citizens in Rockville that our voice matters much.

In particular, comments that attach people’s names to epithets, or that question the motives of private individuals, are unwelcome. I will delete comments that go too far.

Some comments have been quite close to the line. Yes emotions are running high. Yes you can restrain your language and still make your point.

Thank you.

–Brad

I thought Rockville was seen as an extremely liberal town, it now looks more like Utah than Maryland. Congratulations.

I would like to express my sincere disappointment with the action (or lack) that you took last night on a request for support of Beall’s Grant II after a five-hour grueling meeting. Last night 50 people spoke. Half were for and half were against. Please check the record for this.

Mr. Goldman’s two-part request was obviously and plainly stated to be an attempt to apply for funding while continuing to negotiation with WECA. Yet some of you choose to see this as a sneaky and underhanded move, designed to lock out the citizens from the process.

Nothing could be further from the truth. He was attempting a compromise! He was giving you and the citizens exactly what you both asked for: a furtherance of the goal of affordable housing while pursing Beall’s Grant II in specific.

The fact that this delay will cost a non-profit $1 million, cause a delay of close to a year and push the request into fiscal 2009 with a completely unpredictable economic situation did not matter to you.

You are continuing to allow this building to be held hostage by citizens who you must know by now want to “stop” this building and who have no incentive to settle. I also hope you realize how many falsehoods this group said last night. The reason there were not more WECA meetings is because citizens hijacked the meeting process.

Some of you scoffed at the developer’s concerns and seemed more interested in taking a “no’ vote because you felt slighted by members of the Council. Some of you clearly do not represent anyone but yourselves! A bruised ego is no reason to deny needed housing.

You could have brought order to this process. You could have imposed a structure and a deadline on it.

You did neither. I expect the opposition to grow stronger and more hardened as they continue their campaign of hate and divisiveness.

For shame.

Theresa Defino
400 Mannakee Street