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Wednesday, August 7, 2013
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Page A-10
Purple Line dreams
We’ve all heard the stories of how American communities once had safe, cheap, reliable public transportation, often operated by private companies. As the suburbs grew — the story goes — gasoline and tire companies banded together to put the trolleys out of business in favor of the automobile, transforming the countryside into a car culture. Maybe when we’re stuck in a jammed East-West Highway or a clogged Wisconsin Avenue, we think wistfully to that time gone by. Gov. Martin O’Malley might have been thinking about that era Monday as he called for a public-private partnership to build and operate the Purple Line, the 16-mile east-west light rail line planned to connect Bethesda with New Carrollton. The line is expected to cost something on the order of $2.2 billion, and let’s face it, those kinds of samoleons can’t be collected from the pockets of Maryland taxpayers no matter how high the state’s gas tax rises. On Monday, O’Malley (D) ponied up $400 million toward the project. The rest, he said, would come from federal grants, local contributions, more from the state — and private investment. State officials say they envision private companies bidding to operate the trains at a price low enough to win the contract but a high enough to turn a profit. The contract will include a set of performance standards; don’t meet the standards and the company isn’t paid. (Fares would be set by the Maryland Transit Administration.) The system motivates the company to operate as efficiently as possible. Greater efficiencies mean the company is more profitable. But a question about fares looms large, as public transit is heavily subsidized. Future Purple Line riders — many of whom will be Montgomery County residents — have a right to cock an eyebrow at the set-up. The Maryland government does not have a great track record at regulating monopolies. For the time being, riders can give the state the benefit of the doubt and dream about an efficient public transit system that connects the jobs of Bethesda with the transit hub in New Carrollton. Whether the dream becomes a reality will need time.
No room? Ditch the van
Karen Acton, President/Publisher
Schools need to change the way staff is paid
Montgomery County Public Schools every year touts that they have efforts to close the gap between the well-performing schools, mostly wealthy, and the other areas of the county. Every year the gap persists and no matter how they talk, the gap will never be narrowed given the current ways staff are allocated and allowed to transfer. Several years ago, I did a study of spending per student from “Schools at a Glance,” a consistent message was clear. When salaries of staff were included in the review, you could predict by spending per student which school was in the red zone versus green zone, an accuracy point of over 90 percent.
What was MCPS’ response? They simply pulled salaries from the report so the public could not see what was really happening. So what does that tell us? We need to initiate a salary cap to assure that the areas with lower performance have a fair share at seasoned staff. We need seasoned staff in the more challenging schools and should provide financial incentive for those seasoned staff that choose to be in those schools. Only when we put more experience in the lower-performing schools will the gap be narrowed. We have great staff, they just
Pull the plug on Blair Lee
A July 22 tour by Montgomery County’s Planning Board of the Ten Mile Creek Watershed serves as a reminder about open government. The board, along with planning staff and the board’s attorney, rode together in a van for its tour. There was no room in the van for anyone else who wanted to hear the discussion, including a Gazette reporter, let alone an interested resident. A reporter was told she could follow in her own car and was free to talk to board members and planners at stops along the way or to call them later. That’s not the best way to exemplify “open.” Maryland’s Open Meetings Act prohibits public bodies from holding meetings in private, unless they are discussing topics that fit certain exemptions, such as the performance of a specific employee or a pending lawsuit. Carol Rubin, an attorney who advises the board, said board members understood that limitation and did not discuss public business as they traveled. It’s good to hear the board was trying, but the public shouldn’t have to take public officials at their word on matters like that. There didn’t seem to be any exclusionary intent behind this van tour. More likely, the vanpool was a matter of convenience — why takes several vehicles to the site when you can take one. This field trip also doesn’t seem to violate the letter of the Open Meetings Act, which says it is “essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that, except in special and appropriate circumstances: (1) public business be peformed in an open and public manner; and (2) citizens be allowed to observe.” Having a majority of a public body in one place doesn’t necessarily constitute a meeting. Still, government bodies should look beyond the minimal requirements of the law and consider the other extreme: What is the most they can do to be open and transparent? If a public body is going to ride together, let anyone who’s interested come along. If that doesn’t work, move to plan B — think creatively about how to remain open. Maybe take pictures and video of public places and play them in a meeting room as part of a group discussion. Any board member who wants to see more can do so on his or her own — in any way that doesn’t involve having a board majority gathered together in a confined place. The less the public hears government officials say “trust us” after talking privately, the better.
The Gazette
LETTERS TOT HE EDITOR
Isn’t it time The Gazette pulled the plug on Blair Lee and his puerile, reactionary, Johnny-One-Note drivel? His column of July 31 ends thusly: “Last Friday, the half-black president was all black, engaging in a ‘race conversation’ exclusively with blacks about a white, racist America. Then, a few days later, he was off on another ‘soak the rich’ speaking tour ...”
As a 50-year journalism veteran I can assure you his column never would have gotten past me into the paper. Successful op-ed pieces are instructive, informative, well-conceived, well-written fair commentary. Lee’s screeds fail miserably on all these levels. Precious trees are cut down for this? Really?
Robert Monsheimer, Silver Spring The writer is the education chair of the Montgomery County Taxpayers League.
End the Purple Line in Silver Spring
ago I could not get any sort of satisfaction from Comcast. I originally signed up for a special $29.99 per month rate but they kept billing me $60. Even after reminding them of my special, I kept getting bills for $60 and if I didn’t pay I would get several letters insisting I pay $60. One telephone call to an investigator and I got a call from a supervisor from Comcast and everything was straightened out. I also got an apology from Comcast!
While walking on the Crescent Trail with my labrador, Tim, I meet many other walkers, joggers, runners, dogs and bicyclists. The nature trail is enjoyed by all. But the possible loss of this natural forested path by five years of Purple Line construction and side-by-side light rail operation is of concern. Trail enthusiasts are trying to prevent the loss of this valuable community resource by shortening the proposed Purple Line from 16 to 14 stations, ending in Silver Spring’s Transit Center. The transit center brings together the Metro Red Line, buses and trains, a logical terminal while continuation to Bethesda does not offer the same. The 14-station Purple Line has substantial cost savings for the state, U.S. government and Montgomery County. Besides, the two-station continuation fails to address increasing traffic congestion caused by the National Institutes of Health and the Navy Medical Center, Walter Reed complex. The Navy is expanding and adding 900 additional parking spaces to the already large number on-site. Wisconsin Avenue, Rockville Pike and Old Georgetown Road are a mass of slow moving cars in mornings and afternoons.
Karoline Dunne, Silver Spring
Robert Posner, Bethesda
Ronald E. Cohen, Potomac
Office can resolve disputes I’ve just read Carol Lundquist’s letter regarding her problems with Comcast [“Rebooting Comcast,” July 31.] I don’t think she knows that Montgomery County has an Office of Cable and Communication Services. They will “run interference” with a resident with Comcast, Verizon or any other cable or communication services. [The Montgomery County Office of Cable and Communication Services has an office at 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville. It can be reached at 311 or 240-773-8111.] For a few months several years
aren’t all where they need to be to improve the performance across the county. So a request to Superintendent Joshua Starr, Larry Bowers, and the Board of Education: It is time to end the way we staff our schools — place energetic seasoned staff to our low-performing schools if you want to close the performance gap. The model being used today is old and is a major reason the gap does not improve seriously.
Ask Congress to protect life-sustaining care As a director of clinical services for dialysis patients in the Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia region, I oversee care to over 5,000 patients weekly. These patients require four-hour dialysis sessions three times a week to rid their bodies of deadly toxins and to enable them to live full and active lives. I am writing because I am disturbed and angered over a recent proposal by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that would cut Medicare reimbursement for dialysis care by close to 12 per-
cent. Considering that Medicare reimbursement fails to cover the cost of dialysis currently, further cuts will be devastating to the hundreds of thousands of patients on dialysis who depend on Medicare — and the caregivers who treat them. The effects of these proposed cuts to dialysis care may force reductions in staffing levels, reduced access to additional services such as social workers, nurses or dietitians and, potentially, dramatically reduced access to dialysis care in the Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia regions
altogether. Clinics may be forced to close or consolidate, requiring patients to travel greater distances for their life-sustaining care. Worse, this may force us to return to a time in our history where community boards were forced to decide who is worthy of receiving this life-sustaining treatment. Many dialysis patients are active, contributing members of the community and renal failure knows no boundary — it affects all age groups, ethnicities and communities. It’s important for lawmakers
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to understand that without ready access to dialysis care and ancillary services, patients with kidney failure will die. I hope your readers will contact our members of Congress and ask them to ensure that CMS maintains appropriate funding to continue providing life-saving care for our vulnerable residents. I strongly encourage each community member to speak up to these cuts. There are better ways to reduce cost as through accountable care organizations and not compromise the care currently being provided.
Deidre Fisher, Olney
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