Making the King Farm Village Center Thrive
The October edition of the King Farm Chronicle, the community’s monthly newspaper which is mailed to over 3,500 homes within King Farm, will feature the upcoming Rockville City election. They asked the candidates to provide answers to four questions and here’s the third one:
3. What would you do to help the King Farm Village Center thrive? Would you allow more signage on nearby streets and roads?
We’d have to first agree on what we mean by “thrive” (e.g., more sales per person? per square foot? more shops? more traffic? more people?) so let me assume you mean that Continue reading →
Candidate Forums?
If you want to hear the candidates discuss various issues and meet them in person, various neighborhood and community groups are sponsoring forums throughout the city. These forums are public and everyone is welcome to attend. Some people have called these “debates” but with a baker’s dozen running for office, I regret they are going to be more like brief statements with no discussion (I’m not even sure how they’re going to fit everyone on stage).
At this moment (October 4 at 8 p.m.), here’s what I am aware of (it does keep changing and I’ll try to update this post through the comments, but there are no guarantees or warranties):
- Tuesday, October 7 at 7 pm: Legacy at Lincoln Park Homeowners Association at the Lincoln Park Community Center.
- Thursday, October 8 at 7 pm: West End at the Rockville Senior Center (televised, not confirmed)
- Tuesday, October 13 at 7 pm: Rockville Chamber of Commerce at the Legacy Hotel and Conference Center (televised, not confirmed). I will be unable to attend due to work-related scheduling conflicts.
- Tuesday, October 20 at 7 pm: Twinbrook Citizens Association at the Twinbrook Recreation Center (televised, not confirmed).
- Wednesday, October 21 from 7:30-10 pm: College Gardens Civic Association, Plymouth Woods Homeowners Association, and Woodley Gardens Civic Association at the College Gardens Elementary School (1700 Yale Place)
- Thursday, October 22 at 7 pm: King Farm Candidates Forum at the Saddle Ridge Community Center (300 Saddle Ridge Circle).
- Saturday, October 24 from 9:30-11:30 am: Rockville Central at the Thomas Farm Community Center.
- Thursday, October 29 from 1-3 pm: Rockville Seniors at the Senior Center.
Corridor Cities Transitway’s impact on King Farm
The October edition of the King Farm Chronicle, the community’s monthly newspaper which is mailed to over 3,500 homes within King Farm, will feature the upcoming Rockville City election. They asked the candidates to provide answers to four questions, limiting our response to 250 words or less, by 5:00 pm on Friday, October 2, 2009.
Now that the deadline has passed, I thought others may be interested in my opinions (I’m happy to give my opinion whenever someone asks) but I’ll post each separately in case anyone wants to respond (they must be somewhat controversial, otherwise why ask me?).
Here’s the second one:
2. What mode of transportation do you favor for the Corridor Cities Transitway and why? Do you favor a grade separation for the CCT at MD 355 and King Farm Boulevard? How will you make certain King Farm residents have input into the CCT decisions on stations, traffic, and design?
To serve the largest number of people and to be attractive to people working in the businesses served by the CCT, I strongly recommend Continue reading →
Twinbrook Recreation Center Celebrates a Decade
Although the Twinbrook neighborhood is more than fifty years old, it was only ten years ago that the City of Rockville built a community recreation center here. Today we celebrated this achievement, which brought out lots of people, young and old, on this beautiful day with a welcome from Mayor Susan Hoffman and tables filled with information about various city programs, including the PTA, Human Rights Commission, and the Twinbrook Citizens Association, and prizes provided by the City and Noodles and Co.
Pleasant Drive in King Farm: connect?
The October edition of the King Farm Chronicle, the community’s monthly newspaper which is mailed to over 3,500 homes within King Farm, will feature the upcoming Rockville City election. They asked the candidates to provide answers to four questions, limiting our response to 250 words or less, by 5:00 pm on Friday, October 2, 2009.
Now that the deadline has passed, I thought others may be interested in my opinions (I’m happy to give my opinion whenever someone asks) but I’ll post each separately in case anyone wants to respond (they must be somewhat controversial, otherwise why ask me?).
Here’s the first one:
1. Do you agree with the Pleasant Drive expansion, allowing a direct route from 370 and Shady Grove Road through the Mattie Stepanek Park and into King Farm?
If you look at the City of Rockville map, Pleasant Drive appears to be a convenient way to zoom right into King Farm. But when you stand on the street, you can imagine it won’t be so pleasant Continue reading →
Gazette interview ranges wide
The Gazette, the weekly local newspaper for Rockville (and other communities in Maryland), interviewed me this morning in order to determine who they would endorse for the upcoming Mayor and Council election. I met with two editors (no reporters) in a conference room at the Gazette’s offices off Shady Grove Road for over an hour. Like good journalists, they knew the issues, asked good questions, and listened. Our conversation covered a wide range of topics, including Red Gate golf course, Town Center parking, the Rockville Pike, the development of the Shady Grove area, service on Metro, relationship between Council and city staff, Beall’s Grant II, the city budget, Victory Housing, community engagement, Town Square II, cultural diversity, affordable housing, and the relationship between the city and state and county governments. To help voters decide, they’ll be assembling a special section on their Web site that will include candidate profiles, related news stories, video statements, and more. The Gazette will announce their endorsements in late October, just before the election. Stay tuned!
Rockville safe from politicians this weekend
With the rain and the Redskins game (or whatever you call that fiasco), the candidates had little opportunity to knock on doors to meet voters. I was only able to find a couple hours to visit Woodley Gardens, a very charming 1960s neighborhood in the northwest corner of the city. Surrounded by a forest preserve and set on gently curving roads with mature trees, it’s hard to believe that downtown is just a mile or so away. The residents I met were gracious and Aster Boulevard was peppered with families of various ages and political leanings. And given my interests, I enjoyed the architectural variety of the houses, including a small row of contemporary ones on Nelson Avenue. How did those get there?
While it was raining and the Redskins were losing, I suspect all the candidates were at home as I was, Continue reading →
Candidate Orientation Provides Overview and Grim News
On Friday, September 16, the City of Rockville hosted an orientation for council candidates at Glenview Mansion to provide a general overview of city government and its operations. Every candidate except the incumbents attended, and we received short presentations for every department head and the City Manager, City Attorney, and City Clerk that outlined the current status, anticipated challenges, and major projects.
The City Manager opened the orientation by recognizing the importance of elected citizens because we “can’t have a city government without a council” and noted that 2010 will be auspicious Continue reading →
Gazette profiles Max as candidate
In a series of profiles to introduce the candidates for Rockville City Council, the Gazette, a local weekly newspaper, featured Max in the September 16 issue. Staff writer Nathan Carrick opened his story with,
Anyone who knows Max van Balgooy knows he has a passion for preserving the past. But he said it is his passion for shaping a better future that inspired him to run for Rockville City Council.
The 47-year-old Twinbrook resident, who serves as president of Continue reading →
MaxForRockville a Fast Growing Blog in WP
Wow! WordPress has listed this blog as one of the fastest growing blogs for June 9, 2009 (that’s a result of the interest in the Chestnut Lodge Fire) out of the more than 2 million blogs that they host.
If you’re not familiar with WordPress, it’s a free (yes, free) blogging/Web site service. It’s easy to use and it’s free (did I mention it was free?), so there’s no excuse why an organization or person can’t have an attractive and informative presence on the Internet.
