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Like it or not, it looks like the Fillmore deal has the votes to go through as the Montgomery County Council begins to examine the plan today, according to the Washington Post story, “Unrivaled Funding Deal Goes to Council.” I’m starting to feel the same way about this that I feel about the $700 billion federal bailout of the financial services industry: It sucks, and it might be necessary to get what we want (or need), but here we are.

We could use more public space (that we don’t have to pay to enter) than what we would get out of the deal, we’ll have to wait a while before we see additional surrounding development, Live Nation should be paying more rent (or eating the cost overruns), and then Live Nation gets the option to sell naming rights? What does this mean? That it’ll be the Bank of America Fillmore? The Lockheed Martin Music Hall? Will it stay a Fillmore for all time? I’m vexed at the prospects.

Silver Spring Mess-tro
Heading out yesterday afternoon to the (heartbreaking) Cowboys/Redskins game via metro, I was yelled at by people to move to the other side of the street because they were painting lines for the new sidewalk configuration around the fenced-off metro. I like Paul Sarbanes and all, but the next two years are going to be a shit storm of inconvenience because of his stupid transit center (as indicated by the map below).

God help us all.

Bring The Fillmore to Silver Spring
I’m done with the frustration and vitriol. If you support the Fillmore, please just email your County Council and tell them so. Now.

Have you lost a parakeet?
Unless global warming has caused migratory patterns to become extremely erratic, this parakeet spotted near Silver Spring Avenue has escaped and is, as far as we know, sowing its seed among the general population. Maybe he was just going out on the porch to look for a package from the now-defunct Pets.com:

Dog Days of Summer
Tropical Storm Hanna(h) wreaked havoc on the initial grand opening plans for Living Ruff in DTSS. The Dog Days of Summer festivities have been rescheduled for this Saturday, 3pm-6pm on The Promenade.

Charity Fundraiser
Jessica of A Parent in Silver Spring wanted me to pass on news of a fundraiser, The Workout for Demitry, Sunday, September 28 from Noon to 3pm at Rock Creek Sports Club. Demitry’s father was killed in a tragic accident, and 100% of the proceeds go to support him and his mother, Jillian. For more information, contact Rachel Posell at rachel@posell.com.

45 Days and Counting until the Silver Spring Zombie Walk
Mark (or re-mark) your calendars for the first ever Silver Spring Zombie Walk on Saturday, November 1. Additional details coming soon.

I have to say, there are few things like writing an incindiary post and a week later being introduced to one of the people you were writing about. That’s exactly what happened to me Saturday night. I heard that Lee Development Group and Live Nation (Fillmore) had booths next to each other, so I thought I would go down and take a look.

At the booth, I ran into Mike Deigel, who has been part of the long-term, ongoing effort to bring live music to Silver Spring. He also arranged a meeting with some local bloggers and Live Nation’s Ted Mankin. Last night we started chatting, and he asked me if I had ever met Bruce Lee. I hadn’t, but I have now.

I was, unfortunately, introduced as the author of this blog, so there was no hiding anything. Even after the rancor of my earlier partisan post (before which I had been thoroughly pro-Fillmore), Bruce was nothing but gracious and informative. I told him my concerns, and he told me the view from his side of the fence. I’m frustrated as hell, as are a lot of people (including Bruce). I feel like I have a much deeper understanding of recent events and will throw out some thoughts for you to ponder:

1. About that 15 years-with-no-additional-approval thing
According to Bruce, they would still have to go through a normal development approval process for what they build. What they asked for is that the current regulations apply over the next 10 years (with an option for an additional five years). This way they could build when the market conditions were right and not have to worry about less-than-sane Mongtomery County officials (MoCoLoCo) changing things so drastically as to make development inordinately prohibitive. I’m fine with this.

2. Seth Hurwitz would never build a club here
This is one I’m not so sure of. I understand the trepedation of some, and the attitude that Seth is just in it to kill the deal and eliminate competitors, but I don’t buy it. Call me crazy or jaded or idealistic, but if there is money to be had in this market for live music (and I’d like to think there is), I can’t see I.M.P. taking the deal and walking away with an empty building for the next 30 years. It just doesn’t fly with me. And Montgomery County would find a way to screw him over anyway if he tried it.

3. The Lee Family is in it for their own self-interest
Not really. Not any more than any company that has a fiduciary duty to its stakeholders and the bottom line. As the charter president of the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce and president of Lee Development Group, I’d wager he is decidedly pro-business. At the same time, he’s fighting against a County that just increased the corporate tax rate from 7% to 8.25%. Don’t get me wrong – I’m a tax-paying, Hillary-loving-turned-Obama-supporting Democrat. Tax-and-spend is ok if done the right way. But in a time and place where economic development is vital, Montgomery County increasing the corporate tax by 1.25% seems counter-productive.

Notice a trend here?
As I mentioned earlier, there’s a lot of blame to go around. I’m about ready to give a kidney if it’ll get live music here any faster, and I’ve had a long history saying so on thig blog. But there seems to be a recurring theme in this and past posts concerning the entire ordeal: Montgomery County is crazy. The Council, its Executive, and in particular, Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission. Almost the entire staff of M-NCPPC needs to be taken out back and beaten with a stick. The reason developers want safeguards is that they don’t trust the MoCo Council or M-NCPPC, and I don’t blame them.

Montgomery County has long been a laughingstock of state and nearby goverment entities. Do a search on the Web for “montgomery county maryland laughingstock” and see what you get. It’s time for local government to get their heads out of their asses and make something happen.

Bring me live music.

With all the recent posts about what’s been going down with the Silver Spring Music Venue, I expected something else to come from Seth Hurwitz, Chairman of IMP Productions and owner of D.C’s venerable 9:30 Club. This will arrive by mail tomorrow to the entire County Council, but an electronic version was distributed this afternoon.

September 11, 2008

The Honorable Michael Knapp
President, Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue
6th Floor
Rockville, Md. 20850

Re: Silver Spring Music Hall

Dear President Knapp and the County Council:

While I can only sit on the sidelines watching the public outcry, as a Montgomery County citizen, I, too, am incensed about school fees, mandatory employee furloughs, police, fire and rescue cuts and I understand the complaints about increasing taxes. I’ve also read and am concerned about the State wrestling with a billion dollar shortfall.

So many people have asked me why the government is paying $8 million- $10 million in taxpayer funds to build a nightclub when there’s a private company, headquartered in the county, that is ready, willing and able to pay for what is a profit-making business, not a government service. Though it’s not a rhetorical question, I have no reasonable explanation to offer them.

It’s been nearly a year since I first proposed to pay for building the Silver Spring Music Hall with private funds, saving taxpayers $8 million to $10 million. In that time, the state and county economic challenges have only worsened, you have been forced to make tough decisions, and you face even harder choices.

The County’s commitment to fund this music hall is not a “done deal” without the Council’s vote on the Zoning Text Amendment. It’s clearly not too late to reconsider. You can still redirect millions of dollars to what we expect government to invest in: education, public safety, social services and transportation – not a nightclub.

My offer still stands to build the music hall with my own money.

Sincerely,
Seth Hurwitz

Your turn, Ike.

This one was heard first-hand at the Quarry house on Tuesday night. Guy #1 in Maryland Terps polo shirt to Guy #2:

Guy#1: “Back in the day when I was a cheerleader, I had 50,000 people following my shit at RFK. Know what I mean? I’d start pounding that drum, and all those fuckers were right behind me. Nowadays, those drums don’t mean shit. They don’t even pay attention, and that’s bullshit. But back in the day, you know? 1978, 1979? We were the shit.”

Guy #2: “Uh huh.”

And no, he didn’t look like Uncle Rico.

Monday morning at Mayorga:

“Somebody should remind Sarah Palin that Jesus was a community organizer, and Pontius Pilate was a governor.”

You all have heard me say many times that we just need to work to bring the Fillmore Music Hall to Silver Spring. And while I’m still very much in favor of this venue (or something like it), I now recognize we have a problem. It’s not the type of music. It’s not the fact that the organization vying for the old, defunct JC Penney building is a huge corporate conglomerate. And frankly, it’s not even Ike Leggett’s support of the current deal.

The problem is the Lee Family.
In particular, the two men you see in this photo from the Washington Post: cousins Bruce and Blair. These people are the problem.

I understand they’re business people and they’re looking out for their company first. And according to an interesting story in the Washington Post, they don’t trust Montgomery County. I can appreciate that, too. But counting the music hall as public open space so the Lees can wait 15 years to do whatever the hell they want with the adjacent land without county approval might be taking it too far. Add to that more articles outlining opposition for a variety of reasons from WaPo’s Steven Pearlstein and the DCist and it’s too much to ignore. And when Washington Business Journal – a decidedly pro-business publication – has an editorial lambasting both the deal and the Lees themselves, you have to start asking yourself what you believe.

I say screw them. They have enough money, and someone will find some way to pacify these jokers and their self-centered grab for code fulfillment and building rights. Find someplace else to build a music hall. The National Institute of Cleaning & Dyeing on Georgia? Something else in South Silver Spring?

What are the chances of taking these boneheads out of the equation? Blair? Bruce? Can you take the silver spoons out of your mouths long enough to say something for yourselves?