ThayerAvenue.com

A confluence of events has led me to believe Silver Spring has much bigger problems than a purple line, pee in a bottle, or the potential for rampant folk music.

Recently, Silver Spring, Singular has wondered aloud at the history of UFOs flying over our fair (unincorporated) city, and last week, a Denver man proposed an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission – 18-member group that would form a strategy “dealing with issues related to the presence of extraterrestrial beings on Earth.” 54-year-old Denver resident Jeff Peckman has to get 4,000 signatures to get his proposal on the ballot for the Colorado-based commission.

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to be your Jeff Peckman.

As our yearning County Council feedback has looked to the mundane – public transit, saving dilapidated buildings because of their “historicality,” and whether Joni Mitchell or White Lion could fill a Silver Spring music club faster – I think it’s time we look to the future.

We are but passengers on this third stone from the sun, subject to the whims of the universe and, potentially, alien overlords. What’s our plan? If they come, where will they go? I’d be happy to accompany them to the current Final Cut of Blade Runner at AFI. But I would think they’d have bigger plans.

While I’m sure our esteemed federal government has a plan, I feel it’d be rife with violence and overblown Department of Defense contracts. We need real people in a real place to show these visitors what life is really like here, and I think getting the motion in front of the County Council is just the way to go.

Who’s with me?

I like wine. You probably do, too. If I were to have some shipped from my favorite winery in Northern California, I would theoretically have to ship it to my wife’s work address in DC and have her drive it across the border into Maryland. But I, of course, would never do that. It might be illegal. Because Maryland has anachronistic laws that prevent direct to consumer shipping

Thirty-five states now allow licensed wineries to ship directly to consumers, representing 81% of US wine enjoyment, and the laws in these states are based on the same language now being proposed in Maryland. It’s time for Maryland’s wine lovers, not wholesaler middle men (or our stupid Montgomery County lawmakers), to decide what wines you can purchase and enjoy, and from whom.

Our very own Delegate Tom Hucker (tom.hucker@house.state.md.us) is one of the primary sponsors of House Bill 1260, and I urge you to contact the members of Maryland House Economic Matters Committee to ask them for their support as well. I’ve also written to Delegates Hixson (sheila.hixson@house.state.md.us) and Mizeur (heather.mizeur@house.state.md.us), but have not received a response, so I’m not sure what their opinions are.

Here is some sample email text and some contact info for you to support this measure. But HURRY – testimony will be heard starting Monday, February 18.

———-

Dear Delegate [INSERT NAME HERE],

As an adult voter of Maryland, I strongly urge you to SUPPORT direct-to-consumer wine shipping by passing House Bill 1260.

Thirty-five states now allow for legal, regulated winery-to-consumer shipments for personal enjoyment. But Maryland’s outmoded law prevents me from purchasing many of my favorite wines for personal enjoyment.

House Bill 1260 provides the solution. The bill includes regulations already working successfully in the majority of US states. The bill will improve choice in wine for me, create a new revenue source for the state, and satisfy regulatory concerns.

I believe that wine lovers like me, rather than the wine wholesaler middlemen, should decide which wines to purchase, and how we purchase them, from a winery, retailer, online, etc.

Please let me know how you will vote on this important consumer issue.

Sincerely,
[NAME]
[ADDRESS]
[CITY], Maryland [ZIP]

———-

Members of the Maryland House Economic Matters Committee:

Chair: Davis, Dereck E. (D), District 25
e-mail: dereck.davis@house.state.md.us

Vice-Chair: Rudolph, David D. (D), District 35B
e-mail: david.rudolph@house.state.md.us

Delegates:
Braveboy, Aisha N.
email: aisha.braveboy@house.state.md.us

Burns, Emmett C., Jr. (D), District 10
e-mail: emmett.burns@house.state.md.us

Feldman, Brian J. (D), District 15
e-mail: brian.feldman@house.state.md.us

Haddaway, Jeannie (R), District 37B
e-mail: jeannie.haddaway@house.state.md.us

Harrison, Hattie N. (D), District 45
e-mail: hattie.harrison@house.state.md.us

Hecht, C. Sue (D), District 3A
e-mail: sue.hecht@house.state.md.us

Impallario, Richard K. (R), District 7
e-mail: rick.impallaria@house.state.md.us

Jameson, Sally Y. (D), District 28
e-mail: sally.jameson@house.state.md.us

King, James J. (R), District 33A
e-mail: james.king@house.state.md.us

Kirk, Ruth M. (D), District 44
e-mail: ruth.kirk@house.state.md.us

Krysiak, Carolyn J. (D), District 46
e-mail: carolyn.krysiak@house.state.md.us

Love, Mary Ann (D), District 32
e-mail: maryann.love@house.state.md.us

Manno, Roger (D), District 19
e-mail: roger.manno@house.state.md.us

Mathias, James N., Jr. (D), District 38B
e-mail: james.mathias@house.state.md.us

McHale, Brian K. (D), District 47A
e-mail: brian.mchale@house.state.md.us

Miller, Warren E. (R), District 9A
e-mail: warren.miller@house.state.md.us

Minnick, Joseph J. (D), District 7
e-mail: joseph.minnick@house.state.md.us

Stifler, Donna (R), District 35A
e-mail: donna.stifler@house.state.md.us

Taylor, Herman L., Jr. (D), District 14
e-mail: herman.taylor@house.state.md.us

Vaughn, Michael L. (D), District 24
e-mail: michael.vaughn@house.state.md.us

Walkup, Mary Roe (R), District 36
e-mail: mary.roe.walkup@house.state.md.us

I’ve never personally seen a Vaudeville show, but I have a feeling that the Montgomery County Council Town (MoCoCoTo?) Hall meeting last night at AFI would have fit the bill pretty well. Karl from Silver Spring, Singular and I went, and we even scoped out the joint for our Blogosphere bretheren – much to no avail. (Dan? Jennifer? Were you in disguise?)

As referenced above, Karl has an excellent summary of the events. And it was unfortunate that the highlight of the night came so early in the proceedings. But having “bullshit” called on the council multiple times was good enough for me. Not that I necessarily agree, but it was amusing enough. And while we got a small question about The Fillmore at the end, there was an ominous dude in a black IFI t-shirt that was just two people back when they shut down questioning. That would have made things a little more interesting (though I would have told him to shut the hell up if he started bitching). Another question: Where was Marilyn Praisner?

What *was* interesting, though, is that Tuesday night I went to Olazzo (for $5 martini night, of course), and got a chance to talk one-on-none with our very own Marc Elrich, At-Large County Councilmember. And ironically, he walked through the door right as the conversation turned to MoCo’s monopoly on the alcohol trade in the county. (Free State? My ass.) He mentioned there was potential afoot to allow independent entities (i.e., small business owners) to set up shop in grocery stores to sell beer and wine.

The “Booze Corner” as I’m going to call it, would be independently owned and operated by someone not affiliated with the store, and it would be set up so it could be locked up after hours. Growing up with Blue Laws in Alabama, they just put broom handles across the cooler doors and turned off the lights inside them. Thank God I only lived 30 minutes from the Tennessee line. I’m going to assume that scenario wouldn’t cut it for the County, though. But the propsect of buying groceries (including beer) in one place without having to go to Sniderss or White Oak made me drunk with giddiness. Or maybe it was the martinis.

Did you know?
Each grocery store chain can have one of its stores in Montgomery County sell beer and wine? I didn’t. Another gem from Marc. One Giant, one Shoppers, one Snider’s, etc. Lots of other conversations with Marc I won’t detail here, but I have to say he totally changed my attitude. Not really knowing him, I always took him for someone on the No-Growth side of Smart Growth. That was a wrong assessment. And I think I might pay more attention to what the Council does for a while.

Next Up: That long-awaited Thayer Avenue Census Data I promised you a couple weeks ago.

There’s some excellent analysis today from the Washington Post’s Business Columnist Steven Pearlstein on the whole Live Nation vs. Seth Hurwitz fracas. To sum up:

• Seth raised his hand too late and now he’s whining about it
• His offer appears so attractive it’s difficult to ignore
• Seth apparently uses his power to stifle regional compeition, and then says he doesn’t mind competition (while, at the same time, saying that competition is overrated)
• Ike Leggett might have an out by giving Hurwitz 120 days to negotiate a land deal with the Lees (who own the property) and using some of the savings (should a deal be struck) to compensate Live Nation for its time and trouble.

And to all you people whining on the listservs about subsidizing Live Nation’s efforts (you know who you are), shut your collective traps and take note of this paragraph:

By the way, it’s not correct to say, as most critics do, that Leggett is proposing to hand $8 million in state and county funds to Live Nation. In exchange for its investment, the county will own a building and parcel of land valued today at $11.5 million (A provision allowing Live Nation to buy it later for $8 million will be dropped.) And it is a fair guess that the extra meals and sales tax revenue generated by the facility will more than cover the $400,000 a year in interest payments on the bonds used to finance it.

I’ll reiterate what I said the last time I posted something about this: Bring me live music. At this point, I think Seth Hurwitz is being a baby because he wasn’t invited to the big kids’ table when dinner started. And he can stop with the whole “I’m from Montgomery Country and local and would be better…” charade. This is strictly business, and anyone who tells you different is just trying to stifle competition.

Quit the bickering and get the Live Nation deal moving. Please.

814 Thayer Avenue
More details have emerged about the development at 814 Thayer Avenue, current/defunct home to the National Association of the Deaf. According to the Silver Spring Penguin, there will be a total of 52 units, and seven of then will be “moderately priced.” The garage will, as talked about earlier, create a thoroughfare on the alley running between Thayer and Silver Spring Avenue that connects Fenton and Grove. And that will handle in-and-out traffic for the 36 onsite parking spaces.

If there are only 36 spaces, are they assuming many won’t have cars? Where will the overflow of cars (assuming there is some) be parked? I know on my section of the street, there’s no parking allowed on the north side of Thayer because of the bus traffic. Here’s to hoping thay start ticketing more to make sure people don’t violate that.

Thanks, as always, to the Silver Spring Penguin. Speaking of which, their site now carries advertisements that I encourage you to click on and buy stuff from. For so long, they’ve toiled away bringing the latest updates to readers in the area, and now their traffic and business model supports revenue generation. Help a Penguin out.

Screw you, parking increase!
As reported in the Washington Post, among other places, Montgomery County repealed the fee and time increase for parking meters. The subhead for the story declares “Broad Criticism Stuns Montgomery.” What the hell did they think was going to happen? I’d be more than willing to fork over some extra parking cash if MoCo was willing to relinquish their death grip on alcohol sales so I could buy beer and wine at a grocery store other than Snyder’s.

Can we get some Skynard?
Silver Spring Singular has a nice post about this, but I equate people’s bitching and moaning about bringing particular musical acts [to what once was to be the Birchmere] to Veruca Salt saying “But Daddy, I want an Oompa Loompa!” If that’s gonna be the attitude, I’ll lobby for whatever will piss them off. Two hours’ worth of “Free Bird” should do the trick.

Peterson, Schmeterson
The County gave Peterson Companies the big finger, according to the Washington Post:

Developers cannot prohibit people from taking photographs on public-private space in downtown Silver Spring, the Montgomery county attorney declared yesterday in a letter to County Executive Isiah Leggett. In an eight-page letter, County Attorney Leon Rodriguez said that the street in question, Ellsworth Drive, “constitutes a public forum” and that the First Amendment’s protection of free speech applies there.

So I guess PetersonCo’s policy of being able to rescind the “we’ll let you take pictures for now” policy is out the window.

Okay, so it’s just for a story, but a little public radio press never hurts.

MoCo Council Reacts to Angry Calls From Businesses
Danielle Karson

July 10, 2007 – The Montgomery County Council is respodning[sic] to a flood of angry calls from area businesses about expanding the hours the public must pay for publilc parking. Danielle Karson reports…

Click here for links to the audio.

In my travels around downtown, I’ve noticed more and more young soldiers (and their families) coming to Silver Spring to shop, dine, and relax. Many of the hotels are offering discounted rates to the families of patients at Walter Reed. That, in conjunction with the proximity and the variety of choices available, certainly make it an attractive destination.

On one occasion, I sat next to a young man at Austin Grill who was spending breaks in Silver Spring between offering tax advice and assistance to some of the patients at Walter Reed. I stood in line behind an entire family at Giant pushing an (obvious young war veteran) amputee around in a wheelchair. And just last night played pool next to a wounded vet and his girlfriend at Galaxy Billiards.

I’m curious, especially in the midst of the recent issues at Walter Reed, why I haven’t heard much press about these people becoming part of our community – albeit perhaps a temporary state of affairs. I could very well have glossed over a story in The Gazette or one of the other blogs, but I think it’s fantastic that our little suburb can provide a place where these young men and women – and their loved ones – can find a place to help bring a sense of normalcy back to their lives.

As the weather continues to improve and downtown traffic picks up, I hope to get out and speak to some of these people and find out their stories and what kind of effect Silver Spring has had on their recovery and rehabilitation. If you have any insight or know someone who has found a second home in Silver Spring after the war, drop me a line. I look forward to reporting back in the near future with what I find.