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A great man (okay – he was half human) once said, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.” With apologies to Admiral James T. Kirk, this has again proven more than true in two recent instances.

Thank you, Councilmember Ervin
I think we really have Valerie Ervin to thank for helping to save Sligo Creek Golf Course. That, and the overwhelming outcry of the community. The only way SCGC was to be saved was for the County Council to renegotiate the contract with the Revenue Authority. Oh – and fix one minor detail: money.

The Washington Post reported that Ike Leggett proposed a plan that would keep the course open for another twelve months, even though my “buddy” Keith Miller at the Revenue Authority thinks “the long-term prospects at the other public courses, all with 18 holes and more challenging, are brighter than at Sligo.” Really? Measured how? By paying your salary? I’m gonna guess that not paying six figures a year to the Revenue Authority will help Sligo Creek’s financial prospects, and with this near-death scare, the people involved will find a way to make it work. And I’ll pony up some money in the form of increased green fees and a contribution to an endowment to help keep it up and running. Just tell me where and when.

And Speaking of Money…
That seems to be the one thing standing in the way of building light rail on the Purple Line, according to a news conference from Governor O’Malley. This endorsement comes much to the chagrin of our wealthy neighbors to the west. Chevy Chase Mayor Kathy Strom, along with 10 others, wrote a letter to the Federal Transit Administration in protest, saying, “It is shortsighted and irresponsible to destroy this irreplaceable greenspace which is both a local and regional treasure.” Not sure if they were talking about the Capital Crescent Trail or their beloved Chevy Chase Country Club.

Can’t wait to espouse the merits of a light rail purple line at September’s ESSCA meeting.

Purple line image courtesy of Wikipedia

There has been much talk recently about the latest round of Purple Line focus groups. Just up the Pike has a great writeup on the last meeting, as a matter of fact. I know that one of the goals is to make it easier for people to get from Prince George’s County to Bethesda, but I have to ask: what’s in it for me? What do I want?

I never go to New Carrollton, and if I ever go to College Park, it’s to pick up loads of unecessary crap from IKEA. I’m not about to haul that back via the light rail system. But I do work in Rockville, and have been known to go to Bethesda for evening outings now and then. All I really want is something to connect with the northwestern end of the Red Line. So here’s what I propose:

This solves multiple problems. Mainly, the issue of where the train travels through East Silver Spring is now a moot point. No splitting up Wayne Avenue. No more SSTOP signs in my neighborhood. If I took Metro (which is time prohibitive with the current map) this would reduce the number of stops in my commute from 22 to roughly 10. Now that’s a commute I could live with.

And now that Doug Duncan is over in College Park, he can find someone else’s budget to steal from to solve the problem of getting people from Prince George’s County to Bethesda (via Silver Spring, I guess). Because it looks like he’s not getting the “Birchmere” money anytime soon.