Commentary about article: "Cady defends vote for plan as angry e-mails pour in"

There was short article in the Frederick News Post this morning about the "angry e-mails" Commissioner Cady has been receiving "this week from people who didn’t like the board’s decision to allow growth to continue in the New Market region." Having watched or participated in the New Market Region Plan update process since the beginning, I understand why many people are frustrated and angry. Nevertheless, I would hope everyone would draw a line between sharp and straightforward criticism and ugly personal assaults, and it's unfortunate if Commissioner Cady has gotten some awful emails that cross that line.

Having said that, however, Commissioner Cady made a number of statements in the article that warrant clarification, correction, and criticism. I've included the complete article below and made comments about specific excerpts below.

From the FREDERICK NEWS POST:

Cady defends vote for plan as angry e-mails pour in

Saturday, May 27, 2006

by Pamela Rigaux

NEW MARKET — Frederick County Commissioner Michael Cady said he has read a lot of angry e-mails this week from people who didn’t like the board’s decision to allow growth to continue in the New Market region.

“You can imagine the emails I’m getting,” Mr. Cady said Friday. “They’re the worst. The very worst. I’m the very lowest form of humanity.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Cady, along with commissioners Bruce Reeder and John Lovell, approved the New Market Region Plan, which could allow as many as 14,000 homes over the next 20 years into the area.

Very little of the testimony he heard at public hearings over the past 12 months from no-growth advocates was accurate, Mr. Cady said.

“The roads are a huge issue that must be resolved as this growth goes forward,” he said, pointing out that most of the roads needing improvements are state roads.

“I’m relying on the state to live up to their responsibility in this area,” he said.

The other issue Mr. Cady wanted to clarify is the extent to which the board expanded the area’s growth. The board expanded it by about 550 homes over what had already been designated for growth in 1993, he said.

“What people are really upset about is the 1993 plan. Less than 50 percent of it was built out,” Mr. Cady said.

Even so, the board could have changed the 1993 plan.

“The commission(ers) had the authority to make any changes they wanted,” said Tim Goodfellow, a county planner who recommended scaling back some of the growth that had been planned in 1993.

The new plan could still be changed if the board wants to revisit it, he said.

quote:

Frederick County Commissioner Michael Cady said he has read a lot
of angry e-mails this week from people who didn't like the board's decision
to allow growth to continue in the New Market region.

"You can imagine the emails I'm getting," Mr. Cady said Friday. "They're
the worst. The very worst. I'm the very lowest form of humanity."

A few points about that:

First of all, I've seen a huge amount of the email that has been sent to Cady on this issue over the last year and a half (including more than a few since the vote to approve the New Market Region Plan). While I can't speak to all the email I haven't seen, of course, I can tell you that Mike Cady and the other commissioner have received a great many email messages that have been highly thoughtful, well informed, and, in many instances, very well written (clearly written with care).

If Commissioner Cady wanted to dispute that, I've be happy to print some them for him.

Second, Commissioner Cady should realize that a big part of the reason some people are expressing themselves with genuine anger is because they were unable to participate in the process in a meaningful way. Commission Cady has frequently referred to all the hearings and whatnot, as if simply having had hearings and giving people a chance to briefly voice their objections, means that the process was inclusive and responsive. So many people saw their concerns and objections repeatedly dismissed or ignored, Not surprisingly, they have no sense of ownership over the process that led to this abysmal plan.

I'm upset about it, too. And having watched or participated in the process for a long time, I fully appreciate why there are such strong feelings. That doesn't mean I support anyone stepping over the line between sharp and straightforward criticism and ugly personal assaults. It's unfortunate that Commissioner Cady has gotten some awful emails that are beyond the pale. But it is wrong for him to paint all the email writers with that brush, even indirectly.

quote:

Very little of the testimony he heard at public hearings over the past 12
months from no-growth advocates was accurate, Mr. Cady said.

That's not true. And he knows it - or should.

Certainly some testimony included misconceptions or inaccurate details. After all, a lot of people, with busy lives, who took the time to come in, sit through a long meeting, and express their concerns for three minutes, were not up to speed on every detail. But it is wrong to pretend - and to say - that much or most of the citizens who objected were ill-informed and off-base. That's not true.

It's worth noting here that all the testimony was recorded. Anyone can get visual and audio of any of the hearings and worksessions on a DVD from the county. And anyone who did invest the time to go back and review the public testimony will be impressed by the caliber - and eloquence - of much of it.

If anyone were to do that, they would also be struck by the manner in which citizen comments were treated by some commissioners, and the fact that so little of what they had to say was reflected in the discussions among the commissioners or, of course, the final plan.

I should note that Jan Gardner frequently made sincere, if not extraordinary efforts to discuss the same issues that citizens were raising in their testimony and letters and emails, as well as other important points of her own.

quote:

"The roads are a huge issue that must be resolved as this growth goes
forward," he said, pointing out that most of the roads needing improvements
are state roads.

"I'm relying on the state to live up to their responsibility in this area," he said.

Calling that bad spin would be extremely polite of me.

He knows - there is no doubt he knows - that even if the state covered all the costs, on time, of all the road improvements on state roads in the area, to deal with the poorly planned growth pattern in this region, it would still leave many roads, and a huge bill, for the county. His response suggests he's trying to make readers believe the county isn't going to have huge road related costs stemming from this sprawl. It will. And he knows it. But look how he referred to the matter in his quote - as it it's really only about the state fulfilling their responsibilities.

It's also worth pointing out that, someone with Cady's experience over the last few years, already knows that there is virtually no chance the state is going to be willing and able to pay all those costs...to cover this board's irresponsible planning. Commissioner Cady knows how much - or make that how little - the state has provided in recent years, when compared to the list of things the county would like done on state roads. We're fortunate if we get any significant new roads or improvements beyond our first priority item in the county.

Some of you might have noticed that some Montgomery County council members recently proposed to invest an $82 million package to go toward the county’s portion of state road projects. That would double the $80 million already included in County Executive Duncan’s proposed budget, for a total of $160 million in county funds allocated for state projects. They are investing the money because it is not coming from the state.

Some of you might also remember that Commissioner Cady only backed away from the ill-advised rezoning of the remaining swaths of agricultural land in the Green Valley area to low density, well and septic sprawl when the state objected strenuously, and threatened not to fund improvements to state roads in the area.

Commissioner Cady should not be allowed to write off the legitimate concerns about roads in the New Market region (including serious fears about traffic and safety, and the potential burden on county taxpayers) as simply a matter of the state living up to its responsibilities or not.

NOTE this excerpt from a Nov. 1, 2002 Gazette article entitled: "Growth's effect on area priority for candidates"

[Jan Gardner] noted an interchange with Meadow Road and I-70 was prioritized by the county in a request to the state, and Reeder said, "It is doable, and will happen in the next two years."

I probably don't have to point out that this has not happened, and is not imminent.

quote:

The other issue Mr. Cady wanted to clarify is the extent to which the board
expanded the area's growth. The board expanded it by about 550 homes
over what had already been designated for growth in 1993, he said.

"What people are really upset about is the 1993 plan. Less than 50 percent
of it was built out," Mr. Cady said.

Even so, the board could have changed the 1993 plan.

This is getting old fast.

Apparently, the new "PR strategy" on this matter (from the BOCC3 and the developers) is to keep trying to point out that they've hardly done anything here, that it was all done in 1993, that all they've done is add a few acres and a few houses to the plan that was already in place.

That's not true.

The truth is far more complicated than that.

The entirely inexcusable extensions of the area's growth boundaries (to include the agricultural lands of some friends and campaign contributors) is just one of many examples.

Cady's comment is based on a statistical fact that does not tell the real story of the New Market Region Plan.

• 1993 residential zoning: 12,143 acres
• Final bocc revised plan: 12,453 acres of residential zoning

That is very narrow view of the entire scope and depth of the region plan.

For instance, the BOCC3 also added 474 acres of employment zoning (certain non-residential developments).

The BOCC3 added a Low Density Residential comp plan designation to 825 acres of land previously designated Ag on the 1993 comp plan (not rezoned yet, but...).

Of note, 245 acres of this new Low Density Residential comp plan designation was an expansion of the 1993 growth area (noted above). This was an inexcusable gift to a few specific owner/developers/contributors. The extensions made no sense, were hugely criticized by citizens in the areas affected, were directly contrary to the county's Comprehensive Plan, and in every other way unnecessary and impossible to justify.

The fact that they had ample evidence that the development in the region would require massive road widening and did nothing about it was no less appalling and irresponsible, and revealed a shocking lack of integrity and leadership.

This truly was an almost entirely developer-driven plan, in which three commissioners (Cady, Lovell and Reeder) simply reacted to and focused on the specific requests of few landowners and developers, rather than engage in genuine planning, at the expense of the citizens and taxpayers of the county (not to mention the environment, the county's budget and quality of future services and facilities for those residents, etc.).

Nothing more than lip service was given to many other categories of comprehensive planning that deserved thoughtful and thorough attention.

Despite the fact that developers have pointed to the overall number of houses as relieving the pressure on increased housing prices, and highlighted the MPDU units that are part of some of the developments in the plan, the process included no meaningful affordable housing element.

Etc., etc., etc.

In any case, we've learned a lot since 1993, or so you would think - so you would hope - even if the BOCC3 have not.

They could have done a great deal to make this a responsible and realistic, economically-sound, resident-friendly, environmentally-sensitive, and affordable plan.

They did not.

And they certainly could have avoided making it worse. But they did make it worse, significantly worse.

As noted, this was a piecemeal and developer-driven process from the start. Why should anyone be surprised that the citizens of the area are frustrated, dismayed and angry?

quote:

The new plan could still be changed if the board wants to revisit
it, [Goodfellow] said.

It will be interesting to see how much and in what ways it can still be changed and improved - fixed - by the next board!

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Frederick County Teachers Association

Kai has spent a great deal of time and energy learning about school issues and preparing to serve on the BOCC. He is an intelligent and enthusiastic candidate who is very interested in the long term health of the school system including the need to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers. Kai seeks more citizen involvement in county government and open and honest problem solving by our elected officials. He has the ability to look at a...

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