This past Saturday, as it has done before, Impact Silver Spring and its East County Collective organized a civilian clean-up crew of volunteers to do what the County won't: clean up and tear out weeds in Edgewood Park. Impact has held similar clean-ups in the past, once collecting almost 450 pounds of garbage in the same park and a nearby school in a single day, according to The Washington Post.
What a sad statement about the Montgomery County Council, Montgomery County Parks Department, and the County government, that they cannot execute the most basic functions of government. Whether it's the 911 service failing and two County residents dying as a result, trash uncollected for three weeks in Silver Spring and Bethesda, or simply failing to perform the most basic landscaping and trash collection duties in your neighborhood park, Montgomery County has proven impotent on all fronts.
Shouldn't our charitable organizations and watershed groups be able to pursue other important priorities, rather than have to spend their Saturdays cleaning our parks and streams, doing the job of government themselves? Imagine paying taxes, and then having to provide the services yourself with no pay. In Montgomery County, we don't have to imagine; it's all horribly real. As the County infamously said during the trash (un)collection scandal: "Don't call us, just wait for them to pick it up."
Only Dyer would take a community clean-up event and make it all about his beef with the county.
ReplyDeleteJesus, Robert. You're such a miserable dope.
ReplyDeleteWhy are community cleanups a bad thing? I've happily participated in the Rock Creek Extreme Cleanup multiple times. Rock Creek Park is a national park but you don't see volunteers complaining about the Park Service. Because we get that an issue like this can be overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteGood for Impact Silver Spring and the East County Collective for organizing this cleanup. Community engagement and activism for the win.
Suze, I would say a couple of things - First, noone said community clean-ups are bad, just incompetent elected officials who make such clean-ups necessary.
DeleteSecond, while I do not endorse NPS (who have neglected and allowed to be destroyed numerous treasures in Maryland alone, such as the streetcar they had oversight of at Glen Echo Park) incompetence, let's be clear: this neighborhood park in Briggs Chaney is nowhere near the physical size of Rock Creek Park. There is no excuse for allowing litter in this park.
Are you a socialist, Robert? Why do you think government is the only entity capable of having a positive impact on a community? Kudos to those who participated in the clean-up and didn't sit around whining, instead.
Delete"Second, while I do not endorse NPS (who have neglected and allowed to be destroyed numerous treasures in Maryland alone, such as the streetcar they had oversight of at Glen Echo Park) incompetence..."
DeleteEDITOR!!!!! This is fucking incoherent babbling.
"Second, while I do not endorse NPS (who have neglected and allowed to be destroyed numerous treasures in Maryland alone, such as the streetcar they had oversight of at Glen Echo Park) incompetence..."
DeleteReplace with:
1) "Second, while I do not endorse NPS, whose incompetence and neglect has ruined numerous treasures in Maryland alone, such as the streetcar at Glen Echo Park..."
2) Or delete entirely. It's a needless digression.
You're welcome.
"Incompetent elected officials who make such clean-ups necessary."
ReplyDeleteUm, no. It would be local litterbugs who make litter clean-ups necessary.
All parks in America have trash. That's why we pay our overpriced County government to take it out. It is the County Council who are the litterbugs in this case for not collecting it.
DeleteObviously you haven't been to the C&O Canal (NPS). There are no trashcans there - users are required to take all of their trash out of the park themselves.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and it's a really stupid idea. I've seen enough negligence and incompetence by NPS for a lifetime. Many treasures lost here in Maryland alone due to their bumbling.
DeleteIt's been in effect in other jurisdictions for a long time and works much better than the original studies had shown.
ReplyDeletePerfect? No. On the other hand, it's helped visitors care more about the parks, take more of a personal interest, and has become a great *family* tradition of leaving nothing behind.