John and Deborah Rice Respond to Mellits

Dear Editor,

This letter is to address the incorrect statements made by Mr. Mellits in his letter to the editor.

We stand corrected in that Mr. Mellits is not a “contractor,” but an “engineer,” who is “contracted” to work on projects at Melford. Mr. Mellits works on development/re-development projects within the City of Bowie and that remains a conflict of interest. His main source of income is as an engineer and working for the citizens will be his part-time job. What will be his priority? Having a representative of the city who relies on development as his source of income is very disturbing to us and the Citizens for Accountable Government (recall team). In addition to Mr. Mellit’s development relationship, we noted that he failed to defeat Diane Polangin twice in 2011 and 2013.

We already have one candidate, Courtney Glass, who sits on the Bowie City Council as her part-time job and works for County Executive Rushern Baker as her main source of income. Who does she represent on City of Bowie issues? She was standing with Mr. Baker in opposition to a bill presented before our state legislature regarding the Jesuit property. She did NOT stand in representation of the citizens of Bowie! When push comes to shove, a candidate is going to vote with their main source of income over the rights of the citizens they represent.

The recall team never planned to even endorse a candidate in the Special Election to fill the vacant City Council seat. However, Diane Polangin elected to run, split the vote, and hope to reverse her overwhelming loss in the recall election. The recall team evaluated candidates, meeting with most, and decided who was best aligned with our mission statement. We are not a political club, political committee or campaign committee. Volunteers will independently support the candidate of their choice. However, the recall team, by a 95% majority, voted to endorse Dufour Woolfley as the candidate most likely to give the citizens of Bowie a long-sought voice on the City Council.

Sincerely,

John & Deborah Rice, Bowie

Bowie Citizens for Accountable Government Endorse Dufour WOOLFLEY

Bowie Citizens for Accountable Government is pleased to announce that we endorse Dufour Woolfley for District 2 in Bowie, Maryland.

“Dufour’s public record of fighting for responsible growth and limited development, with total accountability to your constituency warrants your vote”

— Bowie Citizens for Accountable Government

After meeting with all of the candidates, and careful consideration, we have decided that Mr. Woolfley has the knowledge of the issues, and will be an independent voice, representing the concerns of his constituents – not developers.

As citizens of Bowie, Maryland, our members know that this election has great implications for the future of Bowie. Since our founding, our mission has been to ensure that our elected officials answer to their constituents, listen to our concerns, and involve us in the decision-making process. Dufour Woolfley has the knowledge, leadership, and the track record to serve as Bowie City Councilmember, District 2. 

Woolfley’s public record of fighting for responsible growth and limited development, with total accountability to citizens of Bowie, warrants your vote. We look forward to working towards his victory, and shaping the future of Bowie together.

We thank the citizens of Bowie for their support thus far. It is important that everyone who signed the recall petition gets behind one candidate, so that the vote is not split. This election is of the utmost importance to the future of our beloved Bowie.

We respectfully ask that you continue to help Save Our City and support Dufour Woolfley on MONDAY, March 12, 2018.

Bowie Voters Will Decide Whether To Recall District 2 Councilmember In Special Recall Election

Tuesday, December 19th

The City of Bowie will hold a special recall election on December 19 for voters of District 2 to determine if Councilmember Diane Polangin should be recalled from office.

City Clerk Awilda Hernandez announced the election today after the City Board of Elections certified that a recall petition presented to the City contained signatures of more than the required 25% of registered voters in District 2.

A recall petition containing 3,032 signatures was presented to the City Clerk on November 6, 2017. Over the last several days, the Board of Elections reviewed all of the signatures against voter rolls, and after disqualifying 44 names, certified that the petition contained more than the 2,659 requisite signatures for a special recall election.

The ballot will contain a single “yes or no” question: “Do you vote to recall from her City elective office District 2 Councilmember Diane Polangin?”

According to provisions in the City Charter, recalling and replacing a recalled Councilmember is a multi-step process. The first step is to gather signatures of at least 25% of the eligible registered voters on a recall petition. If the requisite number of signatures is obtained and certified by the Board of Elections, a special recall election shall take place. If a majority of the voters vote yes on the recall question, the official is removed from office and another special election is held within 60-90 days to fill the vacant position.

The special recall election will take place on December 19, 2017. This will allow time to advertise the election and take care of all the logistics associated with running an election, such as securing polling places and voting machines, and lining up election judges. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters may also cast their vote by absentee ballot if they cannot vote in person on December 19th .

Only registered voters of District 2 (A & B) are eligible to vote in this election. District 2A consists of the following neighborhoods: Belair Town, Bowie Forest, Fairview, Glenridge, Grady’s Walk, Highbridge Park, Meadowbrook (only the streets south and west of Millstream Drive), Somerset, Stewart’s Landing, and Tulip Grove. District 2B neighborhoods include Buckingham, Derbyshire, Forest Hills, Foxhill, Longridge, and Kenilworth. District 2A voters will vote at Community Christian Presbyterian Church on Belair Drive and District 2B voters will vote at the Kenhill Center on Kenhill Drive.

An Amendment Born of Vengeance

The following are Fiona Moodie's remarks to the Bowie City Council on 9.18.2017 regarding the proposed amendment to our City Charter's Recall Provision; an amendment born of vengeance, meant to silence political adversaries, by way of manipulation. 

Full text of the proposed amendment may be found here

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Upon winning your election, each of you swore to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. 

In my capacity as the teacher of an American Government course, I ensure that my students know that you can only fully understand the Constitution through the context provided by the Declaration of Independence. 

The Declaration states: 

“Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness”

It could be said that the American Revolution was the world's biggest recall - King George wasn't listening, and the colonies had had enough - so they acted. 

After 2 years of refusing to listen to your constituents, as you looked at our homes and our city as your personal Monopoly game - we acted. We put forth a historic effort to recall members of this council. Never before had Bowie taken such drastic steps, but never before had there been such dissatisfaction with your representation. 

Simply put, the Charter Amendment Resolution put forth by Ms. Levan is a disgrace. 

It is a slap in the face of the more than 2,300 people who joined our movement, and it is an attempt to silence them. 

More than half of the incorporated cities in Maryland have a Recall Provision - and ours is the most stringent. With only 30 days to collect 25% of the registered voters signatures, you confine us to an impractically short time period and impose and unnecessary burden on Bowie voters. 

Furthermore, should we be successful in a recall effort after the passage of this resolution, we would then be faced with the process of judicial review, which is tantamount to government helping government. 

Would the British courts have sided with American Revolutionaries? Not a chance. Given the opportunity to review it, would King George have found our recall valid? Never.

This amendment does not serve the interests of Bowie Citizens - it provides the council with further opportunities to weasel their way out of the democratic process.

I urge you to vote no on this amendment as submitted - and amend it to benefit the citizens you represent.

Barbara Ballagh - Other Voices Bowie Blade News

From "Other Voices" Bowie Blade News - Thursday, April 13th 2017

To understand what is happening around Bowie, you need to attend the City Council meetings and see how the elected members run the city and do or do not represent us

I had not attended a council meeting in years, until I attended the January meeting for the Market Place Apartments. I was appalled with what I saw and heard.

Not only did the council not listen to the citizen’s and their petition, but they also ignored their traffic study. They completely ignored their own advisory board’s position against the Market Place Apartments. I had to ask “What is going on?”

After that, I attended more meetings to figure out what was happening. It didn’t take long to see that council business is no longer carried out as I remembered.  A lot of their decisions are made prior to the meetings. There are no discussions, the Council members seldom give reasons for their votes, and simple unsupported claims of “good for Bowie” are often stated.

What is going on in Bowie is not limited to the Market Place. This is just one example of the poor representation the Council is providing for the Citizens of Bowie who, elected them as their representatives.

Unconstrained development with unsupportable roads and infrastructure, excessive spending with threats of tax increases, lack of conserving resources (or tax reductions) during times of budget surplus, building a new gym and ice rink, soon-to-come traffic chokers and traffic circle on Belair Drive are other examples where the Council is not listening or soliciting input from the Citizens.

The mayor and the council appear to have become complacent, more so now that their term has been increased to four years. We need to make sure our council remains accountable to us, the people.

The entire council takes an oath to support the Constitution, to which the Bowie City government is an extension. “We the People” in our Constitution are not independent individuals with self-interests or business (to which the Council gives significant attention). The representatives on the City Council should comply with their sworn oath, and represent the citizens of Bowie above their own self-interest.

Since the Council is not doing their job and have failed to uphold their oath, I support the Bowie Recall. This recall is our opportunity to make the Council members accountable to us as they have committed to.

Barbara Ballagh

Bowie

Stan Walker on the Marketplace Apartments

Good morning Madam Chairperson and Members of the Board.

My name is Stan Walker, and I live in Bowie. I have lived in Prince George's County for all of my life. My first 24 years in Hyattsville and the last 41 years in Bowie. 

I graduated from University of Maryland with a degree in Civil Engineering and worked for the U.S. Coast Guard for 42 years before retiring in 2013.

I am here to speak in opposition to the Marketplace Apartments. I would like to indicate that:

1) The Bowie City Planning Director, Mr. Joe Meinert submitted his detailed report...recommending against the proposed project for approximately 300 apartments.

2) The Bowie City Planning Board voted unanimously (7-0) AGAINST the proposal (agreeing with the 150-200 Bowie residents speaking against it) 

3) Unfortunately, the Bowie City Council, in a split vote, voted in favor for the proposal. There was approximately 150 Bowie residents in attendance speaking against the proposal. 

First of all, I would like to "complement" the developer of the new Marketplace Shopping Center on its stores. However, the addition of a 3 to 4 story 225 apartment unit building is absolutely detrimental to the property and the surrounding single family homes, and the City of Bowie in general.

The developer's Traffic Study is extremely flawed. It was done before the Shopping Center completed any of the stores. Now that some, but not all, of the stores are operational...the parking lot in front of the stores is almost at full capacity.

Once all of the stores are operational the shoppers will also need to use the parking lot in the rear of the stores. If the apartments are built, the residents will end up parking on the nearby residential streets causing problems.

At the present time, the access to the Shopping Center is extremely congested on Rt. 450 and Superior Lane and the other streets. (Versus the developer's traffic study that was done before shoppers were using the stores)

*Access in and out of the shopping center is not adequate, much less if the apartments are built.

Kids playing in front of the proposed apartments would be extremely dangerous with tractor trailers and trucks making frequent deliveries.

The effect of a high density apartment building adjacent to the single family home neighborhood is extremely detrimental to the property values of those homes.

The propose high density apartment building is also totally incompatible with the single family neighborhood and would adversely affect the character of Bowie and the density of Bowie . 

Hilltop Shopping Center Residential Development

Bowie City Council denied the owner of Hilltop Shopping Center's application for residential housing when it was re-developed citing a lack of adequate facilities including overcrowded Bowie High School. 

Mayor Robinson on Bowie Town Center Development

In commenting on his victory to the Blade News, Mayor elect Fred Robinson said,

“I’m sure in the South Bowie numbers, the message was (voter’s opposition) to the two shopping centers, the New Town Center regional mall and Amber Ridge”

— Mayor Frederick Robinson (Blade News April 9, 1998)

The Mayor actively campaigned against the unpopular mall development and shortly after his election, he betrayed his voters and voted for Bowie Town Center development.

Melford Letter to the Editor - Deborah Rice

Dear Editor,

As the City election draws near, voters should not forget that eighteen months ago the Mayor and City Council approved the outrageous “Melford Village” plan to shoehorn 2,500 apartments and townhouses into the undeveloped part of the Melford Office Park northeast of Routes 3 and 50. 

Instead of adding more jobs and diversifying the tax base, the plan will bring more traffic and congestion – 14,400 daily car trips from the estimated 5,000-6,000 residents (10% increase in population of the City), seven days a week, 24 hours a day.  It is isolated from the rest of Bowie by two highways and is accessible only by car from a single entrance at Route 3 and Belair Drive. There are no plans for mass transit.  The new residents will cut through residential areas to avoid congestion on Route 3.  In addition, there are environmental impacts on the Patuxent River and the floodplain.

Even more appalling is that our tax dollars are being used to defend this crazy housing development in court!  The City has joined with the developer in opposing a lawsuit brought by citizens challenging the project and who want it scaled back.  This seems to be a secret that has not been shared with the community.  Recall that the City spent taxpayer money on a lawsuit to keep housing OUT of the office park in the mid-2000s!

Now is the time to hold Mayor Robinson and the council members who voted for this monstrosity (Pollangin, Marcos, Gardner, Trouth) accountable for their actions!  Councilman Dennis Brady, who is running for Mayor (in opposition to Robinson), is the only one who presented compelling evidence that the concept was flawed and he opposed it.  It is not smart growth, it is urban sprawl.  Send them a message at the ballot box that Bowie must not be controlled by developers.

Deborah & John Rice

Bowie, MD 20715