Month: October 2010 Page 1 of 3

City’s Crime Stats Show Mixed Results

On October 31, 2010

: Liberati at NCPCA

Prince George’s County Police Department (PGPD)’s new Commander for District 1 Major Robert Liberati was at this month’s NCPCA meeting at Davis Hall. In the meeting, he made a PowerPoint presentation on the recent crime statistics in our city.

The overall result Mr. Liberati presented can be summarized in one word – “mixed“.

Maj. Leberati said that the overall violent crimes against persons, such as homicides, assaults, robberies from 2009 to 2010 have increased 10%, whereas crimes against properties, such as burglaries during the same period have gone down 18.4%. The percentage of changes in crimes against persons and properties from year 2008 to 2009 are -18.8% and -15.2% respectively.

He attributed last year’s rise in violent crimes against persons to an increase in citizen robberies (from 17 to 22) and assaults (34 to 42). He also noted that the number of burglaries, thefts and stolen vehicles have gone down during the past year.

At the end of his presentation, he answered a few questions from the members.

He asked members to notify the Police about any vacant or foreclosed houses, which he said the Police can keep an eye on.
He commented that remotely monitored safety alarm systems may not be always effective, since most burglars know how to disable such systems by disconnecting telephone lines.
He also cautioned against false alarms which may result in fines. He said 97% of alarms are false in nature. He said most of the burglaries are not done in a planned way, thus taking simple precautions may help in avoiding such crimes.
He advised residents to keep a record of their valuable property items’ ID (serial numbers etc.) so that they can be easily recovered should these items end up in pawn shops after thefts.

Education Board Election Guide

By Fazlul Kabir

On October 30, 2010

In Education, Election, Politics

: Peggy Higgins

: Mark Cook

In two days, you’ll get he chance to choose the next representative to the board of education in District 2, which includes College Park. There are two candidates running for this position – both of them are officials working for the City of College Park. I’ve compiled a side-by-side list of their backgrounds and the issues they stand on. Hope you will find them useful to decide who to vote next Tuesday.

	Peggy Higgins	Mark Cook
Education	MA, general administration/state and local govt, Univ MD/Univ College; MA, social work, Catholic University	AA, Miami-Dade Community College; course work, Georgetown University and Catholic University
Occupation	Director, City of College Park Youth, Family and Senior Services	College Park City Councilman; Technology Performance management adviser.
Elected offices / Civic activities	Member and past president, Md Assoc of Youth Services Bureaus Former member, PG Co. Head Start Policy Council Founding member, Lakeland STARS; Member, NAACP; Member, National Federation of Business and Professional Women.	College Park City Council, 2007-10; Board member, Prince George’s Family Crisis Center; Chair, College Park Advisory Planning Commission (zoning board); Past member, College Park’s Committee for a Better Environment; Past co-chair, Public Affairs Group of the Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber of Commerce.
Campaign Focus	Cultivate “schools we have confidence in.” She stressed that parents and families need to have confidence that the schools are going to be able to challenge and educate their children fully.	Work to promote smaller class sizes, fight to maintain current funding and staffing levels, find ways to retain skilled instructors and protect the programs that position the school system for future growth and improvements
Endorsements	The Washington Post Almost every official in District 2 — including Iliff, five of College Park’s seven other council members County Councilman Eric C. Olson (D-Dist. 3) of College Park The District 21 and 22 state legislative delegations	AFL-CIO and officials including state Attorney General Douglas Gansler (D) Chris Nagle, Dist 1, College Park Council member Former District 4 Board of Education member Linda Thornton Thomas
Website	www.electhiggins.org	www.markcook.com

City’s Compost Program To End Soon

By Fazlul Kabir

On October 29, 2010

In Public Works

As the new leaf collection season approaches fast, the City’s Public Works is planning to end the Smart leaf compost program soon.

Smartleaf® compost is also called College Park’s Black Gold by those who have used it. It is rich in nutrients, so it will keep your flowers and grass happy!

The Public works make their deliveries on Thursdays and Fridays. The charges are $18.55 per cubic yard (including tax) and delivery within College Park is $20.00 if we delivery between 1-6 cubic yards, and $30.00 if they deliver between 7-12 cubic yards. You can pay the driver cash (exact change, please), leave a check for the driver to pick up, or you can drop payment off to Public Works, or they can process a credit card payment, whatever is more convenient for you.

Let them also know if you have a specific delivery spot in mind; normally the driver will just back into the driveway as far as possible before unloading the compost; the driver cannot drive across the lawn or unload the compost on the sidewalk or in the street.

Call Stacey King, City’s Department of Public Works Admin. Assist./Recycling Coordinator, if you plan to order compost before the program end. Stacey’s phone numbers are 240-487-3590 (main) and 240-487-3593 (direct).

For more information about the program, please click here on the City’s website.

Charter Amendment Dies at Council

By Fazlul Kabir

On October 27, 2010

In City Council, Politics

The much discussed and debated charter amendment to lower the age for council members to 18 died at last night’s City Council session. Council members voted 6-2 opposing the proposed amendment. District 4 council member Marcus Afzali, the bill’s sponsor and District 1 council member Patrick Wojahn only voted in favor of the bill.

Before the session started at 7:00pm, council member Wojahn sent an email to his constituents announcing that he and Afzali did not want to move further with this ill-fated bill. “Essentially, we realized that the amendment is very unlikely to pass, so we’ve decided not to push it any more. The public hearing will still go forward, because we cannot move to table the amendment until the official meeting at 8 pm.” – wrote Mr. Wojahn.

The Council was about to take another motion to raise the minimum age for council candidacy to 25. Mayor Andy Fellows broke a 4-4 tie to reject District 2 Councilman Bob Catlin’s proposal that no resident younger than 25 be allowed to run for elected office in the city.

More coverages of last night’s debate can be found here in the Diamondback and the Patch.

Ballot Questions for Nov. 2 Election

By Fazlul Kabir

On October 26, 2010

In Election

On November 2nd election, in addition to having your chance to choose a new Governor, a School Board member and other County and State wide officials, you will have the opportunity to vote to approve or disapprove 6 types of borrowing by Prince George’s county.

Typically, the County works with an investment bank, which sells the County’s bonds to investors.

The County must have voter approval to borrow these money. This is the way the County makes long-term investments. Here are those 6 questions. You can vote YES or NO on these ballot questions.

Question A: Public Works and Transportation Facilities (CB-49-2010)
$62,255,000 to finance the design, construction, reconstruction, extension, acquisition, improvement, enlargement, alteration, renovation, relocation, rehabilitation or repair of Public Works and Transportation Facilities (including roads and bridges, parking lots, and maintenance facilities).

Question B: County Building (CB-50-2010)
$25,200,000 to finance the design, construction, reconstruction, extension, acquisition, improvement, enlargement, alteration, renovation, relocation, rehabilitation or repair of County Buildings.

Question C: Library Facilities (CB-51-2010)
$23,606,000 to finance the design, construction, reconstruction, extension, acquisition, improvement, enlargement, alteration, renovation, relocation, rehabilitation or repair of Library Facilities.

Question D: Community College Facilities (CB-52-2010)
$42,227,000 to finance the design, construction, reconstruction, extension, acquisition, improvement, enlargement, alteration, renovation, relocation, rehabilitation or repair of Community College Facilities.

Question E: Public Safety Facilities (CB-53-2010)
$85,835,000 to finance the design, construction, reconstruction, extension, acquisition, improvement, enlargement, alteration, renovation, relocation, rehabilitation or repair of Public Safety Facilities (including Fire Department Facilities).

Question F: Environmental Facilities (CB-54-2010)
$28,675,000 to finance the design, construction, reconstruction, extension, acquisition, improvement, enlargement, alteration, renovation, relocation, rehabilitation or repair of Environmental Facilities.

The Case for an “Underage” Council Member

By Fazlul Kabir

On October 25, 2010

In City Council

The last time when I wrote about the proposed changes to lower the minimum age requirement for our next council candidate, I received an email from one of my neighbors. She wrote:

The brain is not fully developed until you are 25 years old. We should move it to 25 years old not 18. Maybe this explains some of the problems with our council now. YOU THINK?

To support her claim, she also sent me a link to this WikiAnswer webpage, titled “When is a brain fully developed?

I have a lot of respect for this particular neighbor, so I decided to dig a little deeper into this interesting scientific matter. During my search, I came across this Washington Post article that relates the teen crash rate to the brain maturity.

Findings such as this aren’t above criticism. What most scientists agree is that the actual maturity of brains happens at the age of 12, and then the growth slows down heavily until the age of 25, when the brain stops developing completely.

Does it mean that we’ll be taking a risk if we consider 18 as the minimum age of our future council candidates, or as my neighbor said, even 25? As a matter of fact, the District 4 council member Marcus Afzali was elected when he was 24. I wonder if the 73% of people who voted for him knew he only had a semi developed brain because he wasn’t 25 yet?

Frankly speaking, there hasn’t been any solid study showing the risk of having an 18 year old making important decisions. Risky and stupid decisions can come from folks of all ages – be they 18 or 81. It is no wonder why so many old and so-called experienced council members lose their seats for their past acts of stupidity.

But the matter of age is only a small part of opposition against this proposed change. The bigger argument we hear is the “lack of experience”. This is based on the case that an 18 year old is too young to gather enough and necessary knowledge about the city matters.

I’m not quite convinced. Let’s get to the basics.

The tasks of a council member can be divided into two parts. The first part is about sitting in the Council Chamber every Tuesday night and voting on a slew of matters with other council members on the bench. Most of these “matters’ are fairly simple, and one does not need to be a rocket scientist to make a decision on these matters. There are a few issues that might need some studies prior to making decisions on them, but the good thing is that the City sends a packet on those matters to all council members a few days earlier of the council session, so that the members can do their homework. I think young council members would rather quite enjoy such study, which isn’t quite different from their school’s research work that they are quite used to.

The other part of the council work is about serving the constituents. These council members often get calls from the residents they serve. The subjects of these calls can be anything and everything about the neighborhood – crime, electricity, trash collection, street repair – you name it. I’d argue that if someone has the right amount of passion for doing the job, an 18-year-old can do such jobs in a more efficient and timely manner than their older counterparts. We’re talking about a generation who knows how to connect to others on a constant basis. Often times, you will actually find them to be more creative than the older generation in getting in touch with others and addressing problems.

If approved, the 18 yr old requirement won’t be the first in our area, our neighboring Greenbelt and Hyattsville also allow candidates as young as 18. There are numerous countries, such as Germany, Canada, Austria, where an 18 year old can become a candidate for any public office.

I know that not all 18-year-olds will be the same and that not every one will have the same level of smartness and intelligence. But look, before the elections, they will have to come to you, they will have to knock your doors. You will then have plenty of time to get to know where they stand on various city matters, about their I.Q., and yes, maybe the exact stage of their brain development.

Until then, it’s only fair to give them a chance to compete.

[The City Council will have a public hearing on this tomorrow]

Should Thirsty Turtle Be Closed For Good?

By Fazlul Kabir

On October 24, 2010

In News, Police, Public Safety, University of Maryland

After last week’s much publicized news on the stabbing of four students at the downtown’s Thirsty Turtle bar, there have been some serious discussion on any real need to keep that “freshman bar” stay open.

University Police Chief David Mitchell wants Thirsty Turtle shut down – for good. “This is unacceptable,” he said. “This must stop. I’m ready to padlock the Thirsty Turtle tonight.” – said Mr. David Mitchell, the University of Maryland’s police chief, commenting on that incident. Of the four victims in that incident, three were under the legal drinking age.

The bar is facing additional citations for serving alcohol to minors following Tuesday’s stabbing of four young men in College Park.

Even before the incident, the bar has a reputation of serving alcohol to underage students. In the past three years, the Thirsty Turtle has been slapped with $8,000 in fines for liquor code violations. According to the WTOP News, since receiving its liquor license in November 2007, the Thirsty Turtle has been fined twice for violations of county codes. Two other cases are pending against it.

The City Council voted earlier to write a letter in support of Mitchell’s letter to the liquor board.

If you would like to help to their addiction recovery, you can suggest to check out online sites or visit rehab facilities nearby.

The next liquor board general meeting is October 26, 2010 @ 10AM. This is an open hearing and they have several license requests to review. At the end – sometime around 1-2PM, Chief Inspector Norma Lindsey will present the board with information relating to the knife fight a the bar. She will also present Chief Mitchell’s letter to the Commissioners at this time. The Commissioners will decide if there is sufficient evidence for a show cause hearing.

Got Junk? Dump ’em Free, Today!

By Fazlul Kabir

On October 23, 2010

In Environment

Today, the Publics Works Yard will be open to accept bulky trash drop-offs, electronics for recycling, and brush from residents.

Compost and wood mulch will also be available for sale.

In addition, there will be 2 donation groups present to accept clothing and household items (American Rescue Workers), and reusable or surplus building materials (Community Forklift).

Document shredding services will also be available. Residents are encouraged to bring sensitive and confidential information where they can watch it being shredded.

Hours that the yard will be open are – 7:30-11:30 am.

As always, these opportunities are open for City residents only, and proof of City residency is required to participate.

[Source CPDistrict1]

Come Learn How to Save Energy – Tomorrow

By Fazlul Kabir

On October 22, 2010

In Environment

Come learn tomorrow how to cut your energy bill and thus help make College Park a more environmentally friendly community.

The Committee for a Better Environment (CBE) will be hosting an energy workshop tomorrow at the City Hall (4500 Knox Road), where Dollie Banks, PEPCO’s residential program manager, will present information about the compnay’s incentives for making homes more energy-efficient.

Also, David Brosch, home auditor for Green Homes Blue Sky, will speak about how to use a Kill-A-Watt meter, do your own home audit of electrical appliances, and the advantages of doing a full home audit. CBE has purchased four Kill-A-Watt meters for College Park residents to borrow to use in their homes. Come to the workshop to learn how to use it and sign up to borrow one.

The workshop will start at 10am and continue until 12pm. You can register the event free by emailing CPCBEworkshop@gmail.com or calling Elisa Vitale at 301-277-3445

November Election – Early Voting Starts Tomorrow

By Fazlul Kabir

On October 21, 2010

In Election

Starting tomorrow, Friday, October 22, you can cast your November Mid-term election ballots. This opportunity will end on Thursday, October 28. You cannot vote on Sunday, October 24th.

The nearest early voting center in our area is College Park Community Center (5051 Pierce Ave. College Park, MD. 20740). The poll center will be open from 10:00am to 8:00pm. Anyone in line by 8:00pm will be allowed to vote.

If you cannot get to the polls during early voting or on the November 2 General election final day, you can vote by mail! Just follow these easy steps:

STEP 1 – Fill out an absentee ballot aapplication absentee ballot application for 2010 elections (PDF)
STEP 2 – Submit your application by Tuesday, October 26
STEP 3 – You will receive your election ballot in the mail
STEP 4 – VOTE!
STEP 5 – Mail or hand deliver your completed ballot by Tuesday, November 2

If you hand deliver your ballot, you must deliver it to your local board of elections by 8:00 pm.