Candidate Question Four: How Will You Unite East, West and Center?

Patch posed five questions to the . We will publish their answers in separate posts. Candidates were asked to answer in 200 words or less.

Question 4: How do you plan to make the three areas of Greenbelt — East, West and Center — more united?

: We need to find more ways to connect. This includes communication, transportation and shared activities. Much is already happening, but the efforts need to continue and expand. We need to make Greenbelt more visible. We need “Welcome to Greenbelt” signs at our borders.

Some of our new residents may not know they live in Greenbelt and what that means for them as citizens. It gives them the right to vote for their city leaders and to take advantage of city services. The new welcome to Greenbelt packet is helping address this. We should continue to provide information about city services, organizations and businesses and add transportation options, bus schedules and maps to help people see how they can get from one area of the city to another.  

We have special events in all areas of the city. We need promotion to encourage people to attend them. I have suggested an event that ties all these areas together – a three lake walk that goes by the lakes at Franklin Park, Buddy Attick Park and Schrom Hills. This will be a physical and visible demonstration that we are all part of Greenbelt. I’m please that it will be a 75^th anniversary activity. 

: Transportation is a key factor. The city's environmental sustainability advisory committee is working to assure that a circulator and transportation improvements will be part of its sustainability proposal to the city for its adoption.  

Providing greater opportunities in the arts and recreation would help address the inequities.

Enhance trail opportunities in Greenbelt East; explore more opportunities for service offerings in Schrom Park.

Working with volunteer efforts to assure that the welcome wagon concept can effectively attract more volunteers and increase awareness of the enriching opportunities in recreation, the arts, and social services for kids, adults and seniors alike.

Sustain police coverage of the Spellman Overpass to assure safe access from Greenbelt East to Old Greenbelt.

Continue to pursue funding for Greenbelt Lake dredging; resolve the jurisdictional responsibility for maintenance of the lake/pond in Greenbelt East.

As part of a long range plan, a bridge over Greenbelt Road, to provide safe access between the divided Greenbelt East; explore how walkers, joggers, and bicyclists could more easily and safely get from "Old" Greenbelt to Franklin Park.

: Pave over with a green roof 495, 295, 202 and 193; a literal bridge over troubled roads. The core of Greenbelt is the original “old town.” As Greenbelt and other peripheral towns are to the District of Columbia, Greenbelt’s periphery from Good Luck to the tracks is to “old town” downtown Greenbelt. We can tighten the connectivity and increase the walkability by increasing the transit-ability; Greenbelters should be encouraged to center our activity in our Center (which would benefit from some redevelopment) and which Center would benefit residents more with public ownership of the physical plant.

: My campaign slogan since 1993 has been “Committed to Community.” Being a Greenbelt East resident, but active in many Greenbelt committees and activities, I was aware that inequities existed between the three sectors of Greenbelt. I was determined then, and still am, to remove barriers that prevented full participation by all our citizens and to spread city services and events throughout Greenbelt.

Communication and transportation are instrumental to this being accomplished. Council has worked over the years to improve these areas. The city now has a quarterly newsletter mailed to all residences, a website, and a policy that banners announcing events are put up in all three neighborhoods. Major city-sponsored events do occur in all parts of the city. However, what is needed are consistent, dependable modes of transportation so that all our citizens can reach the wealth of social, cultural and recreational programs available currently in Center Greenbelt. Another way to approach this is to provide expanded city facilities in Greenbelt West and East.

One area that I worked to adjust was police coverage to meet the change in current crime trends in Greenbelt. The resultant decrease in the crime rate throughout Greenbelt indicates progress in this area. 

: There are a number of things we can do to promote a deeper sense of connection between the neighborhoods of Greenbelt.  Two areas the city should focus on are better transportation and on the equitable citywide distribution of services and programs.

Greenbelt has grown over the years, but the best access to programs & services remains in historic Greenbelt. Resources for public safety, recreation programming, social services and cultural programs must be distributed throughout the city. The lack of civic involvement by citizens in Greenbelt West may be a reflection of the lack of access to city amenities.

Improved transportation alternatives and more convenient access to city services and amenities may help. The future vitality of Greenbelt in the Washington, DC metropolitan area is tied to our ability to find solutions to our internal and external transportation problems. Improving the ease and cost of traveling within the sections of Greenbelt may increase property values in all neighborhoods throughout the city. I will continue to work to create a circulator bus that can provide convenient, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly transportation between the various neighborhoods of the city and to the metro stations, seven days a week.

: For my entire 20 years on the council, I have consistently pushed for the equitable distribution of resources across Greenbelt. I haven’t just paid lip service; I put my vote where my mouth is. For example, I was the only council member to vote to maintain funding for the Springhill Lake Recreation Center expansion. Instead, those funds went to other city projects. I have been a proponent of the police substations in Greenbelt East and Greenbelt West. I have proposed neighborhood police officers dedicated to each community, and I will continue to do so. I have supported traffic calming measures throughout the city. I was able to secure $648,000 in Open Space funds to purchase the Sunrise Property, now a 10-acre forest preserve in Greenbelt East. I have consistently voted to increase the budget of Greenbelt CARES, Greenbelt’s social services organization that supports families in need across the city. And I have been a proponent of better public transportation opportunties that would help connect different areas of the city.

: A sense of unity and connectedness is extremely important for people to feel that they are part of or belong to a group. In Greenbelt, with highways crisscrossing and dividing our city, it can be quite challenging to create a unified Greenbelt.  But as a city, we work very hard to unite all parts of Greenbelt. We have a City of Greenbelt website, a local cable TV channel (Comcast #71, Verizon #21) and a city newspaper, the Greenbelt News Review, which all serve as major outlets for disseminating information about our services, programs and events. Community forums and events are held periodically to both collect information and concerns and to inform the public about topics such as safety, services and quality of life issues. Several of the city council's advisory boards often work directly with our residents helping to find out their needs and what new programs are required. All of this is directed at making our residents feel like they are a part of the city irrespective of address. As a city, we work diligently to treat every resident equally and to unify Greenbelt. The best way we can do this in our city is through communication.

: I have felt this issue more than anyone because I was the first council member elected from Greenbelt East, and because I have lived in all three areas of Greenbelt.

In the 2009 election, we finally reached what I consider a satisfactory political balance between East and Center. Three of the council’s seven seats are now held by Greenbelt East residents, and the Council has minority representation for the first time. That also contributes to a more united city because both East and West have higher percentages of minorities. I was the one council member who used that election campaign to urge voters to elect a minority member.

I have been a leading advocate for major changes in Greenbelt West. The vast majority of Franklin Park (formerly Springhill Lake) residents are renters, who understandably don’t have a long-term interest in Greenbelt, and few vote in city elections. Much of the answer is to look forward to the new residents in proposed Metro area projects and persuade the owners of Franklin Park to incorporate more owned housing, thus creating a core of residents with a long-term interest in Greenbelt and making a council member from Greenbelt West more likely.