[RP TownTalk] community center

Fri Sep 29 15:18:29 UTC 2006

Good discussion about a community center.  I like the idea of it being included in 'Dumms Corner' as we already enjoy walking tthere to pick up an ice cream, pizza, milk, or a bottle of wine... or all the above!

  But my question would be: how well are the area community centers, such as College Perk and Berwyn Heights, being utilized?  MNCPPC offers a huge array of classes at various locations, including these.  As residents of this great county we can find just about anything we want within reasonable distance.  We've used the classes for ballet, gymnasitcs, swimming, and others.  There is so much to do in this area, often for free, that it is overwhelming.  What are we lacking?

  My concern would be that we are not repeating, at a great expense to our town, what is already available near by.  If we pursue this matter further, it should be with an eye for specializing in something that can not be found else where, and shrewdly investigating what the other centers offer and what works and doesn't. 

  Thanks
  Nancy Mooney

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Today's Topics:

1. Re: The mayor's proposal for a community center as part of
the ... (ABragg7393 at aol.com)
2. Re: The mayor's proposal for a community center as part of
the ... (ABragg7393 at aol.com)
3. Re: The mayor's proposal for a community center (Iris McLaurin)
4. Re: Mayor and Council Salaries (Rob Oppenheim)
5. Re: Mayor and Council Salaries (Marc Molino)
6. Community Center (Sarah Michailof)

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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 21:40:45 EDT
From: ABragg7393 at aol.com
Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] The mayor's proposal for a community center
as part of the ...
To: gerardkiernan at earthlink.net
Cc: TownTalk at riverdale-park.org
Message-ID: <422.2dc0c580.324c821d at aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

In a message dated 9/27/2006 6:32:36 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
gerardkiernan at earthlink.net writes:

> 
> http://www.ci.riverdale-park.md.us/AboutRiverdalePark/TownGroups/CommCtrStud
> yComm.html
> 
> 

Audrey
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Message: 2
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 21:41:54 EDT
From: ABragg7393 at aol.com
Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] The mayor's proposal for a community center
as part of the ...
To: gerardkiernan at earthlink.net
Cc: TownTalk at riverdale-park.org
Message-ID: <4be.58ff722.324c8262 at aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

In a message dated 9/27/2006 6:32:36 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
gerardkiernan at earthlink.net writes:
Dear Gerry, thank you for all your information. We can always count on you 
to help with the facts.
> 
> http://www.ci.riverdale-park.md.us/AboutRiverdalePark/TownGroups/CommCtrStud
> yComm.html
> 
> 

Audrey
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Message: 3
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 21:48:00 -0400
From: "Iris McLaurin" 
Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] The mayor's proposal for a community center
To: 
Message-ID: <017c01c6e2a0$2139f910$ebeba742 at EGOH>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Mayor Archer,
Please clarify, "new Spiropoulis project?" Are you speaking of the project
for the property across from Dumm's, or project for the old Credit Union
property owned by Mr. Spiropoulis? Thank you.

Iris McLaurin-Southall 

------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 21:53:09 -0400
From: Rob Oppenheim 
Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Mayor and Council Salaries
To: TownTalk 
Message-ID: <200692721539.058444 at Rob2>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

People do not serve on the council for the money. Yet money matters. 
Council members have to be able to afford to dedicate time to the job. 
?
As an example, along with many evenings and weekends, I set aside 
Mondays (all day each week) to work on town issues. 
?
I like to be positive about our town. If I were to be fully honest, I think 
the town is worse off now than 12 years ago, and we are facing serious, 
challenges ahead. The mayor cannot do this alone. A good, creative, 
hard working council is critical to bringing us back and to move us forward. 
?
My proposal is not based on inflation, rather on what it will take to move 
the town forward. I first suggested a cap of $600/month with pay based 
on participation (meaning some would get significantly less). I got shot 
full of holes on that, so I backed off to $450/month. Frankly, I doubt if 
even that will pass. 
?
-Rob
?
P.S. Regarding Inflation and what other towns pay ...
>... So, this would be quite a raise, not simply a Cost of Living adjustment.
True. But not as much as it might look at first glance. Arguably the RP 
council was underpaid in 1995 when it was last changed.
?
Back in 1991, Hyattsville started paying $250/mo. In 2004, College Park 
started paying $367/mo. Adjust their rates for inflation and project to 2007 
and you get about $440/month**. Also consider that these are much larger 
towns and have a lot more staff to support the Mayor and Council. 
(And they have a larger tax base to afford it too).
??
**Any pay change will become effective in 2007, so figure 12 years of inflation 
for RP and 16 years for Hy. I used the Employment Cost Index (ECI) for state 
and local government workers,
Ref: http://www.economagic.com/em-cgi/data.exe/blsec/ecu11113i 
ECI for Hy at 16 years is about 76% = $440, 
ECI for RP at 12 years is about 50% = $300 
ECI for CP at 3.5 years is about 14% = $420.
?
[end]
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Message: 5
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 23:06:53 -0400
From: "Marc Molino" 
Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Mayor and Council Salaries
To: towntalk at riverdale-park.org
Message-ID: 
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

Rob,
Am I correct in the assertion that at least half of the current council 
members also have full-time jobs in addition to their duties on the council? 
I know for me personally, affording time to dedicate to such a job would 
have nothing to do with money and everything to do with simply finding the 
time. It's not as if some extra money replaces the time one might need to be 
spending on other paid work, instead of council duties. I have no issues 
with considering a raise, though I think this would be little incentive to 
create a better council and tieing compensation to participation/performance 
doesn't seem realistic/feasible. Which is why the salary is more like a 
stipend or honorarium--it's a token acknowledgement for the service rendered 
and in no way seems to reflect the amount of blood, sweat, and tears being 
offered.

Out of 6 council members and one mayor--you, Gerry, and Vern are the only 
representatives I consistently see participating on this list and writing 
articles in the Town Crier. That doesn't mean the other council members 
aren't doing anything, it just means that whatever they're doing is not as 
visible (to me personally). Given that it's highly unlikely that any raise 
would be setup based on participation or performance, what is the point of 
the raise?

Again, I'm not against the raise ($300 to $400/month seems reasonable), but 
if you're talking about moving the town forward, it sounds like you're 
asking for greater dedication and participation amongst the citizens and the 
current council members. That's just not something you can buy, nor 
something you can adequately compensate. It is something you can foster and 
I think the increased communication and outreach to the public that this 
council and administration have been doing is building a foundation for 
growth.

I'm not sure I've ever used so many words and yet said so little (sigh).

Sleep beckons,
Marc

From: Rob Oppenheim 
Reply-To: rob.oppenheim at comcast.net
To: TownTalk 
Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Mayor and Council Salaries
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 21:53:09 -0400

People do not serve on the council for the money. Yet money matters.
Council members have to be able to afford to dedicate time to the job.

As an example, along with many evenings and weekends, I set aside
Mondays (all day each week) to work on town issues.

I like to be positive about our town. If I were to be fully honest, I think
the town is worse off now than 12 years ago, and we are facing serious,
challenges ahead. The mayor cannot do this alone. A good, creative,
hard working council is critical to bringing us back and to move us forward.

My proposal is not based on inflation, rather on what it will take to move
the town forward. I first suggested a cap of $600/month with pay based
on participation (meaning some would get significantly less). I got shot
full of holes on that, so I backed off to $450/month. Frankly, I doubt if
even that will pass.

-Rob

P.S. Regarding Inflation and what other towns pay ...
>... So, this would be quite a raise, not simply a Cost of Living 
adjustment.
True. But not as much as it might look at first glance. Arguably the RP
council was underpaid in 1995 when it was last changed.

Back in 1991, Hyattsville started paying $250/mo. In 2004, College Park
started paying $367/mo. Adjust their rates for inflation and project to 2007
and you get about $440/month**. Also consider that these are much larger
towns and have a lot more staff to support the Mayor and Council.
(And they have a larger tax base to afford it too).

**Any pay change will become effective in 2007, so figure 12 years of 
inflation
for RP and 16 years for Hy. I used the Employment Cost Index (ECI) for state
and local government workers,
Ref: http://www.economagic.com/em-cgi/data.exe/blsec/ecu11113i
ECI for Hy at 16 years is about 76% = $440,
ECI for RP at 12 years is about 50% = $300
ECI for CP at 3.5 years is about 14% = $420.

[end]

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------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 20:39:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: Sarah Michailof 
Subject: [RP TownTalk] Community Center
To: towntalk at riverdale-park.org
Message-ID: <20060928033955.57166.qmail at web54401.mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

This idea sounds intriguing. Right off the bat, the community centers that come to my mind are stand alone facilities in the middle of a park or next to a school...I can't think of a community center in a "town center" type of setting. Are there examples of similar public/private development partnerships and how they turned out? Maybe Kennedy Smith can shed light on whether similar things have been done successfully in other towns?

Regarding the 2000 community survey - it is 6 years old now. There are a lot of new residents in my own piece of Riverdale Park (north of E-W Highway, east of US 1). In my own, admittedly narrow hindsight, I've seen increasing interest in community building since I moved here 4 years ago. I know I would have returned the survey, given the chance... : )

I think the idea of a community center is worth revisiting. A community center could foster a presence in the town center during both day and evening hours, if done right, which would really be a boon to revitalization efforts. 

Sarah Michailof

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