[RP TownTalk] HB 927 (PG/MC 119-08

Mon Feb 11 02:29:00 UTC 2008

I've put the email list into a format that can be copy/pasted into your "To"
field:

Ben.Barnes at house.state.md.us;Joanne.Benson at house.state.md.us;aisha.braveboy@
house.state.md.us;Dereck.Davis at house.state.md.us;Barbara.Frush at house.state.m
d.us;Tawanna.Gaines at house.state.md.us;Melony.Griffith at house.state.md.us;Anne
.Healey at house.state.md.us;Marvin.Holmes at house.state.md.us;Carolyn.Howard at hou
se.state.md.us;James.Hubbard at house.state.md.us;Jolene.Ivey at house.state.md.us
;Gerron.Levi at house.state.md.us;Doyle.Niemann at house.state.md.us;Joseline.Pena
.Melnyk at house.state.md.us;James.Proctor at house.state.md.us;Victor.Ramirez at hou
se.state.md.us;Justin.Ross at house.state.md.us;Veronica.Turner at house.state.md.
us;kris.valderrama at house.state.md.us;Joseph.Vallario at house.state.md.us;Micha
el.Vaughn at house.state.md.us;Jay.Walker at house.state.md.us;David.Harrington at se
nate.state.md.us;Ulysses.Currie at senate.state.md.us;Nathaniel.Exum at senate.sta
te.md.us;Thomas.V.Mike.Miller at senate.state.md.us;Anthony.Muse at senate.state.m
d.us;Douglas.Peters at senate.state.md.us;
Paul.Pinsky at senate.state.md.us;james.rosapepe at senate.state.md.us;mmbland at co.
pg.md.us;WACampos at co.pg.md.us; SHDean at co.pg.md.us;
TEDernoga at co.pg.md.us;CAExum at co.pg.md.us;TKnotts at co.pg.md.us;
EOlson at co.pg.md.us;IMTurner at co.pg.md.us 

I did an internship at a senator's office.  They count every email and/or
letter as 700 votes to account for those who agree but didn't take the time.
I am hopeful that this imjustice can be prevented before it is taken out of
our hands.

Sue Lews 

-----Original Message-----
From: towntalk-bounces at riverdale-park.org
[mailto:towntalk-bounces at riverdale-park.org] On Behalf Of
towntalk-request at riverdale-park.org
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 6:02 PM
To: towntalk at riverdale-park.org
Subject: TownTalk Digest, Vol 19, Issue 7

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

Message: 11
Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 17:48:03 -0500
From: Alan Thompson and Sarah Wayland <twacks at his.com>
Subject: [RP TownTalk] ACTION ALERT: PG Delegates Propose Taking
	Citizen Rights away to help Developers
To: TownTalk <towntalk at riverdale-park.org>
Message-ID: <E70D9DAE-B118-4E38-8D88-773DF473FDD3 at his.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed

We just got this message. Don't like the liquor store idea? You'd better
contact your state delegates and make sure you can have a voice on things
like this in the future!

-Sarah

-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Boone [mailto:robert at anacostiaws.org]
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 6:04 PM
Subject: FW: PG Delegates Propose Taking Citizen Rights away to help
Developers - Alert your civic Associations -

WEB DEMOCRACY:  Protect your rights to have a say in how developers alter
the landscape in your community:  THIS IS HOT!!  Call your Delegates in
Montgomery and Prince Georges and ask them to vote NO on HB 927.

Pass this on > >  >

Robert E. Boone
Anacostia Watershed Society
301-699-6204
robert at anacostiaws.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Eri Maren [mailto:eri.maren at hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 11:25 AM
To: jascourt at umich.edu
Subject: PG Delegates Propose Taking Citizen Rights away to help Developers
- Alert your civic Associations -
Importance: High

PG Delegates Propose Taking Citizen Rights away to help Developers - Alert
your civic Associations - Demand your Delegates Vote NO!

The PG Delegation has a new bill - HB 927 (PG/MC 119-08) - that will take
away citizens rights to appeal zoning decisions of the County Council. The
bill will put back into law a requirement that citizens appealing zoning
cases be "aggrieved" in order to have "standing". This requirement was
removed years ago because it kept citizens from being able to appeal zoning
cases. Aggrievement means that to appeal, you have to be able to literally
SEE the property being developed or rezoned from your property. Courts have
been very tough on citizens about being aggrieved.

The PG law was changed years ago so that the political deals between the
developers and the County Council would have to stand up in court. HB
927 will mean that bad deals can be kept from judicial scrutiny.

HB 927 was slipped in quietly at the last minute without public input!
"Introduced and read first time: February 6, 2008"

Find it: http://mlis.state.md.us/2008RS/bills/hb/hb0927f.pdf

Developers are mad because citizens keep filing lawsuit against their dirty
deals that change the rules in the zoning ordinance to allow them to avoid
the existing zoning laws. Developers and the County Council keep succeeding
in getting citizen suits thrown out of court because the courts cannot agree
on the correct means of filing an appeal of a "text amendment".

Delegate Proctor has a bill - HB 935 (PG/MC 117-08) - that makes clear that
text amendments are illegal and provides a clear rule on filing a lawsuit.
Developers are afraid of this bill because it will stop their dirty deals.
When the PG Delegation held its hearing last November, more citizens
testified in favor of this bill than any other!

HOWEVER, HB 935 locked up in the PG County "Bi-County" Committee because the
Chair is protecting the developers.

A pro-citizen bill with a lot of support at a PUBLIC hearing is bottled up,
but a secret bill for developers slides in without a public hearing!

Find it: http://mlis.state.md.us/2008RS/billfile/hb0935.htm

Write your delegates and demand honest government. Write your County Council
member and demand that they oppose HB 927.

Stand up for STANDING and tell your Delegates HB 927 Aggrieves your
community!

If HB 927 passes, YOU LOSE!

Contacts (I've put stars next to representatives for Riverdale Park):

Ben.Barnes at house.state.md.us
Joanne.Benson at house.state.md.us
aisha.braveboy at house.state.md.us
Dereck.Davis at house.state.md.us
Barbara.Frush at house.state.md.us
* Tawanna.Gaines at house.state.md.us
Melony.Griffith at house.state.md.us
* Anne.Healey at house.state.md.us
Marvin.Holmes at house.state.md.us
Carolyn.Howard at house.state.md.us
James.Hubbard at house.state.md.us
Jolene.Ivey at house.state.md.us
Gerron.Levi at house.state.md.us
Doyle.Niemann at house.state.md.us
Joseline.Pena.Melnyk at house.state.md.us
James.Proctor at house.state.md.us
Victor.Ramirez at house.state.md.us
* Justin.Ross at house.state.md.us
Veronica.Turner at house.state.md.us
kris.valderrama at house.state.md.us
Joseph.Vallario at house.state.md.us
Michael.Vaughn at house.state.md.us
Jay.Walker at house.state.md.us

David.Harrington at senate.state.md.us
Ulysses.Currie at senate.state.md.us
Nathaniel.Exum at senate.state.md.us
Thomas.V.Mike.Miller at senate.state.md.us
Anthony.Muse at senate.state.md.us
Douglas.Peters at senate.state.md.us
* Paul.Pinsky at senate.state.md.us
james.rosapepe at senate.state.md.us

mmbland at co.pg.md.us
WACampos at co.pg.md.us
SHDean at co.pg.md.us
TEDernoga at co.pg.md.us
CAExum at co.pg.md.us
TKnotts at co.pg.md.us
* EOlson at co.pg.md.us
IMTurner at co.pg.md.us