Vote Tom Rowse For Gaithersburg City Council

My Opinions
 

Gaithersburg has no plan
http://www.gazette.net/article/20111026/OPINION/710269511/1014/gaithersburg-has-no-plan&template=gazette

Gaithersburg deserves better - Page 14
http://www.towncourier.com/2011/G3/pdf/TCGThree0611Web.pdf

Historic designation for Severance House could be problematic
http://www.gazette.net/stories/01262011/montlet192810_32544.php

Gaithersburg's branding blunder
http://www.gazette.net/stories/06162010/montlet174815_32556.php

Attack on Olde Towne Advisory Committee
http://www.gazette.net/stories/11112009/montlet175824_32533.shtml

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Gaitherburg has no plan
By Tom Rowse, published in The Gazette, October 26, 2011, page A17

Over the past four years, I have watched the Gaithersburg city council be ineffective. I believe its lack of leadership is to blame. This lack is demonstrated by the absence of a vision, framework and goal structure to lead the city out of its current situation. Money is being thrown at problems.

For example, $2 million has been set aside for “economic development” but no plan for spending it has been created. The council is thirsty for someone to lead. In the past year, the council hired an outside consultant for assistance, yet the consultant reported the same issues as different business groups and city committees have been warning about for years. The consultant’s findings, from April 2011, is the only report filed under “Economic and Business Development” on the city’s website page for “Forms and Documents,” confirming there is no plan.

There have been a few groundbreaking ceremonies in the past few months. However, the projects that these ceremonies launched were planned by previous councils, not by the current council. The one exception is Hidden Creek, whose viability was brought about because of the expansion of the Enterprise Zone, which I, other committee members and business leaders pushed the council into approving.

In fact, the current council is caught up in conflicting agendas. For example, the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance passed by the current council has triggered a residential building moratorium in nearly two-thirds of the city. The growth of our city will be stagnated if we continue to lose development projects to Rockville and other parts of Montgomery County due to short-sightedness and conflicting agendas of the council.

Finally, after 16 months, a new director of economic development has been hired. His priority should be to repair the ever-growing rift that has developed between the city and businesses, which will continue to negatively affect job retention and job creation should he and the council fail.

I welcome the opportunity to provide the strong leadership that this city needs and deserves so we can return to our citizens a quality of life for which Gaithersburg was once known and admired.


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Reactive Leadership
By Tom Rowse, published in the Town Courier, May 21, 2010, page 4

I have been patiently observing the Mayor and City Council of Gaithersburg for nearly three years now and have come to understand that nearly every decision
made by this body is a knee jerk reaction.

Specifically, they have:

• reacted to the budget shortfall by proposing an unprecedented 5 cent increase in property tax (the first increase in 45 years);

• reacted to falling revenues with a nickel and dime solution — proposing to increase membership fees by 180 percent, paid by seniors who use the Gaithersburg Upcounty Senior Center because the county has reduced funding for the center;

• reacted to the name of the Gaithersburg West area of • Science City and have succeeded in having it renamed to the Great Seneca Science Corridor, thus removing the name of “Gaithersburg” from the biggest bioscience initiative in the world;

• reacted to economic development problems by proposing to throw $2 million towards them without a plan or the personnel to make it happen; and

• reacted to a structural deficit of their own making after burying their collective heads in the sand over the increased spending and revenue shortcomings over the last three years.

The problem of the current budget shortfall has been readily apparent since 2008. In this time the Mayor and Council could have been proactive and made immediate changes. Instead they continued to freely spend taxpayer dollars, and now we must suffer for their shortsightedness by having our property taxes raised by over 20 percent.

As for economic development, the $2 million proposed to be set aside in the new budget without a plan for its use once again shows the Mayor and Council have no long-term vision for the city. Does the job description of the economic development position that goes along with the $2 million include thinking for the City Council and mayor, too? Obviously, they haven’t come up with any original ideas to get Gaithersburg back on track and must realize they need help.

Here’s an idea: Maybe they could pay the county out of this fund to get Gaithersburg back in the name of the Great Seneca Science Corridor. Silly as it sounds, at least then we will know that this money will be spent wisely.