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Politics & Government

City Council's Inaction On Most of the Junction Task Force's Proposals Elicits Disappointment

The task force wants the council to take action.

The Takoma Park City Council extended the term of the Junction Task Force until Jan. 31, 2012, but some task force member are disappointed the council did not act on other recommendations that it said are needed to produce its final report, so it is drafting a letter asking for action on those proposals.

Task force members made a presentation to the council on Sept. 19, at which it asked for the panel to be extended though January 2012, which the council did. However, that was not the only recommendation the task force—which met Tuesday evening—sought action on by the council. The other recommendations sought were:

  • Schedule a work session for consideration of the full task force report after the new council is seated.
  • Consult city staff (deputy city manager, housing and community development director, police chief, public works director and senior planner) for feedback, feasibility assessment, and report refinement through October and November.
  • Work with the staff on the design and planning of a flexible-use community and business space for the city lot.
  • Pursue with the city staff, the council and other officials, strategy regarding the State Highway Administration relationship.
  • Participate with official standing, in an anticipated January council work-session.

The council has charged the task force with producing a report that identifies “both long- and short-term opportunities” for the “redevelopment and revitalization” of the junction area with action recommendations to be submitted to the council by September 30. However, the report’s current condition “is not in a state where we can hand it in by September 30,” said Task Force Co-Chair Seth Grimes, who added that because he is a candidate for the city council’s Ward 1 seat he will relinquish the position of co-chair by the end of September.

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To increase action on the report by the panel’s members, Grimes has merged all the sections produced so far by the task force members into a single document that the members are to use for revisions. That eliminates the possibility of different versions of the report floating around and creates a place where the panel members can edit, or revise the sections they are responsible for.

Using that system, the task force needs to conclude the report soon with the goal of holding “small group meetings” with key city staff through November, Grimes said. There would then be some preparation to present the report to the council in January, and to do that, “the task force needs to get the collaboration of key city staff,” he said.

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However, “there was no reaction from the council, there was discussion, but there was no direction from the council to staff about” the other recommendations, he said. “The council chose (to act on) the low hanging fruit here, which is the extension of the task force,” he added.

In response, Task Force member Kay Daniels-Cohen offered to draft a letter to Mayor Bruce Williams and all the council members asking they “take this action now,” which the panel approved.

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