At what point is Montgomery County going to stop trying to ram the severely flawed Silver Spring Transit Center down our throats and accept its responsibility to the public? Explain to the public why you believe that the SSTC is safe despite its MANY flaws (e.g., a 3-inch thick piece of concrete that fell from the SSTC that is attributed to voids in the concrete, NUMEROUS cracks, slabs more than an inch thinner than they're supposed to be, exposed reinforcement, missing reinforcement, understrength and overstressed concrete, under-designed beams, lack of expansion joints, etc.). Explain why you selected Foulger-Pratt to build the SSTC, Parsons Brinkerhoff to design it and Balter Company to inspect and test the concrete and to serve as special quality inspector. Were political contributions part of the selection process? Explain why the SSTC wasn't bid for construction as has been standard practice for decades. Explain Montgomery County's view of its responsibility to the public (all 50 states and the District of Columbia) for its use of federal funds for this project. Explain why Montgomery County continues to push ahead with construction without answering the public's questions.
Public hearings/meetings are held for even small re-zonings and road projects. If a doctor wants to open a small family practice at a location that's not zoned for that use, then a public hearing must be held for the public to ask questions and have their comments recorded on the record. If the County wants to make improvements to a dangerous intersection with federal funds, then a public hearing is required so that the public can ask questions and have their comments recorded on the record (at least that's the way that it used to be). But, the County presses on with repairs to the seriously flawed Silver Spring Transit Center, that THOUSANDS will use every day, without a single meeting to explain to the public what they're doing and why, to take the public's questions and comments, and to record on the record the County's responses to the public's questions and comments.
Formal meetings provide the public with an opportunity to review the project, ask questions and have their comments recorded for the record. More than half the funding for the severely flawed SSTC is federal aid. Montgomery County should be holding a series of formal public meetings that will allow the public to ask questions and to provide their comments. For a costly project (that we're paying for) that has severe structural flaws, with public safety as well as future (maintenance) cost implications, we at least deserve a public forum where we can ask our questions and have them, and the answers provided, made part of the public record.
SPEAK OUT! If you're a Montgomery County resident, then tell your representative on the County Council that you want NO MORE construction on the SSTC until public hearings are held where you and your fellow Montgomery County residents can be briefed on the project by County staff, have yours and your neighbors' questions answered and have the County's answers to yours and your neighbors' questions recorded ON THE PUBLIC RECORD.
If you're not a Montgomery County resident, then tell your US representatives in Congress (1 House and 2 Senate) that you want NO MORE of YOUR MONEY (federal aid) going to the SSTC until there's a FULL, INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION of how YOUR MONEY has been used/misused on the SSTC. Tell your representatives that you want NO MORE construction on the SSTC until an INDEPENDENT investigation is complete, made public and ALL of the public's questions and comments have been recorded and answered ON THE PUBLIC RECORD.
SPEAK OUT! Don't let Montgomery County ram the SSTC down our throats!
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