"Is it safe? How much will it cost? Who's to blame?"
I hope that you're right, Ms. Ervin. There needs to be "a day of reckoning"--the sooner, the better. However, I'm skeptical that it's going to happen soon for a number of reasons. There are too many folks who don't want "a day of reckoning".
Clearly the builder, engineer and concrete tester don't want "a day of reckoning", for obvious reasons.
Montgomery County has excluded the public during the repair phase. Montgomery County hasn't held public meetings to explain to the public what they are doing. Why are they repairing a flawed, brand new building that the public is paying more-than-retail for? Montgomery County hasn't provided an opportunity for the paying public to ask their questions and to make their comments on the public record. Why? Could it be that Montgomery County has something(s) to hide? Could it be that Montgomery County doesn't want to have to explain to the public why they selected the builder, engineer and concrete tester noncompetitively, instead of bidding the SSTC for construction and selecting the engineer and concrete tester competitively? Could political "contributions" have been involved? Does Montgomery County want to avoid "a day of reckoning"? It appears that they do.
The same can be said for the Federal Transit Administration and the Maryland Transit Administration. Why haven't they protected the interests of the paying public by insisting that the public be provided the opportunity to speak on the public record? After all, 53% of the funding for the SSTC are federal funds and 11% are Maryland state funds. Could it be that FTA and MTA have something(s) to hide and don't want "a day of reckoning" either? Perhaps the FTA & MTA don't want to answer why the SSTC wasn't bid for construction (standard practice for public works projects), and why the engineering and concrete testing firms were selected noncompetitively also, as part of a public-private partnership. Perhaps they don't want to have to explain to the paying public how the SSTC public-private partnership has benefitted them.
It also appears to me that, for whatever reason(s), the news media doesn't want "a day of reckoning" either. Instead of covering this story like Watergate, asking "probing questions" and reporting "in-depth", the news media (print, TV, radio, internet) generally publishes Montgomery County press releases and public statements without reporting "in-depth" or asking "probing questions". Whatever their reasons, the news media haven't helped to expedite "a day of reckoning" for the SSTC, like they did with Watergate.
Finally, I don't share your optimism, Ms. Ervin, about voters. I don't see people "up in arms" the way that you describe. When you search "Silver Spring Transit Center" on the internet, most all of what you see are news media reports that parrot Montgomery County's press releases and public statements. VERY few others appear to be challenging Montgomery County. They should be; but, it doesn't appear to me that they are.
Regardless, I agree with you, Ms. Ervin. There needs to be "a day of reckoning"; and, the sooner, the better; because there are things about the Silver Spring Transit Center that "don't pass the smell test".
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