the Silver Spring Transit Center and fooling most of the people

Updated
7/18/14

In the shadow of his memorial, the immortal words of our revered 16th president ring true. 

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”

No, not those words. These words: 

“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

That’s exactly what’s happened with the Silver Spring Transit Center. Blame it on government "spin", lazy, inept news media, a gullible and/or apathetic public, or all four; most “all of the people” have been fooled into believing Montgomery County’s  unchallenged press releases and public statements concerning the lemon Silver Spring Transit Center.

At the top of the list are the often-repeated statements by Montgomery County officials that "the SSTC will absolutely be safe.”  Since no one can predict the future, this one should be a no-brainer. Yet most ”all of the people" have bought into Montgomery County's nonsensical statement "the SSTC will absolutely be safe" hook, line and sinker.

Also, because of often-repeated and well-publicized statements by Montgomery County officials, most “all of the people" have also been fooled into believing that Montgomery County bears no responsibility for the lemon SSTC. Montgomery County’s executive, council, and staff, their paid consultant, KCE, their pro bono experts, and Montgomery County's IG would have us believe that it’s all the fault of the SSTC’s builder/contractor, Foulger Pratt, engineer/designer, Parsons Brinkerhoff, and concrete inspector/tester and special quality consultant, Balter Company.  Again, a no-brainer. 
Whose project is the lemon SSTC? 
Montgomery County's.
Who has responsibility to inspect and approve all construction in the County?
Montgomery County. 
Who had a full-time construction management team of County employees on site during construction? 
Montgomery County. 
Who had other County employees periodically inspect the work? 
Montgomery County. 
Last, but not least, who selected Foulger Pratt to build the SSTC, Parsons Brinkerhoff to design it, and Balter Company to inspect and test concrete? 
Montgomery County.

And then there are repairs to the brand new, yet-to-be-opened, lemon SSTC. Repairs?!? The people were promised a brand new, unflawed, transit center, not a flawed, repaired one. Another no-brainer. And, the repairs that Montgomery County are making (latex concrete overlay and exterior reinforcement for under-designed beams) don't even address the source of the cracking: the 315 ft. x 580 ft. lemon SSTC's complete lack of expansion joints. Standard design and construction practice requires expansion joints for structures exposed to temperature changes. WMATA design and construction standards, to which the SSTC was supposed to have been designed and constructed, require expansion joints to be spaced no farther than 100 ft. apart. The SSTC has none! Small wonder that it's cracked! That it will continue to crack without expansion joints is another no-brainer. 

Holy moly! The $130+ million SSTC is a lemon--pure and simple--a no-brainer!

Yes, President Lincoln, you're correct. 
“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

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UPDATE
7/18/14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4hj_tbjITo
Is there a reporter in the house? ANY reporter in the houise who will ask Mr. Leggett:

• why Montgomery County is making repairs to the yet-to-be-opened, severely flawed SSTC when the public was promised a BRAND NEW, UNFLAWED transit center?
• why Montgomery County chose Foulger Pratt to build the SSTC (instead of bidding it for construction, like most public works projects)?
• Why Montgomery County chose Parsons Brinkerhoff to design the SSTC rather than use the normal competitive process for selecting an engineer for a public works project?
• Why Montgomery County chose Balter Company to inspect and test concrete instead of using the normal competitive process for selecting a concrete testing company for a public works project?
• Were political "contribution$" part of the selection process?
• Whatever happened to the promise that you made to get an account set up, funded by the private companies who are responsible for the SSTC's flaws, to pay for repairs to the SSTC?

There are many, MANY, more questions that could be asked where honest answers to them would shed more light on the SSTC debacle; but, there isn't a reporter anywhere in the region who will ask them. 

Where are you, Woodward & Bernstein, when we need you???

What news media haven't reported is the rest of the iceberg.