Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1952-01-17
Clarksburg

members.
The inference was that you de .
sired truly representative commit
tees from which your Commission
might secure in advance, the infor-
nation outlined in the second para
graph of your letter of October 10,
1861, as follows:
The main functions of these
groups will be threefold:' (The
capitals are ours) (A) To STUDY
comprehensive planning so as to
be able to make informed EVALU-
ALTON of planning proposals af-
fecting Montgomery County and
the region Of which it is a part;
"(B) To ADVISE the Upper
Montgomery County Planning
Commission relative to the needs
of each portion Of the County and
to REVIEW plans prepared by the
Commission; and
"(C) To ASSIST the work of the
Commission by collecting informa-
ton and data required for various
planning studies"
The above stated aims were most
commendable and if followed as
stated would furnish accurate and
unbiased information IF the Com
msttee members were truly repre-
sentative and not selected to rub
Der stamp approval on all propos-
ais submitted to it.
In your letter of October 10, you
stated, The County Council has
given its Official approval to thus
program and it is hoped that the
first meeting of each committee
can be held early in December"
This being the case, why should
the names be submitted to the
County Council, and why should
your Commission make tentative
submitted?" (See your letter of
January 100 There were no "nom-
nations" and there was nothing
in your original request to indi-
cate that the names submitted
were to be subject to review by
any other body than the group
submitting them. 1t is conceivable
that some of the persons allowing
their names to be used would not
have done so under such conditions
which might limit the use of their
honest judgement, and would most
certainly depart from your stated
aims. All names submitted pre-
sumably carried the permission of
the persons named and the delay
IN organization of the Committee
creates suspicion that certain
stipulations may have been in
imposed or implied before an
n0uncement.
In the case of this Association,
one pane only was approved by
the Association, as our member
ship covered only one election dis
trict. We note with surprise that
and have appointed six members
from this district, only one of
whom is member of this Associa-
ton, but who was NOT selected
BY it. We are not aware what cor
CARNATIONS" the other five repre-
sent, if any, and we are at loss
to understand how they were sell
ected in the light of your state
ments in your letter of October 10,
which plan you stated had been
approved by the Council. The pro-
cedure reminds us of the methods
used by the political organizations
Of whom the Charter movement
has been so critical.
Quoting from your letter of
January 10, 1852, last paragraph:
"The Planning Commission has
been revising the subdivision reg
ulations, Incorporating many of the
suggestions received concerning
them. AS soon as this is complete,
the Commission will consider
means of consulting with various
organizations and individuals to
obtain their viewpoints before
submitting the regulations to the
County Council"
This is interesting but somewhat
belated information in view of the
fact that q news release of Nov
ember %, 1861, in Maryland
News" of your Commission stated
that drastic changes would be
made and that the ideas of the
OPPONENTS would be weighed
prior to preparation of new regu-
lations.
Here is where your proposed
Citizens Planning Committee could
function if permitted to do so BE-
FORE rather than AFTER a new
set Of regulations were prepared,
always assuming, of course, that
the Commission is interested in
determining public sentiment in
advance. In this connection, we re-
fer you to our open letter dated
October 8, 1851, and in our answer
to yours of October ~, published
October 20, 1851.
Permit us to suggest a plan
whereby you could secure definite
information as to the sentiment
and also constructive suggestions