Baltimore Red Line Underground

We recently received a copy of Senator George Della’s recent letter to Governor O’Malley. Click here to read and enjoy. Senator Della – thank you for being a staunch and honest supporter of the community.

For those who prefer to read it in plain text, it’s copied below.

July 31, 2009

The Honorable Martin O’Malley

Governor

State House

100 State Circle

Annapolis, MD 21401

Dear Governor O’Malley:

I was notified yesterday, July 30, 2009, by your office that you will be at the West Baltimore MARC station on Tuesday, August 4^th at 10:15 a.m. to announce your decision on the Red Line.  Before you take any action, please take into consideration the homeowners in Canton.  Please remember these are the people we wanted to come and/or remain in the City.  We spent millions of dollars improving Boston Street for these residents.

Keep in mind that I, along with the residents of Canton, support public transportation.  Their concern is that the Red Line is proposed to be built above ground through their neighborhood.  The residents are not a bunch of NIMBYs.  All they want is for the Red Line to go underground at least as far as the Clarence “Du” Burns Arena.

Granted, there have been public meetings supposedly for public input.  The residents have left those meetings with the worst impressions of how our government conducts public business.  The most blatant example was at the last meeting of the Citizen’s Advisory Council held at Holy Rosary Church on July 9, 2009.  The meeting included opportunities for comments by elected officials and for comments by the public.  We were advised near the end of the meeting that, in fact, the opportunity for public comment on the Red Line had closed in December, 2008.  For the life of me, I don’t understand why the meeting was held in the first place.  Many of the residents were called by your office and informed that the meeting was to take place.  Needless to say, everyone left the meeting with the worst of impressions.  You even had an employee of yours, Ashley Valis, from your Intergovernmental Affairs office in attendance. No one there knew who she was or who she worked for other than me.

The Honorable Martin O’Malley

July 31, 2009

Page two

There have also been concerns expressed to me regarding Mr. Henry Kay, Project Manager of the Red Line. Mr. Henry Kay is on loan from the Greater Baltimore Committee, which has left everyone with the impression he is their agent.

The minutes of the Citizen’s Advisory Council meetings are posted on the internet at baltimoreredline.com/citizens-advisory-council.  To date, a copy of the minutes of the July 9^th meeting has yet to be posted.  I can only conclude that the employees of MTA who coordinate the meetings are having an impossible task of finding the words to describe the meeting.

I have spoken to members of the Citizen’s Advisory Council during this process and they have told me that they really never had any choices regarding the Red Line.  It turned out to be an exercise in connect the dots from Woodlawn to Downtown to Inner Harbor East to Canton Crossing and finally to Bayview Hospital.

As of this date, those individuals who were appointed to serve on the Citizen’s Advisory Council, who spent over two (2) years of their lives on this project, have not even been advised that you are to make an announcement on Tuesday, August 4^th at the West Baltimore MARC station.

I am sure you are not aware of the extent of the public’s concern.  They have gone door-to-door and collected thousands of signatures from their neighbors opposing the above ground light rail down Boston  Street.  They do, however, support the project underground.  Please look at their website – baltimoreredlineunderground.org.

Bottom line, everyone I represent supports public transportation.  Everyone realizes that this huge project will generate a lot of jobs at a time when many are unemployed.  What I’m saying, on behalf of the public that I represent, is that if you are going to do it, do it right and put it underground through Canton.

Sincerely,

George W. Della