Wednesday, April 8, 2009

what's up the pike: no time

- The Maryland Gangs blog attended a meeting of Mixed Unity, the youth group that arranged last month's "Stop the Violence" concert resulting in 35 arrests. Expecting to see an organization run by local kids - as advertised, he found a club that seemed to be directed by one very vocal [unnamed] adult:
Somewhere along the way, several organizations run by adults glommed on to what the kids had started. Mixed Unity became a convenient symbol to be held up as proof positive that Silver Spring does indeed listen to kids...even minority kids.
But there weren't many kids involved. There were maybe 10 kids showing up at meetings every week, and the rest of the people involved with planning the concert were adults.
- Is Steve Silverman the Hillary Clinton of MoCo politics? Sounds like it. County Executive Ike Leggett has named his former opponent to direct the county's Department of Economic Development, citing Silverman's abilities to harness the strength of Maryland's biggest economic center.

- In the Gazette: the state senate Budget and Taxation Committee is considering cutting funds for the proposed Fillmore music hall on Colesville Road; and they've also endorsed Ben Kramer and Lou August for the District 4 County Council seat. You'll see our interview with Kramer later this week.

4 comments:

Thomas Hardman said...

Hah. So even this group is being invaded by the Astroturfers, career political types trying to turn a grassroots movement into their controlled tool.

Welcome to MoCo! And I pronounce MoCo with a spanish accent.

marylandgangs said...
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marylandgangs said...
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marylandgangs said...

I removed my previous comment because I thought it was too harsh. It wasn't what I wanted to say. What I do want to say is, this town has become so political that everything here seems to be colored by politics.

This was about a boy who was murdered, a boy who was beloved in our community -- kids just adored Tai. There are *so* many kids who knew him and who were personally hurt by what happened to him.

I think that anyone who builds and organization on Tai Lam's name, needs to keep it very, very honest, and very real.

If you say you're about it, then be about it.