Yesterday afternoon at 4 pm my wife and I, along with neighbors Janet and Stephen Gewirtz and later with the arrival of Joan Floyd attended the hearing scheduled by the City Council on the reauthorization of the CVCBD.
The survey commissioned by JHU, Abell Foundation and the City was presented to us as we entered the chambers yesterday afternoon and we found the statistics to be very interesting. The Greater Charles Village community, according to the 2010 Census consists of 14,597 residents; however due to time limitations the
survey was only conducted on 205 of these individuals which consisted of residents, homeowners, workers, business owners, students and visitors within the district. 64.3% of the residents existed on annual household income of less than 25K to 49K, with the greatest amount, 38.9% existing on annual household income of less than 25K, and the remaining 42% of the population had annual household incomes exceeding these amounts. This means that the greatest majority interviewed, i.e., 72 of the population that lived within the district survived on less than 25K which is an important factor in considering the affluence of the neighborhood.
An equally important note is that those who were interviewed represented a total of 64% of the population surveyed and rated the performance of the CVCBD who were familiar with their service as poor to slightly good, hardly a point which the CVCBD can enjoy, considering that this district has managed to spend approximately $15,000,000. of our surtax funds for 20 years. Interestingly it should be noted that 49.4% of the population were not even aware of the CVCBD, but you have to remember that of the 72 households that were interviewed only made under 25K and the CVCBD traditionally only sends out communications via email, it is not surprising and those who were excisting on 25K could hardly afford computers and their related costs. Of which another interesting note is that 63.4% of the population were not even aware of the the CVCBD surtax (the study calls it a surcharge, but it is really another tax).
We were not presented with information as who was interviewed and I feel quite certain that this information is confidential as there is a small group of supporters of the CVCBD which have been in existence since the inception of this program that does cast a long shadow and most people who actually oppose it have been marginalized and kept from expressing their opinions, which was shown last afternoon at 4 pm when the CVCBD was only represented by Board Members and Employees, plus a wife of a Board Member and 1 resident. So from a total of 14,597 residents within the community two residents showed up to support the CVCBD. Councilman Stokes amply stated that the reason more people were not in attendance at the hearing in opposition of the CVCBD was due to the fact that over the years they grew weary of constantly fighting to improve it and have just given up. People have been insulted by members of the CVCBD, told that their opinions didn't matter, were advised that they could not speak at the hearings over the last 20 years and so they gave up. This is true as I have attended many of these hearings and between having the Executive Director tell us that the Board does not have to respond to any question presented and that we are out of order each time we stated anything.
The only significant thing that came up during the hearing was the fact that those who opposed the CVCBD did stand up and state that in order to create a governmental board that was democratic was to create a one person - one vote, which irritated one Board Member to such a degree that she sat there attempting to get the attention of the council members each time it was mentioned. If the Board Members were elected by, we the residents of the community, we would then have the ability to get rid of those that were not performing in the manner the community wanted and that was not accepted at all by most of the Board Members. Others on the Board stated that they thought it might be a good idea. Just imagine having the ability in Charles Village to elect our own Board to the CVCBD and while it would mean changing the legislation, it could be done and then all of the residents who have been marginalized would finally have an ability to talk and pick who was going to represent their interest in issues involving additional taxation and what is being accomplished in Charles Village. Until serious consideration is given to creating a truly democratic organization - why reauthorize the CVCBD?
Give it a thought and let me know what you think.
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