Where can you see the Orfeia vocal ensemble, Dong Xi duet, and artwork made from delicate fabric or battered musical instruments?

The performers and artwork were featured in the Takoma Park Arts cultural series, and they appear now on vinyl wraps that have been installed on glass panels at three new local bus shelters. The public art project is beautifying bus shelters and promoting the Takoma Park Arts series, which includes free City-funded art exhibitions, concerts, poetry readings, film screenings, theater, and other events at the Takoma Park Community Center at 7500 Maple Avenue.

“We want to get the word out about the many free events we host at the Takoma Park Community Center, and bus shelters are a great place to do that,” Arts and Humanities Coordinator Brendan Smith said.

The wraps, which were designed by Arts and Humanities Intern Paula Barrios, are located on a new bus shelter at Piney Branch Elementary School at 7510 Maple Avenue and two shelters at the intersection of Flower and Houston Avenues. The featured artwork was created by Jacqui Crocetta and Seemeen Hashem.

The project is part of the Public Art Works initiative, which installs public art projects in conjunction with Public Works efforts. Other projects include the Art on the Move bus shelter poster series featuring artwork by artists in upcoming Takoma Park Arts exhibitions and a sidewalk poetry program where poems by residents are being stamped into new concrete sidewalks.

Barrios also is creating a different graphic design that will be installed at a later date on two more bus shelters on Maple and New Hampshire Avenues.

This article was featured in the June 2022 Newsletter. Visit the Takoma Park Newsletter webpage to see full list of past newsletters.

Montgomery Planning (M-NCPPC), in partnership with the City of Takoma Park, seeks your input on the Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment (TPMMA). This effort seeks to re-envision the areas near and along Maple and Lee Avenues, the Erie Center, and the Washington Adventist Hospital and University campuses. If you would like to learn more, visit our Minor Master Plan webpage. The team is also available to attend a neighborhood meeting.

Contact
Feel free to reach out to Melissa Williams, lead planner, at melissa.williams@montgomeryplanning.org.

This article was featured in the June 2022 Newsletter. Visit the Takoma Park Newsletter webpage to see full list of past newsletters.

2022 is an election year in Takoma Park. The Nominating Caucus is scheduled for Tuesday, September 13, 2022, at 7:30 p.m. Election day is Tuesday, November 8.

This year’s election will be conducted by mail.

Requirements for Candidacy

Consider leading and serving your community by running for office. Any resident interested in running for the position of Mayor or City Councilmember must meet certain qualifications. If you are thinking about running for city office, you must be:

• a registered Maryland voter and a resident of the City of Takoma Park, Maryland;
• at least 18 years of age by the date of the election; and
• a resident of the City of Takoma Park for at least six months immediately preceding the election. If running to represent a ward as a City Councilmember, you must be a resident of the ward for at least six month immediately preceding the election.

Before soliciting any contributions or making expenditures for your campaign, register with the City Clerk. In addition to the requirements above, you will be asked to provide your name, address, date of birth, contact information, and the name of the position you seek. Candidate registration for the 2022 election begins on June 13. There is not a requirement to register before the Nominating Caucus unless you are accepting contributions, making campaign expenditures, or otherwise actively campaigning.

On the campaign finance registration form, you will also be asked to certify that you will comply with all requirements of the Takoma Park Charter and Code applicable to the election process in Takoma Park, including Chapter 5.12 Fair Election Practices and Chapter 3.04 Ethics, and that you will file all required campaign finance reports and financial disclosure requirements for candidates.

How to Get Your Name on the November City Election Ballot

Nominating Caucus on Tuesday, September 13, 7:30 p.m.

The Nominating Caucus is a meeting of Takoma Park voters to accept nominations for the office of mayor and city councilmember. Nominations of candidates for Mayor may be made on motion by any qualified voter of the City, and if such nomination is seconded by a qualified voter of the City, the person so nominated shall be considered a candidate. Nomination of each candidate for Councilmember shall be made on motion of any qualified voter of their ward, and if such nomination is seconded by a qualified voter of their ward, the person so nominated shall be considered a candidate. A candidate may nominate themselves or second their nomination. Any nominated candidate may decline a nomination during the nomination meeting. A person may only accept nomination for one office.

The name of each person nominated will be placed on the ballot for the November 8 city election unless the nominated person files a declination with the City Clerk within three days after the nomination or fails to file a timely candidate’s financial disclosure statement as required by the City of Takoma Park Public Ethics Ordinance.

Anyone with questions or who would like additional information should contact Jessie Carpenter, at jessiec@takomaparkmd.gov or 301-891-7267.

Salary and Benefits of Mayor and Councilmembers

Beginning with the City Council elected in November 2022, the mayor will receive an annual salary of $32,000. Each city councilmember will receive a salary of $24,000 per year.

Elected officials are eligible to receive health insurance benefits equivalent to those of full-time City employees. Other current benefits include the use of a City of Takoma Park smartphone for City email and phone calls during the term in office; opportunity to attend, without cost, conferences beneficial to the City through organizations such as the National League of Cities and the Maryland Municipal League (MML); and reimbursement of certain other expenses, such as travel.

This article was featured in the June 2022 Newsletter. Visit the Takoma Park Newsletter webpage to see full list of past newsletters.

Takoma Park has implemented a new program to provide credit to property owners who take measures to mitigate the amount of stormwater runoff from their property.

Beginning this year, any property owner in Takoma Park can receive a partial credit for carrying out qualifying measures to lessen the impact of stormwater—such as tree plantings, installation of rain gardens, permeable pavements, and green roofs, to name only a few. These measures help lessen the effects of excess rainfall that is not absorbed by the ground, trees, or plants.

“These measures are based on best management practice in the field of stormwater management,” says Takoma Park Public Works Director Daryl Braithwaite. “So those measures are the ones that are most effective to stormwater management. And we always want to encourage people to plant more trees.”

Stormwater picks up sediments, oils, debris, and other contaminants from streets and lawns before eventually making its way to waterways like Sligo Creek, the Anacostia River, and the Chesapeake Bay. This can cause erosion—further increasing the pollution going into local waterways—and harm fragile ecosystems.

“The city has seen some flooding certainly on New Hampshire Avenue and the Sligo Creek area,” Braithwaite said. “Given climate change, we’ll be expecting heavier storms and larger quantities of water in the future.”

The maximum credit available to property owners is a 50% reduction of the original Stormwater Utility Fee, according to the city. The new credit program comes at the request of the city council, which last year changed the stormwater utility fee rate from a flat rate of $92 per single-family property annually to a tiered rate based on a $25 fee per 500 square feet of impervious area. Impervious surfaces—like asphalt, concrete, and rooftops—allow little to no stormwater infiltration into the ground.

“The credit is brand new and it was a component the council required when we changed the fee structure last year,” Braithwaite said. “Because the change increased the costs for some property owners the council was sensitive to that.”

Commercial and institutional properties have been charged based on the amount of impervious surface on their property since the implementation of the stormwater fee decades ago.

According to Takoma Park officials, the Montgomery County Parcel Database, which has the most up-to-date impervious area analysis data available, is used to determine the impervious area square footage. The database uses information from a tri-annual LIDAR evaluation that takes aerial images of the impervious area. Residents also have the option of requesting corrections to their assessed impervious surface calculation, if they believe there is an error.

The stormwater credit application can be completed online or printed and returned via email to publicworks@takomaparkmd.gov or by mail to Public Works at 31 Oswego Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910. The application does require submission of documentation to verify the details of the facility and the amount of impervious area treated. For the first year of the program, applications can be submitted at any time from now through the billing cycle (July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023). The credit will be paid as a refund directly to the property owner for the eligible portion of the stormwater fee. In future years, the application must be received by April 30 in order to be considered for the following year’s billing cycle and the credit will be included as a reduction to the stormwater fee charged. The stormwater utility fee is included in the County property tax bill, listed as Takoma Special.

The credit for tree planting is a one-year credit and the credit for all other measures covers a three-year period. There is a process for recertification of previously approved credit after the three-year period that includes verification that the measure is still in good working order.

There are plenty of ways for Takoma Park residents to help lessen the damage done by stormwater, including sweeping up yard debris; using non-toxic, biodegradable, and recyclable products whenever possible; reducing the amount of paved and impervious areas; and using native ground cover, grasses, and vegetation on your property. For more information on local stormwater management, or to access the program guidance documents and application, visit takomaparkmd.gov/government/public-works/stormwater-management-program.

This article was featured in the June 2022 Newsletter. Visit the Takoma Park Newsletter webpage to see full list of past newsletters.

Flight Behavior, a novel by BarbaraKingsolver, will be discussed by the Friends Book Group on Thursday, May 19 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the Hydrangea Room of the Community Center.

Kingsolver’s 2012 novel about the effect of climate change in a rural Tennessee community is the second of a series of Cli-Fi books the group is reading this year. CliFi, or Climate Fiction, has been defined as “fiction… that features a changed or changing climate.” Like Sci-Fi, Cli-Fi explores realistic scenarios taken from contemporary sources and may make use of fantasy or the supernatural. Each Cli-Fi discussion includes a poem about nature or how human activity irrevocably affects the environment. Flight Behavior is paired with “The Darkling Thrush” by Thomas Hardy.

In Flight Behavior, the accidental discovery of a new winter home for the Monarch Butterfly alarms investigating scientists by indicating how much climate change impacts the existing model of Monarch migration. Kingsolver weaves this story with the impact the discovery has on Dellarobia Turnbow and her family and their small Appalachian town.

In his Guardian review of the novel, science and environment editor Robin McVie wrote it, “is an impressive work. It is complex, elliptical, and wellobserved. Dellarobia and her kin come over as solid but believable individuals, outlined with respect and balance.”

Kingsolver has won numerous honors and awards as well as being shortlisted for several literary prizes. She is perhaps best known for her novel, The Poisonwood Bible. In 2000, Kingsolver established the Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, which is now administered by PEN America. If you are interested in joining the discussion and you do not receive Friends Book Group announcements, write to ftpmlbookgroup@gmail.com for details on joining.

Copies of Flight Behavior can be borrowed from the library. It is available as an e-book on both Hoopla and Freading, and as an audio book on Hoopla and on CD in the library. “The Darkling Thrush” is available online at www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44325/the-darklingthrush, or you may request a copy from ftpmlbookgroup@gmail.com.

This article was featured in the May 2022 Newsletter. Visit the Takoma Park Newsletter webpage to see full list of past newsletters.