“The Natives Are Massing”

The photo above came from Interested Party, a To2C netizen and regular commenter. The note accompanying the attachment was brief and succinct. “Spotted in a Columbia Village. What does it mean?”

At a minimum it means someone has thumbed their nose at their village architectural covenants. Yard art has long been considered bad form in Columbia.

Whether or not it means anything at all besides a spring prank, for some odd reason it made me think of the recent postings in the Howard County Citizens Association listserv. I regularly surf through their discussions, just to keep an eye on them. I don’t really consider the HCCA to be a political threat but HCCA members can usually be counted on to be against anything that involves a developer. Being in the development business I like to keep tabs on what they are up to.

Right now there is a big discussion going on about affordable housing and school board member Ann DeLacy is all over that topic like goose poop on a lakeside pathway. She thinks that subsidized housing should be more equally spread around the county citing a concern about “the lack of affordable housing in places like Maple Lawn, Dorsey Search and River Hill.”  

  “Are the elected officials here in Howard County simply not interested in the allocation of fair housing in all areas of the County? “

Sounds like ADL may be trying to broaden her political base on the left side of town. Naturally she links socio-economic diversity with education. It’s why our schools are so bad I suppose.

My favorite housing hypocrite is Alan Klein. You may recall that AK was kicked to the curb by his full spectrum housing colleagues when the deal was cut on the Downtown Columbia Housing Trust. Not matter what's negotiated, with AK it’s never enough. This from a guy who lives in one of the only Columbia neighborhoods that doesn't have any multifamily housing let alone anything that could even remotely be considered affordable. He likes affordable housing in your backyard, just not his.

You gotta keep an eye on these folks, especially when they are massing…