The Mysterious Funding of ‘Say No To Solo’
The community group opposing the proposed Foundry Row development will not name its backers. Others say a rival developer is helping to support the Say No To Solo Coalition.
Photos
On a hot July day, three teenagers distributed free bottled water at the intersection of Owings Mills Boulevard and Reisterstown Road.
But these were not ordinary bottled waters. They were political statements.
The labels featured Baltimore County Councilwoman Vicki Almond’s phone number, the words ‘What’s the Rush? Vote No on Foundry Row!’ and the website address for the Say No To Solo Coalition. As they distributed the bottled water, the teens collected signatures for the coalition opposing Foundry Row, the Wegmans-anchored development proposed for the vacant Solo Cup plant on Reisterstown Road.
The teens said the Say No To Solo Coalition was paying them for their efforts. But they did not know who had paid for their supply of nearly 10,000 bottles of water, which cost somewhere between $4,992 and $6,656, according to figures provided by Seth Koretzky, owner of Baltimore-based H2O Custom, the company that produced the bottles.
Koretzky would not say who wrote the check for the bottled water.
“I’ll tell you, they’re not poor,” he said.
In less than four months, the Say No To Solo Coalition has sprung up to lead the opposition against rezoning the Solo Cup plant in Owings Mills from manufacturing to retail. The group’s leader, Shirley Supik, has been a frequent presence at meetings of the Baltimore County Council, which votes on the rezoning measure on Tuesday.
While Supik has formally requested that Almond disclose her communications with the Foundry Row developer, Greenburg Gibbons, she has refused to say who is financing her new group’s sophisticated efforts to kill the rezoning measure—a position that dovetails with a rival developer that some claim is bankrolling her coalition.
“The funding has come from a person who is on Reisterstown Road who has property that they are worried that Foundry Row is going to put out of business,” said Supik, a 66-year-old resident of Randallstown, which is several miles southwest of the proposed development.
The coalition’s efforts resemble well-financed political campaigns more than the typical shoestring operation of neighborhood groups, according to community organizing experts.
The coalition has used mailings, signs, petitions, a Facebook page and a website that includes links to send letters to elected officials and to media organizations. The group has also hired political strategist Jamie Fontaine, who managed Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin’s congressional and senate campaigns.
Robocalls, which several communications companies said cost between 2 and 5 cents per 30-second call, have also been used to support the opposition. But Supik said her group did not finance that tactic. She also said she did not finance the bottled water.
Supik said she doesn't know which organization financed the robocalls and the bottled water.
Some observers, including the chief executive of the developer of Foundry Row, say that a rival developer—Kimco—and its politically-connected public relations firm, KO Public Affairs, are behind the Say No To Solo Coalition.
“It’s pretty clear to just about anybody that’s involved in this process that developers are supporting the community battle, or using them as a front to be in opposition of this,” said Carroll Holzer, an attorney who represents about 150 community associations in Baltimore County. “…Very seldom do you have a group that suddenly springs up and can afford some heavy dollars in terms of a battle.”
A KO Public Affairs representative would not say whether it is supporting Say No To Solo Coalition. If Kimco or KO is supporting the coalition, council members voting may not look at the group as a wholly unbiased voice of opposition as it considers the rezoning measure on Tuesday.
‘Extraordinary Opposition’
Officials from Greenberg Gibbons, the developer behind Foundry Row, believe hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent on Say No To Solo’s campaign. CEO Brian Gibbons said he believes Kearney O’Doherty (KO) Public Affairs, mall developer Kimco’s PR firm, is bankrolling the effort.
“Kearney and O’Doherty—it’s the public relations firm orchestrating this,” Gibbons said. “They have Jamie Fontaine full-time orchestrating this.”
Fontaine said in an email she has been working with the coalition in an advisory role since she met Shirley and Jeff Supik at a planning board hearing earlier this year.
“I have an arrangement with them that is fair—but honestly represents much less than my commitment to making sure the good people of Owings Mills don’t get stuck with horrible traffic, an over-saturated retail market and a lost opportunity for the redevelopment of a longstanding county priority: the Owings Mills Mall,” Fontaine said via email.
KO Public Affairs is owned by Steve Kearney and Damian O’Doherty. The political strategy and public affairs consulting firm helps its clients “succeed where commerce, government, politics and media meet” by “tailoring political campaign tools to achieve business goals,” according to its website.
Kearney has been a longtime political operative of Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley, serving as his communications director when O’Malley was mayor and governor. O’Doherty is the former chief of staff for former Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith, also a Democrat. In a politically incestuous twist, Smith is the attorney for Greenburg Gibbons' Foundry Row project.
Howard Libit, KO’s chief operating officer, would not say whether or not his firm is bankrolling the coalition as part of an effort to support their client, Kimco Realty. Kimco wants to kill the rezoning measure to prevent perceived traffic woes and so that it can redevelop the Owings Mills Mall without Foundry Row competition.
“As much as Mr. Gibbons would like to make this about developers, consultants and politics, ultimately, it’s about the substance – and about the almost 10,000 Baltimore County residents who have weighed in to demand better planning,” Libit said via email.
Gibbons’ claim that KO Public Affairs is orchestrating the coalition’s efforts is not the first time the firm has been accused of ‘astroturfing,’ propping up a seemingly grassroots community group in a cause that benefits one of KO’s corporate clients. KO helped set up a community group that lobbied the Baltimore County Council to approve legislation to authorize more speed cameras. But the firm never publicly disclosed that the community group’s Facebook page and website were set up by KO, which was representing the company that held the county speed camera contract.
Councilwoman Almond said she has been suspicious of a connection between Say No To Solo and KO Public Affairs, since “most community groups do not have money,” she said.
“The marketing firm – Damian O’Doherty – that [Kimco Realty] hired, that seems to me that would the logical place where the funds are coming from” for the coalition, she said. “I think it’s rather ironic that they accuse me of being in the pocket of the developer, and what are they doing?”
Almond said she has stopped listening to the coalition because of attacks on her that she said are outrageous and bizarre.
Supik, however, is trying to show that Almond's position is influenced by Greenburg Gibbons. Supik filed a Public Information Act request for records of communication between Almond and Greenburg Gibbons and Smith. Almond said she will respond to the request within the 30 days required by law, but said she is in no hurry.
Councilman Ken Oliver, who has also called for Greenberg Gibbons to release a traffic study like Say No To Solo has, also criticized Almond in a Baltimore Sun op-ed for cheering on Foundry Row ahead of public hearings.
“And this announcement of retail plans for the Solo Cup property was accompanied by an immediate public endorsement from Councilwoman Vicki Almond, whose district includes the Solo Cup property — prior to any public hearings or studies, despite the fact that the new retail center was in conflict with the Master Plan and would be placed on a persistently gridlocked intersection, just blocks from the county's treasured Greenspring Valley,” he wrote.
Mysterious Group
Supik insists that KO Public Affairs and Kimco are not funding her coalition, which lists thousands of Owings Mills and Reisterstown residents as members on its website. Those are the names of people who signed the group’s petition, not members paying dues that could be used to finance the coalition.
“There has always been another group right from the beginning when we were being blamed for the robocalls,” said Supik. “We never did those. That was two or three weeks after we started.”
Supik had never mentioned another group until last week when asked about who funded robocalls and bottled water.
Donna Spicer, a longtime Loch Raven area activist, said Say No To Solo is a highly unusual group.
“I’m always amazed when you have something like [Say No To Solo] when a group from nowhere, no grassroots background…all of a sudden come up with websites and sign boards, much less robocalls and things that are completely out of the league of normal and average community association things,” Spicer said.
While Spicer has advised a lot of groups outside of her area, she never fought their battles for them, like Supik, a Randallstown resident, is doing in Owings Mills.
“It’s highly irregular that someone will come out of their home area and fight in someone else’s home area for them,” she said.
But Supik said that the issue is bigger than just Owings Mills. Issues like traffic, fixing the mall, environmental concerns at Solo Cup and public process reach far beyond the immediate area, she said.
“You have to look at every problem along the way,” she said. “There are underlying things that are more important that just District 2 and District 4. This will affect all of Baltimore County.”
Maryland
6:14 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
So now we have both Ken Oliver and KO Public Affairs rounding the coalition's signatures from 7,100 up to 10,000, and the former writing an op-ed sprinkled with the coalition's talking points, but we're to believe this thing isn't a well-oiled, politically-connected astroturf campaign?
ddbs00
7:25 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Transparency for thee but not for me!
Sher Katz
7:54 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Obviously suspicious, has been from the begining. I'm thankful this will be over in a couple of days and Ms. Supik can go back to Randallstown after she closes the Post Office Box in Pikesville for her "non-profit" coalition fighting against progress in Owings Mills. Where I live.
Merle Kaplan
8:53 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Your comment is insightful, funny and dead on! MBK
CW
8:59 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
This whole opposition is a sham. If you live here, you want this Wegman's and welcome the redevelopment of Reisterstown Rd. It has been eyesore for years.
kathy gambrill
9:09 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
It sounds like most of the opposition to Foundry Row comes from Randallstown,Pikesville and beyond. I resent that. If the zoning isn't changed, we're left with a vacant eyesore. What kind of impression does that make to the potential shoppers/visitors coming to Metro Centre and the Mall? Will the traffic study still be a priority or will that go away, too?
JBC
9:35 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
I'd like to applaud Ms. Almond for keeping her composure through this whole process. If a fake community group and their political backers attacked me this way, I would have completely lost my mind by this point. Instead, she has continued to maintain that Foundry Row will be beneficial for the Metro Center and the Mall even as those groups work to smear her.
Chuck Burton
9:51 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Didn't Baltimore County make Owings Mills a development area, like White Marsh? Isn't the purpose of a development area to bring in growth and development; to concentrate it and its infrastructure so it doesn't spread out willy-nilly to areas that aren't suitable, like Green Spring Valley? Isn't Say No To Solo in direct conflict with the goals of the county?
Buck Harmon
9:52 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Local politics as usual.....not a big deal either way. Big money always prevails, it's the name of the game. The question is....who's willing to put up the most to get what they want? Not what the people want.
JBC
11:54 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
I think the majority of the people want Wegmans. I'm not naive enough to think money doesn't play into all this, but it's about where it's spent. Brown and Kimco have spent their $ leading a secretive campaign by funding a fake community group that spreads misinformation and smear tactics. Greenberg Gibbons have committed their $ to building a shopping center that will be a boon for the area and implementing road improvements the state can't pay for. If it works for the community, I have no problem with Gibbons getting rich.
BCalvert
10:11 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Are you discrediting the fact that when I sent a letter and an email to Vicki's office, I heard nothing back from them, but if you look at the Foundry Row page on Facebook, people talk abut how they quickly hear back from her office and that her vote is a yes in favor of it. I think her chief of staff Jonathan Schwartz is either hiding this information from her so she believes there is no opposition, OR Vicki does see there is opposition and refuses to acknowledge it. How is that democratic?? That does nothing but put a cap on legitimate voices from being heard by the county Council. And this article also is lacking another story... Who has interviewed anyone who has signed the petition?? Who has asked other residents of Owings Mills how they feel about this?? Reporters and politicians working together to squash opposition. Marc, I have personally seen and heard opposition out there and could name you about 20 people who have never been mentioned in any article or interviewed for anything, who are real people from Owings Mills, and have constantly been ignored by their council person! Maybe we should demand that all emails and letters that have gone into Vicki's office be turned over to the public to see if there is truly any opposition coming from Owings Mills and then ask why Vicki's office will reply to those in favor of the project and ignores those who are not! This makes me sick! I know for a fact more emails and letters have gone to her office from Owings Mills!
Sher Katz
10:17 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
I sent her office an email. And while I didn't receive an email from her directly I did receive one from one of her associates. I was happy with that.
BCalvert
10:22 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Sher,
You just proved my point exactly. Those who support the project get a response by her office and those who voice opposition like myself do not receive any recognition. i have several friends who sent things into her office voicing opposition to this project never received a response.
Owings Mills Mark
11:02 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
I'm sure her point didn't to prove your point. She doesn't disclose her side of the debate she is on. She just said she "sent or office an email....I did receive one from one of her associate". Once again, never let the facts get in the way of "your" truths.
K Karlsen
10:14 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
I live in Reisterstown. Recently I stopped at the Safeway store at Owings Mills Blvd and Reisterstown Rd. When I headed for checkout there was ONE lane open in addition to the express lane. AFTER I loaded my groceries on the checkout counter the clerk told me "I'm closed". I asked "How can you be closed? You are the only lane open." The clerk said "You can go to lane one." And mind you, this wasn't a pleasant or cheerful exchange. Lane one is the SELF CHECKOUT. (Lane one its own kind of punishment but a different story). So I said OK, forget it and started to leave (without my groceries). It was a mistake to come here. But suddenly there came another equally grumpy and unpleasant clerk to check me out. How lucky can I be? Then I walk out the door and remember that I can't take my cart to the car. Bummer. I am boxed in by the metal bars at the sidewalk.
WHAT an ORDEAL. By this time I am psychologically exhausted by trying to buy a few groceries and get home.
My question is: Would this kind of nonsense EVER happen at Wegmans? If you live here you want a Wegmans. I haven't talked to a single person who lives in Reistetstown who doesn't want to rehabilitate the Solos cup site. If you live here I bet you already shop at Wegmans - Hunt Valley.
Sher Katz
10:20 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Unfortunately, that is an all too common occurance for that Safeway. There are never enough checkouts open and the self check outs don't work properly. There is never anyone at the customer service desk.
I went to Wegmans two days ago. Multiple check outs open, literally waited less than 30 seconds before my checkout process began. Every employee I encountered was pleasant especially the girl checking me out. I didn't get the Safeway treatment of scowls and grunts.
Jim Yates
1:03 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
I agree with you. I've shopped at that Safeway for many years and it used to have pretty good service. The last year or so, it has gone completely downhill. Only one or two of the many checkout lanes are ever open. They are trying to steer customers to the self checkout lanes, which are a disaster. The customer "service" desk has not been staffed during any of my visits for months. Come on Wegman's - I can't wait.
Buck Harmon
3:15 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Home Depot does the same thing..
Daniel
10:41 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
"'The funding has come from a person who is on Reisterstown Road who has property that they are worried that Foundry Row is going to put out of business,' said Supik"
So if the person is afraid he may go out of business, maybe he/she should improve the business. Wegmans isn't like walmart that takes a loss by opening in 3 nearby towns to undercut the competition and then closes up shop in 2 of them leaving a decimated town behind. Wegmans don't close, and they provide good paying jobs.
Shirley Supik
2:33 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
You have blamed the Coalition for being paid by anyone and everyone from Giant, Safeway, GGP, Kimco, Brown and KO. Maybe you should consider Brian Gibbons or WEGMANS! They have sure gotten a lot of publicity out of this! And his generousity is overwhelming. I hope the restaurant he picks to buy everyone's dinner after busing them to the Council meeting on August 28th is in Owings Mills and not Towson. I am sure he will be supporting the area he wants to locate in, unlike Mr. Hux of Douron who openly stated that he has NOT supported Owings Mills for the last 10 years. I guess he only wants Owings Mills to support him.
JBC
9:36 am on Friday, August 24, 2012
Shirley, once again you work to distract from the real issue. Wegmans and Gibbons have no "community" group to pay off.
On the other hand, do you really expect us to believe that your group had no idea who funded water bottle with your group's name, slogan, logo and website on it? And that these water bottles magically appeared in front of the teens your group was paying collect signatures on hot summer days?
I'd also love to hear any support that would make me believe your Gibbons/restaurant claim is anything but a lie.
LJ Kirk
11:19 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
What is the rush to push Solo development through? How about let's say we finish the 2 major projects that need to be finished in the area: Metro Center and the Mall redev. Then, if people are still clamoring for MORE development, go forward with that. Why push for something that MAY be oversaturation and then we'll end up with 3 abandoned eyesores. It's not like doing the Solo project is now or never. If it's a worthwhile business project, it will still be a worthwhile project in a few years. Smart growth, not FAST growth. And I DO live in OM. And I DO have to deal with the traffic at PM Rd. + Reisterstown Rd. Far too often.
ddbs00
11:40 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Kimco said they won't redevelop the mall until the Solo issue is settled, and if it's not settled the way they want they won't redevelop it either. I say the county levels the mall and turns it into a park, lets Foundry Row get built, and tells Kimco to go pound sand.
Daniel
12:50 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Here's the deal: Kimco has been sitting on the mall for years, doing nothing. The developers of the proposed Foundry Square have a track record of on-time and under budget. The proposed road construction actually advances long overdue road work in the area in a way that will reduce congestion even accounting for the increased traffic. The developers of Foundry Square also have offered to buy the OM mall from Kimco if Kimco won't develop it and develop it themselves. It's time for action.
Jake
3:10 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Who is we? These are all private businesses, they are not owned by the public, despite Brown feeding at the public trough for years. Therefore, it is time to approve the new zoning for the Solo site, and let the best development win the most customers. If Brown/Kimco can't think of a way to make their private developments work they should sell them or keep them as the ghetto piece of you know what that they are now. Lord knows they have no problem doing so since that is what they have allowed it to deteriorate into over the past many years.
Concerned too
11:22 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Maybe Wegman's should just buyout safeway and redevelop a building that is already there.
BrownGirl71
9:44 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
I like this idea! At least the zoning and infrastructure are already in place, and this debate would be over.
Norma Bosley
11:41 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
How many years has the mall had to get its act together? Now when there's a new prospect on the horizon, they are all anxious to fix it. Same with the Metro Center...how many years did that sit on the shelf? As an OM resident for 48 years, the only thing I am excited about at the Metro Center is the library and college. We don't need retail there and we certainly don't need housing there! Bring on the Wegmans and clean up that eyesore of an intersection.
Rena Levin
1:17 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
But the Foundry Row site is all about retail! Not just Wegman's but a whole lot more than that. All retail. I am wondering how that is going to work. I work not far from RR/PM intersection and all I see when drive to work is FOR LEASE signs on retail space. This project is going to be a giant tumor, sucking all the life out of all the other retail in the area. Don't even get me started on the traffic problems. I like Wegman's too, but this project just does not make sense in terms of the Smart Growth plan.
LJ Kirk
12:40 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
It didn't sit on the shelf, the idiot council and co executive stopped the project dead in its tracks ostensibly to do some "green" re-engineering. Then the recession threw everything (including county budgets) into a mess. The mall can't get its act together when there are thugs preying on patrons and shoppers. I don't know why they don't get it ... no one is going to shop where they feel unsafe. Police should be stationed there full-time, round the clock, as well as private security. The benefit is that people WILL shop if it is safe and the right shops are present. Will it cost money? Sure. But the taxes they reap from actively used stores should easily pay the salaries of the officers stationed there.
DKM
1:42 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
I am from the upstate NY area and was raised on Wegman's. They are family owned, operated, and community centered. I know people who not only were given decent jobs, but made careers with their organization. I also moved to Reistertown from Fells Point within the last two months. There is not a decent grocery store within 10 miles except for the Wegmans in Hunt Valley. Rochester, Syracuse, Ithaca, Binghamton, all areas that embraced and fully support their local Wegmans. I'm happy to see they have been a success and expanded south to where I now live. The only impact they will have on Reisterstown Road is all the other local groceries will be hard pressed to compete.
Stewart Richardson
3:37 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Great article, Marc!
BrownGirl71
9:55 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
C'mon, Marc... You can write a more balanced article than this. But since we are on the topic of "mysterious funding," perhaps Ms. Almond can explain why she and her staff registered as EMPLOYEES of Greenberg Gibbons and used EMPLOYEE discounts at the International Council of Shopping Centers Conference in Las Vegas in April 2012. Ms. Almond claims she has not made a rezoning commitment/promise to GG, but these actions really make me question her integrity. Sounds fishy to me and it creates the appearance of impropriety. If that does not signal that the 'fix' is in operation here, I don't know what does.
JBC
9:19 am on Friday, August 24, 2012
BrownGirl, I'd love to see any kind of evidence to support that bold claim...
jalu
5:50 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
The Safeway in Owings Mills cannot go out of business fast enough, IMHO.
gabefan
6:28 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2012
Sher Katz:
After writing so many passionate posts on this forum, I am sure you will not miss the Council hearing on Tuesday evening to watch the vote unfold. I know I will be there with my home-made "We Want Wegmans" sign which I will wave proudly. Can we meet? I just want to thank you for all of your hard word. I will be easy to spot -- wearing my MALKIN #71 Penquins jersey. And, a Ravens on hat for good measure to make sure people understand I root for the home team as well. How will I be able to spot you? What will you be wearing?
Thanks -- can't wait to meet you.
Sher Katz
7:54 am on Friday, August 24, 2012
gabefan, as much as I'd like to attend the council hearing on Tuesday, I have classes that evening and will be unable to attend. It is not that this issue isn't important to me, because it truly is, but my education obligations have to come first.
Thank you again for all your positive feedback.
underwater
11:32 am on Friday, August 24, 2012
Well, thank you Seth Koretzky. Forget what side of the fence you are on this issue. What right do you have to release financial information from a customer? Can I get figures such as these from each of your clients?
Shirley Supik
6:06 pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
To JBC:
If you don't believe that Mr. Gibbons is so desperate that he has to bus in and buy dinners to get supporters, just email info@votenoonsolo and request a copy of the email he sent out.
Maryland
9:05 pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
Shirley, I signed up and get your emails, and what you sent out looked like a personal email from an employee (not Gibbons) to friends and neighbors. He offered to pick up dinner for them after if they decided to come. If we wanted to see desperation, we could look no further than the August 6th hearing, which had nothing to do with zoning but was flooded with your paid representatives. You can't win on the merits, so you poison the debate with stuff like this.
Chuck Burton
10:17 am on Saturday, August 25, 2012
Why won't I be at the Council meeting Tursday evening, even though I support Foundry Row and Wegmans, and hope to live to see them come to OM? Simply because I'm in my 80s and find it a bit risky to drive at night anymore., so only do so in an emergency. I just hope Mr. Oliver, Mr. Brown and others realize that this development is potentially positive for everyone in this area, creating jobs and bringing money to the area in the same way as White Marsh Mall did to that area.
DSBlies
9:06 am on Sunday, August 26, 2012
Howard Brown is the money behind the anti Foundry Row coalition.
anan7
9:06 am on Sunday, August 26, 2012
The bottom line this is not the USSR, and there is no reason this project should be prohibited based on the nonsense I have read from that chief Politburo spokeperson Shirley Supik. Who in their right mind wouldn't want a Wegman's in their community - unless you work for one of the competing businesses?
Robin Nicole
12:09 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
Wait...so the person at the head of this whole anti-Wegmans effort doesn't even live in Owings Mills? That alone makes their entire effort suspect.
Daniel
2:19 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
She's obviously a hired hand of Kimco or some other competitor.
BrownGirl71
12:39 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
You don't have to live in OM to have a vested interest... This is a county-wide issue. Otherwise, you would not need the whole Council to cast a vote.
Shirley Supik
2:56 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
To Maryland: The person on that Gibbons email is Mark. His last name happens to be Gibbons.
PM
3:24 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
Shirley,
Give it up, we know where you are coming from and all of your protests fall flat.
Maryland
4:59 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
I guess you don't read what KO Public Affairs writes for you, because his last name is not Gibbons.
Shirley Supik
3:40 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
Maryland, You are not telling the story straight. It says they will bus the people from Solo to the council session then treat them to dinner afterward so they feel comfortable. It even has an RSVP to the developer's firm. I am proud to say the Coalition does not have to bus in anyone. These people come because they love their community, not a grocery store. They come because they have looked at all the facts and they know that this not not just about a grocery store. They are worried about the patrons along Reisterstown Road and their livelihood, the safety of the residents who use that corridor, the intergrity of the Master Plan and the $157,000 worth of infrastruture surrounding the OM mall. We won't be buying dinner, but we will be there because we all care.
Maryland
5:04 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
Yawn. Everyone knows you're a front for Kimco. Save the pandering for your 184 fans on facebook.
Chuck Burton
4:31 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
Shirley, doesn't the Master Plan call for redeveloping the ex-SOLO plant for retail, and maybe residential use (though I can't imagine anyone wanting to live there)? But you and your backers think you have it right and the county is wrong. Even though the Foundry Row developers have addressed the main problems (traffic) that you bring up. You want the county to support the owners of a failed Mall instead of a development that promises to bring new hope to a struggling area and that might even ultimately help that dead Mall by bringing in development that makes people want to live in the area. Or maybe another big auto dealer will take over the SOLO property, if you can kill off the Row. Just what we need.
BrownGirl71
5:19 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
GG website lists Mark Bomse as a Leasing Agent. He is an agent of the company ...Can we now admit that GG is paying for dinner for supporters?
Shirley Supik
5:54 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
You know Chuck, you are starting to sound just like Brian Gibbons. He would have the entire corridor look like a "Vegas" of retail as long as he could do the building of it. The Master plan speaks of mixed use if manufacturing is phased out. The only way manufacturing will be phased out is if the council votes to rezone that site. Until that happens, Mr. Gibbons bought a manufacturing site and he could be a real hero to OM if he put manufacturing back in there so people could earn a good income with great benefits instead of putting in more retail that takes money out of our pockets. Just because he will have some offices at that site does not qualify his plan for mixed use. Mixed use is "live, work & play". The county has already said there will be no living facilities there. All of the people responding here seem to love Huntvalley, but it was a failing mall the first time around. And Towson has been redone over and over. No one said they were dead and but they were given a second chance. The taxpayers have invested $157,000 in the infrastructure for the mall and that trumps Mr. Gibbons $7M for roads around Foundry Row that will only cause gridlocks farther up the road.
Maryland
6:29 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
Yeah, let's squelch private investment because we don't want to waste the $157 million we've already spent on Howard Brown's parking garage. You must be confusing Howard with Brian Gibbons, because Gibbons has repeatedly gone on record in support of the mall and Metro Centre. Kimco and Brown are the only ones holding their projects hostage along with the rest of Owings Mills.
Daniel
6:32 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
Shirley, please explain this article: http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/breaking_news/32417
I went to the facebook page looking for an explanation, it simply got deleted. I guess truth plays no role in your campaign. Shame on you for lying about a venerated Jewish Institution that wants no part of this debate. Go back to Randallstown and leave the good people of Pikesville and Owings Mills to decide to to spend their own money where we want - not where your employer wants.
Chuck Burton
8:44 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
I'm quite happy to sound like Brian Gibbons - just wish I had his bucks! His company seems to have a pretty good rep for finishing it's projects on time and being good neighbors to those around them. And is it better to provide admittedly higher paying jobs for likely no more than 1 or 2 hundred workers in a mostly automated factory, or somewhat lower paying jobs for a thousand or more (est. 3200, but that seems optimistic) in Wegmans and the other businesses in the Row. At least people will be working and making some income, not on unemployment rolls. As for moving the traffic problems elsewhere - at least that part of the Reisterstown Rd traffic will be improved, and without cost to taxpayers, unlike Mr. Brown's project. Why not?
Chuck Burton
8:59 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
Shirley, I forgot to ask you, below, what manufacturing company has expressed an interest in moving into the old SOLO location? Manufactuing has been moving out of the RR corridor, not into it. Unless converted to retail, the location will just be an empty eyesore for years, paying minimal or no taxes to the county and state. Is that preferable?
Shirley Supik
6:52 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
This is the first I have seen this. This is not the Coalition. I would not lie about this school. This is a fine institution and they have my utmost respect. I do not know who put this here but I will try to find out. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Daniel
8:54 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
First time? Then why did you delete it from when I posted it on the "Say No to Solo" facebook page and then change the setting so others can't comment? You are in so deep you can't even keep track of your lies.
Charles Kane
6:46 pm on Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Zoning maps PASSED by a 6-1 vote. Common sense prevailed over the dirty politics!
Daniel
9:44 pm on Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Great to see it pass. Glad 6 of the members of our county council favor growth and the free market over the lies and distortions of the say-no-to-solo campaign.
Sher Katz
7:47 am on Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Oliver may have doomed his next election by being the only no vote.
Concerned too
4:50 pm on Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Actually, I was glad to see Oliver stick up for his principles and defy the councilmanic courtesy. I wish there had been some opposition for some of Mr. Huff's decisions for the 3rd District, exposing hundreds of acres to development!
Chuck Burton
1:18 pm on Tuesday, September 4, 2012
To Mr. Brown: Do you realize what is going to happen to your Metro Centre if the ex-SOLO location becomes a Dead Zone? You will have the garages and the Library/Commumity College - maybe an apartment building or two - maybe even a hotel, then it will slowly die, along with the Mall, next door. But development of SOLO, along with Metro Centre will be good for both projects, and maybe even for the Mall. Think about it, sir!