Deborah A. Vollmer
Candidate for Town
Council
Background and
Experience
I am running for Town Council, and ask for your vote. The Town is my home;
I live in the same house where I grew up, with my parents and
my sister Susan, attending Chevy Chase Elementary, Leland
Junior High School, and B-CC. I attended Clark University in
Worcester, Massachusetts, from which I graduated with a B.A.
in Government in 1970, and I graduated from the University of
Maryland School of Law, in 1973.
I am a retired lawyer, and
after practicing for years in California (having worked for
the United Farm Workers Union, a legal aid office in
Bakersfield, and having a sole practice focusing on criminal
defense), I returned to my childhood home in 1997 to live with
my father, Erwin P. Vollmer, who passed away at the age of 98
in 2004. In his younger years, my father, whose day job was as
an endocrinologist on the Breast Cancer Task Force at N.I.H.,
was a model of civic engagement; he was one of a group of
individuals who helped to make possible the annexation of our
neighborhood to the Town, and also helped to make possible the
creation of the Leland Community Center (now Lawton Center)
and Elm Street Park. He
was a role model for me, as was my mother, Aline Fruhauf, an
artist.
Since returning to the Town, I have been active on Town
committees. I
currently serve on the Purple Line Mitigation Committee, and
on the Long Range Planning Committee. Previous assignments
have included the Town’s Special Committee on the Bethesda
Sector Plan, the Land Use Committee, and the Climate and
Environment Committee.
Issues
The Town is facing some serious issues. The
implementation of the Bethesda Sector plan and the
construction of the Purple Line create continuing challenges. I was against the
Purple Line project from the beginning, because of concerns
that I have for the environment generally, and for quality of
life in our Town. Now,
as the project goes forward, we must focus on holding the
powers that be to the letter of the law, with respect to
environmental protection.
The Purple Line
While I share a concern that
many supporters of the Purple Line have, that we need to
address issues of economic inequality, I believe that the
transportation needs of our area, including the needs of low
income workers coming from the east, would have been better
served through bus rapid transit along existing roads. As it turns out, the
Purple Line is more of a cash cow for real estate developers,
than it is a boon for low income workers getting to and from
their jobs. As noted above, workers commuting to work would be
better served by improving bus service along existing roads. And low income
housing and small businesses now in close proximity to the
Purple Line route will be lost to make way for high-priced,
towering, condos and office buildings.
The closing of the Trail, and
the decimation of the tree canopy has had a crushing effect on
the morale of those of us who treasure the Trail, the trees,
and the wildlife.
When the Trail was closed in a
precipitous and disrespectful manner by the Purple Line
Transit Partners, on the very day that school was to begin, I
joined with a few other adults to stand by the entrance to the
Trail from the Lynn Drive Path, to give the students crossing
to B-CC moral support as they crossed.
With the project going forward,
it is important that we be sensitive to the impending loss of
tree canopy, which will harm migratory birds, to storm water
issues, increased noise, and chemical pollution, and work to
do whatever we can to mitigate these harmful effects. It may
be too late to stop the project, but we need to hold the
powers that be accountable, and do whatever we can to protect
the quality of life in our Town, what is left of our tree
canopy, and the environment more generally. I would note that
while we have already lost much of the tree canopy, if we can
save the trail, new trees can be planted. We shouldn’t give up
hope, that we might be able to restore at least some of what
we have lost.
Saving the Trail could mean that several years hence, a
very narrow modified hiker biker trail with a few trees will
be reinstalled next to the two track light rail train. But with some hard
work and a bit of luck, it could mean more---exerting the
Town’s leverage in such a manner as to force sending the
project back to the drawing board, reinstating the linear park
that is the Trail, planting new trees to once again serve as
refuge for the migratory birds, and creating a new kind of
Purple Line that was never fully considered, as it should have
been, when the plans were finalized---either an underground
rail line, or an enhanced bus system along existing roads.
Toward that end, I think we
need to look for points of leverage, to insure that we are not
just giving lip service to the idea of mitigation, but
creating real protection for our residents, and for our
environment—steps that just might possibly send the entire
project back to the drawing board---but if not, at least
provide a higher level of protection for our quality of life
and the environment than now seems possible.
There are points of leverage
that we can use in this way.
The county and the State will need the Town’s
cooperation, when it comes to certain plans for tunneling, and
redirecting traffic, both during and after construction. We don’t, as a Town,
have to agree to every request made to us to cooperate. That gives us
leverage. There
are also various permits that have been granted in connection
with the project, and with regard to these, we need to hold
the Purple Line Transit Partners, the State, and the County,
to the letter of the law.
This, too, is leverage.
And while the Town itself is not a party to the lawsuit
filed by the Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail, this
litigation, which raises questions regarding Federal funding
for the project as well as some other legal issues, is another
point of leverage.
The Bethesda Sector Plan
On another front, we need
to monitor development in Bethesda, as the implementation of
the Bethesda Sector Plan goes forward. On this front we
need to be working with other community organizations, and
CBAR. If elected to the Town Council, I will look forward to
working with CBAR and other community groups, to do what we
can to slow development.
Our infrastructure is simply not up to accommodating
the level of development anticipated in the Bethesda Sector
Plan. Schools are
already overcrowded. Traffic
is a mess. We
need to do what we can to slow it all down.
The Tudor Shops
Let me address the issue of
the Tudor shops, those low profile buildings between Leland
and Walsh Street on Wisconsin Avenue, which house a variety of
small businesses that serve our residents as well as the
larger community. Some
people think that these buildings have historic designation. They were, in fact,
established many years ago, to house small businesses to serve
the residents of the Town of Chevy Chase and nearby
communities. They do not currently have the protection of
historic designation. If
elected to the Town Council, I will work to bring about a
consensus within the Council to propose to the Historic
Preservation Commission that these buildings receive historic
designation, and follow through with the process, to make this
happen. Doing
this would help to solidify the buffer between development in
downtown Bethesda and our Town.
The Parking Lots
Now let
me address the issue of the two large surface level parking
lots, behind the Farm Women’s Market and behind the Tudor
shops. On this
issue, I differ somewhat in my position from some of the other
candidates. I
think that we should fight to insure that there be no building
on those parking lots. As
to the lots themselves, I am in favor of keeping some of the
area of the lots for surface level parking. Yes, we want to get
more cars off the roads.
But some people do need to drive.
In our Town, we have
residents, especially older and/or disabled residents, who
cannot walk to the Farm Women’s Market, the Tudor shops, or
the Writer’s Center. To
these residents, keeping some of the surface level parking
close to those locations is extremely important. Not all are
comfortable parking in underground facilities or parking
garages. One
should be able to make a quick stop at the Farm Women’s Market
or one of the shops, without having to park underground, or
walk a long distance. There
should be some surface level parking kept, at least for senior
citizens the disabled.
But we should also reserve
some of the area of those lots---the area closest to our
Town---- for green space, planted with trees, a linear park. With developers keen
on developing these parking lots with tall buildings,
accomplishing these goals will be no easy task. I suggest that we
try to figure out how we might consider using some of the
financial resources of the Town, to buy an interest in those
lots, so that we might have some control over the future of
these parking lots.
With respect to snow removal, I
think the Town’s approach should be one of looking at overall
level of dangerousness rather than simply the depth of the
snow. It is
easier for residents to shovel several inches of light fluffy
snow, than to have to deal with packed slush and ice. The Town manager
should have more discretion, subject to direction from the
Town Council, in the event of
problematic snowfalls. I
would also try to keep the office and Town Hall open when
weather is severe and/or we have power outages, so that
residents would have a place to gather for moral support and
to exchange information.
With respect to dog parks, I
support working with the County to have more frequent “pop up” dog parks,
such as the very successful event that was held at Elm Street
Park, as we consider the pros and cons of establishing a
permanent dog park in our Town.
Voting Rights
Let me use this space to
briefly address one additional issue. Since about 2009 a
handful of Town residents have been pushing to expand voting
rights to allow our residents who are not U.S. citizens, but
who are permanent residents, and members of our community, to
vote in Town elections. I
raised this issue when I ran for Town Council in 2009, and
again in 2014. Finally,
after many years of discussion of this issue, our current Town
Council has taken steps toward implementing this reform. If elected, I pledge
to complete the work of our current Town Council, to expand
the franchise to include these neighbors of ours.
Let me also note that there are
residents in our Town who favor lowering the voting age, to
include sixteen and seventeen year olds. While I do not have
a firm position on this issue, I would be open to considering
making this change as well.
Recent events have taught us that high school students
can, and will, make a difference, when they participate in our
democracy.
I welcome the opportunity
to discuss these and other issues with voters in the course of
this campaign. Please remember to vote on Tuesday, May 1, and
also attend the Annual Town meeting that evening. Please feel
free to e-mail me at dvollmer@verizon.net, or call me at
301-652-5762, if you have any questions about my campaign or
want to share any concerns that you may have that you wish to
share. Thank you,
and I hope that you will consider voting for me for one of the
three seats on the Town Council.