Hello – I wanted to let everyone know that SSSNA will be hosting its next social gathering at Taste of Jerusalem on Wednesday, August 15th. Taste of Jerusalem has generously offered to take off 20% from the group’s tab and will also offer an appetizer special just for us. The SSSNA group will be meeting at the restaurant from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and we’ll have a table sign that clearly marks our group so it’s easy to find us. The menu is middle-eastern fare and includes a variety of appetizers, entrees and deserts with or without meat and a standard children's menu with items that kids tend to enjoy (chicken strips, etc.)

I also wanted to share the great news that SSSNA held its first monthly social at Mayorga a few weeks back and it was a huge success!! We had 22 people show up who enjoyed meeting new neighbors, listening to music and eating good food.

Come and meet new friends while enjoying delicious food and supporting our local business!!

Taste of Jerusalem
8123 Georgia Ave (At Sligo Ave)
Silver Spring MD 20910

Tel: 301-495-3067

Menu link

Don’t miss out on other upcoming social events:

• Tuesday, September 18 (Pirates Tavern)
• Monday, October 15 (Tiramisu Café)
• Tuesday, November 20 (Jackie’s)
• Wednesday, December 19 (Quarry House)

We’ll be sending out a reminder on the Yahoo! Group as we get closer to the date. Please use the "Share This" link below to send an email along to your friends and neighbors.

Please contact me with any questions or suggestions,
Jason

Limits of Work Area

RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES

Montgomery County’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs will begin construction on the extended

South Silver Spring pedestrian pathway, Link III-A.
On
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Hours of Construction will be from
7a.m. until 4 p.m. ... read more...

Last night I went to Rockville and told the Montgomery County Council that the parking meter rule change was a harmful policy to the residents of South Silver Spring. I am confident that our coordinated efforts have had a real impact: the parking rule will be rescinded. The Council officially votes on the measure next week.

Many from our community presented testimony, discussing the different problems with the plan: Brenda Smoak of Alchemy discussed the impact on artists and small businesses; John Landis of Crisfield and the South Silver Spring Merchants Association talked about the business community; Jackie Greenbaum of Jackie's (and resident of 8045 Newell) discussed the impact on small restaurants; and Marcie Stickle of the Silver Spring Historical Society talked about independent businesses. Because of their participation, I kept my testimony focused on the impact the parking change would have on the residents of South Silver Spring. Below is my testimony:

Council president Praisner and all council members,

My name is Evan Glass and I am president of the South Silver Spring Neighborhood Association.

Nearly 4,000 people live in South Silver Spring.

Residents of our community and the entire Central Business District must pay $85 a month if they wish to obtain a monthly parking pass for parking on the street or in a county garage.

Homeowners in South Silver Spring and the entire Central Business District must pay .14 cents per $100 of their assessment for the simple privilege of living in a parking lot district.

In 2007 alone, the residents of three buildings in South Silver Spring--Eastern Village Co-housing, the Aurora and 8045 Newell Street --- paid more than $117-thousand dollars toward the parking lot district tax.

So not only does everyone pay that much in obligatory taxes for parking, some people pay $85 for parking passes, and now others among us are being told to contribute more to the parking fund by feeding the meter on weeknights until 10 pm and all day on Saturdays.

This is a terrible and unjust policy.

Aside from the harmful impact on small businesses; aside from raising the costs for talented individuals to work and live in our arts and
entertainment district; and aside from the inequity created by having free parking at other garages, the regulation currently on the books will have a negative affect on the more than 8-thousand residents of the CBD.

Imagine having to interrupt your family dinner six nights a week to feed the meter at 7 or 8 pm.

Is that necessary? I don’t personally believe so and neither do the residents in my community whom I represent.

Silver Spring – and particularly the South Silver Spring and Fenton Village neighborhoods – is still undergoing a dramatic renaissance. We need you to protect our best interests as we undergo this sensitive period of growth.

More than 950 housing units are under construction in the CBD, with many more in the planning stages. More residents are moving in – and thankfully more are using public transportation – like I did by taking the metro here. But we should not take these residents, my neighbors, for granted.

We pay for parking passes, pay for parking lot district taxes and now you want us to pay until 10 pm.

This parking regulation is unfair and harmful, and I urge you to overturn it.

This morning, walking by the construction site at 1200 East-West Highway, I saw that construction crews were beginning to mobilize. There was a dump truck, a Bobcat, a portable toilet, and several pickup trucks. It seems that the East-West Highway/Blair Mill Road/Newell Street intersection is going to be a very busy one for the next year or two.

Also, last Friday as I walked past the Galaxy sales office in the Gramax building I noticed that the lights were on. Read into it what you will.

Swing by the Heliport tomorrow night, for a fun event that will shape our neighborhood's visual landscape for years to come.

What: Kennett Street Art Wall Community Involvement Event

When: Friday, July 20, 4-8 pm.

Where: Gateway's Heliport Gallery – 8001 Kennett St. Suite 3, Silver Spring MD 20910; 301-562-1400

What: Community involvement event for Tom Block's "Cousins" public art project for the Kennett St. Art Wall in South Silver Spring.

Background:
On June 21st, Tom Block's "Cousins" public art project was selected as the winner for the Kennett St. Art Wall in South Silver Spring, to be installed along the entrance wall to the Kennett Street Parking lot, off of Eastern Ave. in South Silver Spring.

The "Cousins" public art project was conceived to echo the highest aspects of the Silver Spring community by combining an elegant, Eastern-inspired visual with sayings from wisdom masters from a variety of ethnicities, religions, geographic regions and time periods. Fusing words representing the highest aspirations of humankind (taken from great humanists such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, the Buddha, etc.) with specially created paintings, Cousins will place a series of large, 6' x 4' art and text panels along the Kennett Street Art Wall, transforming that alley space into a huge art gallery. This project uses South Silver Spring's diversity as an asset by emphasizing not only the different cultures in the community, but also how they positively interrelate. Going far beyond simply adding an attractive facet to the local urban culture, "Cousins" represents the highest aspirations of our community's collective soul.

At the event:
For the event, community members will be issued a ballot, to choose 13 winners from among the 78 final images created by Tom. Each saying to be included on the Art Wall will be represented by 6 different text/image panels, which will be exhibited flat, in clear plastic sleeves, on tables around the outside of the gallery. Votes will be tallied immediately at 8 pm.

At the event, there will be one of the final 6' x 4' panels exhibited, to give the community a sense of how the small pieces will be enlarged to cover the Art Wall.

If you have any questions about the event, please contact David Fogel: david@gatewaycdc.com or 301.562.1400.

Come participate and help shape the visual landscape in South Silver Spring!

David Fogel