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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]That image is blurry but there's more here if you are interested. https://pycr.blog/

Basically residents of Potomac Yard did a FOIA around the metro mezzanine deletion and found evidence of the city council knowing about the deletion in 2017 (not "just a few weeks ago" as several are stating).

More importantly, the documents show that when WMATA posted an image of the one mezzanine design in early April, city staff worked hard to get it taken down - even as WMATA expressed that it was not confidential under their rules (recall that the city is saying the WMATA NDA is why they couldn't tell the public).
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Holy crap... thank you for posting that.  If their interpretation of the information holds up, my vote has been changed.[/quote]

Against Smedberg?

Why against Wilson?  [b]It appears he wanted to share the information.  [/b] But believed (presumably on advice of City staff) that the NDA did apply.   And where was Silberberg?  Just out of the loop, because well, she is? [/quote]

I keep seeing this justification for everyone's actions.  Meanwhile, the City has stated that there is no written documentation of the direction they got from WMATA that this was confidential, as the guidance was supposedly given in meetings, over the phone, and face to face.

To that I ask: why was there not a thousand pages of emails from the city hammering back at WMATA saying "justify to us why we need to lie and deceive our constituents?"  If WMATA didn't provide that guidance in writing, there should at minimum have been an abundance of evidence of one of these blowhard council members, Vice Mayor, Mayor, or city manager screaming back into the void saying "this is completely screwed up and you can't tell us not to let our constituents know!!"  Where was the advocacy on their part to demand that the city residents be given the information they deserve?  Oh wait, it isn't there.  Because they didn't.

So they are either a) lying about WMATA telling them it's confidential b) completely incompetent or b) entirely uncaring about their constituents.  So which is it?[/quote]

1 They trusted their City Staff and staff lawyers.

2.   They did not want to delay the procurement further

3. They had a lot of other things to do  - among which, deal with school funding, CSO's, affordable housing, etc (also they have full time day jobs).  I mean I know that to you the question of the southern entrance to the metro station is huge, but I think a thousand pages of emails is asking a lot.

Also of course the VM and the City Manager are not known to be blowhards.  
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You are literally changing the hearts and minds of no one with responses like this.  But ok, keep acting like none of them did anything wrong.  That they produced not a single email from someone within the city saying "hey, this isn't cool" is telling, whether you want to admit it or not.  And acting like the PY metro is just some tiny project that isn't/wasn't on their radars?  BS of the highest and stinkiest order.

And please never ever tell me they are working on affordable housing and that's why they couldn't pay attention to a silly little issue like this.  I live in an apartment complex the city ok'd for redevelopment, a complex where a huge number of the city's low income residents live and one of the few large pockets of affordable housing in Alexandria.  Meanwhile the landlord stopped doing any maintenance/upkeep and essentially tried to make the place unlivable until redevelopment could occur.  And the city?  Did nothing.  Didn't care.  Just hyped up the redevelopment.  Who cares about the current residents or preserving any of this affordable housing when Mixed Use!  Green Space!  Redevelopment!

So take your faux affordable housing concern and put it in your compost bin.  [/quote]

Sounds like this is a market rate building, so yeah, a problem given that landlords can upgrade and raise rents by right, so denser development is the only way to get committed AH units.  If the landlord violated code that is up to staff to address, I don't know wha t happened with your complaint.

but of course my point was merely that [b]the debate (which has been vigorous on AH) might actually have taken up some of their time, along with many other issues. [/b]

It does seem we are becoming polarized and its harder and harder to engage with each other. I am trying to respond in good faith however.   [/quote]

If their time is being eaten up, then cut down on unnecessary nonsense at meetings.

The PY metro issue is incredibly important.  The City induced people to move there, to buy property there, relying on this Metro access.  The City know the whole time that it was lying.  The whole council and the senior staff clearly knew.  That's just plain stealing.  
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