Bob Pierce

Wife: Pat

Sons:
          Chris: 5^th Grade - High School; Soccer, Wrestling, Baseball
                   MS, Physical Therapy, Ithaca College, NY
                   Residence: New Boston, New Hampshire

          Sean: 1^st Grade – High School; Soccer, Wrestling, Global Ecology
                   BS, Forestry, University of Montana
                   Residence: Big Sky, Montana

Community Activities:

          Poolesville Planning Commissioner: 1988-1996
                   1990 Master Plan: Author First Draft
                   1996 Master Plan: Author Final Draft
                   Poolesville Water Supply Appendix to Master Plan: Author
                   Forest Conservation Act Ordinance: Author
                   Recreational Trail System: Designer
                   Middle School Approval: Member Presentation Team

          Poolesville High School
                   Varsity Wrestling Coach: 1990-1995
                  Moot Court: Coach
                   Odyssey of the Mind: Coach
                   Envirothon: Instructor, Judge
                   Global Ecology: Class and Field Lecturer

          Montgomery County Sports
                   Youth Soccer: Coach
                   Poolesville Wrestling Club: Coach
                   Poolesville Swim Club: Starter

Employment:
          U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: 1975-1983, NY, NY;
1983-1989, Washington, D.C.
          Wetland Training Institute, Inc.: President, 1989-Present
         Wetland Science Applications, Inc.: President, 1989-Present
          The Johns Hopkins University: Faculty, 1999

Education:

          BS:    University of Dayton, 1966-1970

Biology Major, Chemistry and Russian Minors
          MA: Miami University, 1970-1972
                   Zoology Major, Botany Minor
          Ph.D.:         Miami University, 1972-1975
                   Zoology Major

Candidates’ Forum Questions and Answers

Q1. If elected Commissioner, which two cost savings ideas will you seek to improve?

1A. Since I have not studied all aspects of expenditures, I cannot speak with authority on prioritizing actions. However, I am certain that property taxes can be substantially reduced if water/wastewater is managed correctly as an enterprise. See 3A. for more detail. Furthermore, I believe that there are opportunities in Town to reduce energy consumption at municipal facilities by moving to alternative sources such as wind and/or solar. This will require an initial capital investment, but will provide cost savings in the long term.

2Q. If you could achieve one of the following two achievements, would it be to preserve Poolesville or improve Poolesville?

2A. Improve Poolesville. If we look back at the history of Poolesville, we see that it was an agricultural community that was progressive. Time did not stand still as in some Williamsburg-like setting. Rather, the practical farm community continuously changed the Town to improve the lives of the residents. While the changes have not always been aesthetically pleasing to some tastes, including my own, the true character of the community is to seek continuous, practical improvement.

3Q. How will raising water rates affect taxes, businesses and homeowners?

3A. The short answer is that IF the water/wastewater services were properly funded, then property taxes should be decreased substantially. Simply raising water rates however, is not the solution to the cost and management issues on water and wastewater. The Commissioners need to adopt the concept of running the water/wastewater service in Town as a true “enterprise” – a self-sufficient, self-funded entity. As currently funded, property tax-exempt entities (Montgomery County is the largest) get a free ride on costs of capital improvements, loan debt service, administration costs, etc. I have tried for years to move the Commission from the outside to rectify this inequity, but it has been stagnant. In FY2009, 52% of the Town property tax revenues went to water/wastewater costs.

4Q. Please tell us how you plan on communicating with the town residents in order to be able to represent their views and desires within town government.

4A. I am a firm believer that the more feedback that government gets from the electorate, the better government can serve. I want to hear about the individual’s problems to try to find a solution. At the December 8, 2008, Commission meeting (minute on the Town website), there was a lengthy discussion of limiting public input at the open forum, including the passing of an unintelligible motion (4:1) in an effort to do so. I will encourage open dialog with the public at Commission meetings and will be available by telephone or email to work with residents. The December 8, 2008 motion needs to be revisited by the Commissioners to determine what if any meaning it has.

5Q. What is our next big capital improvement priority?

5A. Making certain that the Town water supply is of the highest quality possible. Funding, however, should not be through general revenues, which places the burden entirely on property owners. See 3A. above. I believe that it is also important for the Town to look to alternative energy sources for Town facilities (e.g., Water Treatment Plant, Town Hall). Wind is probably the most logical for many situations, solar may be appropriate at wellheads, but all should be considered. In the long term, we can affect a cost savings on for the Town as well as demonstrate our progressive leadership.

6Q. Do we need a budget that includes one million dollars in unobligated carryover?

6A. Having a surplus “cushion” is appropriate, however, I will have to further study what is the appropriate dollar level for that carryover. Budgets are anticipatory, and no matter how forward thinking an entity is, there can always be upsets to budget estimates. Striking the right balance is the important consideration and requires more in-depth knowledge than I currently have. Working from a deficit, is not a position that the Town ever wants to get into.

7Q. What is your current time commitments (jobs, committees, etc.) and how will you be able to fulfill the time required to being a commissioner?

7A. I am president of two Maryland Subchapter S corporations that work throughout the U.S. My office is 75 feet behind my house. Most of my time is spent in Poolesville, which means that I will often be available during working hours to assist Town staff to deal with problems. I do travel, periodically, however, as do many of the professionals that volunteer for the Town. I would work to adjust the Town Code, if necessary, to allow any Commissioner to participate in Commission meetings electronically, either as simply as by speaker phone or with more sophisticated teleconferencing equipment. I currently am not involved in any other committee, organization, etc. that puts a demand on my time.

8Q.What is your stance on the streetscape also on the proposed windmill and skate park. 8A. I have not studied the streetscape plans and recommendations in any detail and will need to do so before committing firmly to any plan. The Town needs to be attractive, but personally, I find that the biggest eyesore is the power and telephone poles every 100 feet or so throughout the CBD. I don’t know whether the issue of moving those below ground has been reviewed in recent years. Doing such is very expensive. An even greater impediment than cost identified when I was on the Planning Commission in the 1990s, was the lack of a bypass road around the CBD in which the lines could be buried. With the construction of the Brightwell Crossing subdivision, that bypass road would then exist. It may still be too cost prohibitive, but now is the time that it must be considered. As a roller-blader, I am generally in support of providing a safe location for the youth to exercise. I have not studied the specifics, so cannot comment at this point beyond acknowledging conceptual support. I believe that my views on wind power, which I strongly support, are evident from other answers.

9 Q. Several businesses have closed in the last couple of months (Jon's Video, Getty). What ideas do you have to help bolster business in town and to reduce empty store-fronts. 9A. I think that the first action should be to conduct a survey of Town residents to determine what types of businesses they would support on a local basis, which currently are not represented. Once data are available, then there can be an active effort to attract such businesses or stimulate local residents to start such businesses. I think that the attitude that we need to preserve our “vision” of the Town is misdirected to the extent that it raises impediments to innovation. For example, the recent Planning Commission decision to reject a demonstration project for small-scale wind turbines in the CBD, in favor of “studying” the issue, demonstrates a focus that is too narrow. A forward-thinking approach could promote a variety of “green” businesses that that might locate in Poolesville. I do not believe that the Town can ever expect that business will flock to Poolesville to take advantage of the “historic character” of Town. There is just not enough “historic character” left in the CBD.

10 Q. What will you do to improve traffic safety in the town especially near the schools? 10 A. I will support a detailed analysis of potential remediation methods. While I am generally not a fan of the speed cameras, they do slow traffic down at least in the camera’s immediate vicinity. I do not know who selected the current locations nor what the selection criteria were, but those should be reexamined. If we are to have the cameras in Town, then they need to be positioned based on maximum safety criteria, not on maximum revenue stream. On West Willard Road (and others), the Town should give strong consideration to taking the road from the County and upgrading it and maintaining it to Town standards. I do not know why the requirement to widen the road and provide acceleration and deceleration lanes was not implemented as part of the expansion of the high school. Furthermore, the new section of the sidewalk leading from Spurrier Avenue to the school deposits pedestrians in a parking lot. A requirement to continue the sidewalk in front of the school should have been implemented. I think that the Commission has been too accommodating to the County when it comes to shortchanging the residents on expenditures.

11 Q. What is your stance on the study going on with the CDC and health department in reference to the “Cancer Cluster"?

11A. I support the study and believe that the Town needs to be more proactive on treatment of its water supply. The Commissioners have known for years that radon levels in some of the Town wells have exceeded one of the proposed EPA standards and are on the same order of magnitude as the other. Combine this fact with levels of uranium that approach the standard in several wells and the disinfection byproducts in the delivered water and I believe that there is reason to be concerned. The Commission has procrastinated because there is no final EPA standard and they can state that the water is consistent with all standards. The scientific evidence of increased cancer risk from radon in both air and water is not speculative – it is real although not fully understood. Similar to the health effects of smoking or second-hand smoke, we should not wait for definitive proof – not when the cost of treatment is relatively low and we are dealing with the single most important necessity of life - water. I believe that my technical background will provide a needed bolster to the deliberative process. I think that the Commission made a mistake when it backed off its original plan to collect radon data in homes, businesses, and institutions in Town simply because no one at county or state levels were doing so and they didn’t know what they would do with the data.

12 Q. What one thing about Poolesville do you not like and how would you change it.

12 A. The way the Commission often treats anyone that disagrees with it. One of the main reasons that I am running for Commissioner is that I disagree with the way that some residents and neighbors to the Town have been treated by some on the Commission, which reflects on the entire Commission. The Commission is being run as if private property rights are meaningless. The Commission demonstrated no respect for our property rights or those outside of Town when our wells were adversely affected, by the Schraff Well pump test. We had to hire an attorney to protect our rights and the President of the Commission was verbally abusive to him. The MDE had to facilitate negotiations between the Town and those outside Town limits because the Commission expected to have its way irrespective of the land owners’ rights.

13 Q. If you are endorsed by the Bulletin, will you accept the endorsement as indicative of your vision for Poolesville because it is the only way you can win or will you publicly admit tonight that you do not want to be endorsed by the bulletin?

13A. Over the years I have had major disagreements with Mr. Janet and have expressed those to him both orally and in writing. The fact that he and I might agree on any particular issue is simply coincidental. That being said, I am not seeking support of the Bulletin or any other media that services the Town – only from the residents’. I am a firm believer in “freedom of speech” and will not stifle anyone’s right to express views either pro or con to my candidacy. I will debate with anyone, positions that I believe are incorrect. I believe some of the Commissioners’ recent discussions concerning public input (see 4A.) are totally inappropriate. Frankly, I find the question to be petty and a sign of insecurity on the framers part. I give the residents of Poolesville the credit to be able to discern fact from fiction in the materials that they read. If the actions of the Commissioners cannot withstand unfounded criticism, then they are not explaining their actions adequately.