Stop The Day Labor Center In Derwood

Should anyone really be surprised? One of new Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s first acts has been to “solve” the day laborer center issue with the City of Gaithersburg in ways that run roughshod over citizens’ clearly expressed preferences.

In his classic Louisiana style, Leggett hand-picked a former crony Chuck Short, known for setting up an earlier illegal worker pick-up center in Silver Spring. Short was ordered to find a new location for the growing number of Latino illegal aliens congregating in Gaithersburg. Although no fewer than 30 previous such efforts have been rejected by the citizens of Gaithersburg, the Montgomery County Government plainly is desperate to spend our precious tax dollars on providing shelter and jobs for persons who have no legal or moral right to be in the United States.

The site chosen by Leggett and Short only adds insult to injury – county property near the intersection of Shady Grove Road and Crabbs Branch Way. Had Montgomery officials bothered to conduct any research at all, they would quickly have discovered that this property is part of the county-approved Shady Grove Sector Plan. Working closely with the County Park & Planning Staff, citizens of Derwood and surrounding neighborhoods spent years developing a thoughtful Sector Plan mix providing for housing, parks, industrial, and commercial uses.

Now, Leggett and Short would toss all that out the window by forcing construction of a taxpayer-funded illegal worker pickup center on property slated for job-creating high-tech companies, housing and a needed library. Obviously, Leggett, with support from CASA of Maryland doesn’t care what citizens think about this issue. He is intent on ramming a trailer park of unemployed illegal aliens down our throats!

Because of such growing abuses of official power, I am announcing the creation of a new populist citizens group called “Help Save Maryland”. Our goals are simple – improve the quality of life for Maryland citizens; make our elected officials more responsive to our needs; and enhance public safety by enforcing the law, among other measures.

Our first order of business will be: immediately warning the residents of Derwood, Washington Grove and King Farm, especially women and children, about the safety problems sure to be created by unemployed illegal aliens loitering in our neighborhoods; apprising customers of KinderCare, Giant Grocery, Red Hot & Blue, Grove Cleaners, and other businesses of the potential risks; and alerting commuters parked in the nearby Metro parking lots of the potential for increased crime and congestion. The Montgomery County Police will have to be contacted on a daily basis to defuse any potential conflicts that may arise and to enforce loitering, drunkenness and public urination laws near the center.

Contact County Executive Ike Leggett at ocemail@montgomerycountymd.gov or 240-777-2500 and tell Ike and his trailers to “Take a Hike” away from Shady Grove. Join us at www.HelpSaveMaryland.com. Together we can make a difference!
Brad Botwin, Director, Help Save Maryland, helpsavemaryland@comcast.net.