Dear neighbors,
Three years ago, seeking to uphold the law and protect Rock Creek Hills Park, we started an uphill battle against Montgomery County, the Montgomery County Board of Education, the Maryland-National Capital Area Parks and Planning Commission, and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. One local citizens’ group, Rock Creek Hills, took on multiple county and state government agencies, each with a bottomless legal purse.
Thanks to your support and encouragement, we continued to fight hard against various unfounded arguments thrown our way. It was a complex fight, but we came together with one voice and contributed in various ways. Your counsel, Bil Chen, reduced his hourly rate; our team of three Rock Creek Hills attorneys donated countless hours pro bono; many others contributed what was asked at different stages of the litigation, because of the merits of our case, the belief that we were working for the public good, and to uphold the right of a community to defend its central public green space.
Unfortunately, we were not successful – not because of any weakness in the merits of our case, but because the courts, who could not bring themselves to see how we would be directly impacted by this questionable decision, ruled that we lacked standing.
Currently we have to close out on our legal obligation and I have to ask you for help. Your counsel agreed to cut his final bill in half, leaving an outstanding balance of $10K. Since the first of the year, we have raised over $5700! When we first started on this hard journey, three years ago, we knew that victory was not certain, and now we need to address this obligation.
Please – if you have not yet contributed this year (and thank you very much if you have!) – could you send a check to the RCHCA treasurer, Ms. Maria Marzullo, at 9801 East Bexhill Drive, Kensington, MD 20895? Checks should be payable to RCHCA and marked “litigation fund.” Or you can contribute online at <http://tinyurl.com/ca9kp5m>. A contribution of any amount would be appreciated.
Thank you for your support, and thank you for your consideration of this request. I am proud of our sustained efforts to uphold the law, protect the park, and build quality schools, and I would be deeply grateful for your help at this difficult time.
Sincerely yours,
Jim Pekar
RCHCA President