The Way I See It: Dear Greg

By Dennis J. Lane

Mr. Gregory Hamm
Regional Vice President & General Manager of Columbia, General Growth Properties
10275 Little Patuxent Parkway
Columbia, MD 21044

Dear Greg,
Welcome to Columbia. I can call you Greg, can't I?
I hope you don't mind the familiarity. We like to be on a first name basis with our general managers around here. I mean, how many towns do you know of that have a general manager?
You are now the seventh general manager in Columbia's slightly more than 40-year existence. Your predecessors were William "Bill" Finley, Michael "Mike" Spear, Douglas "Doug" MacGregor, Alton "Al" Scavo, Dennis "Dennis" Miller and Douglas "Doug" Godine.
You might find it interesting that, when The Rouse Co. was running things around here, the general managers generally served long terms. For the first 37 years, there were only five general managers. You are now the third general manager in less than four years since General Growth Properties (GGP) acquired The Rouse Co. and became the new sheriff in town.
That's one of the reasons I waited until now to formally welcome you in this column. I wanted to make sure you were going to be with us for awhile.
You did make a nice entrance though. You came into town just as the mall's general manager, Karen Geary, was telling Columbians that it was time for new traditions - and therefore the 36-year holiday tradition of our beloved poinsettia tree was over. The defrocked poinsettia tree frame was strung with cheap lights and banished to a cold parking lot behind Merriweather Post Pavilion.
Most of us around here didn't think much of this new holiday tradition. But no sooner than you can say "Lake Kittamaqundi," you rescued the poinsettia tree from its Siberian exile and announced that it will once again grace the mall's center court fountain during the holidays. Nice move.
It also was great way to get introduced to some of locals in town which you are now attempting to generally manage.
The poinsettia tree affair introduced you to some of the town elders. These are the folks who wear their years in Columbia as a badge of honor. Claire Lea, Sandy Carbotti, and Janet Shinski organized the protest against the poinsettia tree banishment. They are among the villagers of Harper's Choice, which has also long been a hotbed of height restriction activism.
This dates back to the village's inception, when it became the recipient of Columbia's first water tower. Harper's Choice villagers have had a thing about heights ever since.
Elizabeth "Liz" Bobo is from this village. She is a former county executive and a current state delegate. No doubt you've already met her. Liz is all about Town Center these days. She's got a thing about heights. Have you met her husband?
Lloyd Knowles is a former county councilperson who was also a plaintiff in the lawsuit seeking to stop the construction of The Plaza condominiums. His objection to heights is well documented.
Another height restriction activist in the village is Alan Klein. He is the spokesperson for the Coalition for Columbia's Downtown. You probably have already heard from the Coalition (or CoFoDoCo, as I prefer to call them). Your predecessor, Doug Godine, ruffled their feathers quite a bit during his brief reign as Columbia's GM.
Another village that you should keep your eyes on is the Village of Oakland Mills. Oakland Mills was the first village on the "other" side of Columbia and still seems to carry a chip on its shoulder about that.
Oakland Mills is home to the chairperson of the Columbia Association (CA) board of directors, Barbara Russell. Barbara likes to tell people that she was Columbia's first mother, which to me is about as significant as being Columbia's first lawyer, but there you go. Barbara could be a good resource for you, since she purports to know exactly what Jim Rouse's vision for Columbia was. You might want to keep her number handy.
Oakland Mills is also home of Alex Hekimian and his Alliance for a Better Columbia. They aren't likely to give you much trouble. They spend most of their energy badgering the CA board and staff and complaining that the Columbia Parks and Recreation Association assessment is too high, no matter what it is.
As our new general manager, you should also know that the majority of people who live here are clueless about all this. Stop and randomly ask someone a few simple questions about the town, like how many villages there are, or the names of at least three members of the Columbia Council. My money says most would be hard pressed to give you correct answers.
So please keep all this in mind as you begin the process of telling us about GGP's master plan for the redevelopment of Town Center. Many of the aforementioned groups (and some I haven't mentioned) will seek to position themselves as the voice of the people.
Take it from me, as someone who grew up here, works here and plays here, this town is a cacophony of voices and ideas. For every important issue, there will always be a committee formed to argue the pro and a committee formed to argue the con - and they will all meet once a month at the home of someone in some neighborhood in some village in Columbia.
I guess that's why the town needs a general manager.
Welcome and good luck.
Sincerely, Dennis Lane