There doesn’t seem to be enough of a good thing to go around, when it comes to the work of a Columbia Association-funded community organizer.

The organizer, who has worked exclusively in the village of Oakland Mills for the past five years, is credited with forging partnerships between residents, merchants and schools and aiding in the community’s revitalization efforts.

The position has been so successful, in fact, that other villages want a piece of the action.

But despite that popularity, funding for the position has been trimmed from the association’s proposed budget. Instead, CA leaders plan to launch a new Community Development Service Bureau, to assist in master planning in each of Columbia’s 10 villages.

At a public hearing on the CA budget last week, Oakland Mills Village Board member Abby Hendrix appealed to the CA Board of Directors to continue funding the community organizer position. She credited the organizer — a post currently held by Dorita Forehand, the third person to hold it since it was created — with initiatives like a coat drive, enlistment of 100 “street captains” to disseminate information, a partnership between schools and merchants, and greater collaboration with police.

“You can’t capture in words how I feel about this position,” she said. “I feel like we are on the verge of something great.”

According to Oakland Mills village manager Sandy Cederbaum, the community organizer position was created by the Oakland Mills Village Board in 2005 and funded for the first three years by grants. The Columbia Association also provided $10,000 in operating funds toward Oakland Mills’ revitalization projects in each of those three years.

In 2008, when grant funding ran out, CA funded the organizer’s full-time $50,000 salary and, in 2009, reduced the position to a part-time, $25,000 job. Funding for the position runs out at the end of April.

‘A fairness issue’

Some board members said they considered the extra funding for Oakland Mills unfair.

Philip Kirsch, Wilde Lake’s representative on the board, said a community organizer would be a great help to Wilde Lake as its village center is revamped.

“To me, it’s a fairness issue,” Kirsch said. “We’ve funded this position in Oakland Mills for (several) years now. I think some of the other villages should get a shot at it.”

Kirsch said that ideally, the board could fund an organizer for each village. Barring that, the board should not pay for any organizers, and instead allow villages to use their share of the association’s assessment revenue to hire an organizer.

But Cederbaum said the assessment share in Oakland Mills and some other villages would not cover an additional staff member’s salary.

Alex Hekimian, Oakland Mills’ representative on the CA Board, said the board should consider incorporating community organizers into the new Community Development Service Bureau suggested by CA President Phillip Nelson. Hekimian said he would like to see the bureau include a community organizer as well as an urban planner.

“I think it started out in Oakland Mills because that was the most pressing need,” Hekimian said. “We’ve shown it can be a successful program. We’ve created a very active, very involved community in Oakland Mills and that’s what Columbia is all about. ... The idea of sharing, I think, is something we should look into.”

The CA board is scheduled to vote on its budget Feb. 24.

Position defended

In the meantime, Forehand said she is squeezing as much as she can into her last few months.

Among the projects she is working on is an employment initiative for young men between the ages of 16 and 24 who are not in school — a population in Oakland Mills that Forehand says is 70 percent unemployed. The program, which Forehand hopes to launch in March, would provide participants with access to professional wardrobe, job training and retention skills, financial management and links to job opportunities.

Forehand, an Owen Brown resident, told the board at last week’s meeting that the position should not be done away with.

“It is unreasonable to disrupt, at this time, what is going on in Oakland Mills,” she told the board. She said she is in the process of applying for grant funding to help support the position.

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user comments (6)

user tom3 says...

This budget cut is the most difficult one that will be made in this year's budget. But the failure fund this position or to get the Community Development Service funds in this year's budget can and should be laid at the feet of this Board for not paying attention to activities that CA should have on the top of it's must do list. To date this Board has squandered it's term by focusing on issues they had little or no control. Where is Oakland Mills community activist CA Rep when his community needs him to use his influence on the Board. I guess this kind of community support is not important to him. There is no doubt this '10 Board will go down as one of the worst on in CA's history. Remember, cutting this part time position will only save CA $25,000 in a $60 million budget.

Posted 9:15 PM, 02.03.10 | Permalink

user wildelakemike says...

Unfortunately, Phil Kirsch's comment comes right out of kindergarten... if Wilde Lake can't have something, no one should have it... it's just not fair! Mr. Kirsch, if having a community organizer is a good idea, and even Mr. Hekimian thinks it is, then fight for the position. But please don't wimp out over a fairness issue. Sometimes, life isn't fair. That's the lesson from kindergarten.

Posted 5:48 AM, 02.04.10 | Permalink

user citizentaxpayerjane says...

Careful, Mike. I used the 'kindergarten' word and was ordered out of the country by hocovoter. As if. Some comments are delusional with self importance. Speaking of which, shouldn't you be showing a little graciousness at this point, having won your battle and paved the path to winning the war?

Posted 7:18 AM, 02.04.10 | Permalink

user says...

CTJ, as much as the revitalization of downtown is important to me, so it the revitalization of the villages. Oakland Mills and Wilde Lake are two villages that require focused and significant attention in order to become what they once were - the hub of those villages. If a community organizer is seen as an important role to fill by those who are working so hard to accomplish this goal, then CA should be looking to fill that position, not play games about funding.

Posted 10:02 AM, 02.04.10 | Permalink

user ljgfny says...

Well said Tom3 et al. Residents of Columbia - it is not to late share your thoughts with the CA Board in support of the Community Organizer position.

Posted 10:25 AM, 02.04.10 | Permalink

user ljgfny says...

Posted 10:25 AM, 02.04.10 | Permalink