CleanSlateMoCo is conducting interviews of local community members. These are people that though they do not hold office, are important voices in Montgomery County. They represent the fabric of the county; individuals that might have had a unique experience, or maybe are involved in a unique activity, or maybe are just normal folks trying to build a life of happiness and fulfillment in this county. Hope you enjoy. If you know of someone that is willing to be interviewed, please drop us an email at inquiry@cleanslatemoco.com or DM us on twitter at @CleanSlateMoCo
Community Profile: Robert Dyer
Your website (Bethesda Row) says that you have been a lifelong resident of Bethesda. Can you share some of your favorite memories growing up in the area?
Eating at Hot Shoppes, Shakey’s Pizza and Pizza Hut in downtown Bethesda, and at Farrell’s in the Westwood Shopping Center. Bowl America on Westbard Avenue. Watching the freight trains on the Georgetown Branch railroad that is now the Capital Crescent Trail. Shopping for toys at Lowen’s. Putt-Putt Golf in Rockville. Blockbuster Video on Bethesda Avenue. Regal Cinemas Bethesda 10 – but Bethesda insiders know it better as “UA.”
Have you ever live elsewhere?
No, I’ve never left Bethesda.
Have your motivations for the website shifted or changed over the years? What has the evolution looked like?
It started in 2006 highlighting various issues going on in Bethesda and the County at-large, along with some hyperlocal news reports. Hyperlocal news didn’t even exist in Montgomery County then. At the time, Bethesda news was found in the Gazette, the Almanac, the Sentinel, and the monthly Bethesda Magazine. Those websites were updated weekly or monthly, and I saw an opening for a breaking news site that could immediately post news as it was happening in Bethesda. As the years went by, the amount of news and frequency of posting increased. There was much more extensive coverage of business openings and closings. Starting in 2012, I created the Suburban News Network, with new sites for Rockville (Rockville Nights), eastern Montgomery County (East MoCo), and the upcounty (Sam Eig).
You have been running the website for many years, and some years you seem to have had much more to say (2014-2016). Do you recall what inspired so many postings during this time?
That was mostly because of my extensive coverage of the Westbard Sector Plan process. There were sometimes 3 public meetings a day, and I attended all of them. There was no other news source providing such extensive coverage of this highly controversial and contentious issue over those years.
How much personal time does it take for you to run the site?
It takes several hours each day to gather the information and photos, and then write the articles. And additional time to post the stories and engage with readers on social media.
I am curious, over the years, has there been any positive or negative feedback from the community that really sticks out for you?
Local media tends to be in the back pocket of developers, and is not known for criticizing our elected officials when it’s warranted. There’s a lot of rah-rah, cheerleading coverage that provides a lot of propaganda stories our elected officials can share on social media. It’s most rewarding when I hear from readers who say that I am finally providing a news source that amplifies their views as residents, rather than the local political machine perspective. On the negative side, I was surprised to learn that there are a few people who believe that nothing negative about the County or its officials should ever be reported, and that crime incidents should not be publicized. So I’ve had to take a fair amount of abuse and hate over the years.
Without a doubt the coverage you provide, not only in Bethesda but the greater MoCo area, is one of a kind. You get news that other simply don’t. What has been your secret?
It’s an advantage to have been a lifelong resident, to have sources all over the County.
In what ways has Montgomery County changed for the better over the last 20 years? In what ways has it changed for the worse?
One of the few changes for the better has been the increase in diversity in the business community, which – along with Draconian tax hikes – has helped the County stave off total economic collapse. For example, when gentrification in D.C. and Northern Virginia pushed out Asian residents and businesses, many of them relocated to Rockville, which has now arguably become the top destination for Asian dining in the region as a result. The same in Wheaton, where the County has dropped the ball on economic development repeatedly since the 1980s. Immigrant-founded businesses have helped to fill the void,and occupy many storefronts that would otherwise be empty. And if it wasn’t for our Asian, African, Caribbean, and Latino bars and nightspots, there wouldn’t be any nightlife left at all in Montgomery County at this point.
What’s changed for the worse? Too many things to list! At the core, much of the County’s decline was caused by the Montgomery County political cartel seizing a majority of the County Council seats via the “End Gridlock” slate in 2002. Ever since, the government has put all of its effort behind residential development, without providing the infrastructure to support it, and without charging their developer sugar daddies sufficient impact taxes to pay for that infrastructure – like increased school capacity, transportation, services, etc. Residential development generates more new costs in infrastructure and services than it does in revenue for the County, which is why we have a structural budget deficit, and why the County government is in the red every fiscal year. Our economy is totally moribund, and the County ranks at the bottom in the region by nearly every economic development measure. It seems like the Council is determined to destroy what good aspects of the County remain with its Thrive 2050 plan to bulldoze existing residential neighborhoods, to make room for yet more luxury apartments.
If you were made CE for a day, what is the first thing you would work on?
A new Potomac River crossing!
What is your opinion on the future of citizen journalism generally, and for Montgomery County specifically?
I think it’s critical right now, as The Washington Post hasn’t covered Montgomery County closely for more than a decade, and it’s the only local newspaper left. The Washington Times is focused on national news, sadly. On the other hand, it’s a false argument to say we have a local news vacuum. You mainly hear that argument from politicians who are sad they aren’t getting weekly puff pieces in the Gazette and Sentinel to share anymore. In reality, besides my sites, there are The MoCo Show, Montgomery Perspective, MoCo 360, Moderately MoCo, CleanSlateMoCo, Source of the Spring, the Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County, among others. To say, “no one is covering Montgomery County” is often just a way of saying, “I don’t like WHO is covering Montgomery County, and what they are uncovering.”
