Newly formed CKAR CDC elects board

The newly formed Central Kenilworth Avenue Revitalization Community Development Corp. elected its first board of officers Sept. 8 and will begin raising money to help transform the area of Kenilworth between River Road and Edmonston Road.

Board members elected include President Thomas L. Wertz of Templeton Knolls, First Vice President Dennis Nola of the University of Maryland, College Park, Second Vice President Alice Bishop of Templeton Knolls, Secretary Norman Livsey of East Pines and Treasurer Marty Newman of Riverdale Heights. Riverdale Park Councilman David Lingua will serve as the council liaison.

"I've been a resident [of Templeton Knolls] for 39 years. I want to see the community grow and adjust with the changes that we're face with in the future," Wertz said.

Board members and other stakeholders - including members from the Riverdale Park Business Association - discussed ways to combat issues with day laborers loitering along Kenilworth Avenue.

"Many of us, especially those in Templeton Knolls, got involved with CKAR because of the issues with day laborers," said board member Sharon Wertz.

Bishop presented the board with a report from a day laborer task force in Gaithersburg, which included ways to properly go about combating day labor sites and the consequences of doing nothing.

"I want to be knowledgeable about this before I go out in to the streets," she said.

Meeting attendees noted that some owners and managers of businesses along the corridor don't enforce loitering rules – and since the businesses are private property it is up to them to do so – since often times the day laborers purchase items from those businesses.

"But they're losing more consistent customers when the residents who live in this area don't feel comfortable going into the store," Thomas L. Wertz said.

Audrey Bragg, with the Riverdale Park Business Association, suggested bringing the business owners into a CKAR meeting and discussing the issue with them. And Bruce Werneck, also with the Riverdale Park Business Association, suggested going to the corporation that has franchises with loitering problems and working from the top down.

But Nola urged addressing the problem using a multi-pronged approach.

"We don't want to just relocate the day laborers and cause a problem for other areas. We need to address the problem systemically … and look at dealing with the private citizens and corporations that come in and hire those day laborers."

CKAR will hold its next meeting at 7 p.m. Oct. 5 at the Multicultural Youth Center at 6200 Sheridan Street.