@Sm Potatoes - Questions to Ask Tom Lonergan

I'm getting together today with Tom Lonergan, the G'burg Economic Development Director, to discuss my thoughts on the Main Street survey, after I gave a short statement at the Council work session on that topic.  You can check out my views about Main Street here and here.

I plan also to ask Tom also about how his office is working with Parks & Rec to change the way city-organized events are completely ignorant of the needs of our local businesses.  More on that here and here.

I'm super excited that I'm talking with Tom the day after the potatoes in city hall introduced a whistle blower ordinance.  This is great!  Maybe he'll feel freer to tell me why he hasn't gotten the city-wide business website up and running, since it was one of his top priorities a year ago.  I think his nit-wit bosses are holding him back.

I think Tom is really smart and capable, and he's a great off-the-record chat about local issues.  But on the record, he can be as dry as a baked potato without butter.  (Sorry, Tom, no offense, but it's true!)  In any case, here's some of what I plan to ask him:

1. You promised a website to highlight all city business districts as one of yoru top priorities when you took the job over a year ago.  Where is it?

2. When are you going to survey people who don't live within walking distance of Main Street?

3. How are you going to protect Main Street in advance of Downtown Crown and Watkins Mill.  Aside - did you see that J. Crew and Anthropologie have LOIs to open in Crown?  Yay for Crown.  Tears for Kentlands Downtown.

4. I'm sure you know that Crown is wooing those top businesses on your Main Street survey list.  Does that bother you?

5. Will you support moving the Gburg Book Festival to Kentlands Downtown to support the application for Arts & Entertainment District designation, and because it would just be so.much.better.  (Sign the petition here, readers.)

6.  What is the status of that A&E application?

7.  Does Mike Sesma speak spanish?  Inquiring minds want to know...(and it's the #1 question people have asked me to find out...don't know why!)  OK...maybe I won't actually ask that.  Let's see how the first 6 questions go.

8.  Would you support a law banning more nail salons on Main Street? :)

Anything else you would like me to ask him?  Please let me know!  If you're a city employee who doesn't quite believe the small potatoes are sincere about that whole whistle-blower protection thing, feel free to email me at info@smallpotatoesblog.com.   If you're brave, comment here!

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