Dear Friends,
As the new Chair of the Wheaton Urban District Advisory
Committee (WUDAC), I am eager and excited about the opportunity to serve and
make a difference in our community. The new Executive Committee has embarked on
an aggressive yet manageable set of goals that, along with the enthusiasm of the current and newly appointed members, is sure to make this term a very
exciting one that hopefully yields positive results for the community. Our
theme for this year is "Re-energize and Re-engage with the community" and it
is the goal of WUDAC to play a larger and more substantive role in achieving
its mission to promote and support activities in and around the Wheaton Urban
District. With the help of the leadership and committee members, I am confident
that WUDAC will make big gains in achieving our goals for this year with the
cooperation and support of the community and business owners.
The following are three ways that WUDAC intends to meet its
goal to re-energize and re-engage with the community:
1. Be proactive in addressing issues in our
community. Last term, WUDAC was successful in lending its voice to issues
pertaining to Community Benefits Agreements (CBA) and Wheaton redevelopment. We
plan to continue addressing similar topics while more importantly driving and
leading the conversation on topics that may not get as much attention but are
nevertheless just as significant.
2. Create stronger ties with and engage the
community in the conversation. We look to achieve this by opening WUDAC
meetings to community concerns and allowing anyone to share their thoughts on
issues regarding the Urban District. WUDAC also plans to increase its presence
in the community by reaching out to local organizations and community groups
and gaining their input.
3. Energize the business community. We
want to help push and support efforts that benefit the promotion of Wheaton and
highlight its many unique small-business characteristics. WUDAC will look for
ways to support efforts that strengthen and promote the small-business
community, especially during times when redevelopment is under way.
Amazingly, our work is netting positive results. If you are
reading this, you are doing so on our newly revamped blog site. I invite you to
share the address, http://wudacblog.blogspot.com, with your friends and neighbors since we will be
updating the site with news and updates on WUDAC on a regular basis. I also
invite you to visit the redesigned official Wheaton website at http://www.wheatonmd.org/ and to stay
connected with community events and lists of where to shop and dine in and
around the Urban District. You can also access the WUDAC blog site from the
Wheaton community website.
WUDAC meetings are held every second Tuesday of the month at
6pm and all meetings are open to the community. Feel free to sit in at our meetings
and even sign up to speak during our community concerns portion of the agenda.
WUDAC’s success is driven not only by our members but by voices from the
community, both residents and small business owners alike. Your voice is
important and I encourage you to attend our meetings and participate.
Once again, I am excited about our prospects this year. Our
new members are a motivated and ambitious group and it has carried over to the
current members. As Chair, I look forward to working with our executive team to
help support the enthusiasm of our committee and working with the community to
support and promote Wheaton and the Urban District. Please continue to visit
our site for updates on our work and I encourage you as a community to lend
your voice to help in our work.
Henriot St. Gerard
Chair
Wheaton Urban District Advisory Committee