Dear LEDC Friends: I want to briefly explain why I believe that the relocation of Wheaton's library to the downtown area as a central part of the Wheaton Town Center concept is a great idea that merits our neighborhood's support. This move is crucial to the implementation of a consensus vision that was achieved last spring when close to 100 stakeholders gathered over the course of a week with the International Downtown Association. As one of the participants of that process I want to share with you the top three reasons why I and the organization I direct supports the library's relocation: 1) A new state of the art library as the focal point of a Wheaton Town Center is a concept that's very similar to what has worked successfully in Rockville, Germantown, and hundreds of other urban districts throughout the US and the world at large. 2) The crime rate in the commercial business district (CBD) has been steadily declining in the last several years and will continue to decline in a redeveloped CBD which has as its central focal point a state of the art library. This is what has evolved in Rockville and hundreds of other redeveloped town centers with libraries as the anchor. Wheaton suffers from many nuisance crimes typical of any urban area like public intoxication but violent crimes are actually quite rare and when they do occur they are mostly outside of the CBD. They are described in the media as occurring in Wheaton because of a general lack of understanding of what Wheaton's boundaries actually are. This is something the Wheaton Redevelopment Advisory Committee is addressing with our local police and the media at large. 3) LEDC was brought to Wheaton specifically to play a leading role in its commercial redevelopment and we remain committed to this work as evidenced by a $300,000 investment in a permanent location in the CBD that will be launched in April of this year. We look forward to being less than several blocks from the new library and collaborating with them to provide wealth-building services to hundreds of small, locally-owned businesses and thousands of home owners in great need of these services especially during this troubling economic time. I highly encourage those who agree with this plan to go to: wheatonlibrary@montgomerycountymd.gov and post your comment before March 2nd and sign this I-petition. VERY IMPORTANT PLEASE NOTE THAT AFTER SIGNING THIS PETITION YOU WILL BE PROMPTED TO DO A DONATION ON THE NEXT PAGE TO KEEP THE I-PETITION EFFORTS RUNNING. THIS IS OPTIONAL YOU’RE NOT ENTITLED TO DO SO. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DONATE YOU CAN JUST CLOSE THE PAGE. YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THIS PETITION WILL BE ALREADY RECORDED. PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT IN THE CASE THAT YOU WANT TO DONATE TO I-PETITON THEIR DISCLAIMER EXPRESS VERY CLEARLY THAT OUR ORGANIZTION IS NOT ENTITLED TO ANY BENEFIT FROM IT. Best regards, Manny Hidalgo Executive Director, LEDC DC Office: 2316 18th Street NW Washington, DC 20009 202-588-5102 x 7408| 202-588-5204 fax www.ledcdc.org

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