County Council President Phil Andrews delivered this proclamation at Friday night’s Montgomery County Civic Federation Awards Dinner.
WHEREAS, it takes a special person to dedicate much of their life to making sure government works the way the general public expects and to have vision when it comes toward actions that are based on what is best for the long-term future rather what seems convenient for the immediate moment; and
WHEREAS, for many years throughout Montgomery County, officials of all kinds—elected and otherwise—knew they were in for quite a day when they saw the man with a pony tail tucked under the quite evident hat approaching or read the name ‘Wayne Goldstein’ on the speaker’s list for an impending public hearing; and
WHEREAS, Wayne Goldstein unleashed his quiet fury from many positions, whether it was with Kensington Heights Citizens Association, Montgomery Preservation Inc., representing the Montgomery County Civic Federation, in his weekly newspaper columns or just in any random conversation where he could zing a point with the combined sharpness of an arrow and the soft touch of a feather pillow; and
WHEREAS, adjectives often can characterize a person, and the words that friends, admirers and even occasional philosophical opponents have used to describe Wayne Goldstein over the past few weeks include ‘tirelessly selfless community advocate,’ ‘pillar of the civic community,’ ‘fierce defender of the environment and historic preservation,’ ‘researcher beyond compare,’ tenacious and passionate,’ and ‘fearless,’; and
WHEREAS, since few were better with words than Wayne himself, it is likely best to allow Wayne to best sum up his life’s public work, as he once did in talking to The Washington Post about attempts to preserve a historic building, saying: “There’s a tremendous amount of principle involved here. We’re doing this to say, ‘This was an important, historic building and this still is an important site, and we had a right to be heard and not be pushed aside.’ “;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the County Council of Montgomery County, Maryland, hereby salutes the work, dedication and passion for life of
WAYNE GOLDSTEIN
and wants all to know that few individuals will have a left a mark on this County as he did, and most importantly, we all know that the real beneficiaries of Wayne’s life will be those who get to experience and enjoy many of the things Wayne fought to preserve for our later generations.
Presented on this 15th day of May in the year 2009.
Phil Andrews
Council President