Thursday, May 18, 2017

Testimony In Opposition To The Milestone School Cell Tower Deal: PGCPS Board of Education May 11, 2017

















Here is all of the testimony in one video.
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Wednesday, May 17, 2017

PGCPS Students Sold Out For a Pittance for Milestone Cell Towers on School Grounds

Thes documents show the yearly revenue from the Milestone cell towers on our schools. Some schools are getting only 1000 a month and others 2000 a month. Is it worth it?
Below we have several documents for you to look over showing the very tiny amount of money these cell towers bring to the general fund.



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PGCPS CEO Letter on the No-Bid Cell Tower on School Milestone Leasing Deal -May 16, 2017

Letter from PGCPS  confirm that when the school board voted on the milestone cell tower leasing agreement in 2010 they did not have the milestone leasing agreement in front of them. Instead all they had was a Board summary.

Please see the letter below.

See the Board Action Summary Here



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Thursday, May 11, 2017

USA9 News Report on the Failed PGCPS Milestone Communications School Cell Tower Deal

USA9 Reports on the Milestone Communications Cell Tower Deal: Cell towers could be built at dozens of Prince George's Co. schools


 GREENBELT, MD (WUSA9) - A cell phone tower developer is backing away from a proposal to put a tower at Greenbelt’s Eleanor Roosevelt High School. The decision comes as scrutiny is mounting over the company’s confidential lease with the Board of Education that allows tower development at 73 of the county’s 208 schools.
Milestone Communications has told Prince George’s County Public School’s CEO Dr. Kevin Maxwell that it will withdraw its application to put a tower at Eleanor Roosevelt H.S. Maxwell criticized the company saying it has “not met our desired standards for transparency, communication and community engagement." Maxwell made his comments in a letter to Board of Education member Lupi Quinteros-Grady, who opposed tower development at Roosevelt.
Even so, the school system in 2016 renewed a lease with Milestone that gives the company rights to develop as many as two towers at dozens of county schools. At least six schools are already cell tower sites. One clause in the lease said the terms must be kept confidential.
Scarato has documented the history of the school system’s dealings with Milestone on her blog, No Cell Tower At PGCPS Schools.
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Greenbelt News Review: Milestone Cell Tower Application Rejected by Prince George's County Schools

Read it at this link in full!! 
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PGCPS CEO Dr. Maxwell Writes Letter About Milestone Communications "less than desired standards of transparency" in School Cell Tower

Prince George's County CEO  Dr. Maxwell writes letter stating that:

"I concur with you that Milestone Communications has not met our desired standards of transparency, communication and community engagement. Your displeasure with their process, which we share with you, has been clearly communicated to Milestone Communications.
In response, we have been notified by Milestone Communications of its decision to withdraw their application for the proposed telecommunication facility (cell tower) at Eleanor Roosevelt High School.
I greatly appreciate your continued advocacy for our students, our schools, and your constituents." 

 Dr. Maxwells May 9, 2017 letter was in response to a letter that Ms. Quinteros -Grady wrote (that you can read here) expressing her opposition to the ERHS tower. 

 Please read the May 9 2017 letter below. 



Read the Letter from PGCPS School Board Member Lupi Grady that the was responding to below
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Tuesday, May 9, 2017

PGCPS School Board Member Lupi Grady's Letter In Opposition To School Cell Towers to PGCPS CEO Dr. Maxwell

School Board Member Lupi Grady sent a letter to PGCPS CEO Dr. Maxwell on May 9, 2017.
Thank you Ms. Grady!

Hello,

Thank you for all your e-mails and expressing your concerns.  I sent attached letter to Dr. Maxwell, Board Members and other elected officials.  I am having a meeting on May 16th at Roosevelt High School at 7:30 to further discuss this matter.  I understand your concerns around health and for many residents they have also shared about the impact of cell towers on their property value.  Hope you all can join me.

Regards,
Lupi Grady
Board Member, District 2
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mirna Quinteros-Grady <lupi.grady@pgcps.org>
Date: Tue, May 9, 2017 at 12:35 PM
Subject: Fwd: Milestone Communication Concern


Dr. Maxwell,

Please see attached letter.  Look forward to your reply.

Lupi Grady
Board Member, District 2
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Oppose the ERHS Cell Tower at the PGCPS School Board Meeting May 11 at 5 p m

Raise Your Voice Against The Eleanor Roosevelt Cell Tower! 
Please  come to support and speak at the PGCPS School Board Meeting 
on May 11 at 5 pm. 

We Need You! 

Each person has 3 minutes to speak. 
Please sign up! 
We also need you to come and stand up to show your support for those of us signed up to talk.
The Board of Ed is located at 14201 School Lane in Upper Marlboro.

Members of the public may provide public comment in one of three ways:
  1. Sign up to speak in person via PGCPS online registration form.
  2. Call the Board Members' Office at (301) 952-6115 and register to speak in person.
  3. Email your comments to testimony@pgcps.org.
You must register to speak (either online or via telephone) at least 2 and 1/2 hours prior to the scheduled meeting start time. You will have exactly 3 minutes to address the Board and you may not yield your time to another party.

You can show your support by either being there or by speaking. If you wish to speak you must call the Bd of Ed at (301) 952-6115 by 2 pm on Th at the latest, and preferably before then. You may also register to speak online at their website pgcps.com. 

You should also send another e mail to and/or call the elected officials below to voice your opposition to the tower. If they don't respond, send or call again and ask for a response.

Board of Ed members and CEO Maxwell [(301) 952-6115]; Council Member Todd Turner [(301)952-3094]; County Exec R. Baker [(301) 952-4131]; Senator Paul Pinsky [(410) 841-3155]; Delegate Alonzo Washington [(410) 841-3652]
lupi.grady@pgcps.org; countyexecutive@co.pg.md.us; ceo@pgcps.org; District4@co.pg.md.us; paul.pinsky@senate.state.md.us; alonzo.washington@house.state.md.us; segun.eubanks@pgcps.org; carolyn.baston@pgcps.org; david.murray@pgcps.org; dinora.hernandez@pgcps.org; patricia.eubanks@pgcps.org; kalexanderwallace@pgcps.org; edward3.burroughs@pgcps.org; juwan.blocker@pgcps.org,  district4@co.pg.md.us, lupi.grady@pgcps.org, rmcneill@pgcps.org, Andree.Checkley@ppd.mncppc.org, Edith.Cleveland@ppd.mncppc.org,   raaheela.ahmed@pgcps.org, nard@greenbeltmd.gov,   dmoran@greenbeltmd.gov, countyexecutive@co.pg.md.us; safeschoolspg@gmail.com , sbroom@wusa9.com, arelis.hernandez@washpost.com, wusa-assignmentdesk@wusa9.com, news4pr@nbcuni.com, fox5tips@wttg.com, , kojo@wamu.org, liz.bowie@baltsun.com, jnorwood@dcw50.com, nick.anderson@washpost.com, Arelis.Hernandez@washpost.com, arelis.hernandez@washpost.com,  ovetta.wiggins@washpost.com, donna.stgeorge@washpost.com, ctvnews@pgctv.org,

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Saturday, May 6, 2017

THREE Articles in Opposition to the Eleanor Roosevelt Milestone Cell Tower in GreenBelt News Review


THREE  ARTICLES In The Greenbelt News Review on the Milestone PGCPS Eleanor Roosevelt Cell Tower


Greenbelters Argue Against Cell Tower on School Site 
by Julie Depenbrock

Dasan Bobo has lived on Mandan Terrace in Greenbelt for 22 years. “I bought the home from my mother two years ago,” said Bobo. “I love the town I live in.” But now a proposed cell tower at Eleanor Roosevelt High School has Bobo and his wife Lena Pratt ready to move. Edwin Monono has been a Greenbelt resident for 16 years. He and his family live on the same street as Pratt and Bobo. Monono’s son, an eighth grader, plans to attend Roosevelt next year. Monono said that if the tower is built, he too will move. “We don’t need this in our school community,” Monono said. He, Pratt and Bobo were among the crowd packed into a backroom of Seabrook Seventhday Adventist Church on April 25 to discuss the Roosevelt tower. A number of residents oppose the tower, citing health concerns associated with radiation, property devaluation and visual impact. 

Julie Depenbrock is a University of Maryland graduate student in journalism writing for the News Review

The link to the preliminary report from the National Toxicology Program is biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/06/23/055699 (Watch a video of June 15 Presentation at NIEHS on this study)

 Read the full article by Julie Depenrock at http://greenbeltnewsreview.com/issues/GNR20170504.pdf


New Cell Phone Tower Dominates Heated Discussion by City Council 
by Diane Oberg

Judging by crowd size, the topic of greatest interest to residents at the April 24 City Council meeting was clearly the proposed construction of a T-Mobile cell phone antenna tower on the grounds of Eleanor Roosevelt High School (ERHS). Council unanimously approved motions to send a letter expressing their concerns to Milestone Communications, which would install the antenna, and to send additional letters to County Executive Rushern Baker and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Maxwell of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS). Council was to collaborate with staff to refine the draft letter to Milestone and the letters to Baker and Maxwell. The ERHS tower would be one of many authorized under an agreement between PGCPS and Milestone. The school board has approved the contract but is not involved in the selection or review of tower sites. The tower would have three vertical supports upon which several large signs would be placed. As an example, Milestone showed a photo of a tower installed at Corkran Middle School in Anne Arundel County, which has panels showing the school mascot, the name of the school and three panels each containing one letter of CMS. 

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No to the Cell Tower At Eleanor Roosevelt 

On Tuesday, April 25 I attended a community meeting at the Seabrook Seventh-day Adventist Church in Seabrook to discuss the proposed cell tower to be erected on the grounds of Eleanor Roosevelt High School by Milestone and T-Mobile. Both Milestone and T-Mobile had representatives present at this meeting. I do not believe the meeting was held in “good faith” to hear the concerns and frustrations of Greenbelt residents on the proposed cell phone tower. The meeting was deliberately not held in Greenbelt as to significantly impact attendance. (I learned after the meeting that Derek Green, communications liaison for Milestone, is a member of the Seabrook Seventh-day Adventist Church.) The meeting was held on the same day the Prince George’s County Board of Education had their board meeting, therefore there was no representation from the board. Sufficient notice was not provided to Greenbelt residents. Milestone and T-Mobile had apparently satisfied the requirement in sending out 3,000 notices to residents, however, neither company could answer questions on how the notices were mailed and to whom. Many attendees from the Greenwood community whose homes border the site where the tower is to be erected did not receive notice. 

Parents in Bethesda, concerned about the health consequences and dangers of being near a cell tower, were successful in stopping a similar tower from being erected on the grounds of Wootton High School due to outraged opposition and activism of concerned parents and residents. I learned at the meeting that  the proposal and approval process is different and easier to satisfy in Prince George’s County than Montgomery County. In Montgomery County, if residents say no, then it’s a no go. Not the case apparently in Prince George’s County, unfortunately. It is interesting to note that only one representative from T-Mobile present at Tuesday’s meeting lives in Prince George’s County. Other representatives from T-Mobile and Milestone present at the meeting live in Virginia, even Derek Green, communications liaison for Milestone, whom I thought was disrespectful and spoke condescendingly to those in attendance. He said several times during the meeting, “we will have to agree to disagree.” Well, Mr. Green, I assume we will have to agree to disagree on the harmful effects of cell tower radiation on those in close proximity. 

Fortunately, there was a representative present from the Environmental Health Trust and the Maryland Coalition Against Cell Towers at Schools, Theodora Scarato, who provided information on the dangers and harmful effects of cell tower radiation. We will also have to agree to disagree that Milestone and TMobile are being shady. Did you know? That one cell tower can accommodate up to six antennas. That means that this cell tower, if erected, could significantly impact the safety and health of residents, not to mention the value of our homes. All the while T-Mobile can increase their profits by selling antenna space to other cellular providers. 

A long-time resident of Greenbelt said, “When I think of Greenbelt, it conjures up feelings of a beautiful, green, environmentally friendly neighborhood,” and that the proposed cell tower would diminish this image. Those residents in attendance unanimously raised their hands and voices against the erecting of a cell tower on the grounds of Eleanor Roosevelt High School. I’m not sure if frustrated and concerned residents can do anything to stop the cell tower from being erected at this point. But, I believe that knowledge and information is key. Residents need to be made aware and become community activists. 

Contact your local officials and say No to the cell tower at Eleanor Roosevelt High School. 
County Executive Rushern Baker, countyexecutive@co.pg. md.us 
Chief Executive Officer Prince George’s County Public Schools, 
Dr. Kevin Maxwell, ceo@pgcps. org, 301-952-6000 
Councilmember Todd Turner, district4@co.pg.md.us, 301-952- 3094 
State Senator Paul Pinsky, paul.pinsky@senate.state.md.us 
Greenbelt Board of Education Member, Lupi Quinteros-Grady, lupi.grady@pgcps.org
by  Jacquelyn Hair 

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Small Cell Antennas Are Ugly, Emit Radiation: Want This In Front Of Your House?


Submitted to the FCC on Apr 12, 2017 by Marcus Spectrum Solutions.

One of more than 900 submissions to the FCC
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News: Residents protest installation of mobile tower



Tribune News Service
Bathinda, May 3
Residents of Model Town 4-5, Green City and Shakti Vihar today staged a protest against the installation of a mobile tower on the top of a shop in their area.
They said if the Municipal Corporation Bathinda and the district administration didn’t stop the work of this mobile tower then they would intensify their protest.
They said this mobile was being installed near the residential area, which was inappropriate.
They claimed that the work of installation was going on secretively due to which it seemed that it was done without any permission from the MCB.
The protesters said the installation of mobile towers in residential areas was a serious health hazard to the people, especially children.
The residents said these towers emitted and received harmful waves and they would not allow their installation at any cost.
It is scientifically proven that such radiations may also cause fatal diseases such as cancer, they added.
Read more here http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/bathinda/residents-protest-installation-of-mobile-tower/401721.html
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Thursday, May 4, 2017

Community Meeting for proposed Greenbelt Eleanor Roosevelt High School Cell Tower

This is the community meeting that Milestone had where they briefed the community on the cell tower. April 25th at 7:00pm at 8900 Good Luck Road, Seabrook, MD 20706









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Scientific Imaging of Cell Tower Radiation Penetrating The Body


Image of penetration from Seawind Project, European Commission
Cell tower symbol added for clarity as the image is titled the report as being from far field antennae.
http://seawind-fp7.eu/uploads/SEAWIND_FINAL.pdf
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PGCPS Milestone Status Reports Show Cell Towers on the Way to High Point High School , Suitland High, Walker Middle, and Buck Lodge Middle

Do the parents at High Point High School, Suitland High School, Walker Middle School and Buck Lodge Middle Kknow a Cell Tower is coming their Schools way? 

Public Information Requests Show the Process Long Hidden From The Public. 
The weekly status reports show:

  • Eleanor Roosevelt High School Cell Tower is almost complete in terms of the timeline. 
  • High Point High School is NEXT and it states that "site walk complete, need to send concept to PGCPS and set up Principal/PTSA meeting then send request". 
  • Andrew Jackson Academy was pulled from the running for cell towers per PGCPS request. 
  • Suitland High School might be a site but it is "on hold due to PGCPS request." 
  • Walker Middle School is waiting on "notice to proceed" from PGCPS. 
  • Buck Lodge Middle cell tower halfway there and was given green light from PGCPS  and community outreach has started. 


 Public Information Requests Show the Process Long Hidden From The Public. 
Read them here. 
12/30/2016 Status Report: Click Here 
9/27/2016 Status Report Click Here 
3/18/2016 Status Report Click Here 
3/16/2016 Status Report Click Here 
Weekly Status Reports Recent! Click Here 

Do Prince George's County parents know that a Cell Tower is likely coming to EVERY High and Middle School ? It is just a matter of time. Our schools are shopped around to cell tower companies via this terrible PGCPS deal. 









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Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Breaking: PGCPS will be posting updates on Milestone School Cell Towers

In response to our call for transparency, PGCPS is putting up a dedicated webpage with information on the Milestone cell towers so the public in more informed.


Please read the letter sent today from PGCPS .
 Read it here.

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Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Key Facts About The Prince George’s County School Cell Tower Deal

Key Facts About The Prince George’s County School Cell Tower Deal

 NEW 11/2017: Newly Proposed PG Delegation Bill PG 417-18 on Cell Towers ensures that a public hearing will be held at the school. A new PG zoning requirement calls for a public hearing but does NOT call for that meeting to be at the school. Therefore PG 417-18 is very important! 
Greenbelt: The City of Greenbelt voted to oppose cell towers on school grounds in 2014. The also wrote to the FCC to develop safety standards that protect the public. Read the letter to the FCC. Read the Press release “Maryland City of Greenbelt Votes Unanimously to Alert Citizens to the Health Risks of Cell Phone/Wireless Radiation and to Oppose Cell Towers on School Grounds”

 73 Schools Are Cell Tower Sites:
Seventy-three Prince George’s County Schools are now available as cell tower sites per a 2010  Board of Education decision. Several towers are in the process of permitting and construction. Most parents and residents are unaware. 
1. The cell tower agreement is a no-bid deal. A Virginia-based company (not minority-owned), Milestone Communications, is the only company that has a leasing deal for towers with Prince George’s County Schools. This agreement was made without bids or RFPs for the best price. There was no competition considered. 
2. The PGCPS deal allows three cell towers on each school. The master leasing agreement with Milestone allows each school site to have up to three cell towers per school. That makes 219 such towers allowed.
3. The Board of Education voted on the cell tower policy with zero public comment and zero discussion on the issue. The November 11, 2010 vote to approve the cell tower deal  with Milestone took seconds. Watch the vote here. Most parents and neighbors did not find out about this policy until 2014.
4. The Board of Education never saw the master leasing agreement when they voted prove it. All they saw was a one page "Board Action Summary." Read the only document made public to the Board when they voted to approve the   Telecommunications Leasing Master Agreement between Prince George's County Board of Education and Milestone Communications Management III, Inc. by clicking here. 
5. The leasing agreement was never available online for the public to view. The leasing agreement was only made available via a public information request by a parent in the Maryland Coalition to Stop Cell Towers at Schools in 2014.  How could the public comment when there was no lease to look at? Read it here. See all key documents here. 
6. The policy actually went though Multiple revisions over the years outside of the publics view.  Each change removed transparency. However all this changes were made outside the publics view.   The public never knew about all of this.It started out policy 0800 then named Board Policy 0123 and then was amended and renumbered as Board policy.  3600 See the policy revised on September 2013, the first reader where it was updated, the way it was renumbered and retitled, How can the public know what is going on with all these back door changes and confusing process? 
7. In response to this cell tower policy the  Prince George’s County Delegation Introduced a Bill to PROHIBIT cell towers on School grounds in February 11, 201. The Bill- Prince George’s County – Wireless Telecommunications Towers – Prohibition 3 on Public School Property   was for the “purpose of prohibiting the siting of wireless telecommunications towers on certain public school property in Prince George’s County.” Read it here As we understand it, this Bill helped pull elementary schools out of the mix as previously every single PGCPS school was slated to be cell tower site. After this Bill, only middle and HighSchools got to be on the contract. So although the Bill did not pass, it made a difference for our kids and impacted the process. 
8. Later in 2013 another Bill was introduced in 2013 to stop the towers on school grounds. The Bill was called PG 406-15 - Prince George's County – School Property – Development of Policy forNoneducational Use. The Board opposed this Bill which called for the development of policy to address "noneducational" uses of schools. Read the letter sent by the Board of education stating they were against this bill. 
9. All PGCPS middle and high schools are on the list as available cell towers. Milestone has the rights to shop all of these school sites for carriers to lease. See the Milestone webpage where you can see these available sites by clicking here. 
10. The money goes into the PGCPS General Fund- not to the individual schools that have the cell tower.  A February 2014 Audit Report by the Dept of Legislative Services shows that PGCPS was not able to provide key documentation in areas including overtime pay, human resources, bus transportation, and certain contracts worth millions of dollars. We have no idea where the money goes. 
11. The money is minimal. Dr. Maxwell wrote in a letter that the cell tower deal “was not simply about money. In the grand scheme of things the fees . . . are quite small.”    Read the 2014 Sept 24 Maxwell Letter. Dr. Maxwell later wrote me that the monetary amounts were as follows: PGCPS receives 40% of the revenue from leases.Lease revenue – $12,000 per year, with 3% escalator per year. Lease terms: First term 5 years with up to five (5) five-year extensions. Plus there is a one-time Access Fee paid for First Carrier of $25,000. This means $25,000 when the tower first goes up. With a 30 year lease, that is the equivalent of 833 dollars more per year or 69 dollars a month.
12. The community is not a part of the decision making process. Prince George’s County schools do not hold school community meetings as they do in Montgomery County to gauge community opinion. Instead meetings are help to"brief" the community on he plan. Even if the community does not want it, they have no recourse. In fact, emails between Milestone and PG school officials reveal that meetings are specifically requested by Milestone Communications to be held off school grounds in a “neutral location”. (Go to the email chain on page 29.) Parents might be curious as to why these meetings are not held at PGCPS schools? Most PGCPS cell tower off-site “community” meetings have had only a handful of people attend. Some meetings had just one resident attend, according to Milestone’s letter to me.
13. Cell towers are ugly and lower property values. Research shows a drop of up to 20% in home values in the vicinity of the tower. Will people want to move to a county peppered with school cell towers?
14. Cell towers violate Prince George’s County zoning code: The Special Exception Process is 100% circumvented in Prince George’s County. According to Sec. 27-445.04 of the Prince George’s County Code, these cell towers should go through the special exception process because these cell towers will need more than 4 maintenance visits a year. However, Park and Planning says the county’s code enforcement agents would be required to address the matter after installation. Despite meeting criteria for a special exception, this process is being bypassed.
15. Cell towers could bring lots of strangers to public school playgrounds during school hours. Maintenance workers (third-party contractors) are allowed 24/7 access to the compound and can drive in with trucks at any time. Milestone states they are fingerprinted but we have been given no information as to if these people sign in and our calls to schools results in hearing that the school employees are unaware of any process being followed. Maintenance is about twice a month per carrier — meaning at least 10 visits a month
16. Cell towers pose a number of health and security risks. The US Labor Department and OSHA are calling for better protections for cell tower workers, citing deaths from falls, collapsing towers, and falling objects near cell towers. Cell towers have caught on fire and collapsed, and cell tower compounds are considered hazmat areas due to the lead acid batteries and diesel fuel on the site.
17. Wireless cell towers emit constant non-stop RF radiation which the World Health Organization classifies as a Group 2B possible human carcinogen based on potential links to brain cancer. Research also points to possible genetic damage, sleep issues, headaches and increased immune issues among people living in the vicinity of a cell tower. Read research here. 
18. The LA School District has  banned cell towers on school grounds and uses a radiation limit 10, 000 less than the  FCC. They set radiation levels at 10,000 less than our government’s 18- year-old and outdated FCC standards in order to “protect children”.
19. Cell towers are often out of compliance with FCC radiation regulations. A recent Wall Street Journal  investigation found that many cell antennas emit radiation far higher than FCC regulations. “It’s like having a speed limit and no police,” said Marvin Wessel, an engineer audited thousands of sites and found one in 10 out of compliance.  
20. Cell tower placement is an environmental justice issue. Cell towers are disproportionately placed in neighborhoods with higher numbers of minorities and students needing free and reduced meals. In Montgomery County, for example, cell towers are overwhelmingly placed in schools with higher numbers of minorities, and high ESOL and Free lunch rates. Watch this video of Wootton High School (a school in an affluent MCPS neighborhood) where parents gathered  to stop a proposed cell tower in its tracks. The tower proposal was removed within 24 hours of the meeting. Has this ever happened in a PGCPS School? No.
21. Other districts are taking down cell towers, halting cell tower installations and legislating setbacks from schools and homes. In California’s Alameda Unified School District  the school board called to remove its cell phone towers at two schools  last year. The Spokane Washington City Council put a moratorium on cell towers. In DeKalb County Georgia contracts for all 9 of the schools originally slated for T Mobile cell towers were dropped. In Santa Fe, New Mexico the board voted unanimously to oppose school cell tower construction. This May, Walnut California’s City Council voted to increase setbacks to 1500 feet from schools and homes after parents and neighbors got organized. These are only a few examples of what is happening around the country.
22. Firefighters do not want cell towers on their stations. The International Association of Firefighters Division of Occupational Health and Safety and Medicine is officially opposed to cell towers on their stations. Los Angeles Fire Captain Dave Gillotte stated the following when cell towers were slated to go on his station this spring, “As firefighters and paramedics, we live in these firehouses. What effect will these towers have on us? What are the risks to our neighbors? It’s a no-brainer that LA County should at least have done a proper study before putting 200-foot high-power microwave antennas on top of our heads.” The firefighters were successful in stopping these towers and the LA supervisors stopped construction because of their advocacy. Watch videos of firefighters testifying against cell towers here. 
23. The Cell Tower development process has lacked transparency. In November 2014, the Prince George’s Telecommunications Transmission Facility Coordinating Committee was found to be in violation of the Maryland Open Meetings Act by the Maryland Open Meetings Compliance Board. They corrected most (not all) of these issues. It is hard for parents to know what was going on when there were no meeting notices, no meeting location, no agendas, and no minutes available for so long. The Board of Education was also cited for an Open Meetings Violation in April after they did not give citizens meeting minutes when requested them in person at their office.

24. In November of 2010 Verjeana McCotter-Jacobs was the President of the PG Board of Education. In July of 2010 her campaign received a $500 donation from Milestone Communications. That was 4 months before the PG BOE voted on the no bid/no RFP Milestone Communications contract. Did they have a meeting? When and how was this cell tower deal hatched?
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