Finding Time Magazine’s 'Person of the Year' in Elkridge

Time magazine's “Person of the Year” issue hit newsstands on Friday, and this year's honoree has ties to issues worldwide, including in Elkridge.

In naming “The Protester” as 2011's most influential figure, Time paid homage to citizens raging against the machine across the globe, from Tunisians fighting an oppressive dictatorship to the Occupy Wall Street movement challenging economic disparities.

"All over the world, the protesters of 2011 share a belief that their countries' political systems and economies have grown dysfunctional and corrupt," said the Time cover story.

Elkridge, too, has seen its share of protests in 2011, with Elkridgeans waging their battles in , and on the grounds of .

• Since March, Elkridgeans have mobilized in their fight against an industrial facility being considered on Hanover and Race Roads. They  in Baltimore this summer, with t-shirts and signs getting the point across to CSX, Maryland Department of Transportation and the public that Elkridgeans did not want a train-truck cargo transfer station, called an "intermodal facility," in their neighborhood. They have demonstrated , on and on .

• And who can forget the to the bitter end? Next time you drive by the motels and the on Route 1, you can thank the Greater Elkridge Community Association (GECA), which  before the Howard County Hearing Examiner and Board of Appeals over the course of nearly a year that a 40-foot McDonald’s sign was not needed along Washington Boulevard by Bonnie View Lane to let customers know that the fast-food chain was there.

• In another instance, in by speaking out before the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks with concerns about liability insurance, traffic and transparency. Ultimately, the Mid-Atlantic Off Road Enthusiasts were  in May, and the bike trail is in the process of being built.

According to Time, the outcome is not the key; it is the fact that these groups are challenging systems, or "shifting the...conversation," and they have inspired others to take a stand.

Drew Roth—who lives on Race Road where the intermodal facility is being proposed in Hanover—turned to Facebook after the that a candidate site for the facility, which would generate 24-hour train and truck traffic, was in his neighborhood.

On April 2, Roth created the NoElkridgeIntermodal Facebook group, which he posted was "for public coordination of opposition to the proposed Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and CSX intermodal facility at Hanover Rd. and Race Rd. in Elkridge, Maryland."

On May 1, a man who lives near another candidate site—in Prince George's County—created the No Beltsville Intermodal Facebook group. Kurt Schneckenburger of Beltsville, who set up the group, told Patch that he has since received emails from residents near other sites about the project. 

Explaining the criteria for the “Person of the Year,” Time’s editor told the Today show in a Dec. 14 interview: “These are folks who are changing history already and they will change history in the future.”

The state and CSX said they will select a site for their proposed train-truck depot by the end of 2012 with the caveat that it’s not a hard deadline. Currently, they are evaluating four sites for the project and will select one where the $150 million facility is scheduled to be built by 2015.

During a meeting organized by GECA earlier this month to between citizens and their officials, Councilwoman Courtney Watson (D-Elkridge/Hanover/Ellicott City) reminded citizens that the effort to steer the intermodal project elsewhere was a "marathon, not a sprint."

Asked to comment on Elkridge's activism for this article on Dec. 19, Watson had this to say about GECA: "They're very active and knowledgeable about issues...their arguments are very reasoned and presented to officials with a lot of give and take."

In fact, since March, GECA has created a CSX committee, of which Roth is the chair, which has at least four subcommittees to advocate against the freight facility coming to Hanover.

Said Watson: "They are one of the best organized community organizations."