Not Much Time Left To Apply For VisArts Jobs

>As many Rockville Central readers know, we regard the VisArts Center as one of the treasures of Town Square.

Now’s your chance to work for this wonderful establishment, but you will have to get your application in before August 15!

VisArts currently has job openings for:

• Exhibitions Education and Programs Manager
• Assistant Gallery Director
• Education Coordinator

We don’t normally post job openings, but we wanted to help the good folks at VisArts out!

Costume Night At Austin Grill

> Town Square’s fabulous Austin Grill (one of just a handful of Rockville’s live music venues) has announced a spooky special for Halloween. Not only does anyone in costume get ten percent of their food, but . . .

[A] costume contest takes place at 8:30, with prizes awarded based on audience applause. Get there early and give all the voters a chance to check out your costume. Bring friends and make them clap.

• 1st Prize: $125 Austin Grill Gift Card
• 2nd Prize: Dinner for two and two Caps hockey tickets
• 3rd Prize: $25 Austin Grill Gift Card

It gets better. At 9, the live music starts — it’s open mic night. (Sign-up at 8:30. No amps or full drum kits but light percussion is welcome. No karaoke, stand-up comedy, poetry, etc.)

Come on down, have fun, and support one of Town Square’s excellent businesses on Wednesday night.

(Image from Austin Grill Rockville’s MySpace page.)

Cal-Tort In The News

With all the focus lately on Rockville’s excellent >Town Square — with its shops, public buildings and restaurants — you might think the good ol’ handful of shops next to the Regal Cinemas might be feeling left out. Well, maybe so, but I still get my haircuts from Queen and Linh, and still love my California Tortilla.

While it isn’t the first one, our own Cal-Tort is the World Headquarters of this excellent fast Mexican chain, which is on a strong growth curve.

There’s a great profile of the company in the Business section today’s Washington Post. In the article, Bob Phillips, Cal-Tort’s president, explains the location strategy: “We look to be near a Starbucks and a national ice cream franchise because we look for a place where families can have an entire experience.”

Fair enough, but I like them for the burritos.

Giammo Discusses Upcoming Election

There is a thread running through much of the way this year’s candidates for >mayor and city council talk about the campaign. It has to do with a “new way” versus an “old way.” The “old way” is associated with the creation of the Town Square development, among other issues. The “new way” associates itself with putting a lid on growth and pointing to sectors of Rockville’s electorate who may feel shut out or not listened to when it comes to decision-making.

The disagreements between the new way and old way folks have played out both in Council chambers as well as in campaign statements.

(As an aside, there is also a “third way” which is comprised of candidates who are specifically focusing on civility and having a Mayor and Council working better together.)

Our current mayor, Larry Giammo, has written an in-depth discussion of this division, and how it relates to how he sees this year’s election. It is from the perspective of (and defends) the “old way,” which is to be expected since Larry’s administration has been its focal point. Larry discusses the “new/old” issue, and also details which candidates he plans to vote for and why.

As he says in his piece:

I recognize that not everyone has an interest in who I will vote for. That’s fine. I offer my perspective with an appreciation of the fact that my opinion is that of only one person. Choosing who to vote for is a highly personal decision. I expect that you will make your own choices thoughtfully, based on all available information and your own priorities.

True enough. Just because a current office holder likes them is no real reason to vote for anybody — make your own decision. Rockville Central is itself taking no position on which candidates you ought to choose.

I would be especially interested if someone who is not running for office currently has a different analysis or perspective on this year’s election.

In the interest of disclosure, so you can uncover any biases I may have if you would like to, I must say that in the last election, I personally supported Giammo. However, I think I can say without fear of contradiction (or accusation of favoritism) that it is not every city where the outgoing mayor would take the care to be so clear about his or her own choices.

I am glad to live in Rockville.