Robert Dyer is a lifelong resident of Montgomery County. Robert is the founder and publisher of Suburban News Network, a hyperlocal news network of sites covering Montgomery County. He is also a professional musician, producer and recording artist. Robert has been a community activist on transportation, development and disability access issues in the County for more than a decade.

Accomplishments as activist:

• Singlehandedly saved the grade-separated Parklawn Drive segment of Montrose Parkway East from being canceled by the Planning Board with his testimony on March 21, 2013; his testimony led several commissioners to change their votes and preserve the original design
• Robert's research in 2011 revealed the lost African-American community on River Road that had been erased from County history, and directly led to the revision of the Westbard sector plan's historical background section in 2014; previously, there was no mention of the historic community
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• Also in 2011, Robert testified before the Planning Board, County Council and National Capital Planning Commission that the cemetery related to the African-American community needed to be located before the Westbard area was allowed to redevelop; none of those bodies took action and the cemetery was located in 2014
• Discovered an underground fuel spill containing MTBE below properties on Butler Road in Bethesda in 2007, which the community had not been informed about
• Exclusively reported that firefighters' radios were not working properly underground in the Bethesda Metro station, long after WMATA and the media claimed the problem had been fixed - a problem putting fire crews and the public at risk
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• Advocated with then Councilmember Mike Knapp's office in 2008 to successfully get elevators installed for special needs program at Damascus Elementary School
• Got giant hole in Parking Garage 40 in Bethesda repaired in August 2014
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• Played an instrumental role in the passage of a new County law to reduce sidewalk closures alongside construction sites; Councilmember Roger Berliner described Robert's articles calling attention to the problem a "public service" at a transportation forum in Silver Spring on May 29, 2014 (the Council has failed to enforce the law)
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• Played a major role in the resident fight against the proposed redevelopment of the Westbard area, where a lawsuit and public opposition led to a reduction in the plan's size, and reducing the amount of construction that will immediately occur
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• Got the lights turned back on at Veterans Park in downtown Bethesda 

American flag illuminated again after Robert got the lights turned back on at Veterans Park in Bethesda in 2012

If Robert can do all of this as a civilian, imagine what he could do as your Councilman!

Robert was right (This section under construction):

You'll hear the Montgomery County political machine tell you certain candidates are "pragmatic, wise and qualified" when making their endorsements. Didn't they say the same thing about our failed Council in the past?

Let's look at the record of Robert Dyer's judgement vs. the Council's...and you decide:

Uber (December 2014)

Robert: Don't place additional regulations on Uber. New taxes, surcharges will raise costs of Uber trips, and discourage competitors from entering the market.

County Council: Charges Uber tax to subsidize failing Barwood Cab, make County residents pay Barwood even if they don't use their cabs, have County taxpayers fund a new Uber-like app for Barwood

Result: Barwood files for bankruptcy in December 2016. Uber rides now cost more, and drivers are making less. No competitors entered the ride-sharing market since the tax and regulation package passed in 2015.

Long Branch

Robert: Testifying before the County Council in 2013, Robert warned the Council not to rezone existing apartment buildings in Long Branch for redevelopment. Rezoning would eliminate affordable housing, and landlords don't maintain their buildings when they have the option to demolish them, he said.

County Council: Voted to rezone (or in some cases, provide a loophole to allow rezoning later at the landlord's request) all apartment buildings in the Long Branch sector plan area.

Result: On August 11, 2016, an explosion tore through the Flower Branch Apartments in Long Branch, killing 7 people. It was later found that the complex had over 1600 code violations.

Moses African Cemetery (2011-2018)

Robert: While researching neighborhood history in 2011, Robert discovered an African-American community had existed along River Road in the Westbard area from after Maryland Emancipation to the 1960s, but had been scrubbed from the official Montgomery County historical record. During the planning process for the Little Falls Place development, Robert testified about the need to recognize and research the historic black community before the Planning Board and National Capital Planning Commission. He expressed his concern to both bodies that a cemetery would likely have existed for the community, and that it should be located before the area was allowed to redevelop.

County Council: The Council, like the Planning Board and NCPC, reviewed Robert's testimony and completely ignored it, approving the Little Falls Place development. No effort was made to recognize the black community's history, nor to locate the cemetery.

Result: Developer Equity One purchased property on Westbard Avenue in 2012, that in 2014 was found to contain the cemetery Robert predicted would exist. A scandal, conspiracy, and cover-up between the County Council, Planning Department and the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commisson ensued, with the end goal of building a parking garage on top of the cemetery. All of this could have been avoided, had the Council simply acted on Robert's testimony.

Underground Fuel Spill (2007)

Robert: In 2007, Robert broke the story of an underground fuel spill on Butler Road in Bethesda that the community was never informed about. He brought the matter to the attention of Councilmember Roger Berliner at a community meeting in Potomac that year. The fuel product contained MTBE, an additive that moves quickly through soil and groundwater. Robert warned that other sites on Butler Road should be tested, to find out how far the spill had traveled so close to the Willett Branch stream.

County Council: Ignored Robert's findings.

Result: Fuel product and MTBE were found on the Hoyt Property/BETCO site in 2012, at the bottom of Butler Road on the banks of the Willett Branch, when it was being redeveloped with residential townhomes.

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