Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Montgomery County Council meets most Tuesdays in Rockville.
All nine Montgomery County Council members are expected to vote "yes" on a $4.8 billion budget for fiscal 2014 at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Rockville. It will be the last council session before a three-week recess. Key county agencies, including police, fire and rescue, schools and health and human services will receive more aid and new positions, while property taxes will increase by 1.8 cents, to $1.01 for every $100 of assessed value under the tentative plan, Patch reported last week. Click here to read more about the budget agreement. The council will reconvene on June 11. (Read the entire council agenda, attached to this article.)
Sunday, May 19, 2013
'People,' 'testified' and 'college' also were big in Nancy Navarro's budget statement.
When Montgomery County Council President Nancy Navarro summarized the fiscal 2014 county budget, the words "county," "budget" and "Montgomery" naturally featured prominently in her statement. Council members tentatively approved the spending plan in a unanimous straw vote Thursday. Other words that Navarro was fond of in describing the $4.8 billion plan: "percent," "funding," "college," "testified," "people" and "providing." See what else Navarro (D-Dist. 4) of Silver Spring thinks of the budget in the word cloud above. Read Navarro's statement here. SPEAK OUT: What words would you use to describe the Montgomery County budget? What would be the big words in your word cloud?
Thursday, May 16, 2013
The plan includes tax increase, more cops in schools and more food resources for the poor.
No one went hungry in the $4.8 billion budget Montgomery County Council members tentatively approved Thursday. Key county agencies, including police, fire and rescue, schools and health and human services will receive more aid and new positions, according to an outline of the tentative spending plan released by the council. The council is scheduled to hold a final vote on the budget May 23, the last council session before a three-week recess. All nine council members voted to give tentative approval to the plan for fiscal 2014, which begins July 1. "Budgets are a reflection of our values. There are always more needs, and more wants, than there are resources available," Council President Nancy Navarro (D-Dist 4) of Silver Spring said in a …
Monday, May 13, 2013
Montgomery County Council President Nancy Navarro, whose district includes Wheaton, shifted her support to a plan that would tie the Park and Planning headquarters to the rest of Wheaton redevelopment.
County officials have the next six months to work with private developers on plans for Wheaton redevelopment that could include the new Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission headquarters, the Montgomery County Council decided at a budget worksession Monday. With the current Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission headquarters at 8787 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring added to the mix of properties available in Wheaton, county officials say they are seeing more interest from developers. The project description form (PDF) embraced by the Council sets forth a timeline for this process: The Executive has indicated his intent to issue an RFP by June 1 and select a developer by Nov. 1. Planning and engineering will…
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Some councilmembers want to move forward with the Park and Planning headquarters, separate from other redevelopment in Wheaton; others want the headquarters to be part of an overall redevelopment strategy.
In considering options for Wheaton redevelopment and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission headquarters, members of the Montgomery County Council found themselves equally divided on how to move forward at a joint committee meeting Wednesday. Councilmembers Hans Riemer and Valerie Ervin joined Council President Nancy Navarro in supporting a "split project" approach in which Park and Planning could move forward with its plans for a new headquarters building south of Reedie Drive, separate from the redevelopment possibilities being explored for other parcels of county land in Wheaton. Park and Planning prefers this option because it wants responsibility for its own building, Planning Board Chair Francoise Carrier said. …
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. in Rockville.
Two Montgomery County Council committees are scheduled to discuss Wheaton redevelopment at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 8. The joint committee meeting will be in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The meeting will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). The broadcast also will be streamed through the county website. The Government Operations and Fiscal Planning committee and the Planning, Housing and Economic Development committee will consider proposed amendments for two projects included in the county's CIP budget: the Wheaton Redevelopment Program and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission …
Monday, May 6, 2013
Montgomery County Council meets most Tuesdays in Rockville.
Montgomery County Council members will continue to discuss Fiscal Year 2014's budget at its next meeting, planned for Tuesday, May 7, at 9:30 a.m. in Rockville. Allotments for several county agencies, including public safety divisions, housing and affordable housing programs and education and early childhood programs will be approved based on recommendations from the Council committees. Fiscal Year 2014 begins July 1, 2013. (Read the entire council agenda, attached to this article.)
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
The scene from Tuesday's rally outside the Montgomery County Council building in Rockville.
These videos capture the scene Tuesday as Montgomery County Council members Marc Elrich and George Leventhal were presented with a 2,000-signature petition opposing plans to replace a vacant office building in Aspen Hill with a Walmart. Opponents staged a rally outside the Montgomery County Council building. The event was coordinated with help from labor activists with Raise Maryland and OUR Walmart, with supporters from United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400.
Councilman Philip Andrews, a vocal opponent of the raises, was the only dissenting vote.
All but one member of the Montgomery County Council voted to approve pay raises for county government, police and fire and rescue employees Tuesday. It will be the first raise for government employees in four years. Councilman Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist 3) of Gaithersburg, was the only dissenting vote. County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) negotiated the pay increases in his $4.8 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2014 as part of new two-year contracts with employees’ unions. Fiscal 2014 begins July 1. Most county employees will receive two raises this summer: a cost-of-living increase and a step increase. A step is a pay raise for one year of service. Police officers will receive an increase equal to one-and-a-half steps and firefighters …
Monday, April 29, 2013
Montgomery County Council meets most Tuesdays in Rockville.
Montgomery County Councilmembers will discuss county employee contracts at its next meeting, planned for Tuesday, April 30, at 9:30 a.m. in Rockville. The Council’s Government Operations and Fiscal Policy committees voted unanimously Thursday to back a proposal to raise county employees’ salaries by up to 3.25 percent. County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) negotiated the raises as part of new two-year contracts with employees’ unions and included them as part of his $4.8 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2014, which begins July 1. (Read the entire council agenda, attached to this article.)
Costco Gas Man
5:18 pm on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
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