Montgomery County Council: Andrews Proposes Energy Tax Reduction

Plan aims to improve business competitiveness by reducing raises for county employees.

Montgomery County Councilmember Phil Andrews introduced a plan on Tuesday to reduce the 2010 increase in Montgomery County’s energy tax by 10 percent. The county's energy tax was raised by 155 percent on homeowners and by nearly 60 percent on businesses and nonprofit organizations in 2010, according to a County Council news release. A 10 percent reduction would reduce county revenues by $11.4 million in fiscal 2014, which begins July 1. Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg proposes paying for the energy tax reduction by slashing the pay increases for county employees over the next two years. Andrews, who is running for Montgomery County Executive in next year's election, criticized the agreement struck between the county employees unions …

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County Council Member Says ICC Underused, Too Expensive

Montgomery County Council Member Phil Andrews proposes a cut in ICC tolls to get more drivers to use the road, NBC Washington reported.

Montgomery County Council Member Phil Andrews said a deep cut in tolls would increase traffic on the Intercounty Connector and he's calling on the state to see it through, NBC Washington reported. Andrews says the $8 round-trip rush-hour toll is among the highest in the nation and "would propose at least a trial period of several months, if not, a year when the tolls would be...cut in half, in hopes of doubling the traffic," according to the report. A decision on the toll rate is up to the Maryland Transportation Authority. A spokeswoman for the MTA told The Washington Post the ICC is meeting both traffic and revenue projections. The road was designed to carry traffic volumes projected for 2030, according to the report. Andrews said he …

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Montgomery Dems Ramp Up for County Exec Race

Former County Executive Doug Duncan met today with pollster and political advisers, according to CenterMaryland.org.

  Will Doug Duncan—Montgomery’s longest-serving county executive—return for a run at an unprecedented fourth term? Duncan's political future came into clearer focus Tuesday after he met with advisers in Gaithersburg to mull the 2014 election, Josh Kurtz writes in CenterMaryland.org. The closed meeting hashed over the results of a new poll “that supposedly showed Duncan handily defeating every other potential Democratic candidate,” according to Kurtz. Speculation has long swirled that Duncan—who served as Montgomery’s executive from 1994 to 2006 before a gubernatorial campaign that ended with him dropping out, citing clinical depression—is primed for a return to county politics. If so, he would be joining a field that already has two …

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Report: County Wrestles with New State Towing Rules

Officials say the new law complicates enforcement, The Washington Post reported.

  New state rules aimed at protecting motorists from predatory towing clash with existing Montgomery County rules, making already complicated regulations even tougher to enforce, The Washington Post reported.  Confusion over which rules are more stringent—and therefore should take precedent—has officials unsure how to meet an Oct. 1 deadline for implementing the state rules, The Post reported. The new state rules, in part, require large warning signs in parking lots, limit towing fees and “require wreckers to quickly notify drivers when their vehicles are towed,” The Post reported. But it also would do away with practices such as posting 48-hour warning notices on vehicles violating parking rules.  The new state law was the subject of a …

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Voters Will Choose to Give County More Flexibility to Hire People with Disabilities

The ballot measure would make it possible for people with significant disabilities to hold certain county positions from which they are currently barred.

An amendment to Montgomery County law that would give the government more flexibility to hire people with significant cognitive and physical disabilities will be decided by voters this November. The County Council unanimously voted Tuesday to send a proposed charter amendment to the ballot for county voters.  Spearheaded by Councilmember Phil Andrews (D-Dist 3), with the support of County Executive Isiah Leggett, the change would create a program within the county's internal employment system to recruit, select and hire people with certain disabilities for some county jobs. Currently, the language of the county's charter prevents people with significant disabilities from holding some positions within county government, according to a …

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Costco Gas Station Bill Struggles

The Planning, Housing, and Economic Development Committee voted Monday against supporting Zoning Text Amendment 12-07.

The future looks uncertain for a zoning text amendment that would restrict “mega” gas stations in Montgomery County. Last week, County Executive Isiah Leggett accused the bill’s sponsors of unfairly targeting Costco, which would be unable to build its proposed gas station at Westfield Wheaton if ZTA 12-07 passes. This week, Councilmember Marc Elrich, who introduced the bill in April, found himself outnumbered at Monday’s meeting of the county council’s Planning, Housing, and Economic Development Committee. His fellow committee members, councilmembers Nancy Floreen and George Leventhal, both voted against the bill, which must still come before the full council for a final vote. Follow Wheaton Patch on Facebook and Twitter. The bill’s …

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Who Owns the Street? Montgomery County Debates Roadside Solicitation

A bill to forbid roadside solicitation aims to get everyone--charity groups and panhandlers alike--out of the street, drawing the ire of county firefighters.

There’s a rumble in the streets of Montgomery County. A few state legislators, at least one council member and some residents are working to put restrictions on the use of the county’s curbs, medians and roadways, all the while facing opposition from county firefighters.  Roadside solicitation, the act of asking for money on the side of the street, is the subject of two separate bills making their way through Montgomery County’s delegation in the Maryland General Assembly. Should either of the bills pass, they would authorize the County Council to create laws around the practice.  “There’s a serious problem with people entering the roadway and interfering with traffic in order to solicit,” said Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-Dist 20), who is …

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Who Has Klout in the Montgomery County Council?

An online tool gives first place to Councilmember Nancy Navarro, whose district will include Wheaton starting March 7.

Of all the members of the Montgomery County Council, Nancy Navarro has the most social media clout--or at least according to Klout, a popular online tool that analyzes data from social networks such as Twitter. A Klout Score “measures influence based on your ability to drive action.” The Klout score considers three things: the number of people you influence, the degree of influence, and how much influence your network exerts. Navarro, who is now vice president of the council, weighed in at 26, narrowly beating Councilmember (and now Council President) Roger Berliner, whose Klout Score is 25. Councilmember Hans Riemer is close behind, with a Klout Score of 24. Adam Fogel, Navarro's chief of staff, said that open communication with …

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Parsons on Politics

Lemonade Warriors

With so many issues left unresolved, you'd think Montgomery County could do a better job at picking its battles.

Sometimes you just have to wonder about the politics of this place. Our local economy is sputtering again, the housing market is flirting with a double-dip, our transportation system is getting more congested and crumbling around us, and local and state budgets are showing years of red ink ahead. Yet, amid all of these truly important issues, what has prompted the most vigorous response from Montgomery County officials lately? Prohibiting fire and rescue personnel from "passing the boot" to raise money for muscular dystrophy and cracking down on illicit lemonade stands at the U.S. Open.  Wow, I sure feel a lot better, how about you? I have always wondered about this "passing the boot" issue. As I understand it, such solicitations are not …

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