Tuesday, April 30, 2013
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 …
Friday, April 26, 2013
County Council panels vote to back pay bumps for government and public safety workers.
A freeze in cost-of-living raises for Montgomery County government and public safety employees may be thawing out. The Montgomery County 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. If approved as part of the county budget, the 3.25 percent raise for county government workers would go into effect in September. Police officers would see a 2.1 percent bump in July. Fire and rescue personnel would see a 2.75 …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Storm warning lifted; SHA continues to urge caution on roads.
Update, 5 p.m.: Snow emergency responses wound down, as the National Weather Service canceled the winter storm warning for the Washington metropolitan region Wednesday afternoon. The Maryland State Highway Administration urged motorists to continue to drive with caution, especially after sundown as visibility drops and roads could freeze. SHA encouraged drivers to dial 511 or go to www.MD511.org for traffic, weather alerts and road conditions. Road conditions, live traffic cameras and a variety of information to help with travel decisions and planning are available at www.roads.maryland.gov, SHA said in a news release. The Montgomery County government said its 311 call center would close at 7 p.m. and reopen at 6 a.m. Thursday. Pepco …
Monday, January 14, 2013
In the wake of Pepco's most recent request for permission to raise electricity rates, the county tasked an assistant county attorney to focus solely on utility issues.
Montgomery County now has an in-house attorney dedicated to utility issues. "[Lawyer] Lisa Brennan moved from the Office of Consumer Protection, where she dealt frequently with utility issues, to the Office of the County Attorney where utilities will now dominate her time," Montgomery County spokesman Patrick Lacefield told The Gazette. So far, the county has hired outside attorneys as well as using in-house ones to fight against Pepco's rate increase requests. Dedicating one in-house attorney to utility issues, rather than paying for outside counsel, should save the county some money, The Gazette reported. The county's move to consolidate its efforts to ensure that county residents are paying fair prices for quality utilities comes in …
Monday, October 29, 2012
Declaration means the county could receive federal aid for storm costs.
County Executive Isiah Leggett declared a state of emergency for Montgomery County on Monday, making the county eligible for federal aid as it responds to Hurricane Sandy, a county spokeswoman said. The declaration allows the county to call upon staff to respond to the storm as needed, Mary Anderson said. “It’s mainly a human resources [measure] in terms of getting people to work,” Anderson said. “It changes pay structures and it’s also useful in seeking federal reimbursement later on." States of emergency were declared in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC. Howard County Executive Ken Ulman also signed an emergency declaration for that county. The declaration makes the county eligible for federal reimbursement for overtime hours …
Don't travel these routes.
Updated 10:05 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 30: At 8:10 a.m., Montgomery County reported that the following roads were partially or entirely closed due to flooding or downed trees or wires. The county is urging residents to avoid traveling today as wind and flooding still could create hazardous road conditions. Note: Roads may reopen faster than the county updates this list. A Patch editor reported that he traveled the length of Quince Orchard Road and Montgomery Village Avenue this morning and did not encounter any closures. If you have information about closed or reopened roads to relay to neighbors, please add it to the comments below. If you see a tree touching a power line, stay clear of the tree and call Pepco at 1-877-737-2662. Call 911 in …
Thursday, October 25, 2012
The Montgomery County executive answered residents' questions about public safety, small business assistance and solar energy opportunities in an interactive chat on Wednesday.
How is the county going to step up its efforts to protect Ride On bus drivers and passengers? What steps will the county executive take to fund the new Small Business Assistance Program? These were among the questions Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett fielded from residents on Wednesday in an interactive chat online. Patch has excerpted questions and answers from the discussion that specifically mentioned the Wheaton and Glenmont area. (The questions and answers have not been edited.) The full transcript of the discussion is available online here. The next live discussion will take place Nov. 21. Ride On Bus Question: Hi Mr. Leggett, I have been on Ride On buses when customers have refused to pay bus fare and have literally spit …
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
$319 million in county-issued bonds will go on sale next week.
Montgomery County bonds have again been deemed the soundest investment possible, one of the few county governments nationwide to receive a AAA bond rating from all three rating agencies, officials announced last week. The top-tier rating means the county will find better interest rates on its capital borrowing. The announcement comes after County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) and County Council President Roger Berliner (D) met with representatives of the bond rating agencies in New York last month, reported Bethesda Now. Fitch, Standard & Poor's and Moody's cited the strength of the county’s economic base, as well as steps taken to right the fiscal imbalance that emerged as revenues fell off during the most recent recession, according to a …
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Changes aim at expanding service to new areas and reducing service on less-used routes.
Montgomery County will host a public forum tonight in Rockville about proposed changes to the county’s Ride On bus service. The forum will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria on the terrace level of the Executive Office Building, at 101 Monroe St. Reservations for speaking spots closed Sept. 22, but written comments are being accepted through 5 p.m. on Monday. Mail or deliver comments to: Division of Transit Services, Ride On Public Forum, 101 Monroe Street, 5th Floor, Rockville, MD 20850; email: mcdot.rideonpublicforums@montgomerycountymd.gov; or fax: 240-777-5801. Ride On has proposed changes to six Ride On routes and one Metrobus route operated on Saturday by Ride On. The proposed changes seek to better serve “areas that have been …
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
The community adds its first major retailer in decades.
Aspen Hill welcomed retailer Kohl’s to the neighborhood this week with grand opening sales and a Wednesday morning ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by county officials. Kohl’s will anchor the Northgate Plaza shopping center. Lee Development Group “has invested several million dollars” to renovate the center, the company said in a news release. Northgate Plaza also features a Michael’s craft store and a Rite Aid Pharmacy among its more than 30 tenants. The Lee family built the center, at 3901 Aspen Hill Road, in 1958. The renovation includes expanding the space occupied by Kohl’s from 46,000 square feet to 60,000 square feet. Expanding the space cost about $2.5 million, Washington Business Journal reported. The space had been occupied by …
jag
11:30 am on Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Well, at least you got the part about you being a dick right. All of those "parasit[ic]" police officers and fire fighters and teachers and domestic abuse counselors and code enforcement personnel and librarians and public defenders, etc. that you're *obviously* better and more important than are the ones who haven't seen an increase in several years (a period when incomes have in fact risen in … more ›