Mayor for a Day, Storms on the Way(?) and HTH Giveaways

Good Monday, Rockville!

It's starting to feel a lot like summer. Keep your eyes on the skies this afternoon. The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm watch until 6 p.m. It looks like the pattern of heat, humidity and the chance of thunder boomers will stay with us for the week as we march towards Memorial Day weekend.

On Thursday, we . On Friday, Isabella Varea, a fourth-grader at , took office (for a term that lasted about six hours) as "Mayor for a Day." See a photo retrospective of Mayor Varea's administration at the right of this column.

Here's the "looking comfortable at that big desk" edition of "The Rundown":

• The Rockville City Council meets at 7 tonight to approve the fiscal 2012 city budget.
  The council also will discuss its 2012 state legislative priorities. The list up for discussion includes priorities carried over from this year's General Assembly session, including: The restoration of highway user revenues—state aid that municipalities use for local road maintenance, and a statewide stormwater management program that would allow the city to continue its stormwater program and utility charge in its current form.
  One potentially new priority is a suggestion by Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio to push for legislation that would enable the city to levy a building excise tax.. The tax would raise revenue to pay for infrastructure improvements related to new development, similar to impact fees. Unlike impact fees, however, excise taxes are not directly tied to the cost of delivering services to new development. Therefore, the city would have more flexibility to set the amount of the tax and in deciding how revenue is used.
  The District 17 delegation, which represents the city in Annapolis, supported building excise tax legislation in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
  The council also will discuss the potential impacts of a special legislative session that the General Assembly will hold this fall. The session will focus on redistricting legislative boundaries, but legislators also could consider new taxes and how the state covers costs for teacher pensions and transportation projects.
• Memorial Day weekend in Rockville means Hometown Holidays. (Just four days to go! But who's counting?) As part of the countdown, the city is offering a chance to win Hometown Holidays prizes with a giveaway each day at 4 p.m. from Tuesday through Friday. 
  Prizes will include Taste of Rockville tickets, all-day passes for children's rides, a pair of Saturday concert seating passes for Lloyd Dobler Effect and Bob Schneider, a pair of Sunday seating passes for Kelly Bell Band, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic and a personalized autographed picture from George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, appearances on HTH Live! and a pair of tickets to Sunday's Teen Party on the Rooftop. To enter, sign up for Rockville's weekly e-letter, This Week in Rockville.
• This week is your last chance to provide comments to the city's Planning Commission on the draft plan for Rockville Pike redevelopment. The commission heard . Friday is the last day to provide written comments on the plan before the draft goes before the City Council for the first time on June 6 during a joint meeting with the Planning Commission.
• Did you miss Mommy & Me & Daddys Too! at Rockville Town Square last week? No you didn't. Inclement weather forced the monthly play date to be . Meet from 10 a.m. to noon for face painting, balloon animals, live entertainment, free eats for kids and special offers and activities from Town Square stores.
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