Friday, March 8, 2013
The Gazette: Rockville didn’t have a legal mechanism for candidates to withdraw; final campaign finance filing dates would be earlier.
Rockville's mayor and City Council reached a consensus but did not vote on policy changes on Monday regarding local elections, including one that would permit candidates to officially withdraw from city elections, The Gazette reported. Still another change would change the filing date for campaign finances. One policy change is the result of a quandary that arose in 2011 when City Council candidate Joseph Jordan dropped out of the election, but his name was on the ballots because the city had no legal mechanism for candidates to withdraw. Jordan received 382 votes. Under the new policy, candidates could withdraw their candidacy up until the filing deadline, The Gazette reported. The full story is posted at Gazette.net. The council also …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
An editorial in The Gazette says residents 'deserve answers.'
An editorial in The Gazette on Wednesday renewed the call for the City of Rockville to release details into an independent probe of former city employees’ claims of harassment and discrimination by supervisors. “Releasing the report, even with large sections redacted, would go a long way toward reassuring city residents about the management of its government,” the editorial said. Click here to read the full editorial from The Gazette. The city paid $190,000 to the law firm Saul Ewing, LLP to conduct the investigation after The Sentinel published a series of articles detailing complaints by former employees. The investigation found “no unlawful conduct,” on the part of the city and, as outlined in a city news release on Nov. 28, “…
Thursday, January 10, 2013
The utility will outline its Sewer Repair, Replacement and Rehabilitation program.
Streams in Rockville will be undergoing a bit of surgery in coming months courtesy of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. Want to learn about what WSSC crews will be doing as they work on sewer pipes and manholes in Rockville’s stream beds and river sheds? WSSC representatives will outline the utility’s Sewer Repair, Replacement and Rehabilitation (also known as SR3) program at a meeting from 7:30 to 9 tonight at Ritchie Park Elementary School, at 1514 Dunster Road in Rockville. The Cabin John stream bed will be the first area of Rockville to see work, according to a message on the City of Rockville’s website. The Cabin John sewer basin stretches south of Montrose Road along Interstate 270 and the Capital Beltway to the Potomac …
Monday, January 7, 2013
A citywide coat drive continues through Thursday.
A citywide coat drive is in its final days. The City of Rockville is partnering with national nonprofit One Warm Coat to collect old and new jackets and coats to help people in need stay warm this winter. The drive continues through Thursday. Cleaning out your closets? Updating your wardrobe? Have your children outgrown their coat or jacket? Want to buy a new coat or jacket to donate? Donate coats and jackets at the following locations: • Croydon Creek Nature Center, 852 Avery Road. • Lincoln Park Community Center, 357 Frederick Ave. • Rockville City Hall, 111 Maryland Ave. • Rockville City Police Department, 2 West Montgomery Ave. • Rockville Swim and Fitness Center, 355 Martins Lane. • Thomas Farm Community Center, 700 Fallsgrove …
Friday, January 4, 2013
Registration opens later this month for city residents.
If having the kids around the house for a week of winter break got you thinking about how much they really need something to do this summer, now is the time to start perusing the City of Rockville’s 2013 Camp Guide. The guide debuted online this week and is available in printed format at City Hall, city community centers and libraries in Rockville. Click here to view the guide online. Camp registration begins Jan. 22 for city residents and Feb. 1 for non-residents. Register online through Rock Enroll, by fax at 240-314-8659, or by mail or in person at the Department of Recreation and Parks, Rockville City Hall, 111 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850. Rockville offers more than 50 camps that serve more than 2,000 campers ages 3 to 16 …
Friday, December 21, 2012
Rockville and Montgomery County facilities will be operate on modified schedules over the holidays.
All Montgomery County and City of Rockville facilities will be closed and no programs will operate on Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. Holiday hours for city facilities are as follows: Recycling and refuse collection for Monday and for Dec. 31 will not be affected. Collection for the remainder of each week will shift forward one day, with Friday collection made on Saturday. The city also is recycling cut and artificial Christmas trees. Click here for details. Parking will be free at city-owned meters and garages on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. For payment information on Rockville Town Square parking garages, go to rockvilletownsquare.com/parking. For more information about city facilities or programs call 240-314-5000 or visitwww.rockvillemd.gov…
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Letter calls for a review of the federal assault weapons ban that expired in 2004.
Rockville Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio was among 12 mayors from Maryland and 750 mayors nationwide to sign a letter, sent Wednesday, urging President Barack Obama to push for tougher gun laws in the wake of Friday’s school shooting in Newtown, CT. “Together, we urge you to put forward an agenda that is rooted in common sense and that will make it harder for dangerous people to possess guns, and easier for police and prosecutors to crack down on them,” said the letter, signed by Mayors Against Illegal Guns co-chairmen Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and co-signed by a bipartisan coalition of mayors from across the country. Click here to read the full letter. The letter calls on Obama to push …
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
The winners of the city's National Community Planning Month photo contest.
The Rockville City Council on Monday recognized the winners of the city’s first-ever National Community Planning Month photo contest. The "My Favorite Rockville Place" photo contest marked the American Planning Association’s October observance of the importance of community planning “as a means to build and preserve strong neighborhoods and civic place-making,” according to a city staff report. Winners were selected based on entries that “best represented a favorite place in Rockville and displayed the greatest artistic and technical merit,” according to the staff report. All winners received certificates. The following city officials judged the contest: “My Favorite Rockville Place” Photo Contest Results Under 18 Years of Age Category …
Friday, November 30, 2012
A new website helps drivers find a place to park downtown.
Fences are up and available parking is down in the lot in front of Regal Row, the retail strip anchored by the Regal Cinemas in Rockville Town Center. Construction is set to begin on a hotel, residential and retail project on the site of the parking lot bounded by East Middle Lane, East Montgomery Avenue, Monroe Street and Maryland Avenue. The pay-to-park lot, which reaches capacity with patrons of Regal’s 13 movie theaters and Town Center restaurants and businesses on weekends, has been reduced to just 150 spaces, said Rocio Snowdy, a neighborhood resource coordinator with the City of Rockville. Pricing at the lot will remain the same. In preparation for the construction, the city has been working with Rockville Economic Development, …
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Report includes recommendations to improve communication and human resources practices.
An independent investigation into former City of Rockville employees’ claims of harassment and discrimination by supervisors found “no unlawful conduct,” the city said in a news release late Wednesday. The city retained the law firm, Saul Ewing, LLP, in May to conduct the internal review of the city’s personnel policies and procedures after The Sentinel newspaper published a series of articles detailing complaints by former employees. A former city building inspector told The Sentinel that the city had become “a toxic environment” in which to work. Former city employees said managers were required to change performance evaluations, supervisors made racist comments and, in one case, an employee’s medical history was openly discussed, The…
Brigitta Mullican
9:30 pm on Friday, January 18, 2013
Personnel performance issues are not for public information. When I served as an Equal Employee Opportunity counselor while working for the Federal Government, I listened to both sides of complaints. There were disgruntled employees who filed claims that were frivolous and felt filing a complaint was the only recourse they had. Then there were cases when management was wrong..one of those bad … more ›