Thursday, February 16, 2012
MCPS and the County Council are optimistic heading into budget season.
After weathering years of contentious debate and a threatened lawsuit, leaders of Montgomery County Public Schools and the County Council say they're ready to move on and work together to serve students during trying economic times. Members of the council and the Board of Education took questions from parents during Wednesday's Montgomery County Council of PTAs forum at Richard Montgomery High School, discussing the coming budget debate and the county's economic state. County Councilmember Marc Elrich said he's optimistic the two groups can put their past disagreements behind them, and he has been impressed with new Superintendent Joshua Starr's commitment to reason and transparency. "The tenor of the relationship has really changed," …
Effects of shift would devastate county budgets, executives say.
Leaders of counties from around Maryland said a plan to shift part of the cost of teacher pensions from the state would have serious consequences for the budgets of local governments. Nearly two dozen leaders from counties around the state, all members of the Maryland Association of Counties, met in Annapolis on Wednesday to show their opposition to Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan to shift to local governments. Montgomery County Council President Roger Berliner said his county is already dealing with a budget deficit of its own. "None of us up here are oblivious to the challenges the state faces in balancing its budget and its structural deficit," said Beliner, a Democrat. "We know because we've been doing it for years and years and years now…
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The County Council's Public Safety Committee unanimously endorsed the idea.
Drivers who don't stop for children getting off of school buses could soon face a fine of up to $250 under a bill moving through the County Council. The council's Public Safety Committee unanimously recommended the bill at its meeting Thursday, and the issue will go before the full council as early as Feb. 7. The bill, introduced by County Councilmember Valerie Ervin, does not specify a cost, fine amount or number of cameras. Instead, it authorizes Montgomery County Police to consult with the Board of Education on a plan to install cameras on certain buses. Councilmember Phil Andrews, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said the county has issued more than 1,200 citations over the past three years for failure to stop at a bus crossing…
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Navarro approved as vice president.
The Montgomery County Council elected Councilmember Roger Berliner as its next president on Tuesday, choosing Councilmember Nancy Navarro as vice president. Berliner, who succeeds outgoing Council President Valerie Ervin, said Montgomery County's work to regain fiscal stability is not yet done, and that the county will face budgetary, transportation and environmental challenges in the future. "If we are to meet these challenges, we will have to meet the hardest of them all: becoming change agents rather than servants of the status quo," he said. "We need to introduce new words into our county’s business model, words like nimble, bold, entrepreneurial." Navarro, who represents District 4, is the county's first Hispanic female vice …
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Facebook campaign targets July 26 County Council hearing; opponents will wear purple at Harry Potter premiere.
Hundreds of high school students—most of them not yet old enough to vote—are mounting a Facebook campaign against Montgomery County’s proposed youth curfew. Within hours of County Executive Isiah Leggett's proposal on Tuesday—which would ban anyone under 18 from public places after 11 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends—former Richard Montgomery High School student Abigail Burman launched “Stand Up to the MoCo Youth Curfew!,” a Facebook event calling on teens to converge on a County Council hearing set for July 26. “The idea behind the curfew is a laudable one in that we all want to keep our kids safe,” said Alan Xie, a co-organizer of the Facebook rally and the Board of Education's student member. “In reality some studies have shown…
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Cuts are within the council's authority, the state school board said on the eve of today's final vote.
Update, 11:28 a.m.: The Montgomery County Council approved the $4.4 billion fiscal 2012 operating budget in a unanimous vote on Thursday morning. Click here for budget details. Original post, 6 a.m.: On the eve of the Montgomery County Council’s final vote on the county budget, the state Board of Education ruled on Wednesday that the council was within its authority to reduce spending on county schools. The board’s 7-1 vote added legitimacy to an action that council President Valerie Ervin called the “biggest decision” county lawmakers made regarding the $4.4 billion fiscal 2012 operating budget. Last month, the county decided not to apply for a waiver from a state funding requirement that counties' per pupil spending on schools be at the …
Friday, May 20, 2011
The county executive met with reporters after the County Council's preliminary vote on Thursday.
County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) met with reporters on Thursday to discuss the $4.4 billion county operating budget for fiscal 2012. The County Council held a preliminary vote on the budget on Thursday. A final vote is scheduled for May 26.
The Montgomery County Council is expected to adopt the final budget May 26.
The Montgomery County Council unanimously agreed on a budget that would cut school funding, restore funding for a smaller squad of school resource officers and put the county on a more “sustainable” financial path. The council reached the decision during a work session Thursday morning and is expected to formally adopt the $4.4 billion budget May 26. The budget would go into effect July 1, the start of the 2012 fiscal year. County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said the council’s budget adopted about “98 percent” of what he had recommended. The most drastic difference was an additional $25 million cut from the Montgomery County Public Schools budget. MCPS requested $82 million in new funding from the county in order to comply with a state …
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Fire and Rescue recruiting class added; high school cadet program eliminated.
The Montgomery County Council is continuing to hammer out the county's 2012 budget, and Tuesday took on funding for public safety, a major concern in the county. The public safety committee made some changes to County Executive Isiah Leggett's proposed budget, only slightly increasing funding for the police force. Changes include: The council is leaving other issues untouched, including: The budget must be approved by May 26. Fiscal year 2012 begins July 1. The council deferred a vote on the plan to replace Bethesda's police station, a public-private partnership with the development firm JBG, which will relocate the station to Cordell Avenue between Wisconsin Avenue and Woodmont Avenue. The council will likely take up the issue later in …
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
New law will take effect on Jan 1.
The choice of paper or plastic will soon carry a price for local shoppers. The Montgomery County Council passed a 5-cent tax on bags at all retail establishments on Tuesday. The bill, which will go into effect on Jan. 1, is similar to a tax enacted in D.C. a year ago. The County Council passed the bill by an 8-1 vote. Councilwoman Nancy M. Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park cast the single opposing vote. County Executive Isiah Leggett proposed the legislation in early March to reduce litter and to encourage residents to use reusable bags. The county "will work to educate residents to help them be prepared for the transition to having re-useable bags become part of their shopping routine," Leggett (D) said in a news release on Tuesday. "…
Susan Byrne
3:07 pm on Sunday, April 15, 2012
"County Councilmember Marc Elrich said he's optimistic the two groups can put their past disagreements behind them, and he has been impressed with new Superintendent Joshua Starr's commitment to reason and transparency." But what has changed materially that supports the commitment to transparency? Do taxpayers have any better idea how funds are spent for direct services to students and can they … more ›