Following up on the previous post by Lyda Astrove, the Parents' Coalition has been forwarded an announcement about a breakfast this morning to discuss legislation in the next session in Annapolis. Who paid for the breakfast this morning and for all of the past breakfasts? We know taxpayers paid for this somehow, but out of which budget? Anyone attend? How many breakfasts were paid for and by whom? The State budget can't be that bad if our elected leaders can still afford to buy breakfast for anyone that wants to show up!
Legislative Update coffee/breakfast this Wednesday morning at 8:30am at Ambrosia Grille!
Hello Everyone.
While this is not an MCCPTA sponsored event, I would like to invite you all to join me this coming Wednesday, January 5th at 8:30am for a Legislative Update that I will be getting from Montgomery County State Senator Rich Madaleno, Montgomery County State Delegate Anne Kaiser, and BOE Legislative and Inter-Governmental Relations Director, Laura Steinberg. I had a few of these last year and they were very informative.
Senator Madaleno serves on the Budget and Taxation Committee and is very well respected for his expertise in Budget analysis. Delegate Kaiser serves as a member of the Ways & Means Committee and is the Chairman of the Education Subcommittee. Together with Laura they will be providing an update on how things currently look for the State and County Budget, as well as answering questions about what comes next and what it all means for Montgomery County and the schools.
Anyone interested in joining me is welcome and I encourage all to attend.
While I realize that no time is perfect for everyone, so even if you get there late or have to leave early - just come… and pass the word along. This is for anyone who is interested in what is happening with our County budget, MOE and educational issues being looked at by the state. Invite your PTA's, friends and neighbors! This is a perfect chance to have a small (hopefully large) group intimate discussion about issues that are of concern or interest with people who are at the table.
We will be meeting for at least an hour or more at:
Ambrosia Grille - 802 Hungerford Drive, Rockville, MD 20850
(west side of MD355, across from the Frederick Ave. intersection, and south of Mannakee St.)
There is a private room in the back for us to use, and while you certainly don't have to eat --
they serve a great breakfast… so come hungry!!
Please don’t hesitate to email, call or text me if you have any questions. (And if possible let me know if you can come.)
This is a great opportunity… and I hope to see you there!
Rebecca Smondrowski
301.325.XXXX
rsmondrowski@XXXXXXXX
Ambrosia Grille
802 Hungerford Drive
Rockville, Maryland 20850
301.251.5816
www.ambrosiagrille.com
Per the phrase:
ReplyDelete"We know taxpayers paid for this somehow [breakfast]..."
how do we know that taxpayers paid for this?
I attended, paid my own tab, and learned a great deal from the discussion. Perhaps you will join us next time.
When is "next time?"
ReplyDeleteOnly those that get the invite in advance can attend.
Patrick,
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting us know you paid for your own breakfast.
Who paid for Laura Steinberg's breakfast?
Did she use her MCPS AMEX card?
Patrick raised a valid point. If you are going to claim (as the post does) that taxpayers paid for the food, then provide the proof.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't be shocked if it the accusation is true, but the posters have provided no proof to their claim.
Do the Maryland Public Information Act request and we will be happy to post the results.
ReplyDeleteWe have done enough public information act requests to know that "breakfast" is one of the meals that gets charged to MCPS American Express cards.
We know county employees have AMEX cards too, but we don't have that list of employees. Get the list and we will post it.
What about legislators? Are they charging their meals to taxpayers?
Let us know what you find out.
Our research has already shown us that charging meals to the taxpayers is routine at MCPS. That's one of the reasons why the FY10 AMEX bill was $5.2. million.
Why don't you also find out what else Board of Education staff member Laura Steinberg uses her MCPS AMEX card for? She doesn't work in a school and doesn't need to buy school supplies or plumbing parts.
Do teachers get paid to eat breakfast?
ReplyDeleteBreakfast? I wasn't invited. Please put me on the list.
ReplyDeleteBravo to Mr. Dunn for speaking up and standing behind his statements with his name. That's transparency.
ReplyDeleteWe welcome and look forward to Mr. Dunn's report on this breakfast meeting and his posting of upcoming meetings that the public can attend. What was discussed this morning should not be just for the few that were invited.
We are talking about our government, our public government that spends public dollars on public services. Private meetings are not the place for decision making as evidenced by the existence of the Maryland Open Meetings Act. The goal is for decision making, and the discussions that lead up to the decisions, to be made where they can be accessed by the public through attendance, audio, video and written minutes.
My understanding of the breakfast was that a private citizen tax payer invited some their MD representatives to a gathering and invited other private citizens as a means to share information on the MD budget situation. If there were nefarious intents, they were lost upon me. I was not aware of any decision making. As noted, that should be done in the open. Information sharing is done by many venues.
ReplyDeleteI am unfamiliar with the experience of other citizens when they invite their representatives to chat. The tone of the comments from Anonymous (Hi! I think I would be pleased to meet you, but given the level of transparency, that cannot be confirmed.) and Ms. Sartucci suggests they have had poor experiences. That is most unfortunate.
As a courtesy, this tax payer offers their recollection of the following highlights on the breakfast.
Sen. Madaleno and Del. Kaiser provided an overview of MD revenue sources and expenditures.
Three areas coming before the GA of particular interest for education advocates are K-12 funding, teacher pension cost sharing, and MoE.
The governor's budget proposal is expected to include cuts to education. Theoretically, there are several ways this could be implemented. For formula based funding (e.g. Foundation), changes to formulas must be done by companion legislation (i.e. in addition to the budget proposal there would be a bill to change the formulas). Other types of cuts don't require companion bills (e.g. cuts to ed. transportation).
Pension funding issues were discussed and I don't have the expertise to list the issues.
I had to leave before MoE was discussed.
Per the request to file a MD Public Information Act request, I leave that in the experienced hands of Ms. Sartucci et al.
Per the requests for determining who paid with what medium, I do not have the privilege of knowing Ms. Steinberg and did not observe how participants paid so I am unable to comply.
Per the request to be invited, I would suggest the request be addressed to the host or that you make a separate request to meet your representatives.
Regards
Mr. Dunn is now the new President of the Gifted and Talented Association.
ReplyDelete