MD Lawmakers also might pursue transparency mandate for Housing Opportunities Commission

 

Bill limiting landlords’ eviction powers considered by Montgomery County delegation

...Lawmakers reviewed other bills at a similar public hearing a week earlier.

During Tuesday’s hearing, a measure forcing the Housing Opportunities Commission and its committees to hold more meetings in public drew support from speakers critical of the entity’s handling of meetings and a controversy involving the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition.

Several members of the coalition were particularly pointed in their criticism, saying the HOC refuses to talk to them about their attempts to preserve a historically Black cemetery in the Westbard community.

Del. Al Carr (D-Kensington), the bill sponsor, was more specific in describing the intent of the legislation, saying that more than 100 private HOC meetings in five years had violated the state’s Open Meetings Act. He called the openness requirements in the bill an attempt “to restore public trust.”

The HOC is a government-funded entity that works on affordable-housing issues. Carr said it has about $300 million in annual revenues...

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/government/bill-limiting-landlords-eviction-powers-considered-by-montgomery-county-delegation/