WASTE: This Week Watch Superintendent Taylor Waste $43M+ on a Commercial Lease by Abandoning 30 Acres of FREE Board of Education Land

Source: 750 Progress Way

On Thursday, October 30, 2025, the Montgomery County Board of Education will unanimously vote to approve a Consent Agenda (no discussion) that includes a brand new lease of a massive warehouse in Gaithersburg.  

To date, Superintendent Taylor has pretended like finding a new MCPS warehouse was something the Board of Education was going to consider.  

Surprise! Superintendent Taylor has already negotiated the lease of a massive commercial space in Gaithersburg and the lease starts SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1st!  The lease commits the Board of Education to lease payments of at least $30 million dollars over the next 10 years and requires the Board of Education to spend $13 million dollars out of the Capital Budget to construct the interior of this currently empty warehouse.  

The commercial space that Superintendent Taylor is leasing is completely empty (see image above) and will require $13 million dollars to build out the interior of the warehouse.  The lease vote is on Thursday, October 30th, but the $13 million is part of the FY 2027 MCPS Capital Budget that hasn't been voted on yet.

Superintendent Taylor is going to force the Board of Education to commit to a FY 2027 Capital Budget proposal this week, even thought the Board of Education's vote on the proposed Capital Budget isn't until November 20, 2025.  

Presumably the lease of the commercial space will be paid out of the MCPS Operating Budget and the construction of the interior space will be funded out of the MCPS Capital Budget.  By forcing a vote on the lease this week, Superintendent Taylor will force the Board of Education to commit $13 million of the Capital Budget to the construction of the interior of the warehouse before the Board of Education even considers any of the Capital Budget needs of any of MCPS' 211 schools. 

~~AND~~

In order to make use of this massive Commercial Warehouse, Superintendent Taylor is going to abandon 4 Board of Education sites totaling over 30 acres of free public school land.  The land that Taylor is going to abandon is owned by the Board of Education and is free of mortgages, rents and property taxes.  Taylor has not put forth any justification for the abandonment of free public school land in favor of Leased Commercial land that will create ongoing debt (with an escalation clause) for the Board of Education for at least the next 10 to 20 years.  

Here are the Board of Education owned public school sites that Superintendent Taylor is abandoning: 

Source:  MCPS Real Property Inventory for 2025

This is from Superintendent Taylor's recently released FY 2027 Capital Budget proposal.  This page shows the cost of building the interior of the Leased Commercial space.  Taylor did not disclose this cost on his October 30th Action Item Resolution for the Board of Education vote. 

Source:  MCPS Capital Improvements Program/Master Plan

This is how MCPS' funding and resources are wasted without public notice or opportunity to comment.

Opinion: Bethesda-Chevy Chase High administrators shouldn’t be scapegoats

On March 4, in response to Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School’s two lockdowns in six days, Montgomery County Councilmember Andrew Friedson (Dist. 1) organized a community meeting to discuss safety at B-CC and in its surrounding Bethesda community.

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) leaders were there. County police were in the house. Approximately 100 parents, students and community members, according to Bethesda Today, were in attendance, too.

Notably absent was the B-CC administration.

How notably?..

Opinion: Bethesda-Chevy Chase High administrators shouldn't be scapegoats - Bethesda Magazine

‘Taxpayers deserve better’: Local taxpayers league wants more oversight of Montgomery Co. schools contracts

It’s time to hit the brakes on a $160 million contract that Montgomery County Public Schools has with an electric bus vendor. That’s the way Montgomery County Taxpayer’s League President Esther Wells sees it.

Wells was alarmed by information provided by MCPS officials on Monday where they revealed that they’re in the middle of negotiations with an electric school bus vendor whose failures to deliver buses on time led to added millions in expenditures by the school system.

Regarding the school system’s contract talks with Highland Electric Fleets, Wells said, “Why are we renegotiating with them? We should take a pause or we should stop negotiations until we’re able to resolve the current contract.”

Wells was referring to some of the statements that Chief of District Operations for MCPS Dana Edwards shared regarding how the school system had “invoiced” Highland Electric for $1.5 million over the delays in delivery of buses and operational issues...

‘Taxpayers deserve better’: Local taxpayers league wants more oversight of Montgomery Co. schools contracts - WTOP News

School Board ‘Taking Another Look’ Into Sharing More From Redacted Report

The school board is “taking another look” into sharing more from a redacted report that investigates the promotion of a former school principal.

“We have also heard your request for a better understanding of the Jackson Lewis findings, and we are taking another look at the report to see if there are any areas in which we could redact less,” Board of Education President Karla Silvestre said during a meeting Tuesday.

County Council President Andrew Friedson has said councilmembers want to see the unredacted report...

https://www.mymcmedia.org/school-board-taking-another-look-into-sharing-more-from-redacted-report/?fbclid=IwAR3F4zAS2jtyIk8OzO8PK-kr_g6LPaFisWyhdOrDp4f-1s2KV8JnFIiNnYg

@mococouncilmd President Friedson Waits Until 5 Days Before Council Hearing to Ask (NOT SUBPOENA) Unredacted Jackson Lewis Report from @mocoboe

Attention Montgomery County Council President Andrew Friedson:

The Parents' Coalition wishes to advise you that Montgomery County Public Schools and the Montgomery County Board of Education can never respond to a public information act request in under 30 days.  

If the Montgomery County Council wanted a copy of a document prior to their February 8, 2024, meeting they would have had to request it by at least December 1, 2023, to allow for MCPS and Board of Education attorneys (in house and outside) to ask for an extension of time, review the request, shuffle the document around for weeks and eventually produce another redacted version of the document.  

However, if the Montgomery County Council ACTUALLY wanted a copy of this document they could just subpoena it.  

But we realize that you don't really want to make an unredacted copy of the Jackson Lewis LLC report public so the February 2, 2024, letter shown below will be a nice touch to tell the public you "tried" with absolutely no chance of MCPS actually producing an unredacted copy of the letter by February 8th. 

After February 8th, way after, the Board of Education can quietly slip the County Council a less redacted version of the Jackson Lewis Report without any public notice.   

Well played. 

Friedson will not support oath for MCPS officials at hearing

Montgomery County Council President Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1) is not supporting a call brought forward by two councilmembers to have Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) officials testify under oath at a joint session on Thursday.

A Jan. 23 report from the county’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) will be the topic of discussion during the joint session between the Education and Culture Committee and the Audit Committee on Thursday. The report found that MCPS had failed to address failures in its investigative processes despite being advised four times that the system was in disarray. The issue came up during an investigation of sexual harassment allegations against former Farquhar Middle School principal Joel Beidleman.

“Putting people under oath, in certain circumstances will somehow suggest that at other times we don’t expect people to be forthright or truthful, which is not a circumstance that we’re comfortable with,” Friedson told MoCo360 on Friday...

https://moco360.media/2024/02/06/friedson-will-not-support-oath-for-mcps-officials-at-hearing/#:~:text=“Putting people under oath%2C in,Friedson told MoCo360 on Friday

Council Will Not Require Oaths for MCPS Officials During Upcoming Meeting [Council Did Not Vote on This in Public.]

The county council will not require school system officials to testify under oath during a meeting Thursday about a recently-released report that found deficiencies with how Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) handles complaints...

https://www.mymcmedia.org/council-will-not-require-oaths-for-mcps-officials-during-upcoming-meeting/

What’s next for MCPS Superintendent McKnight?

...Additionally, Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County—an MCPS watchdog group—pointed out that Montgomery County Code states that the council has the power to issue subpoenas and administer the oath to any witness examined before the council...

https://moco360.media/2024/01/26/whats-next-for-mcps-superintendent-mcknight/

"The county council shall have power to issue subpoenas for witnesses, and the president thereof shall have power to administer the oath to any witness who may be examined before the council, such oath to have all the qualities of an oath taken before any other judicial tribunal or officers, and violations thereof to be punishable as other perjuries are punishable."

The Montgomery County Council claims that they will be holding an "oversight hearing" on February 8, 2024, to review the Montgomery County Inspector General's report on MCPS.

Oversight? Really or just more theater?  

The Montgomery County Council could hold a real oversight hearing by issuing subpoenas to witnesses and administering oaths to witnesses that appear at the hearing.  

But will they? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Montgomery County Code

Sec. 2-20. Power to subpoena witnesses and administer oaths.

   (a)   The county council shall have power to issue subpoenas for witnesses, and the president thereof shall have power to administer the oath to any witness who may be examined before the council, such oath to have all the qualities of an oath taken before any other judicial tribunal or officers, and violations thereof to be punishable as other perjuries are punishable.

   (b)   All council subpoenas shall be executed by the council president or a duly authorized designee and may be served by the sheriff of the county or any person who could lawfully serve a subpoena in a civil case.

   (c)   Failure to comply with a subpoena duly issued under this section shall be a misdemeanor and any person, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or sentenced to not more than six (6) months in jail, or both; in addition thereto, the county may institute injunctions, mandamus or any other appropriate actions or proceeding of law or in equity to require compliance with a subpoena duly issued under this section.

 (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 2-22; 1910, ch. 484, § 177T; 1912, ch. 790, § 474; 1978 L.M.C., ch. 20, § 1.)

https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/montgomerycounty/latest/montgomeryco_md/0-0-0-117249

EXCLUSIVE: @pcmc1 Makes Public Resumes for All Planning Board Candidates including Harris, Fosselman & Riemer after DELETION by @mococouncil

This Agenda packet was released on Friday, April 28, 2023, and then DELETED from the Montgomery County Council website. The document was not replaced with an update, it was just deleted so that the public could not read the packet in advance of the May 2nd Council meeting to interview 3 candidates for Montgomery County Planning Board Chair and candidates for Planning Board Commissioner seats.

We obtained a PDF of the Agenda packet and have made it available to the public.  The public has a right to be a part of the public appointment process. 

20230502_1-8 CVs Montgomery County Council candidates for Planning Board by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

Councilmembers Friedson and Luedtke want to eliminate advocacy for the public in zoning and land use decisions, want advocacy of OPC to be shut out of zoning decisions. #OfficeofPeoplesCounsel

Montgomery County Councilmember Andrew Friedson has introduced a bill to shut down the Office of People's Counsel (OPC) advocacy on zoning and land use decisions in Montgomery County.  

The purpose of the Office of People's Counsel is:  

Here's the bill that Councilmember Andrew Friedson has introduced.  The bill is also being co-sponsored by Councilmember Dawn Luedtke.  

DownloadFilePage (montgomerycountymd.gov)

Here is the introduction of the bill from the March 28th County Council meeting.  

Councilmember Andrew Friedson (D) has a $500,000 campaign finance war chest that is overflowing with donations from development interests. Wasting no time, he has a fundraiser planned for Thursday that is co-hosted by, among others, a prominent developer, Aris Mardirossian...

Greater transparency necessary for Montgomery County development decisions

...A twin package of legislation introduced recently by state Sen. Ben Kramer (D-Montgomery) offers to take some other steps: adding some requirements for greater transparency for members of the planning board; limiting their ability to make donations to politicians; and in what some on the County Council have complained, cutting into the council’s authority to appoint all board members by allowing the executive to nominate, subject to council approval, a candidate for either chair or vice chair.

That would be a small reprise of the system in use in the late 1960s and not changed for a few decades, when the power over the board shifted back to the council. It would partly parallel the way it works now in Prince George’s County, which, with Montgomery, makes up the bi-county Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Kramer’s proposals still would leave the Montgomery County Council in charge of land use decision making, allowing it to continue to hold the power to approve or veto Planning Board development recommendations. He has proposed a task force to examine some of these issues. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday evening.

Transparency is an oft-used phrase these days in government. At the opening session on Dec. 6 of the newly elected 11-member Montgomery County Council, new members Kristin Mink (D) and Laurie-Anne Sayles (D) and returning member Will Jawando (D), put down markers on the issue of transparency, saying that there are many instances of the council operating in the dark, and calling for greater light.

Land use would be a good place to start.

Montgomery County’s system for making decisions about new development, overseen by the council, may be one of its most difficult to observe and understand. Councilmember Andrew Friedson (D) has a $500,000 campaign finance war chest that is overflowing with donations from development interests. Wasting no time, he has a fundraiser planned for Thursday that is co-hosted by, among others, a prominent  developer, Aris Mardirossian, whose Bethesda Land LLC is involved in a controversy over a promised park in downtown Bethesda...

Miranda Spivack: Greater transparency necessary for Montgomery County development decisions - Maryland Matters

MoCo County Council Forgets to Check Backgrounds on Top Candidates for Planning Board.

This week the Montgomery County Council is setting a really bad example for students. They forgot to do their homework.  

In this case that means that the County Council released a list of the names of their "top" candidates to fill the vacant Montgomery County Planning Board seats without researching the candidates.

Just a few simple Internet searches would have yielded important information, such as tax liens.   

Why do personal liens matter on candidates for Planning Board positions? It's always a concern to put someone in a position of power that might have some vulnerabilities related to their personal financial status.  

Not only did they County Council forget to do their homework on their "top" candidates, but they are also blatantly violating Maryland law with regard to the appointment process for Planning Board vacancies.  

This week the Montgomery County Council is hell bent on showing the next generation how to violate the law, eliminate transparency and ignore ethics. Is their goal to show future generations what not to do? 

Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition, Parents’ Coalition call for Planning Board reform

 ...Members of the Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County said they are concerned that the temporary Planning Board members appointed by the council could then be appointed permanently to the posts.

“Let’s see the County Council follow the law and set the example they want the next Planning Board to follow because simply going rogue tells the next Planning Board members that they can go and do whatever they want to,” Parents’ Coalition member Janis Sartucci said...

Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition, Parents’ Coalition call for Planning Board reform | Bethesda Magazine & Bethesda Beat

BREAKING: 9 Groups + Mayor Sign Letter to @MoCoCouncilMD Calling for 1- Council to Follow MD Law, 2- Independent Investigation of Planning Board

Open Letter to County Council of Montgomery County, MD

October 21, 2022

Dear Council President Albornoz and Members of the County Council,

We are writing in light of the recent resignation of all five Montgomery County M-NCPPC

(Planning Board) Commissioners. According to an October 12 press release, the Council

President stated: “The Council has lost confidence in the Montgomery County Planning Board

and accepted these resignations to reset operations.”

On October 11, the day the Council decided to seek these resignations, seven various land use

changes were under consideration – some of which will impact the County for a generation

and beyond, including six zoning text amendments (ZTA) and Thrive 2050 – prior to October 31,

after which time by State Law these decisions must be left to the incoming members of the new

Council. Since October 11, the Council has adopted four of these ZTAs.

If the Council “lost confidence” in the fired Commissioners who authored these land-use plans

and recommendations, how can the Council have confidence in what the fired Commissioners

have written and edited, and that proper procedure was and is followed?

We the undersigned urge the Council, in its capacity as County Council and District Council, to

suspend any and all further action on any pending zoning amendments or zoning legislation

until:

1. A new Planning Board comprised of five permanent members is duly appointed in

accordance with Maryland Land Use Code §15-103; and,

2. The Council publicly releases a full and independent investigation to assure that all

Planning Board management policies, procedures and controls were in place and

properly followed in the preparation of these seven Planning Board recommendations

and plans.1

Respectfully,

(In Alphabetical Order)

Biodiversity for a Livable Climate Montgomery Countryside Alliance

Citizens Coordinating Committee on

Friendship Heights

Montgomery County Coalition for the Control

of Cell Towers

Community Vision For Takoma 

North Potomac Citizens Association

Huntington Terrace Citizens Association 

Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County

Empowering People in Communities of MoCo 

Jeffrey Slavin – Mayor of Somerset

Friends of the Earth

1 https://montgomeryplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Adopted-and-Approved-Chapter-50-and-59-

Administrative-Procedures-Regulations.pdf

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2022 Open Letter Montgomery County Council Re: Planning Board by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

Latest memo from County Exec. to the County Council “It’s impossible to separate the preparation from the presentation of Thrive from the Boards misconduct.” Marc Elrich

 Thread by @EPICofMoCo on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App

***Maryland Matters: Council to interview and vote on their Planning Board appointments next MONDAY.***

Political notes: Guess who’s coming to town? Plus, MoCo planning vacancies draw a crowd, and a political provocateur targets Moore

...It will be up to the new County Council, which will be seated in early December, to name longer term replacements. But in the meantime, the five people the council names to serve temporarily will serve for at least a couple of months. The council is tentatively scheduled to interview finalists for the temporary positions and vote on their appointments next Monday...

...Generally, the County Council can only name three people from the same political party to the planning commission. So in a heavily Democratic county, it’s likely that three of the appointees will be Democrats; the others could be Republicans, unaffiliated voters or some combination.

Political notes: Guess who's coming to town? Plus, MoCo planning vacancies draw a crowd, and a political provocateur targets Moore - Maryland Matters

ABC7: Montgomery Council accused of violating law by appointing new planning board in 'mad rush'

 Montgomery Council accused of violating law by appointing new planning board in 'mad rush' | WJLA

ROCKVILLE, Md. (7News) — A Potomac resident is accusing the Montgomery County Council of defying the law by scheduling to appoint five new Planning Board members this coming Tuesday, Oct. 25, less than one week after the council released a list of everyone who has applied to be on the board.

"Bad things happened and there's a rush to cover up the bad things, to sweep it under the rug," resident Janis Sartucci told 7News Wednesday. "And unfortunately, [the county council] has decided to violate Maryland law, which guarantees how this process is supposed to proceed."..

..."They're supposed to give us three weeks and they're only going to give us one," Sartucci remarked.

Sartucci provided 7News with the Maryland Code and Court Rules regarding appointments to the M-NCPPC. It notes that the county council must complete its list of applicants "three weeks before an appointment is made" and that the list is "made available to the public."..

Montgomery Council accused of violating law by appointing new planning board in 'mad rush' | WJLA

In a Q&A hosted by @Andrew_Friedson today, he affirmed that, despite the racism, sexism, and illegal activities that have been permitted at the Planning Board, the County Council does not have "concerns about the work product or policy proposals of the planning board."

 Thread by @BethAfrCemetery on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App

Public Notice: .@SenatorSusanLee .@DelArianaKelly .@mkorman .@SaraLove4MD .@Andrew_Friedson can't say they never heard about the plan for a cell tower on the home team bleachers at new North Bethesda high school.

@SenatorSusanLee @DelArianaKelly @mkorman @SaraLove4MD @Andrew_Friedson You all going to tell yr constituents about cell tower going on home team bleachers at new high school? Or are you just going to let parents be surprised? This is your public notice. https://t.co/No9xr5XGfK pic.twitter.com/NvnPfGknrc

— Parents' Coalition (@PCMC1) July 18, 2022