Need for an Independent Inspector General for WSSC & M-NCPPC...What You Can Do

The County Council received their weekly briefing on State Bills yesterday from the County's lobbyists.

Here is the memo listing all the bills they are tracking

http://montgomerycountymd.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=136&event_id=5009&meta_id=130653

Among the bills they discussed is MC/PG 110-17 or HB321, sponsored by Delegate Ben Kramer, which would establish a very much needed Office of Inspector General for our Bi-County agencies, WSSC and the Maryland National Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC).  Due to their unique structure as bi-County agencies, they are not under the jurisdiction of the Montgomery County Ethics Commission .  In addition, the Montgomery County Office of Inspector General does not have the same oversight of these 2 Bi-County agencies as it does for other County agencies.. They are also not subject to performance audits by the State's Office of Legislative Audits as other State agencies are.

The members of the Montgomery County Delegation Metro Area Committee will be the first to discuss in a worksession next week.

Metro Washington Area Committee:
This committee works on all WSSC bills as well as M-NCPPC bills which do not deal with land use or transportation issues.  Al Carr, Chair Pam Queen, Vice-Chair, Kumar Barve, Kathleen Dumais, Ben Kramer, Shane Robinson

In addition to contacting the Metro Washington Area Committee members, please contact your State Delegates to request support for this very important bill that will resolve the inconsistencies and lack of clarity, and help promote the public's trust. 

http://montgomerycountydelegation.com/contact.html

Here is a link to the Bill Information:
http://montgomerycountydelegation.com/MCPG110-17.html

It is hard to imagine why anyone would vote against having these agencies under the jurisdiction of an IG just as all other County and State agencies are (except MCPS).  Delegates Barve, Kaiser and Barclay voted against scheduling this bill for hearing but fortunately, 18 other delegates voted to have a hearing which was held on Friday.

So far, the Montgomery County Civic Federation, UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO, and Montgomery County  Taxpayers League testified in support of the bill.  WSSC and the Montgomery County Planning Board are trying to kill the bill. They claim it's duplicative because they have an internal auditor. An internal auditor with an annual contract is not comparable to an independent Office of Inspector General who can investigate a variety of matters while remaining independent and not subject to annual contract cancellation by the Commission that approves their contract.

During the briefing yesterday, the County's intergovernmental relations representatives stated that County Executive Leggett supports the concept of an Inspector General for both of these agencies.  Several Councilmembers commented that they get more complaints from constituents about these 2 agencies than any others.  Having an IG in place is a very important step toward improving the public confidence in these agencies.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to contact your Maryland State Delegates and Senators to support this Bill.

Inspector General Evaluating Artificial Turf Procurement Relationship Exposed by Parents' Coalition

The Montgomery County Office of the Inspector General released its Annual Report of Activity on October 1, 2012. The report lists recent investigations by the Office of the Inspector General.  Included in that list is a complaint that refers to the partnership between one of the M-NCPPC artificial turf evaluators and FieldTurf the exclusive supplier of artificial grass to M-NCPCC and MCPS. 

The relationship between the M-NCPPC  artificial turf evaluator and FieldTurf was exposed by a Parents' Coalition investigation and reported on this blog on June 18, 2012.  

We now await the Inspector General's report on this procurement. 

"A Complainant alleged a conflict of interest in the selection of an artificial turf product as the standard for fields at M-NCPPC and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). The firm MNCPPC tasked with evaluating and recommending the artificial turf standard was alleged to have had a partnership with the selected product's provider. 

Both M-NCPPC and MCPS addressed the role of the contractor in their responses to the OIG. The OIG is evaluating the responses."

Breaking News: M-NCPPC Artificial Turf Consultant was also Field Turf Contractor

In a November 29, 2010 blog posting we released a February 27, 2009 M-NCPPC memo that showed that FieldTurf has an exclusive 5 year deal with M-NCPPC and MCPS to supply artificial turf for fields. No other artificial turf vendors can bid on these procurements.  No Requests for Proposals (RFPs) are issued.

Today, we are releasing an October 29, 2008 letter to M-NCPPC that shows who was on the consulting "team" that M-NCPPC used to select FieldTurf as the sole supplier of artificial turf.  

In the letter to M-NCPPC below, we learn that Huron Counsulting was involved in the process that selected FieldTurf as the sole supplier for M-NCPPC. (The memo below also says that FieldTurf "cost is higher than the competitors".  But hey, we're Montgomery County where money grows on trees.)  

Who is Huron Consulting?  Well, we will let a press release from FieldTurf answer that question:

Three local Maryland companies, among many others, have benefitted tremendously in terms of their growth and development as a direct correlation of FieldTurf's local presence. The first company is the Huron Consulting Company, which has been instrumental in designing economical and technologically advanced storm water management solutions for artificial grass fields. Huron's knowledge of the State and local County storm water management regulations enabled the team to provide innovative engineering alternatives that have saved Maryland schools hundreds of thousands of dollars while remaining environmentally conscious. Since working in partnership with FieldTurf, Huron's sports surfacing projects in Maryland have grown from one field in 2007 to five in 2008. This relationship with FieldTurf exemplifies how a local business working in partnership with an industry pioneer can provide exceptional service and value.

Let's recap:

• FieldTurf states that Huron Consulting's artificial turf projects with them increased from 1 in 2007 to 5 in 2008
• May 12, 2008:  Huron Consulting is hired by MCPS to work on Richard Montgomery High School artificial turf field installation.
• October 29, 2008:  Huron Consulting is named as part of the M-NCPPC consulting team that decided that FieldTurf would be sole source for M-NCPPC artificial turf fields (Huron was already working with FieldTurf on the RMHS project when this letter was written.)
• February 27, 2009:  M-NCPPC staff state that FieldTurf is to be the sole source of M-NCPPC artificial turf for 5 years.  In that memo, M-NCPPC staff also state that MCPS is using FieldTurf as their sole supplier of artificial turf.
• Huron Consulting's "hat trick" with MCPS fields - they worked on all 3 of these FieldTurf installations:  Blair High School, Richard Montgomery High School (2008) and Walter Johnson High School (2009).

10-29-08 Evaluation and Recommendation Letter

Update on Farquhar "Land Swap"

Parents Coalition has learned that the “swap’ property is still owned by Pulte, the land developer of the proposed subdivision.   While the property is owned by Pulte, the title change could occur as late as two years after the subdivision plan has been approved; or within a month or two from now.  Grading and site preparation for the new residential construction has already begun, however, no actual construction can occur until the plats are recorded.

Regarding the actual MCPS/M-NCPPC (Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission) swap, both parties are meeting now to work out the terms and conditions.  According to Parks staff, MCPS has agreed to pay for the demolition of the existing school building; M-NCPPC also expects MCPS to pay for demolition of the extra parking lot areas, which M-NCPPC will not want on the public park.  However, they now plan to retain the existing ball fields, which Parks would want in a public park.  The exchange would be ‘like for like’ including MCPS adding appropriate topsoil and seed mixture on the proposed swap property; and MCPS would be required to remove all of the demolished material.  That is, MCPS would not be allowed to demolish, leave the debris, and bulldoze over it to use as subsurface of the park property.  All the demolished material would be removed.

A stream buffer will be in place and of course MCPS cannot do anything within the stream buffer.

Once the terms and conditions are worked out, Parks staff will bring them to the Planning Board for discussion and approval or changes or denial.  The terms and conditions must also be approved by the entire M-NCPPC, not just our county Planning Board.

While the terms and conditions meetings are now taking place at the staff level, I am curious as to whether anyone in the neighborhood has been attending these meetings.  These meetings of course are open to anyone; anyone can attend.  Have you attended?  Comments here please!

Secret MCPS/M-NCPPC Committee to Meet Jan 9th at 3 PM

Well, it was a secret until now.  


Remember how MCPS and M-NCPPC decided to form a Joint Working Group to tackle the sticky issue of MCPS designating park sites as school sites?  What ever happened to that Joint Working Group? Did it meet? Who is in the "group"?  Well, MCPS and M-NCPPC took the Joint Working Group behind closed doors so there haven't been any meeting announcements or press coverage on the work of this group. 


What better way to discuss this important issue than behind closed doors?  As Board member Patricia O'Neill says, the public can be such PIAs.  Better to have meetings that aren't announced to the public and don't allow the press access to cover the work of the group. 


But the Parents' Coalition thought you should know what this very important Joint Working Group has been up to behind closed doors.  


So, here are the minutes of the heretofore secret M-NCPPC/MCPS Joint Working Group on school site selection.  See below for the agendas, members, minutes and meeting dates.  


By the way, the next meeting of this group is January 9, 2012 from 3 PM - 5PM at the MCPS Department of Facilities Management.  

M-NCPPCMCPS Joint Working Group Oct-Dec2011

Trailer City - Coming Soon!

THE COUNTY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING ON THE
GAITHERSBURG WEST MASTER PLAN IS SCHEDULED FOR

SEPTEMBER 15, 2009 at 7:00 PM
(RATHER THAN THE PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED TIME OF 7:30 PM)

at 100 MARYLAND AVENUE, ROCKVILLE, MD
Please mark your calendars

The Master Plan, as proposed, would bring high-density, high-rise commercial development to our area along with six- and eight-lane highways and 10- to 12-lane multilevel highway interchanges to accommodate approximately 50,000 additional workers and residents.

We must attend the Public Hearing to show our Council members we are united in our opposition to the scale of the proposed plan. This is the most important meeting of the entire master plan process. The Council can approve the master plan or they can have it revised or re-written.
For additional information on the Gaithersburg West Master Plan, email addresses of our County Council members, or for directions and parking information for the Public Hearing, please see www.scale-it-back.com.

Thank you,
Donna Baron
Coordinator
The Gaithersburg - North Potomac - Rockville Coalition

Don't follow the rules? Lose credit card!

But this doesn't apply to MCPS! The "don't follow the rules - lose the credit card" decree comes from the Maryland-National Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) in Miranda Spivack's 8/11/09 article in The Washington Post.

Here are the sentences uttered by the executive director of the M-NCPPC that will never be attributed to the MCPS Superintendent or Board of Education. In MCPS credit card misuse is accepted.

"I don't want to leave the impression that something was stolen," he said. "No one believes that. But there are rules and regulations for how you use the cards, and if you consistently don't follow them, you lose your right to the credit card."

Rodriguez said that during the probe, which began in April, officials took back the credit card of Henry Mobayeni, a high-ranking technology official who works for Stanley. Stanley also surrendered his card. Mobayeni's card was used to make some of the purchases that are under scrutiny...

...Stanley said the technology spending under scrutiny is limited to an $800 emergency purchase of a computer system security firewall. Rodriguez said Monday that the problem is bigger than that and includes other technology purchases, none of which appear to have been made using proper contracts...

In all of our IT spending, we review everything very carefully to ensure that all of our purchases are properly executed."

And don't worry about IT spending at MCPS being scrutinized. IT equipment can be purchased in MCPS without contracts and without the signature of the Board of Education President. There is nothing to review in MCPS because rules aren't followed!

Overcrowded Schools Coming Your Way Part 2

Good government doesn't mean a bad reputation
by Jim Humphrey, Chair, Montgomery County Civic Federation Planning and Land Use Committee

Each June, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) submits to the Planning Board a set of student enrollment and school capacity projections for five years in the future, broken down by elementary, middle and high school level for each school cluster in the county. If any cluster is predicted to have an enrollment exceeding 120% of capacity on any grade level then, according to the county growth policy, the Planning Board must not approve any more residential development projects in that area until more classroom capacity is provided--and not those trailers either, but brick-and-mortar classrooms.

This year MCPS submitted data to the Planning Board for the school year beginning September 2014, and the Seneca Valley and Bethesda-Chevy Chase clusters were both projected to exceed 120% of capacity on the elementary level. So starting July 1, the Board imposed a temporary halt on approval of new housing projects in both cluster areas. They joined the Clarksburg area, which was already in moratorium for new residential project approvals due to insufficient middle school capacity.

This turn of events seemed to those of us in the civic community to be a sign of a well-functioning county government which was enforcing its Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, a law enacted in 1973 that requires the Planning Board to find there is adequate roads, transit and school capacity to serve a new development before approving the project.

The county growth policy is reexamined every two years, in odd-numbered years. And on June 22 the Planning Board held a public hearing on proposed changes to the growth policy being recommended by the Planning Department staff. It was at this hearing that I first heard a phrase that was new to me.

A land use lawyer who represents development industry clients stated the moratorium would "damage Montgomery County 's national reputation" as a place that is friendly to business, and restrain the ability of the county government to attract new companies to locate here. This seemed to me to be an odd claim, since the moratorium in the Clarksburg , Seneca Valley and Bethesda-Chevy Chase school cluster areas only prevents approval of new residential projects. Commercial projects containing office and retail space can still be approved and built. And residential projects that have already received approval can also still be built.

A week or so later, I heard a high-ranking county official assert that a way must be found to lift the moratorium, as it will "damage the national reputation of the county" and impact the government's ability to attract new business to Montgomery County. Again, this seemed to me to be an odd claim, since I thought businesses might view the moratorium favorably as a firm commitment on the part of the county to providing adequate school facilities to their employees' children, should the companies move here.

Then, just last week I had a conversation with a realtor who handles single-unit home sales in my neighborhood, not commercial properties or undeveloped acreage. And I asked what they thought of the moratorium on new residential project approvals that now affects three of the twenty-five school clusters in the county. Again I heard the now familiar claim that "it will damage the county's national reputation" as a place that is welcoming of new businesses. I wondered how a temporary halt in approval of new residential projects, which affects a total land area less than one-eighth of the county in size, could possibly be a deal breaker for companies looking to locate here.

There are commercial development projects located throughout the county that are already approved but unbuilt, totaling four million square feet of space. Any company looking to move here has a long list of options to choose from--location, building size, price, and even the developer--all for approved projects ready to be built. The only thing I could see which might prevent businesses from locating here is, in fact, the county's national reputation.

If companies are thinking of locating to Montgomery County , the government will guarantee their employees' property taxes will increase ten percent each year, doubling every eight-and-a-half years.

The county is home to some of the worst traffic congestion in the nation which, coupled with inadequate public transit and ever increasing levels of planned growth, is guaranteed to get worse with each passing year.

Montgomery County has one of the widest income disparities in the U.S. At the same time the county ranks near the highest per capita income nationally, 25.8% of our public school students qualify for free or reduced-cost lunches based on low household income.

And Montgomery can boast of poor water quality in several stream watersheds, with perhaps the most serious offense requiring signs posted along Rock Creek near the Gude Landfill cautioning children and pets not to wade in the polluted water.

But the county getting a bad reputation for strict enforcement of a law requiring there be adequate school capacity to accommodate new housing projects before they can be approved...I just don't see it.

The views expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect formal positions adopted by the Federation. To submit an 800-1000 word column for consideration, send as an email attachment to theelms518@earthlink.net

One credit card cut up! Thousands to go!

Unlike Montgomery County Public Schools where eating out on the MCPS procurement card is a perk that goes with the job, Montgomery County's Planning Director Rollin Stanley has been ordered to turn over his agency credit card. The Washington Post's Miranda Spivack reports.

Montgomery County's planning director Rollin Stanley has been ordered to turn in his agency credit card and has paid back about $600 for meals and other expenses auditors said were wrongly charged to the agency, officials said. Stanley also reimbursed the agency for about $600 in personal cellphone calls....

Amazing! If Mr. Stanley worked for MCPS he would have just been called an "administrator" and he would have simply been one of 1,400 employees able to charge the taxpayers!

...Stanley, 51, who joined the Montgomery planning agency 18 months ago, said he is being singled out for special scrutiny and is "frustrated" by the probe....

True enough. In MCPS using a procurement card for restaurant meals, gifts for a co-worker or candy for staff is considered part of the job and no audit will change that, even if those uses were prohibited by MCPS policy in place at the time.

..."If I am accountable for something, it is that I haven't been giving them [detailed] receipts and I owe them $11 for a beer I bought for a guy who had worked for 38 years and retired," he said. He said he had never been audited to this extent in previous jobs...

Not turning in receipts and logs? The Maryland Office of Legislative Audits discovered those issues at MCPS. But MCPS didn't take any action on that issue.

...Acting Montgomery Planning Board vice chair Jean Cryor, who also sits on the bi-county commission's audit committee, said she thought the audit would help the Montgomery agency improve internal practices. "An audit is done to find the challenges and procedures that aren't followed as well as they should be . . . to find how we can do better with taxpayers' money."...

Don't worry Delegate Cryor, the next generation knows better! Just take a look at what the Whitman High School students wrote about MCPS' credit card usage here!