***Breaking*** Atty Gen of MD Letter of Advice: County Council Violates State Law when it appoints, swears-in, and seats its appointees to the MNCPPC before the County Executive’s 30-day veto period expires. [Which is what they did in October of 2022.]

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Ag Lett of Advice Mncppc by Parents' Coalition of Montg...

Urgent: Legality of Montgomery County Council's "temporary acting" commissioner appointments [Email sent to MNCPPC from Parents' Coalition]

• oed@mncppc.org;
• Renee.Kenney@mncppc.org;
• publicaffairs@ppd.mncppc.org

Cc:

• calista.black@mncppc.org; 

Fri 10/14/2022 1:00 PM

To the MNCPPC Commissioners and MNCPPC Inspector General, 

On Wednesday, October 12, 2022, the Montgomery County Council issued a press release announcing the resignation of the Montgomery County Planning Board Commissioners and a press release that described a process for appointing "temporary acting" Montgomery County Planning Board Commissioners.  

We have requested information from the Montgomery County Council as to the legality of the "temporary acting" commissioner position they have created.  To date, we have not received a reply.  

The process the Montgomery County Council has announced appears to violate the Maryland Land Use Code.

Appointments in violation of the Land Use Code will impact the integrity of the Montgomery County Planning Board and the integrity of the Maryland National Capital Park & Planning Commission.  The Montgomery County Planning Board and the Maryland National Capital Park & Planning Commission's ability to lawfully carry out their legal obligations will be severely jeopardized by the appointment of Montgomery County Commissioners in violation of the Maryland Land Use Code.  

Specifically, the "temporary acting" positions the County Council has created appear to violate the Md. LAND USE Code Ann. section:

§15.102 (d)(5) A commissioner who is appointed to fill a vacancy for an unexpired term shall be a member of the same political party as the commissioner who vacated the office

The Montgomery County Council Press Release states: 

No more than three members of the Planning Board may be from the same political party, and each member must be a resident and registered voter of Montgomery County when appointed. This position can be filled by a Democrat, Republican, a voter who is unaffiliated with a party, or a voter who is a member of another party officially recognized by the Board of Elections.

The press release does not state that the unexpired terms of the Montgomery County Planning Board Commissioners who resigned must be replaced with 3 Democrats, 1 Republican and 1 Independent as per Md. LAND USE Code Ann.§15.102 (d) (5). There is no indication that the Montgomery County Council intends to fill these unexpired commissioner terms as per the Code requirements. 

Additionally, the press release states a process which appears to violate Md. LAND USE Code Ann.§15.105 (a)(2).  The Montgomery County Press release states: 

Montgomery County residents who are interested in filling these temporary positions must apply to the Council no later than Oct. 18 at 5 p.m. The Council is scheduled to vote on designating the temporary members on Oct. 25.

However, that timeline violates Md. LAND USE Code Ann.§15.105 (a) which states:

 (2) The list shall be

(i) completed at least 3 weeks before an appointment is made; and

(ii) made available to the public.

The application deadline is just 7 days before the date appointments are to be made and in violation of §15.105 (a)(2)(i) which calls for the list of applicants to be completed at least 3 weeks before an appointment is made. 

Finally, we can find no indication that the Maryland Land Use Code permits a "temporary acting" position of Planning Board Commissioners.  The Code permits the Montgomery County Council to fill the unexpired term of a commissioner who vacated the office.  According to the Maryland Land Use Code, appointments made to the Montgomery County Planning Board at this time should be appointments based on party affiliation to fulfill the unexpired term of the Commissioners who have resigned. 

As the Montgomery County Council has created an expedited appointment process for filling these seats, we request an immediate response from MNCPPC as to the legality of the "temporary acting" appointment process being used in Montgomery County.  

Thank you so much for your prompt review of this matter.  We look forward to an immediate public statement from MNCPPC to clarify the legality of the appointment of "temporary acting" Planning Board Commissioners in Montgomery County. 

Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD

Formed in 2002, the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland seeks to achieve the goals of coherent, content-rich curriculum standards; high expectations combined with timely remediation and acceleration; a wider range of educational options for parents and children; greater transparency and accountability; and meaningful community input.

ABC7: Planning Board Alcohol in the Workplace was a Management Advisory Review. Not Completed Per Any Auditing or Investigative Standards. Partap Verma a witness. @MoCoCouncilMD @montgomeryplans #CaseyAndersonPB #PartapVerma

https://wjla.com/news/local/montgomery-county-casey-anderson-planning-board-chairman-official-full-bar-in-office-liquor-rum-vodka-gin-tequila-forced-employees-to-drink-oig-report-wheaton-cocktail?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=7dc3f194-81ac-4651-b96b-1884c01a8c5f

PARK POLICE INVESTIGATING ALLEGED EMBEZZLEMENT FROM FOUNDATION

The Maryland-National Capital Park Police are investigating an alleged case of embezzlement from the Montgomery Parks Foundation, according Lt. Jeffrey Coe, public information officer for the Montgomery County division of the park police.

There has not yet been an arrest in the case, Coe said, which the department estimated involves five or six figures.

“It’s still under investigation,” Coe said. “We haven’t got the exact amounts yet.”

An employee of the Maryland-National Park and Planning Commission assigned to support the foundation was described as a “person of interest” in the case, according to an earlier statement from the police. The department is working with the county State’s Attorney Office on the case.

According to a Feb. 5 statement sent to donors by the foundation’s board of trustees (and obtained by the Source), board President John Robinson discovered discrepancies in the foundation’s bank statements and other financial records.

Robinson had assumed the responsibilities of acting director following the October 2018 resignation of the foundation’s executive director. Park Police were notified of the discrepancies in mid-January, Coe said.

“It appeared that a Foundation staff person made unauthorized withdrawals from Foundation funds,” the statement read. “The person was placed on leave and has now been terminated.”..

https://www.sourceofthespring.com/general-news/crime/park-police-investigating-alleged-embezzlement-foundation/#.XJOe-yhKg2x

BOE don't need no stinkin' bids!

Here's what the Board of Education paid for the FIELDTURF artificial turf at these two high schools:

5/25/2012    Gaithersburg High School    $4.47 per square foot

10/17/2012  Paint Branch High School    $4.47 per square foot

Pennsylvania's Keystone Purchasing Network:  $4.89 per square foot

The BOE claims that their prices are based "off" the Keystone Cooperative pricing. 


Now, here's the 10/23/2012 price a school system in Pennsylvania can pay for FIELDTURF artificial turf based on the COMPETITIVE BID they received from FIELDTURF

$3.77 per square foot

Keep in mind that an artificial turf field is about 92,000 square feet.  So a savings of 70 cents per square foot on the two MCPS fields would have yielded savings of almost $130,000 on this one component of the project alone. (There are many other parts to an artificial turf field installation.  None of the components are put out for bids in MCPS land.)

Want to hear more? The $3.77 price that the PA school system can pay for their FIELDTURF is a full $1.00 cheaper than the Keystone Pennsylvannia purchasing price that the BOE claims gives them such a "deal".

So is using the Keystone Purchasing Network really a good thing?

Planning Bd and Bd of Education to Meet Thurs. June 30, 2011 at 6:30 PM

6:30 p.m. Joint Dinner Meeting of the Planning Board and Montgomery County Board of Education

Carver Educational Services Center, Rockville, Maryland

850 Hungerford Drive

Rockville, Maryland 20850

This is an OPEN MEETING of these two Boards. This meeting will not be televised. The only way for the public to observe the meeting is to attend. 

Montgomery County Planning Board to Board of Education

326 Trips Past Your House Soon? Would You Want to Know?

If a new school building was coming to your neighborhood would you want to know what kind of traffic the new building would generate? What if the new building was going to be 3 times the size of the previous school building?  


Would you want to know that in the morning there could be 326 trips past your home when the new school opens? 


A Traffic Study analyzes the possible increases in traffic surrounding a new public school and is part of the MNCPPC planning process for school construction projects. If you live in Montgomery County you should know that the MCPS meetings with the Community, and the Board of Education vote to approve school construction can all take place BEFORE the release of the Traffic Study. 


There is no guarantee in the MCPS or County planning processes that neighbors to a school under construction will be shown the Traffic Study prior to the approval of the construction. 


If you live in the McKenney Hills neighborhood, or around the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Forest Glen Road in Silver Spring, here is what is coming to your area with the new school at the McKenney Hills School site.  See the March 3, 2010 Traffic Study below.


But it's just about too late for you to comment! The Board of Education approved the school on February 17, 2010 (the month before the Traffic Study was completed),  and the Montgomery County Planning Board will review the project in 4 days on October 28, 2010.

McKenney Hills Traffic Study

Why Johnny can't pee

Here is another cut that the county government must make to fund the bloated public school system which is not even a county government agency. The Montgomery County Parks Department has announced they are forced to close the port-a-johns in the County Parks. So, all you coaches, and moms and dads, make sure you have a place for Johnny and Suzie to pee, because it won’t be in a port-a-potty.

And be sure to drop a line to Board of Education president Pat O'Neill and to the County Council who approved the MCPS budget to say thanks.  O'Neill's email address is here.  Or, you can call her at 301-320-7600.  As for the County Council, their email address is here.  The President of the Council which approved the budget is Nancy Floreen.  You can send an email to her directly here.