Belward Farm and our Truth- and Transparency-Challenged County

From Donna Baron in the North Potomac Patch, yet another boondoggle, this time in the western part of the county.   15,000 new residents.  How many new schools will be needed for the children of the residents?  And where will the money come from?  To read the entire article go here.

Once again, Montgomery County’s deficiencies regarding truth and transparency have come to light in the Brickyard organic farm debacle. 

But let’s not forget another of the County’s boondoggles: Belward Farm.  The County worked hand-in-hand with Johns Hopkins University to deceive the farm’s late owner, Elizabeth Banks.  As Fred Fransen, Executive Director of the Center for Excellence in Higher Education wrote: “What's particularly troublesome is that local officials, in effect, became co-conspirators in the university's effort to shaft the donor.”

An internal Johns Hopkins University letter from 1988 recounts just how the County, thwarted in their efforts to convince Ms. Banks to develop her property, contacted Johns Hopkins “sub rosa” (i.e. secretly), for help.  Former County Chief Administrative Officer Bill Hussman “was advised by County Councilman Bill Hanna that rezoning would be difficult unless…Hopkins involvement was proposed.”

Several meetings later, “it was agreed that a wooded section of approximately 30-35 acres [on what is now Key West Avenue] could be developed commercially by the University if the University would be willing to restrict the remainder of 100 acres to ‘academic and related purposes’.” In other words, the 35-acre parcel was to be developed commercially to raise funds to develop the academic parcel.

The letter confirms both the County and Johns Hopkins knew Ms. Banks’ “very strong opinions about the ultimate use of the property; she is adamantly opposed to residential and most commercial development.”

It was under these conditions that, in 1989, Banks gifted Belward Farm to JHU for the bargain price of $5 million for an academic campus, even though Ms. Banks had been offered up to $54 million from other developers.

and:

After Ms. Banks’ death in 2005, Hopkins worked with the County to rezone Belward Farm for a high-density, high-rise commercial office complex that would accommodate 15,000 workers in buildings up to 14 stories high.  County officials knew this was in direct opposition to the intentions of the late owner, but fast-tracked the plan for approval with the support of two out of three Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PHED) Committee Members: Mike Knapp, a biotech consultant, County Councilman and Committee Chair; Nancy Floreen, who never met a developer she didn’t love; and Royce Hanson, a staunch supporter of the new plan and Chair of the Planning Board.  

White Flint Sector Plan: Congestion Pricing?

Get ready for it folks! The Montgomery County, Maryland Planning, Housing, and Economic Development (PHED) Committee is now taking up ‘Transportation Issues’ for the proposed White Flint Sector Plan. And what are the recommendations of the PHED staff, in the staff report by Glenn Orlin, the Deputy Council Staff director?


Well, let’s see how our great ‘vision’ for a lowered carbon footprint, ‘sustainable’ urban’ ‘pedestrian-friendly’ development fares. First Mr. Orlin makes clear, “Incorporating a new or expanded transportation project in a master plan does not even guarantee it will be built in the long term.”

Yep, there you have it in black-and-white on the first page of the staff report. We may never get any new public transportation. 20,000 new jobs, with people needing to go to and from work sites? We’ll get those. 9800 new residential units on 400 acres? We’ll get those. 7.49 million new square feet of commercial/residential space? We’ll get that. But the public transportation needed to support the tens of thousands of new residents and job holders? Well, not so fast…

Instead, Mr. Orlin states that ‘A plan in balance does not mean the traffic conditions at build-out will be deemed ‘good’ or even ‘fair’ more likely the traffic congestion will be at the borderline between ‘tolerable’ and ‘intolerable.’ Finally, an honest public employee. The traffic will be at the borderline between tolerable and intolerable.

How does the ‘Plan’ envision achieving even the most pitiful ‘tolerable’ traffic? Well, the non-auto-driver mode share for employees in White Flint would have to increase to 50 percent. Or, as Mr. Orlin posits it, “…so this would mean the proportion of commuters to White Flint not driving would have to nearly double.”

How could it reach 50%? How about congestion pricing? How about removing the median on Montrose Road between I-270 and Montrose Parkway and replacing it with a reversible lane, as is done on Colesville Road or Georgia Avenue? How about widening Rockville Pike from 6 to 8 lanes between Edson Lane and the Beltway? That is what the Planning Board and Mr. Orlin envision for our community. The roads should look more like the roads that represent some of the worst traffic nightmares in the region.

If you can’t wait for this traffic disaster to come your way, just sit tight and it will. IF you don’t quite see this ‘vision’ for your neighborhood, or for our county, please email the County Council immediately. Tell them you don’t want the ‘intolerable’ traffic that the Council staff says will happen. Tell them you don’t think the FAR is in balance with the infrastructure. Tell them you want the density decreased so our infrastructure can support it and tell them not to approve unachievable density plans. This is not sustainable.

Who is on the PHED Committee? Councilmembers Mike Knapp, Nancy Floreen, and Marc Elrich.

To contact the council email county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov; to read Mr. Orlin’s report, go to  http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/council/pdf/agenda/cm/2009/091130/20091130_PHED2.pdf

White Flint Sector Plan: Town Hall Meeting TONIGHT

All,


It is very important that we all be at the Town Hall meeting tonight, which is for the residents, to let our councilmembers know we do not want inappropriate development, overcrowded schools, and dangerous traffic.  We do not want our children breathing in dangerous air quality.  We want to REDUCE our carbon footprint, not increase it with tens of thousands of new cars.
As a resident of Luxmanor, I live in a community of some 800 homes on 400 acres. On about the SAME amount of property, the Planning Board wants to put 9800 residential units.

Thanks,
Paula Bienenfeld

DATE: TONIGHT Nov 18
TIME: 7:30PM
LOCATION: TILDEN MIDDLE SCHOOL, 11211 OLD GEORGETOWN ROAD

Here is the information (below):
Montgomery County Council to Host White Flint / Kensington / Garrett Park/ North Bethesda Areas Town Hall Meeting On Wednesday, Nov. 18

Residents Invited to Express Their Views on Issues, Ask Questions of Councilmembers at Tilden Middle School

ROCKVILLE, Md., November 9, 2009—The Montgomery County Council will continue its efforts to find out what issues most concern residents when it hosts a Town Hall Meeting for the White Flint / Kensington / Garrett Park / North Bethesda area on Wednesday, Nov. 18. The meeting at Tilden Middle School will start at 8 p.m. A pre-meeting reception will begin at 7:30 p.m.

This will be the third Town Hall Meeting hosted by the Council in 2009. The Council is composed of President Phil Andrews, Vice President Roger Berliner and Councilmembers Marc Elrich, Valerie Ervin, Nancy Floreen, Mike Knapp, George Leventhal, Nancy Navarro and Duchy Trachtenberg. The Council previously held Town Hall Meetings this year in Germantown/Boyds and West Gaithersburg/Darnestown areas. Most meetings have attracted more than 200 residents.

Tilden Middle School is located at 11211 Old Georgetown Road between the Wildwood section of Bethesda and the southern area of Rockville, adjacent to White Flint.

The meeting will allow residents to let the Councilmembers know how they feel about specific issues and will allow them to ask questions of the Councilmembers in an organized, but informal, setting.

Topics expected to be of interest include the proposed White Flint Sector Plan, schools, public safety, traffic, growth, the County budget and taxes.

“In many ways, our County is facing one of its most difficult periods in a very long time. We are all in this together and we want residents to tell us about their most important concerns as we approach making important decisions about growth in this area,” said Council President Andrews. “This Council has made a priority of having better direct communication with residents, and Town Hall Meetings have proven to be an excellent way to do just that. For the citizens, these meetings provide a forum where they can see their elected officials in a different format than a televised meeting or through a news release.”

The meeting will be taped for later broadcast on County Cable Montgomery (CCM—cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). Susan Kenedy, a producer for the county station, will moderate the meeting.

For more information about the Town Hall Meeting or about the broadcast times, call 240-777-7931.

White Flint Sector Plan: Public Hearings Oct 20 and Oct 22

The County Council will be taking public testimony on the Draft White Flint Sector Plan this coming Tuesday, Oct 20 and Thursday, Oct 22nd, starting at 7:30 pm at the Council offices, 100 Maryland Ave, Rockville.


I would encourage you to go so our representatives on the Council knows how important this is to our communities. I know it is difficult, what with work, commuting, kids, grocery shopping and the like.

If you can't make it please make sure to email the council, at county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov .

District 1 Council Representative Roger Berliner's email is:
councilmember.berliner@montgomerycountymd.gov.

To remind you of the issues as stake, the following are points raised by members of the White Flint Community Coalition, a true grassroots coalition of residents consisting of: Crest of Wickford Condominium Association, Garrett Park Citizens Association, Garrett Park Estates–White Flint Park Citizens’ Association, Luxmanor Citizens Association, Sterling Homeowners Association, Timberlawn Homeowners Association, and the Wickford Community Association. If you agree with any or all of the points below we urge you to communicate with the Council and its members.

1. Do not approve a change in the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance.

2. There is already too much congestion and there are already too many failed intersections surrounding our community. Do not change congestion standards to allow for the proposed increase in traffic.

3. Too much density is proposed. A change that is over six times the current no. of residential units is too much, with no library; no school location proposed within the new sector; and no additional public transportation is not sustainable.

4. The plan calls for too much density that is not supported by the public transit system.

5. Do not redesign Wall Park without substantial community input.

6. The plan needs to address compatibility with existing surrounding neighborhoods, and needs to have explicit steps and implementation dates to protect our streets from cut-through traffic.

7. Do not change the adequacy of public school facilities test to allow for a higher level of overcrowding. We do not want our Walter Johnson schools to become overcrowded.

8. We endorse the following:

§One central core of appropriate density, mixed-use development focused around Metro;
§ Surrounding development clusters that are secondary to the central core and compatible with existing neighborhoods;
§ Walkable and cyclable destinations;
§ A public green and green spaces throughout;
§ Sustainable development consistent with 21st-century climate goals;
§ High-quality, uncrowded schools in the Walter Johnson cluster;
§ A clear transportation plan, commenced contemporaneously with commercial and residential development.

The County Council needs to hear from you. And again, read the plan! At http://www.whiteflintplanning.org/. If you have questions please comment here and I will respond.

Thanks.
Paula Bienenfeld
Luxmanor Citizens Association Planning and Development Chair

White Flint: Overcrowded Schools Coming Your Way Part 3

The White Flint Sector Plan is coming, folks! More congestion, overcrowded schools, bet you can't wait! How can that be? Why, your county government "plans" to get rid of that pesky Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance. No, not YOU! You can go back to watching TV. Just you folks in the White Flint Sector" area. Oh, and you folks at B-CC too. oh, and Seneca Valley. and Clarksburg...

According to a recent memo from Dr. Weast, Superintendent at our Montgomery County, Maryland Public School system,

"The draft sector plan envisions 9,800 more residential units in the White Flint
area. This number of units is estimated to generate 410 elementary school
students, 380 middle school students, and 330 high school students at full
build-out in 20 to 30 years."

Where will those children go? What kind of education will they receive? The White Flint ‘Plan’ does not identify any place for them to go. That’s right folks, no school site is identified. At a public meeting held recently, Royce Hanson, the Planning Board chair, was heard to state, not to worry, there won’t be more than a dozen or so children...So, no schools. Oh wait; right…we need a school…where? Who knows? Not the Montgomery County ‘planners.’ That is not their concern.

How about a library where we and our children can sit, relax, and read, and learn to collect information and write their school papers? How about a library where they can snuggle and hear stories, and imagine life outside their own? The plan speaks glowingly about an ‘express library…’ so, no chairs. No books. No tables. No librarians. More like a book ‘ATM’ where you can place your order and the library system will let you know when it has arrived. This library is based on the fast-food McDonald’s type model. Step up, place your order, and we will let you know when your book is ready--via computer. What a vision! More like a nightmare.

The White Flint Sector Plan is snaking its way through your County Council. Please speak up NOW and tell the County Council WE DON’T WANT THIS FOR OUR CHILDREN. Our children deserve real schools and real libraries. Our children deserve real parks -- not express parks. Our children deserve a real rich environment, not one planned by Cronyist government employees who have never been to our neighborhoods.

Tell the County Council:

The proposed plan has too much density. 9,800 new residential units are unsustainable. 20,000 new jobs and no new public transit are unsustainable.

12.98 MILLION Square Feet of non-residentail space is unsustainable.

The proposed plan does not accommodate our children.

The proposed traffic congestion levels and street grid with increased idling increases particulates in the air and are dangerous to small lungs.

The White Flint Sector neighborhoods should not be excluded from our county’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance with shoddy cut-rate libraries and overcrowded schools.

Contact the Council at:

county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov

Contact your Councilmembers NOW:

councilmember.andrews@montgomerycountymd.gov

Councilmember.trachtenberg@montgomerycountymd.gov

councilmember.elrich@montgomerycountymd.gov

councilmember.navarro@montgomerycountymd.gov

councilmember.floreen@montgomerycountymd.gov

councilmember.knapp@montgomerycountymd.gov

councilmember.berliner@montgomerycountymd.gov

councilmember.ervin@montgomerycountymd.gov

Stop the White Flint Sector Plan

All,
The proposed White Flint Sector Plan, which will bring 20,000 new jobs and 12,600 new residential units to our neighborhoods with no plan for a new school or any way to accomodate the new children, will be up for public hearing at the County Council on October 20, 2009. Below I provide 1. contact information; and 2. bullet points for your letter. I would greatly appreciate letters sent to the council, thank you so much.
Paula Bienenfeld

DATE: Tuesday, OCTOBER 20, 2009
TIME: 7:30 PM
LOCATION: Council Bldg, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD

I would ask everyone reading this to voice their opposition to this ill-conceived plan that will flood our area with tens of thousands of cars; increase congestion in the area; add hundreds of children with no increase in school capacity; and no increase in supporting infrastructure except of course to support the new developments. The plan is not sustainable from an environmental perspective. Council contact information and letter bullet points are below.

Please write the council at:

county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov
or
Montgomery County Council
Stella B. Werner Council Building
100 Maryland Ave,
Rockville, MD 20850

Here are the individual council members' email addresses:
Phil Andrews, Council President councilmember.andrews@montgomerycountymd.gov
Roger Berliner, Council Vice President, councilmember.berliner@montgomerycountymd.gov
Nancy Navarro councilmember.navarro@montgomerycountymd.gov
George Leventhal councilmember.leventhal@montgomerycountymd.gov
Marc Elrich councilmember.elrich@montgomerycountymd.gov
Mike Knapp councilmember.knapp@montgomerycountymd.gov
Nancy Floreen councilmember.floreen@montgomerycountymd.gov
Valerie Ervin councilmember.ervin@montgomerycountymd.gov
Duchy Trachtenberg councilmember.trachtenberg@montgomerycountymd.gov

Here are bullet points for the letter:

Overcrowded Schools; Redistricting As a Solution: 37,000 people will live in the new White Flint, but the Board failed to provide a coherent plan—or funding—for an elementary school. Overcrowding of existing K-12 schools will occur. The Planning Board raises the specter of redistricting—including redistricting of Walter Johnson High School—as a possible solution.

61,000 More People, No Plan to Increase Public Transit: According to the Board, the number of people living and working in White Flint will swell by 242% from 25,000 to 86,000, and this does not include tens of thousands of visitors and shoppers. This increase is equivalent to adding the entire population of Rockville to our community, yet the Planning Board has no plan to increase capacity for Metro, buses or Bus Rapid Transit.

Increased Congestion, Cut-Through Traffic: Despite the promise of overcoming “auto-centered” development, the projected increase in population and the failure to expand public transit will inevitably result in more traffic. The Planning Board projects a 53% increase on Old Georgetown Road and 68% on Edson Lane. Congestion at Strathmore Avenue and Rockville Pike will increase by 24% and will exceed the current standard. There will be greatly increased cut-through traffic in your communities.

Overcrowded Schools; Redistricting As a Solution: 37,000 people will live in the new White Flint, but the Board failed to provide a coherent plan—or funding—for an elementary school. Overcrowding of existing K-12 schools will occur. The Planning Board raises the specter of redistricting—including redistricting of Walter Johnson High School—as a possible solution.
300-foot Building Heights: The Board will allow buildings taller than the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and JBG’s new Whole Foods building.

High-Rise Sprawl: The Board says the tallest buildings will be concentrated at the White Flint Metro station, but the plan in fact permits 300-foot buildings for nearly a mile along Rockville Pike, replacing today’s auto-oriented suburban sprawl with high-density, auto-oriented “high-rise sprawl.” From your backyards you will look out at a 30-story concrete and glass canyon up and down the Pike.

Rockville Pike Developed Last, If At All: The Board’s phasing plan does not envision redeveloping Rockville Pike until approximately 2030. As the main traffic artery through White Flint, the Pike should be re-built first with development to follow.

Tall Buildings, Dense Development Don’t Make A Community: Despite promises to create a vibrant, urban community, the Plan does not require a full-sized library, community center, theater, senior center, or child-care facility, nor does it protect much-loved local businesses that will be unable to afford increased rents. The Board’s “Midtown on the Pike” makes no provision for the civic and cultural amenities that in fact make cities livable.

No Environmental Plan: The Board makes bold statements about creating a greener community, including stream restoration, carbon emission reductions, forest planting, and increased tree cover. But these are not requirements; developers are awarded increased density if they choose to pursue them. The plan provides no details or timeline for accomplishing any of these aims.

No Plan To Pay For It All: The Planning Board says substantial public and private investment in infrastructure and public facilities will be required, but fails to provide the financing plan or specify the public entities that will implement the plan. It says that these must be created within 12 months of adopting the plan! It is not prudent—especially in the current economy—to begin redevelopment before figuring out how to pay for it.

Artificial Turf: 167 degrees! We have a winner.

Folks, it looks like we have a winner! This measured temperature of 167.3 degrees was taken today, August 16, at the AT field at Montgomery Blair High School, Montgomery County Maryland at 2:30 PM EST. The air temperature in the full sun was 93 degrees Fahrenheit.

Thanks to our reporter Kathy Michels for this stunning photo. thanks also to our County Council, Board of Education and Planning Board who created this heat island in the middle of our county. Now that's what I they call planning!

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!

Overcrowded Schools Coming Your Way

Get ready for increasingly overcrowded schools in Montgomery County, Maryland because, folks that's what you want! Bet you didn’t know that. Well, now you do. How do I know? I just read the proposed Growth Policy, happily titled, “Reducing our Footprint” so shame on you naughty awful suburbanites with your oh-so-huge carbon footprints! Shame on you for wanting to get rid of portables and wanting smaller classrooms. Who do you think you are? Your elected County Government and Planning Board, chaired by Royce Hanson, know what’s best for you. You elected the council, they appointed the Planning Board, they do the hires and provide the funding (oh wait, I though WE provided the funding. Oh well, that is so old school), so this is what you wanted. Who knew?

And here’s what you want: “School Capacity Related Changes”

Check out pages 46-48 of the Growth Policy that is going to the County Council. Here are the recommendations.

Here is what you want for your children:

1. Set the threshold for application of a school facility payment at project enrollment greater than 110 percent of projected program capacity at any school level by cluster

2. Retain the threshold for school moratorium on new residential subdivisions at projected enrollment greater than 120 percent of projected capacity at any school level by school cluster.

3. Allow residential subdivision applications that are complete within the 12 months prior to imposition of a moratorium but have not been acted upon to proceed; and

4. Allow any approved school capacity for a specific development to be transferable to another development within the same school cluster.

Yes you read that right; the second recommendation is to keep the threshold for the moratorium; and the third recommendation is, ignore the moratorium and build anyway! Why? Because as the staff writes in the Appendix, it is just too darned expensive. so, let's ignore that pesky moratorium. After all, only B-CC, Seneca Valley, and Clarksburg would be affected.

Don’t want that? Tell the county council. Email your councilmember and make sure they know. You have until September. That is when your council that you elected will vote on this ‘growth’ policy. Otherwise get ready for overcrowding. Oh, your local school is already overcrowded? That’s what you want! Congratulations.