Montgomery County Council and Committee Meetings on February 6, 2023

Per Montgomery County:
Council will meet with Sen. Ben Cardin and review state legislation; Committees will review data on traffic violations and receive updates on the Housing Production Fund and affordable housing activities

The Montgomery County Council will meet on Monday, Feb. 6 at 10:15 a.m. with U.S. Senator Ben Cardin to discuss economic development, transportation, public safety and health care, among other priorities.

The Council will meet at 12:30 p.m. to review local and bi-county bills for the 2023 Maryland General Assembly and may choose to take positions on the bills.

The joint Transportation and Environment (TE) and Public Safety (PS) Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. to discuss the findings OLO Memorandum Report 2022-12, Analysis of dataMontgomery Traffic Violations Dataset.

The members of the TE Committee include Chair Evan Glass and Councilmembers Marilyn Balcombe and Kate Stewart.

The members of the PS Committee include Chair Sidney Katz and Councilmembers Dawn Luedtke and Kristin Mink.

The Planning, Housing and Parks (PH) Committee will also meet on at 1:30 p.m. to receive updates on the Housing Opportunities Commission’s (HOC) Housing Production Fund and the Department of Housing and Community Affairs’ (DHCA) affordable housing activities.

The members of the PH Committee include Chair Andrew Friedson and Councilmembers Natali Fani-González and Will Jawando.

More detail on each agenda item is provided below.

State Legislative Program

Review: The Council will meet to review local and bi-county bills for the 2023 Maryland General Assembly and may choose to take positions on the bills. The legislation under consideration will cover topics on environmental matters, including legislation on recycling and zero-emissions vehicle regulations, public safety and firearm regulations, and public health, including the Trans Health Equity Act, among other initiatives. The staff report will be available by Monday, February 6.

OLO Memorandum Report 2022-12:  Analysis of data Montgomery Traffic Violations Dataset

Review: The joint TE and PS Committee will discuss the findings OLO Memorandum Report 2022-12, Analysis of dataMontgomery Traffic Violations Dataset. The report responds to the Council’s request for an additional analysis of Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) traffic citations, warnings and safety equipment repair orders (SEROs) by the race or ethnicity of the driver.

The report describes data from the dataMontgomery Traffic Violations dataset for the five‐year period from FY18‐FY22 and includes: background on racial inequities in traffic enforcement; the scope of the dataset used for this report and its limitations; summary data on traffic stops, citations, warnings, SEROs, searches and arrests by the race or ethnicity of the driver, including trends over time; data on traffic stops by the residency and race or ethnicity of the driver; and traffic citations by the section of the Maryland State Code that was cited and the race or ethnicity of the driver.

Housing Opportunities Commission – Housing Production Fund Update

Update: The PH Committee will receive an update on the HOC’s Housing Production Fund (HPF). The HPF was approved in 2021 as an innovative way to provide HOC with a source of short-term construction funding that would allow HOC to accelerate projects in their pipeline and in turn help the County in meeting its goals for both increasing housing and affordable housing. At least 20 percent of units in a development financed using the HPF must be affordable to households earning 50 percent or less of area median income with at least another 10 percent of units affordable to households earning incomes eligible for the Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) program.

Department of Housing and Community Affairs – Affordable Housing Activities Update

Update: The PH Committee will receive an update from DHCA on the department’s affordable housing activities. The committee will receive a quarterly update on County resources available for the production and preservation of multifamily affordable housing.

The Council and Committee meeting schedules may change from time to time. The current Council and Committee agendas, Council staff reports and additional information on items scheduled for Council review can be viewed at: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/ondemand/index.html.

The Council recommends that residents, who choose to attend in-person Council or committee meetings, get fully vaccinated to protect themselves and others against COVID-19. If this is not possible, virtual participation is encouraged.

Council and committee meetings are streamed live on the Council’s web page via YouTube and on Facebook Live and can be watched on County Cable Montgomery on Xfinity/RCN 6 HD 996/1056, Fios 30, and on the CCM live stream.

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