Montgomery County Council to Hold Public Hearings on July 26, 2022: Potential County Charter Amendments for the 2022 General Election Ballot

Per Montgomery County:
For Immediate Release: Friday, July 15, 2022
The Montgomery County Council will hold public hearings on Tuesday, July 26, 2022 at 1:30 p.m. on the following resolutions regarding ballot questions for the 2022 General Election.

The deadline to sign up to speak is July 25 at 5:00 p.m.

Resolution, Proposed Amendment to County Charter – General Provisions – Conflicting Charter Amendments

The resolution would place on the 2022 General Election Ballot Question A regarding whether to amend Section 507 of the County Charter regarding what happens if, during an election, voters approve two different Charter amendments that conflict with each other and cannot both take effect.

Under current law, neither amendment would take effect in that situation; both amendments would fail. Under the proposed Charter amendment, only the amendment with the highest number of favorable votes would win and amend the County Charter. The other amendment would fail.

This amendment was proposed to the Council by the Charter Review Commission in its 2022 Report.

Resolution, Proposed Amendment to County Charter – County Attorney – Removal Procedures

The Resolution would place on the 2022 General Election Ballot Question B regarding whether to amend Section 213 of the County Charter to require both the County Council and the County Executive to remove the County Attorney. Under current law, only the County Executive may remove the County Attorney.

This Charter amendment would require the Council to consent to the Executive’s removal of the County Attorney. It would also allow the Council to remove the County Attorney with the Executive’s consent.

A full list of upcoming public hearings is available at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/calendar.html.

Additional documents are available at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council.

Residents who would like to call in or testify at a Council public hearing need to preregister on the Council’s web page at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/calendar.html. Once the public hearing sign up request form is submitted and the public hearing list is created, individuals will receive separate confirmation notifications that include the appropriate link to use or phone number to call for the public hearing.

Comments and suggestions are welcome online at http://tinyurl.com/zrbwh5v or by sending regular mail to County Council, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850. For information or to express an opinion call 240-777-7900. Councilmembers continue to hold meetings in their offices by appointment.

The meeting will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM) on Xfinity channels 6 and 996, RCN channels 6 and 1056; and FiOS channel 30. Also available live via streaming through the Council website at http://tinyurl.com/z9982v8, Facebook Live (@MontgomeryCountyMdCouncil or @ConcejodelCondadodeMontgomery), or YouTube (@MoCoCouncilMD).

The Council meeting schedule 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.