MoCo Government

Per Montgomery County: The results of the 2022 Montgomery County “Urban Heat Island Mapping Campaign” document that neighborhoods with less green infrastructure and more concrete experienced temperatures up to 10 degrees higher than nearby cooler areas. The County’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) released the results of the campaign in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Climate Adaptation Planning and Analyst (CAPA).

A StoryMap created by DEP provides a comprehensive overview of the campaign. Among its findings were that areas with low-income households and people of color have higher temperatures than other areas in Montgomery County due to a lack of green spaces and trees, indicating that extreme heat is a social justice issue.

Per Montgomery County: The Planning, Housing and Parks (PHP), Public Safety (PS) and Economic Development (ECON) Committees will meet on Tuesday, March 14 at 9:30 a.m. to receive a briefing from the Department of Permitting Services (DPS) to discuss fire inspections and fire code compliance. The PHP Committee will meet at 11 a.m. to receive a briefing on housing code enforcement and troubled properties from the Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA). The members of the PHP Committee include Chair Andrew Friedson and Councilmembers Natali Fani-González and Will Jawando. The members of the PS Committee include Chair Sidney Katz and Councilmembers Dawn Luedtke and Kristin Mink. The members of the ECON Committee include Chair Fani-González, Councilmember Marilyn Balcombe, Council President Evan Glass and Councilmember Laurie-Anne Sayles. More detail on each agenda item is provided below.

There are 80 buildings in Montgomery County that currently are not yet retrofitted with sprinklers. DPS serves as the regulatory body for fire codes that are adopted from the national and state level. According to County Code, a building permit cannot be issued for the construction or reconstruction of a residential building without a fire sprinkler system. The County Code also provides a property tax credit for any residential building where a fire sprinkler system was not legally required, if installed on or after July 1, 2000.

Per Montgomery County: Montgomery County has named its first director, Heather Bruskin, for the newly created Office of Food Systems Resilience (OFSR), established to streamline and coordinate the County’s efforts to address local food system challenges. Ms. Bruskin is an expert in food security, economy, education and environmental policy creation and implementation.  OFSR was created based on the recommendation of the Montgomery County COVID-19 Food Security Task Force and established by the County Council in July 2022 under Bill 20-22 to serve as a liaison between County government agencies and community food systems partners such as nonprofits, farmers and businesses.

The County is home to approximately 1.05 million people, of whom 87,190 (8.3% of total population) are estimated to be food insecure according to Feeding America’s Meal Gap Map. According to the American Community Survey, there are significant disparities in risk for hunger in our community, particularly related to race (8-14 percent food insecurity rates for Black and brown residents compared to just 5 percent of white residents) and age (14 percent or 34,000 residents 18 & younger.) Additionally, the high cost of living in Montgomery County results in thousands of additional households with incomes that are too high to receive benefits assistance but too low to make ends meet.

Per Montgomery County: “Montgomery Connects,” Montgomery County’s digital equity and inclusion program, will distribute 6,000 laptops in March to low-income individuals funded by the FCC’s Emergency Connectivity Fund grant and Maryland Emergency Education Relief grants. Montgomery County-serving nonprofit organizations, agencies and County departments who have clients eligible for the computers are encouraged to make information available to their clients about the limited remaining availability of the laptops.

Organizations are encouraged to provide assistance to help clients register for an appointment to receive a computer using registration links at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/computer. Organizations that need additional assistance are encouraged to contact Montgomery Connects by email at [email protected].

Per Montgomery County: Daylight Saving Time begins overnight Saturday-Sunday, March 11-12. In addition to moving clocks one hour forward, it is a good reminder to check or replace the batteries in smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. If batteries are being replaced, the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection encourages residents to not throw them in the trash. They need to be recycled properly.

Improperly disposed batteries in trash and recycling containers can result in trash fires. To avoid a potential tragedy, County residents can bring all types of batteries to the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) drop-off area at the Montgomery County Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station. The recycling facility is located at 16101 Frederick Rd. in Derwood. Some retailers also offer drop-off programs to recycle batteries. Check the Call2Recycle website to find a nearby location. For more information on all recycling opportunities in Montgomery County, visit Home – Recycling and Resource Management Division (montgomerycountymd.gov).

Per Montgomery County: Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando, Councilmember Kristin Mink, with the support of County Executive Marc Elrich, introduced the Housing Opportunity, Mobility, and Equity (HOME) Act during the Council session on Tuesday, March 7. Community organizations, landlords and renters joined the Councilmembers and County Executive for a press conference introducing the HOME Act. They highlighted the costly impacts of renting in the County and how the bill would help relieve hundreds of thousands of renters.

“Housing is a human right. Affordable housing is not a nice to have but a necessity for renters to be able to live and contribute to our communities,” said Councilmember Jawando. “One-third of our County residents are renters, and most are Black. 58 percent of Black households rent, double the percentage of White or Asian households. With inflationary concerns, we must provide stable housing for residents.”

Per Montgomery County: On Tuesday, the Montgomery County Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on Governor Wes Moore and the Maryland General Assembly to allocate $175 million in the FY24 budget. The funding would help an estimated 17,000 Maryland families avoid eviction and remain in their homes.

Governor Moore announced a $5 billion state surplus in this year’s budget. Montgomery County residents, along with all Marylanders, are facing an end to local rental assistance, in addition to reductions in SNAP benefits, imposing hardship on many families.

Per Montgomery County: Montgomery County At-Large Councilmember Laurie-Anne Sayles is hosting an inaugural Women’s History Month event on Saturday, March 11 from 3-5 p.m. at the AFI Silver Theatre in downtown Silver Spring to honor this year’s national theme for Women’s History Month, “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories.” She will be joined by prominent women in the media: Ovetta Wiggins, Politics Reporter with the Washington Post; Andrea Sarralde, Emmy Award Winning Journalist with Montgomery Community Media; and Jenn White, host of NPR’s 1A Podcast.

“Women’s History Month is an important time to celebrate the achievements of trailblazing women striving for equal rights,” said Councilmember Sayles. “By bringing women together in Montgomery County for this special occasion, we learn about the sacrifices women have made to successfully lead in their careers. Our stories are nuanced and significant, and we must continue to take up space to ensure dignity, respect, and equal access to opportunity.