MoCo Government

Per Montgomery County: Montgomery County officials will host a project update on the Diversion Center planned in Rockville on Thursday, July 20 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Executive Office Building, located at 101 Monroe Street in Rockville. The meeting also will be accessible virtually via Microsoft TEAMS.

The County is opening the diversion center to help reduce the use of emergency rooms and jail. The center will be available to individuals in crisis who are dropped off by emergency medical technicians (EMTs) or police, persons transferred from hospitals, persons who are released from the central processing unit at the detention center, and inmates released from jail and court programs. A team of multidisciplinary professionals will staff the center including nurses, licensed mental health and addiction professionals, peer specialists and resource navigators.

Per Montgomery County: The Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services (DPS) has launched a “Peer Review Program” for developers and property owners who want to retain the services of a DPS-certified peer reviewer for sediment control, stormwater management and right-of-way projects that require permits from the DPS land development division. DPS is now accepting applications from those who request to be certified as peer reviewers.

It is difficult to estimate at this point the complete impact this ruling will have, including on some operations within County government.  However, it is immediately clear that it will have a detrimental impact and reflects that we are currently living under the dictates of the most reactionary Supreme Court I have ever witnessed in my lifetime.

Justice Elena Kagan summarized it well in her dissenting opinion on another of today’s rulings by stating, “In every respect, the Court today exceeds its proper, limited role in our Nation’s governance.”

Per Montgomery County: 

Per Montgomery County: Today, the Montgomery County Council issued the following statement reaffirming its commitment to the values of diversity, equity and inclusion for all people, despite the recent U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings to restrict affirmative action in college admissions for students of color and limit LGBTQ+ protections.

Yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard overturned the 2003 landmark ruling in Grutter v. Bollinger, which established that race could be considered as a factor in the college admissions process because universities had a compelling interest in maintaining diverse campuses. Today, the court ruled in favor of a web designer who refused to create websites for same-sex weddings.

Per Montgomery County: The County Council will hold public hearings to receive testimony on new items introduced to the Council as follows:

Deadline to sign up to speak is July 24 at 2 p.m.