MoCo

Per Montgomery County: The Montgomery County Council voted unanimously today to approve the Safe Streets Act of 2023 (Bill 11-23). The new law, spearheaded by Council President Evan Glass, will create safer streets for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers on Montgomery County roadways.

The new law, spearheaded by Council President Evan Glass, will create safer streets for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers on Montgomery County roadways. The legislation prioritizes pedestrians by enhancing walk times at crosswalks, and prohibits “right turn on red” at busy intersections in downtown areas. To create safer routes to school, the legislation will also require infrastructure reviews following incidents in school zones, walksheds and bus stops.

Per Montgomery County: Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando, who chairs the Education and Culture Committee, will host the Council’s eighth Councilmember for a Day challenge for local high school and middle school students. The annual Councilmember for a Day program was developed in 2016 by former Councilmember Craig Rice as a way for youth to lend their voice on public policy issues and engage with local government in enacting change. Councilmember Jawando is continuing this tradition to engage youth in public policy and, more importantly, provide an opportunity for Councilmembers to learn what issues are important to our youth and what solutions they can offer.

The culminating project for students is a video on a public policy issue, from whom a winning video will be selected. The winner will be the guest of honor at a Council breakfast, receive a Council proclamation, serve as an honorary Councilmember for a Day, and receive prizes to enable their continued digital storytelling.

Per Montgomery County: The Montgomery County Anti-Hate Task Force’s Muslim cohort will present their policy recommendations to the task force at a virtual meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. The Anti-Hate Task Force was formally adopted through a resolution with unanimous support in June. The task force is made up of community and faith leaders working to engage the community and develop recommendations to inform policies that promote safety and combat hate crimes in Montgomery County.

Cohort groups representing the Jewish, Black/African American, LGBTQ+, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Latino/Hispanic and Muslim communities will present their policy recommendations at meetings throughout the fall. Each of the six cohort groups may also hold listening sessions to provide an opportunity for the public to engage and provide input. The Muslim cohort held a listening session on Sept. 11.

ActiveMONTGOMERY is the registration and reservation system used to request permits, register for activities, reserve public spaces, and pay online for various classes, camps, and facility rentals throughout the county. While many athletic fields can be reserved online through ActiveMONTGOMER Y, synthetic turf fields can only be reserved by direct communication with a Community Use of Public Facilities (CUPF) or Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission – Montgomery Parks (Parks) employee. Once a synthetic turf field reservation has been processed by a CUPF or Parks employee, the reservation and permit are listed under the applicable ActiveMONTGOMERY account.

The investigation revealed that in 2022 and 2023, the subject employee intentionally misled staff from CUPF and Parks to believe they were requesting reservations for athletic fields on the Council’s behalf when in fact they were doing so for the benefit of their spouse. In total, field use permits in the amount of $19,190 ($11,490 of which was reserved under the council’s ActiveMONTGOMERY account) were obtained by the employee and never paid for. Attempts by Parks staff to obtain outstanding payments were ignored, and at times the employee made reference to their position at the County Council. During the investigation, the employee also intentionally made false statements to OIG investigators in an effort to conceal their misconduct.

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

A full list of upcoming public hearings is available on the Council Calendar. Review the public hearing frequently asked questions for additional information.