The Washington Post's Ann E. Marimow reports today on the always vexing issue of speed humps in Montgomery County. Montgomery has has nearly 1,200 humps, compared with 200 in Fairfax County. But not all MoCo residents like them, and the debate has flared again in a Bethesda neighborhood. What do you think? The article and poll question are here.

A letter from Montgomery Schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast to State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick has sent shockwaves through the council office building in Rockville. Weast wrote to Grasmick last week to say that he feared "the loss of millions in state education aid" in penalties because of the County Council's budget maneuver to plug a $79.5 million hole.

The hole was created when the State Board of Education denied the county's request to reduce its share of education funding below the level required by the state. To close the gap, the council signed off on a plan to shift to the school system the cost of debt payments on school facilities.

Weast is concerned that the state might take a dim view of that accounting maneuver and he has asked for Grasmick's guidance in the letter. Weast also told Grasmick that he worries the council might ask the school system to reimburse the county for debt service in future years, a scenario he deemed "completely unacceptable." Leggett specified that the $79.5.million debt payment would be a one-time thing. But the council included no such language in the final budget.

Bill Reinhard, a spokesman for the Maryland State Department of Education, said Grasmick was seeking legal counsel on how to proceed.

Council member Valerie Ervin (D-Silver Spring), a former school board member, said she and other council members were shocked by Weast's letter.

"We were all on the same page. Everyone thought we were straight," she said.
The letter essentially "hangs out a neon sign that says Montgomery County broke the law," she said. "He is playing a very dangerous game."

In her first official day on the job, newly-minted Montgomery County Council member Nancy Navarro (D) has brought with her some familiar faces from the campaign trail and one council veteran.

Joining Navarro's office is campaign manager, David Moon, who will serve at least until next spring as chief of staff or "confidential aide" as the position is known at the council. Moon previously worked for the Takoma Park-based FairVote and for a local group promoting the Purple Line.

Dolly Kildee, a campaign volunteer who specialized in outreach to seniors, joins the office to work on constituent services. Kildee is a former member of the Gaithersburg City Council. Alexis Reed, the campaign scheduler and volunteer coordinator, will also work on constituent services.

Navarro said she would lean on council veteran Merle Steiner for "institutional knowledge." Steiner returns on a part-time basis after a quick stint at Montgomery College as deputy director of government relations, but Navarro said she is hoping to convince her to "stay longer." Steiner, who retired last June, knows her way around the building after 24 years in which she worked for William Hanna, council member-turned-executive Leggett, and most recently Nancy Floreen (D-At Large).

The Montgomery County Council officially returned to full strength this afternoon with the swearing in of Nancy Navarro (D) to fill the vacancy left in January by the death of Don Praisner.

It was a far more festive atmosphere than one year earlier when Praisner took over from his wife Marilyn, who had died in office after 17 years on the council. There were cheers and raucous applause in the packed council auditorium as Navarro looked on, dressed in a rose-colored suit.

New Montgomery County Council member Nancy Navarro takes to oath of office as her
12-year-old daughter, Isabel Navarro-Laurent, and her husband, Reginald Laurent, watch.
(Mark Gail/The Washington Post)

"I want to stand here and take it all in," she told the audience that included leaders from business, labor and minority communities. "Let's bottle this moment and make it work."

Navarro also put out a call for unity, something that has often been missing on the council in recent months. "We need to work together with our executive and with each other."

Before she could finish her remarks, council member Roger Berliner (D) shouted out a reminder of the tough decisions ahead: "This is the high water mark," he said of the ceremony.

County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), who supported Navarro's rival in the Democratic primary, also praised the new member. With Navarro, the council's first Latina representative, Leggett said the county would "continue to see the emergence of leaders who represent all of us."

After putting the budget to bed last week, Montgomery's County Council skipped town for a two-week hiatus. Even as they signed off on the spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1, there were still several unresolved issues that could reemerge in coming months.

The largest unknown is how Montgomery's school system, and more importantly the State Board of Education, will respond to the county's plan for meeting a state education funding obligation. Late in the budget-balancing game, the board denied the county's request to provide the public schools with $79.5 million less than state law requires.

That left council members scrambling for an alternative to close the gap. The council, at County Executive Isiah Leggett's suggestion, decided to charge the school system that amount to cover debt payments on school facilities projects.

Before the vote last Thursday, Bonnie Cullison, president of the association representing Montgomery's teachers, said she had "serious questions" about whether the council's response would meet the state-funding requirement.

After the vote, Schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast was visibly miffed that the council had not guaranteed in writing that its approach was a one-year solution. The school system has until March to decide whether to "certify" that the county has met its obligation and Weast said "it will depend on the details."

"We recognize things are hard and we need to be collaborative," he said. "But we only understood this to be one time."

The final word will come from the state board of education. When asked whether the council's plan would pass muster, Chairman James H. DeGraffenreidt said it was too soon to comment. "I don't know until the process runs its course."