Archive: Montgomery
Gansler Taps Silverman
The state's new Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler has assured a soft landing for a Montgomery County pal. Former County Council member and Democratic candidate for County Executive Steven A. Silverman starts next week as assistant attorney general for consumer protection. In the high-profile role, Silverman will oversee the attorney general's largest office with a $4 million budget and 50 people. The office handles thousands of complaints each year from consumers. Silverman called the position "the face of the attorney general's office." "It's got a good reputation and Doug wants to build on that," Silverman said. For the next few months, Silverman said he expects to work on consumer protection legislation before the General Assembly. After that, he'll turn to residents throughout the state to build a portfolio of issues to tackle. The two Montgomery politicos have known each other since they were first elected locally in 1998, and they...
By Phyllis Jordan | January 26, 2007; 02:14 PM ET | Comments (2)
Leggett Likes Praisner's Proposal
The proposal by newly elected Montgomery County Council President Marilyn Praisner to temporarily halt most large residential and commercial development for the next seven months sent ripples through the development community on Tuesday. Praisner also introduced a resolution that would prompt the Planning Board to immediately review the county's approach to managing growth - a process it would typically begin next fall. Today, a spokesman for the new County Executive Isiah Leggett said he fully supports Praisner's effort to revisit the so-called Annual Growth Policy to "make sure it comports more to the reality of the situation on the ground in the county." Spokesman Patrick Lacefield said Leggett is also supportive of the temporary moratorium, but he wants to make sure that "it is flexible enough" to make exceptions for projects such as affordable housing or other economic development initiatives. The seven-month suspension would not apply to projects already approved...
By Ann Marimow | December 6, 2006; 12:57 PM ET | Comments (4)
Montgomery Council Candidate's Ad Hits Telemundo
Montgomery County School Board member Steve Abrams, one of four Republicans running for a County Council at-large seat, wanted to get his message out to the Hispanic community. What better way to do it, he thought, than to appear on the Spanish-language television station Telemundo? Yesterday, Abrams debuted an ad on Telemundo that will appear 25 times over the next week. The stars of the ad are Abrams' two daughters, who both minored in Spanish at the University of Pennsylvania and speak it fluently. "Our father Steve Abrams doesn't speak Spanish," 29-year-old Elisia, an attorney in New York, says in Spanish in the ad. "But he made sure his two daughters could," says 27-year-old Jennifer, a software developer, also in New York. "My girls are much better candidates than their father," Abrams joked....
By Nancy Trejos | November 2, 2006; 10:43 AM ET | Comments (41)
Candidates Attack Democratic Nominee Leggett
The race for Montgomery County executive has turned into a campaign against the Democratic party's nominee, former council member Isiah "Ike" Leggett. Republican nominee Chuck Floyd and independent Robin Ficker this week unveiled television ads attacking Leggett, considered the front-runner in the overwhelmingly Democratic county. "My opponent, Ike Leggett, wants you to ignore me," Ficker says in one commercial, which he has titled "The Difference." Ficker, an anti-tax activist and county fixture for decades, tells viewers that a vote for Leggett is a "vote to raise your own taxes." In a second ad he has dubbed "Funny Thing," Ficker accuses Leggett of taking too many contributions from development interests....
By Nancy Trejos | October 25, 2006; 12:11 PM ET | Comments (115)
A Surprise Endorsement in Montgomery County
Montgomery County's only Republican council member Howard A. Denis (Potomac-Bethesda) has picked up an unlikely ally in his reelection bid. Denis' one-time Democratic rival Patricia S. Baptiste endorsed him last week, snubbing her party's nominee, Potomac lawyer Roger Berliner. With less than three weeks before the general election, Denis and Berliner are running the most competitive of all the county council races. All the council seats are up for grabs, and six members are running for re-election. The former planning board member chose Denis, she said, because he is a seasoned leader. "He's been a very responsive representative for District 1. He has excellent staff. He understands what District 1 is all about," she said in an interview. Denis said he was "humbled" that Baptiste crossed party lines for him. "It just means a lot to me," he said....
By Nancy Trejos | October 23, 2006; 01:11 PM ET | Comments (27)
Duncan Calls for Absentee Voting
Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) yesterday encouraged voters to use absentee ballots in the November elections because he doesn't have confidence in the state's electronic voting system. "I'm voting absentee because I've got more confidence that my vote will be counted," he said at a press conference held at the County Executive Office Building in Rockville. He added: "If you have any hesitation or any concerns at all, vote absentee." Duncan's statements echoed a suggestion made by Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) last month that voters should stay away from polling places during the November general election and instead cast paper absentee ballots....
By Aruna Jain | October 10, 2006; 01:40 PM ET | Comments (4)
No News is Bad News for Barry's Magic Shop
Barry Taylor went to the Montgomery County Council today hoping to see someone pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat for him and his wife, Susie Kang, who own Barry's Magic Shop in downtown Wheaton. Instead, Taylor said after an hour of jaw-boning, he got smoke and mirrors. The county government is still trying to evict his popular business to replace it with a pedestrian walkway that officials said, has talked about for about a decade. But even if the magic shop closes up by late January, which is the current plan, the walkway may not be built for another five years. "Why is it so imperative to close my business down when a major construction project is planned for five years down the road?" Taylor said after a council committee heard describe plans for redeveloping the Georgia Avenue corridor, the heart of downtown Wheaton's business district. Taylor and...
By Miranda Spivack | October 9, 2006; 12:41 PM ET | Comments (7)
Ficker Loses a Fight
Montgomery County executive candidate Robin Ficker's effort to get a property tax limit charter amendment on the November ballot has failed once again. Last month, the county council rejected the amendment. Yesterday, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Joseph A. Dugan Jr. dismissed Ficker's appeal. Dugan agreed with the county's assessment of Ficker's proposal as legally unsound. Ficker had proposed that the council decrease property taxes if it raises the "piggyback" income tax above 50 percent. The problem with that, county lawyers argued, was that the piggyback tax no longer exists. Dugan also concurred that Ficker submitted the amendment to the wrong governing body: to the county council rather than the county executive. But when it came down to it, Dugan said, he was simply perplexed by Ficker's amendment. "It's misleading and confusing," Dugan said....
By Nancy Trejos | September 29, 2006; 10:41 AM ET | Comments (78)
The $82,000 Flier?
Speaking of fliers... Montgomery County school officials have declined to say how much has been spent over the five years it has spent fighting a lawsuit brought by a Christian community group that sought to distribute fliers about its Bible study programs to the system's 139,000 students. But a recent report to the school board indicates that in the month of May -- just one single month -- the system spent $82,566 on the case. Hmmm, $82,566 -- starting salary for a first year Montgomery County Public School teacher with a bachelor's degree is about $41,700 ... and the case has been on-going since 2001 ......
By Lori Aratani | August 25, 2006; 02:25 PM ET | Comments (11)
Backpack Standoff in Montgomery County
In the age of the Internet, the Blackberry, the do everything cellphone -- apparently the student backpack as a means of reaching parents -- still rules -- at least according to the more than a dozen PTA members who testified at Thursday's Montgomery County school board meeting. After a federal appeals court ruled last week that the school system's policy governing who could and could not distribute fliers to the system's 139,000 students was unconstitutional, educators announced no groups would be allowed to distribute fliers until a new policy could be put into place. The announcement -- just a few weeks before the start of school -- angered PTA members and left them scrambling for alternative ways to get the word out about upcoming activities and events. "Even now in 2006, there is still no better way to reach out to parents than through 'backpack mail,'" Caitlin Hendel, told board...
By Lori Aratani | August 24, 2006; 04:00 PM ET | Comments (5)
Picture (Im)Perfect in Montgomery County
Montgomery County executive candidate Isiah "Ike" Leggett's new mailer features a black-and-white photo of three ramshackle shotgun homes along a dirt road with the words "From humble beginnings..." scrolled across the top like the beginning of the movie. Inside, the pictures depict Leggett's compelling personal story. "Ike grew up in abject poverty," "served his country with honor in Vietnam," and later "was the 1st African American elected to the Montgomery County Council." Turns out the photo on the cover is not the street where Leggett grew up in Alexandria, La., but one picked from a photo archive of similar homes in Louisiana provided by his direct mail consultant 360JMG. Leggett, a law professor and former chairman of the state Democratic Party, does not have any photographs from his childhood because his family did not have access to a camera. "We were too poor," he said. He wanted to use a...
By Ann Marimow | August 24, 2006; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (30)
Montgomery Executive Race Takes to the Air
Montgomery County Council member Steven A. Silverman (D-At Large) this morning began airing the first TV advertisement of the county executive's race to succeed Douglas M. Duncan (D). Seeking to tap voters' frustration with congested roadways, the 30-second cable spot highlights Silverman's support for the so-called Purple Line - a proposed east-west light-rail link between Bethesda and New Carrollton - and his push to raise fees on developers to pay for transportation projects. "As county executive, I'll work to ease gridlock while limiting growth," Silverman says, while images of rush hour traffic and Metro flash on the screen. Former council member Isiah "Ike" Leggett, Silverman's opponent in the Sept. 12 Democratic primary, called the ad "inconsistent with his record" and a "hollow promise." The money collected from the new development tax has fallen short of projections and a policy Silverman helped design eliminated a traffic-review standard that had restrained building...
By Ann Marimow | August 22, 2006; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (44)
Duncan Eases Back Into Local Scene
There were several signs in recent days that Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) is preparing to make his official debut after pulling out of the governor's race seven weeks ago to seek treatment for depression. Duncan appears to be easing back into public life, dining at highly-visible establishments. There he was Monday afternoon in downtown Rockville, looking casual in a lime-green polo shirt as he lunched outside at Giuseppe's Pizza with college-aged son John Duncan. On Saturday night he dined in downtown Silver Spring at Ray's: The Classics. Today, Duncan lunched at a Vietnamese favorite in Rockville, where he was greeted with hugs from several tables of diners. Duncan said Monday that he has been working from his county office several hours a day, a couple of days a week. Although he's feeling better, he said, and he plans to have hip-replacement surgery in September. This week also...
By Ann Marimow | August 10, 2006; 01:42 PM ET | Comments (23)
Gaithersburg Day Laborer Center Up in the Air
The prospect of a day laborer center opening in Gaithersburg is dimming. The City Council rejected two proposed sites late last month: a portable facility in a city-owned parking lot on South Summit Avenue and a building at 415 E. Diamond Ave. The county wants the city to find a place to have a center where men and women can wait for day jobs in a supervised environment. Right now, they wait in a parking lot to the dismay of many residents. Each morning, dozens of men, many of them immigrants, gather at the parking lot next to Grace United Methodist Church on North Frederick Avenue. On Monday night, City Council members heard a briefing from City Manager David Humpton about what the next step will be. The only thing that everyone could agree on is that they don't quite know how to come up with a resolution. "At this...
By Nancy Trejos | August 9, 2006; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (9)
Speaking for the Trees
Montgomery County officials are considering new protections for the county's dwindling forest in the wake of the tree-cutting controversy involving Redskin's owner Daniel Snyder. Council member Howard A. Denis (R-Potomac-Bethesda) has embraced new recommendations from a task force assembled by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D) and said he plans to introduce legislation as soon as September. The measure would strengthen the county's forest conservation laws to try to deter residents from clearing mature trees. The task force suggests increasing the area of forest a property owner would have to replant and applying the conservation law to smaller properties and more communities throughout the county. "Hopefully people will think twice about clearing an extra acre," said Katherine Nelson, a Maryland National-Capital Park and Planning Commission planner who served on the task force. Van Hollen's assembled the task force after Snyder failed to get county approval before clearing 55,000 square feet of...
By Ann Marimow | August 2, 2006; 03:45 PM ET | Comments (6)
Montgomery Campaign Mailing Lands with a Splash
The Montgomery County executive's race shifted into a new gear today, with the arrival of direct mail at residents' doorsteps. The cover of County Council member Steven A. Silverman's piece boasts "Educator Endorsed." There is a logo for the Service Employees International Union Local 500 and the slogan "Our Schools Work Because We Do." To Silverman's main Democratic primary opponent, former County Council member Ike Leggett, the reference to educators is "grossly deceptive." Said Leggett, "It's designed to confuse voters or mislead voters" and gives the impression that Silverman has been endorsed by the teachers' union. The influential Montgomery County Education Association took a pass this election, declining to pick a favorite in the primary. Silverman said there's nothing confusing about the endorsement from SEIU, which represents classroom instructional assistants. The logo for MCEA is a big red apple with the words "teacher recommended." "I'm disappointed if Ike doesn't think...
By Ann Marimow | July 27, 2006; 04:08 PM ET | Comments (132)
Ficker Collects Signatures
Robin Ficker, perennial candidate and anti-tax candidate, announced late last week that he has submitted 720 pages of signatures to the Montgomery County Board of Elections to run as an independent for county executive. Ficker said that was more than enough to get his name on the ballot for the Nov. 7 general election. State law requires that an independent candidate collect signatures from 1 percent of registered voters eligible to vote in a particular race. In Ficker's case, that would be about 5,500 signatures. A board of elections official confirmed that Ficker had turned in about 7,000 signatures. "By some miracle if we don't have enough, they can notify us and we'll get more," Ficker said. The board of elections has 20 days to verify the signatures....
By Nancy Trejos | June 28, 2006; 04:30 PM ET | Comments (20)
Montgomery Council Passes Symbolic Health Measure
[The following item was written by Washington Post Staff Writer Ann E. Marimow] The Montgomery County Council yesterday became the first jurisdiction in the state to call on the Maryland General Assembly to double the state's cigarette tax to expand health-care coverage for the uninsured. The measure, backed by a coalition of community groups, would increase the tax to $2-per-pack. "We can only do so much without significant action by the General Assembly," Council President George Leventhal (D-At-Large) said after the council passed the resolution. Council member Tom Perez (D-Silver Spring), a candidate for Attorney General, criticized the federal government for an "abdication of responsibility" and Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. for dropping 4,000 pregnant women and children from the state's medical assistance program. "Access to health care should be an all-hands-on-deck enterprise," he said. Ehrlich later restored coverage for women already in the program and a group of...
By Terry Neal | June 27, 2006; 04:57 PM ET | Email a Comment
Clarksburg Mediation Agreement Approved
[The following item was submitted by Washington Post staff writer Miranda Spivack.] The Montgomery County Planning Board today gave final approval to a mediated agreement adding several new elements to Clarksburg Town Center. Residents hope the addition of retail, recreation and more open space will help restore the northern Montgomery development to the originally envisioned small-town, walkable community. The 4-0 vote, which was expected, includes about $14 million in improvements to the northern Montgomery development, where residents last year discovered building irregularities and then spent months trying to bring them to the attention of planning officials. The plans were endorsed by the planning staff, as well as developer Newland Communities and five builders who are constructing homes in the development. In a news release, the board "action lifts stop-work orders on some lots so that construction can proceed on 82 single-family detached houses, townhouses and multi-family buildings." Mediator Barbara Kerr...
By Terry Neal | June 15, 2006; 04:40 PM ET | Comments (27)
Teachers' Union Hands Out Non-Endorsements
There's been more talk among Montgomery County's politically aware about who the teachers' union didn't endorse than who it did endorse. Rather than choose among the five declared candidates for county executive, the Montgomery County Education Association will support whichever candidate wins the Democratic nomination in the Sept. 12 primary, said MCEA President Bonnie Cullison. The leading Democratic candidates are former Council Member Isiah Leggett and current Council Member Steven A. Silverman (D-At Large). Political novice Robert Fustero, a retired grocery store clerk, also recently entered the race for the Democratic nomination. "The debate on the floor was that these are two very strong candidates and very strong public education advocates running," Cullison said of Leggett and Silverman. The teachers' union endorsement is probably the most highly coveted one. With 11,000 members, it is the county's largest union....
By Nancy Trejos | June 14, 2006; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (11)
Silverman Kicks Off Campaign
In case you haven't noticed, Montgomery County Council Member Steven A. Silverman (D-At Large) has been running for county executive for more than a year. Just to make sure you do notice, Silverman today officially announced his candidacy in downtown Silver Spring amid the lunch crowds making their way to Austin Grill and Lebanese Taverna. "Well, I know all of you have been on the edge of your seat for 15 months," he said, standing behind a podium at the Silver Spring Plaza. "Well, it's time to end the suspense." Silverman, 52, will officially file his candidacy papers with the Board of Elections sometime over the next few weeks, his spokeswoman Judy Jablow said. The deadline is July 3. But he has already mounted an aggressive--and well-funded--campaign against the other leading candidate for the Democratic nomination, former Council Member and former chair of the Maryland Democratic party Isiah Leggett....
By Nancy Trejos | June 6, 2006; 02:48 PM ET | Comments (30)
The Curious Disappearance of MoCo Progressive
With the primary less than four months away, the many political races in Montgomery County are heating up, and bloggers are taking note, waging political warfare -- often anonymously -- against some candidates. The proliferation of anonymous blogs making scurrilous accusations has irked candidates, who say such web sites spread lies. For instance, one popular blog, MoCo Progressive, posted an item earlier this week suggesting that County Council Member Steven A. Silverman (D), a county executive candidate, contributed to two Republican members of Congress. The item created a stir among bloggers and political types. Such an accusation can be damaging to a candidate in a Democratic primary in a predominately Democratic county. But the item appears to be incorrect. Federal Election Commission records do show that a Steven Silverman made those donations. According to Maryland voter registration records, that Steven Silverman had a different middle name, a different home address...
By Nancy Trejos | May 31, 2006; 12:48 PM ET | Comments (19)
A Late Entry into the Montgomery County Executive Race
Four years ago, Robert Fustero surprised everyone including himself when he challenged Kathleen Kennedy Townsend for the Democratic nomination in Maryland's gubernatorial race and managed to capture 20 percent of the vote. After all, Townsend was a member of the country's most famous political family, and Fustero was just a retired grocery store stock clerk who never held public office and chose a homeless woman as his running mate. Today, Fustero, a 55-year-old Silver Spring resident, announced that he will try to repeat that in the race for the Democratic nomination for Montgomery county executive. He will face well-established candidates Steven A. Silverman and Isiah Leggett. Silverman is currently on the County Council. Leggett is a former council member who also ran the Maryland Democratic party. "I've been waiting for someone else to step forward who was opposed to the [Intercounty Connector], opposed to the overdevelopment of Montgomery County, and...
By Nancy Trejos | May 26, 2006; 03:04 PM ET | Comments (10)
SEIU Endorses Silverman for County Executive
[The following item comes from Washington Post staff writer Nancy Trejos] Montgomery County Council Member Steven A. Silverman (D-At Large) scored a victory in the battle for support from the county's labor unions today, winning an endorsement from the 10,000-member Service Employees International Union Local 500 in the September primary for county executive. The union, which represents employees in Maryland and the District, also endorsed County Council Member Tom Perez (D-Silver Spring) in his bid for Maryland Attorney General. Silverman will face former Council Member and former Maryland Democratic Party Chairman Isiah Leggett in the Sept. 12 primary. "This was a decision between two very good friends to our union," David Rodich, executive director of the local, said in an interview. "I think in the end, our executive board was persuaded by Mr. Silverman's consistent leadership which he demonstrated in his years on the council on our behalf."...
By Terry Neal | May 24, 2006; 04:47 PM ET | Comments (2)
Ficker Surprises Montgomery County NAACP
"I'm Robin Ficker, the only real African-American candidate in the race."
By Nancy Trejos | May 19, 2006; 02:45 PM ET | Comments (9)
First TV Ad in Montgomery County Executive Race
The first television ad in the Montgomery County Executive race ran on Monday night, and it didn't come from either one of the Democrats who are considered front-runners in the traditionally Democratic county. Instead, it was Republican candidate Charles R. Floyd who appeared in a 30-second ad on several Montgomery cable stations. In it, Floyd, a Kensington resident, is seen standing in front of a construction site in Clarksburg, the northern Montgomery town that has become the focal point in the debate over how much control the County Council and planning board should have over developers. "The planning mess in Clarksburg is a symptom of the mismanagement and poor oversight of a county government that's broken," Floyd says in the ad....
By Nancy Trejos | May 16, 2006; 12:30 PM ET | Comments (10)
Candidates Disagree Over Funding of Private School Textbooks
Four years ago, then Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) ignited a controversy when he proposed spending part of the tobacco litigation settlement money to help private and parochial schools buy textbooks. It divided state legislators, invoked the wrath of the state teachers union and even got the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union. The state eventually cut funding for the program because of budget constraints. The debate was reignited on Monday night at a forum between the two Democrats running for Montgomery County Executive. The Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington, which represents 36 schools, sponsored the event. When asked if he would support public funding of private school textbooks, former Council Member Isiah Leggett said he would as long as it did not violate the separation of church and state or interfere with the funding of public schools. "I supported that years ago," he said in an...
By Nancy Trejos | May 11, 2006; 03:19 PM ET | Comments (4)
Group to Consider Montgomery County's Agricultural Reserve
Montgomery County's 93,000 agricultural reserve is an idyllic place, one that has become a nationally acclaimed land preservation program. But keeping the reserve as pastoral as possible is not an easy task, and it's one that has at times pit preservationists, farmers, and other landowners against one another. Now, as Montgomery celebrates the 25th anniversary of the reserve, the County Council wants a group made up of all those constituents to consider the future of the reserve and report back to it at the end of the year. Among the group's members are: Wade Butler, co-owner of Butler's Orchard in Germantown; Nancy Dacek, a former county council member; Pam Saul, who owns a horse farm near Sunshine on Georgia Avenue; Michael Rubin, a real estate investor who has put thousands of acres into preservation; and Margaret Chasson of the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County. Chairing the group will...
By Nancy Trejos | May 3, 2006; 01:00 PM ET | Email a Comment
Environmentally Correct Even While Dissing in Montgomery
Parents and students from the Seven Locks Elementary School community staged a spirited protest before Monday night's even more spirited public hearing on the question of where the new Potomac-area campus will be built. But even in their zeal to register their displeasure with Superintendent Jerry D. Weast's recommendation that a new school be built on Kendale Road -- or that Seven Locks be shut down all together (the community is hoping that the school be rebuilt on its current site), the 50 or so protesters were careful to remember their environmental manners. They mounted their hand scribbled signs ("Save Schools not Egos!" "7 Locks Rocks!") on sticks and twigs gathered from the lawn in front of the school system's headquarters. No processed wood here. No trees harmed in the dissing of the school board....
By Lori Aratani | May 3, 2006; 10:17 AM ET | Email a Comment
Spring Cleaning for the Prez in Montgomery County
Ahh -- nothing like a presidential visit to get those long put off maintenance tasks done ASAP. In preparation for President George W. Bush's visit to Rockville's Parkland Middle School yesterday -- workers rushed to spruce up the campus, painting doors, replacing ceiling and floor tiles, some of which were cracked, discolored and all together not very pretty. The finishing touch? Flowers at the front of the school for that welcoming splash of color. System spokeswoman Kate Harrison said all Montgomery campuses are on a regular maintenance schedule, but that some of the work due to be done at Parkland was "accelerated" because of the presidential visit. Lesson here for Montgomery parents? Presidential visit = maintenance bonanza!...
By Lori Aratani | April 19, 2006; 12:10 PM ET | Email a Comment
Planning Board takes Clarksburg Show on the Road
Montgomery County's Planning Board, which learned some details of the Clarksburg Town Center settlement 10 days ago, is taking its show on the road. The five-member board will visit Clarksburg on Thursday night to hold a public hearing on the plan. It's not clear yet what kind of details will be available; the April 6 presentation by Silver Spring architect John Francis Torti was long on generalizations but short on specifics. The specifics have been closely held, largely because mediator Barbara Kerr Howe has forbidden those involved from talking about details beyond the broad strokes of Torti's presentation, which outlined plans for a walkable town center, and more retail and recreation.. Some of the participants in the mediation, and some Clarksburg residents complained later that Torti didn't provide enough details, such as what buildings would go where, what the developers and builders will give up, what the community will forego,...
By | April 18, 2006; 11:57 AM ET | Email a Comment
Montgomery Extends Deadline for Planning Board Applicants
Montgomery County's Council, under scrutiny for its mixed record supervising land use and planning, has decided to extend the time for applications for planning board chairman by six weeks. Applications will be accepted until May 31, council president George L. Leventhal (D-At large) said today. The decision was made after Leventhal, who had been talking for some time about the lack of applicants, circulated a memo to his council colleagues to see if they would agree to allow more time. "No one objected," he said. So far, the only applicants are incumbent Derick P. Berlage, and former Montgomery transportation chief Gerald R. Clichy, who has sought the job before. "We have some strong candidates who are interested in apply, and we would like to find some more," Leventhal said. Would the deadline be extended again if the council is unhappy with the applicant pool? Leventhal said "my intent is to...
By | April 6, 2006; 02:47 PM ET | Email a Comment
Rain Drops and School Reform
It was a blustery rainy night. But that didn't stop parents in Montgomery County from turning out for a discussion about what can be done to improve the school system's middle school program. Monday evening's event at Francis Scott Key Middle School in Silver Spring, was the final of three public forums on middle school reform in the 139,300 student system. Officials hope to take the comments from the forums and use them as a launching pad for what can be done to make those tricky middle years more successful for students. Parents, teachers and students said the system is doing a great job of giving ALL students the opportunity to take tougher classes. In past years many said, a lot of these kids would have been discouraged from pushing themselves. But folks also said that if teachers are going to encourage kids to challenge themselves, they also need to...
By Lori Aratani | April 4, 2006; 11:59 AM ET | Email a Comment
Candidates Debate Libraries in Montgomery!
No government topic is too narrow for Montgomery County's famously wonky residents to fret over, especially when it comes to judging who they should vote for county executive. So it was that last Thursday night, Democratic candidates Isiah Leggett and Steven A. Silverman and independent Robin Ficker attended an hour-long debate to discuss nothing but libraries before dozens of people at the Woman's Club of Chevy Chase. "We feel like our clout is: We're not going to vote for you if you don't support the libraries," said Anne Kilcullen, one of the organizers of the forum, which was sponsored by the non-profit Friends of the Library. The three candidates surprised no one when they pledged their support of the county's library system. Ficker, a Boyds resident whose father worked for the Library of Congress, was the most vehement. When the moderator asked the candidates if they would push for a...
By Nancy Trejos | April 3, 2006; 11:33 AM ET | Comments (18)
County Executive Candidates Want to Debate
The Democratic party clearly has an advantage in Montgomery County. After all, registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1. So it's no wonder that many of the County Executive candidate debates that have been organized by community groups such as the East Silver Spring Citizens' Association have been limited to the two men seeking the Democratic nomination -- current County Council Member Steven A. Silverman (D-At Large) and former Council Member Isiah Leggett. Now, their two non-Democratic counterparts -- Robin Ficker, a Bethesda lawyer who lives in Boyds, and Charles R. Floyd, a border security consultant from Kensington -- say they want in on those debates. Floyd is running as a Republican. Ficker this week changed his party registration from Republican to Independent. "A lot of the organizations just want the Democrats because they think they're a clear shoe-in," Floyd said....
By Nancy Trejos | March 31, 2006; 03:21 PM ET | Comments (19)
Berlage Wants To Keep His Job in Montgomery
Montgomery County Planning Board Chairman Derick P. Berlage formally asked the County Council yesterday to reappoint him to a second four-year term. Berlage, has been under fire for almost a year after his agency was criticized for failing to properly monitor the construction of Clarksburg Town Center, rising north of Germantown. Council members in recent weeks have said they are uncertain if Berlage has enough votes to win re-appointment and avoid a veto by county executive Douglas M. Duncan. So far Berlage is the only applicant for the job which pays up to $150,000. The deadline for applications set by the Council is April 12. "I want to continue to serve the residents of Montgomery County," Berlage wrote in a letter to Council Chairman George Leventhal yesterday. "I am immensely proud of my record at Park and Planning, proud to be able to work with such talented colleagues and staff,...
By Terry Neal | March 31, 2006; 01:02 AM ET | Comments (5)
Hugh Bailey Passes Up Big Bucks in Montgomery
It's not everyday that a candidate for office passes up $50,000 in campaign cash. But Hugh Bailey, a Democratic candidate for the Montgomery County Council, is doing just that. Bailey said several business leaders and developers offered him $50,000 in campaign contributions last fall if he took on council member Phil Andrews (D-Gaithersburg). Business leaders have been trying to defeat Andrews for years because he opposes the InterCounty Connector. Bailey was enticed by the offer because he estimated it would take $75,000 to run a competitive district race. But after meeting with Andrews, Bailey realized there was a problem. He liked Andrews....
By TimCraig | March 30, 2006; 11:12 AM ET | Comments (3)
Bethesda Neighbors ask Leggett to Help Halt "Mansionization"
County executive candidate Isiah "Ike" Leggett took a tour Tuesday of Greenwich Forest, where some in the Bethesda neighborhood are worried that tear-downs are changing the character of the 1930s community that has the feel of a New England village. Last week, some Greenwich Forest homeowners called for a halt to demolitions of older homes in Montgomery, saying they needed time to figure out ways to halt creeping "mansionization." Leggett, who is attempting to position himself as the Democrat who will bring better management of growth and development than his primary opponent, Steve Silverman, was reminded by the tour of his unsuccessful effort several years ago while on the County Council to pass a bill limiting home height and bulk. The current council recently passed a bill restricting home height, which Leggett said "was a good first step. But, he told the handful of residents who took him on the...
By | March 22, 2006; 04:00 PM ET | Comments (17)
East Silver Spring County Executive Debate
In the ongoing debate over how to ease traffic congestion in Maryland's inner suburbs, the Purple Line has sparked some of the most heated discussions . Former Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) touted the light rail link between Bethesda and New Carrollton as the best way to improve east-west travel in the region. His successor, current Republican Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., preferred the Intercounty Connector, a highway that would connect Interstate 270 and Interstate 95 outside the Capital Beltway. The ICC, as it is known, is on its way to being built. The Purple Line has been in limbo. But it has not been forgotten. The question keeps coming up during debates between Current County Council Member Steven A. Silverman and former Council Member Isiah Leggett, the two Democratic candidates for Montgomery County Executive....
By Nancy Trejos | March 22, 2006; 02:30 PM ET | Comments (30)
