Saturday, September 24, 2011

Where Was George?

The question that people are asking after receiving an email newsletter from Council President Valerie Ervin that is signed by all county councilmembers except George Leventhal:

Dear Friends of Montgomery County:

As the Council gears up for its busy fall schedule, we want to update you on some key issues the Council will be addressing. We also want to share with you our perspective on the Council's recent actions.

Issues we will consider this fall range from the curfew bill proposed by the County Executive to the post-Census redrawing of Councilmember district lines. We will also take up several land use master plans that are vital to strengthening our economy and improving our quality of life.

Our agenda so far this year has focused on the severe budget challenges that the County, like governments across the nation, has continued to face. The Council acted unanimously on issue after issue and approved a $4.4 billion County budget for Fiscal Year 2012. We listened closely to the comments we received from thousands of concerned County service recipients and taxpayers, we consulted extensively with our employee representatives, and ultimately we spoke with one voice on how best to close the huge gap between projected expenditures and resources.

The Council started with three priorities: to protect our core services - education, public safety, and assistance for our most needy residents; treat our taxpayers fairly; and provide equity among our employees. In a series of 9-0 votes on controversial issues, we did just that. Even though the overall approved budget was actually smaller than the budget approved three years ago, we targeted the reductions carefully. For MCPS and Montgomery College, we focused on areas that do not affect the classroom. For some core services, we felt that the reductions proposed by the County Executive cut too deeply, and so we restored limited funds to Police, Fire and Rescue, Health and Human Services, Libraries, and other key operations.

One of our top goals was to protect our hard-working employees and their families from layoffs. Another top goal was to ensure fair treatment for the employees of all County agencies. We felt that the County Executive's recommended changes to health and retirement benefits for County Government employees were too large, and so we made them more equitable.

Another essential goal was to protect classroom instruction in our world-class school system while ensuring that scarce resources are available for all our critical priorities. The $2.1 billion budget we approved for Montgomery County Public Schools will help create a stable future for our schools and all County agencies. The tax supported budget that we approved for the school system was an increase over the last fiscal year.

In June, despite these budget challenges, the three major bond rating agencies reaffirmed the County's critical AAA bond rating, but the continued turmoil in financial markets makes clear that our challenges are far from over.

We are proud of the way the Council came together to act unanimously on this year's difficult budget. We are deeply committed to progressive values, and all of us care deeply about the concerns of our taxpayers, service recipients, and employees in this economy. We will continue to do the best job we can for the County's one million residents.

Sincerely,


Valerie Ervin

Valerie Ervin

Council President

Roger Berliner

Council Vice President

Phil Andrews

Councilmember

Marc Elrich

Councilmember

Nancy Floreen

Councilmember

Nancy Navarro

Councilmember

Craig Rice

Councilmember

Hans Riemer

Councilmember

Friday, September 23, 2011

Del. Tiffany Alston Indicted

You can read the indictment here (click on press releases). Likely best known for her very public withdrawal of support for same-sex marriage legislation, first-term (last-term?) Del. Alston is accused of using campaign funds to pay for her wedding:
Charges brought by the Office of the Maryland State Prosecutor allege that Del. Tiffany T. Alston (D-Prince George’s) spent thousands of dollars of campaign contributions to pay for wedding expenses and for the salary of an employee in her law firm.

In several instances, Alston wrote herself checks from the account of “Friends of Tiffany Alston” and then cashed the checks for personal use, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Alston is charged with one count of felony theft, one count of misdemeanor theft, one count of fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary and two election law violations.

Alston did not immediately return a phone call on Friday.

The felony theft charge carries a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum 18-month sentence and fine of $500.

Alston, 34, was a little-known freshman in the Maryland House of Delegates until this spring. She co-sponsored a bill to legalize same-sex marriage but then left a hearing room with another lawmaker just before the bill came up for a vote.

The two later returned, but their disappearance delayed the committee vote and amounted to the first of many setbacks for the legislation.

Before a subsequent vote, Alston introduced an amendment seeking to revert the legislation to authorize civil unions, not same-sex marriage. When that failed, she voted against the legislation, saying her vote was “for my constituents.”
Hat-tip to the several people who flagged this for me. Best early comment: "That's not a straight way to pay for your wedding."

D14 Central Committee Vacancy

From the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee:
The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC) will hold an election at its next regularly scheduled meeting -- Tuesday, October 11, 2011, at 7:30 p.m., 3720 Farragut Ave., #303, Kensington -- to fill a District 14 voting position on the Committee. Maryland’s 14th Legislative District is in northern Montgomery County and comprises the communities of: Ashton, Brinklow, Brookeville, Burtonsville, Calverton, Cloverly, Colesville, Damascus, Fairland, Goshen, Laytonsville, Montgomery Village, Olney, Sandy Spring, Silver Spring, Spencerville and Sunshine. Anyone who is a registered Democrat and resides in Legislative District 14 may apply for the position by e-mailing or faxing a cover letter and their resume to the Central Committee no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, October 10. (We encourage candidates to apply as soon as possible.) Email: MontgomeryDems@msn.com; Fax: 301-946-1002.