JuiceBlender: Jamie Raskin Flashmob & Mustard, Garagiola & Hixson Seek MoCo VFW Slots, Doug Duncan: Purple Line Foe?

Below Maryland Juice highlights a few tidbits relating to MoCo politics, starting with a few items regarding Sen. Jamie Raskin's unusual fundraising event last night:

JUICE #1: SEN. JAMIE RASKIN CELEBRATES 50TH BIRTHDAY W/ A FLASH MOB, MUSTARD & SOLD OUT FUNDRAISER - Last night State Senator Jamie Raskin (D20 Democrat) hosted a 50th birthday fundraiser in downtown Silver Spring. The event reportedly sold out with 600 RSVP's on the eve of the celebration. You can see a quick photo from the fundraiser below, but more interesting than the size of the crowd is the flash mob and mustard that accompanied the event. Details after the photo:

A large crowd packs the Silver Spring Civic Center for Sen. Jamie Raskin's 50th Birthday

In conjunction with the birthday fundraiser, Raskin had announced earlier in the week that downtown Silver Spring would be the site of a Jamie Raskin "dance flashmob" on the afternoon of his fundraiser. I did a double-take when I received the following email announcement for the pre-event dance party (excerpt below):

RASKIN FLASH MOB INVITATION: We are now inviting the world to come participate in an historic Rock&Roll Flash-Mob Birthday Dance Eruption at 4:36 PM on Saturday, December 1, just a few hours before my birthday bash, in downtown Silver Spring on Ellsworth Avenue, to be led by the extraordinary Alyce Jenkins and dozens of her students at the Maryland Youth Ballet who are going to take off their Nutcracker ballet slippers, come outside and rock out in the heart of downtown Silver Spring with hundreds of fired-up 50th birthday revelers....

Maryland Juice did not actually get to attend the flashmob, but luckily an attendee posted a video of the dance on YouTube:



Note that prior to joining up with the flashmob, participants had the opportunity to learn the dance steps through an instructional YouTube video:



Perhaps equally as unusual as the Raskin flashmob dance is the party favor that was given to attendees of the birthday party: a bottle of Jamie Raskin mustard (seriously!). I'm not quite sure if there's a story behind this, but I'm told that Raskin is related to the owner of the world's only mustard museum. In any case, see a photo of the limited edition Raskin mustard below:

JUICE #2: SEN. ROB GARAGIOLA & DEL. SHEILA HIXSON SEEK SLOT MACHINES AT MONTGOMERY COUNTY VETERANS HALLS - That didn't take long. Only weeks after the passage of gambling expansion in Maryland, State Senator Rob Garagiola and Delegate Sheila Hixson are proposing a new law allowing slot machines at veterans halls in Montgomery County. The Gazette recently reported on the Democratic lawmakers' insistence on continuing to prioritize gambling expansion in Maryland (excerpt below):

GAZETTE: Veterans’ groups from Montgomery County soon may be allowed to operate gambling machines in their halls, a privilege denied to them during the August special General Assembly session.

When lawmakers voted to expand gambling in the state, they included a provision to allow some gambling machines at veterans organizations west of the Chesapeake Bay — except in Montgomery County, where delegates were reluctant to sign on without local discussion and hearings.

Sen. Robert J. Garagiola (D-Dist. 15) of Germantown and Del. Sheila E. Hixson (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring have prepared a bill to do away with that exemption in the upcoming legislative session.... A hearing on county bills will be held Dec. 3 in Rockville.

HOW ARE WE HELPING VETERANS BY PUSHING THEM TO GAMBLE MORE OF THEIR MONEY? - The supporters of placing slot machines at Montgomery County's neighborhood VFW & American Legion posts argue that only members of the veterans halls will be able to gamble there. Even still, this further expansion of gambling in Maryland has been a controversial issue. Opponents have argued that the definition of a "veterans hall" is very vague and could lead to backdoor slot machines in undesired locations. In a guest column on Maryland Juice, Delegate Doyle Niemann argued that the most recent round of expanded gambling at veterans halls would lead to a creep of neighborhood gambling sites (excerpt below):

DOYLE NIEMANN: ...there is no requirement as to being an established organization....  so presumably anyone can go out and incorporate a new organization and then apply. Expect that to happen....

As to who can play, some veterans organizations may limit admission to members, but there is no requirement under the bill that they do so.  The only limit is that the machines have to be at the place of business of the organization.  So a "veterans" thrift store open to the public might be able to get slot machines and have them available to the public.  Again, expect that....

But even if Doyle Niemann is wrong, I think there is something perverse about the policy logic of trying to help veterans by encouraging them to gamble more -- and to do it by placing slot machines in their neighborhood haunts. Moreover, giving special privileges to veterans nonprofits that will be denied to the numerous other struggling nonprofits in Montgomery County would be completely arbitrary. Veterans halls may be struggling for funds, but so are numerous worthy non-profits offering programs ranging from food assistance and health services, to legal representation and housing for the indigent. Following Hixson and Garagiola's logic, we could give them all a fundraising boost by allowing them to operate slot machines targeted at their members. It is unfortunate that so many Democratic lawmakers seem to love using the lazy and unproductive revenue from gambling as a substitute for actually making tough decisions. I wouldn't exactly call it intelligent policy logic to propose helping retired Armed services members by encouraging them to gamble more. In fact, I was a bit encouraged to see that Montgomery County was exempted from this sort of inept policymaking during the summer's special session. But it turns out that was just a fake-out, and we may not have been spared from the expansion of slots after all.

If Sheila Hixson and Rob Garagiola get their way, I will be sandwiched between two new toeholds of gambling in Maryland. There is an American Legion Post one mile from my house in Silver Spring and a VFW Post one-and-a-half miles from me in Takoma Park:

KEY:  (A) Silver Spring American Legion Post,  (B) Takoma Park VFW Post

If you want to see if there is a "veterans hall" slot parlor proposed for your neighborhood, you can consult the (perhaps incomplete) list I've compiled below:

Montgomery County's American Legion & VFW Posts:

• BETHESDA: 4800 AUBURN AVE (AMERICAN LEGION)
• DAMASCUS: 10201 LEWIS DR (AMERICAN LEGION)
• GAITHERSBURG: 211 N. FREDERICK AVE (VFW)
• POTOMAC: 11511 MACARTHUR BLVD (VFW)
• ROCKVILLE: 621 SOUTHLAWN LN (AMERICAN LEGION)
• ROCKVILLE: 2013 VEIRS MILL RD (AMERICAN LEGION)
• SILVER SPRING: 11316 FERN ST (VFW)
• SILVER SPRING: 905 SLIGO AVE (AMERICAN LEGION)
• TAKOMA PARK: 6420 ORCHARD AVE (VFW)
• WHEATON: 11225 FERN ST (AMERICAN LEGION)

TESTIFY TOMORROW OR SEND AN EMAIL TODAY // TELL HIXSON & GARAGIOLA, NO SLOTS IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY: Clearly the expansion of gambling in Maryland is never going to end, unless we speak out and tell them to quit it. Senate President Mike Miller, after all, is already talking about adding even more casinos to neighboring Prince George's County. If you want to speak out against the effort to push MoCo veterans to gamble more, there is a public hearing TOMORROW (MONDAY) at 7:00 pm in Rockville:

Monday, December 3, 2012  - House Hearing for local bills: 7:00 PM - 3rd Floor Hearing Room, Stella Werner Council Office Bldg., 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850 - Local bills refer to legislation affecting issues specific to Montgomery County. Click here to sign up to testify.

You can also email Sen. Rob Garagiola & Del. Sheila Hixson to encourage them to drop their MoCo slot expansion effort at the email addresses below:

• rob.garagiola@senate.state.md.us
• sheila.hixson@house.state.md.us

JUICE #3: DOES DOUG DUNCAN STILL OPPOSE THE PURPLE LINE? - Now that former Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan has announced a 2014 bid for the Exec's office, some politicos are raising problems with his take on key issues. Indeed, much of the mainstream media coverage about Duncan thus far has credited him with being forward-thinking about downtown Silver Spring redevelopment, and other such projects. But yesterday a MoCo politico forwarded us a website link and news article indicating that Duncan may not be so forward-thinking on one of Montgomery County's key economic development and transportation priorities: The Purple Line.

The Purple Line is a proposed light rail line that would run East-West between Bethesda in Montgomery County and New Carrollton in Prince George's County. The line would stop through College Park, Silver Spring, Chevy Chase and other neighborhoods along the way, with the goal of taking cars off the road and discouraging further sprawl development. Full disclosure: I previously served as a campaign director for Purple Line NOW!

DOUG DUNCAN'S HISTORY OF ADVOCACY AGAINST THE PURPLE LINE - In spite of my personal support for this project, it would not be controversial to suggest that the Purple Line might be MoCo's top transportation priority. The fact that Doug Duncan has historically opposed the Purple Line suggests he might not "get" today's Montgomery County and the evolving dynamics between the area's housing market, jobs, and transit. I made this point on News Channel 8 last Friday. Indeed, Duncan's political coming-of-age occurred during a period when the political battles lines were drawn differently around land-use issues. A MoCo politico who likely agrees, shared with Maryland Juice an unusual page from the website of the Action Committee for Transit (ACT). The MoCo-based transit advocacy group highlights a candidate pledge that "Doug Duncan signed in 1994, when first running for county executive, to oppose light rail between Bethesda and Silver Spring — the core of what is now the Purple Line."

Doug Duncan's 1994 candidate pledge opposing the Purple Line

Our source also points to comments Duncan made in The Washington Post seven years later in 2001, slamming the idea of the Purple Line: "Duncan, who did not attend Glendening's announcement, said the new line would mostly serve people already using transit and do little to get people out of their cars and onto trains. It also would not extend across the Potomac River from Bethesda, something Duncan argues is needed to reduce traffic congestion." The article's headline blared, "Decision to Build Purple Line Inside Beltway Fires Up Duncan." Has Doug Duncan become less car-centric in the last decade? 

VIRGINIA IS BUILDING THE SILVER LINE - Indeed, in 2014 it would be strange for Doug Duncan to campaign on economic development in Montgomery County but continue opposing a potential major driver of job-creation. In remarks to The Washington Post about his candidacy last week, Duncan stated "that he thinks the county is 'slipping' against Northern Virginia when it comes to attracting businesses. 'I’m concerned that Montgomery County is getting a much bigger reputation that it is being anti-business'...."

Duncan, however, should be concerned that Virginia pulled off a major coup by breaking ground on the new Metro Silver Line. If you've driven on a highway to Virginia lately, you've surely seen the metro tracks under construction. The new transit line to Dulles has already sent Herndon home prices soaring, and it promises to give our Confederate neighbors the ability to turn their noses up against MoCo's continual failure to secure transit funding. Indeed, many expect the Silver Line to be a lure for businesses and residents alike. But instead of fighting for transit funding, so many business leaders in Montgomery County are obsessed with their tax rates and have made unrealistic tax cuts their primary policy priority.

WHERE IS DOUG DUNCAN TODAY ON THE PURPLE LINE? - So in a 2014 campaign for Montgomery County Executive, where will Doug Duncan be on the Purple Line? Ike Leggett always seemed fairly lukewarm and cautious on the project, and Duncan's history has shown him to be an active opponent. Meanwhile, more and more of today's Montgomery County residents want transit-friendly, mixed-use walkable neighborhoods. One need only look at local real-estate market trends to note this obvious fact. Likewise, policymakers need to think about these trends in terms of making sure Montgomery County is competitive in maintaining and creating vibrant, desirable neighborhoods. After all, the high quality of life in MoCo is what keeps us strong. That includes our schools, transit access and housing -- but increasingly, housing and transit creation are getting short shrift from politicians. But candidates do often try to re-invent themselves. We shall soon see how Duncan comes out on the issues.

Bethesda, Maryland is America's #17 "Coolest" City (???) // FORBES RANKINGS: #1 Houston, #2 DC, #10 NY, #14 Baltimore

UPDATE: Just Up the Pike blogger Dan Reed correctly points out in the comments that the areas used to calculate restaurant densities and other factors are not just the city boundaries. In reality, Forbes included the neighboring major metropolitan areas (aka Metropolitan Statistical Areas). For example, Forbes describes the areas measured for Washington, Baltimore and Bethesda as follows:

• Bethesda = Bethesda-Frederick-Gaithersburg, MD
• Baltimore = Baltimore-Towson, MD
• Washington = Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

FORBES RANKS AMERICA'S "COOLEST" CITIES: Forbes magazine recently ranked America's major cities to determine the "coolest" places to live in the United States. Their results have generated a decent amount of discussion, given that Houston, Texas ranks as America's #1 "coolest" city. But even more interesting is that Bethesda, Maryland made the list at #17.

JuiceBlender: Tiffany Alston Found Guilty, Karl Rove Compares O'Malley to Dean, Canadians on Rollin Stanley, MD Drone Crash

Here's a random blend of political tidbits from recent news, starting with disturbing news that an unmanned predator drone has crashed on Maryland's Eastern shore:

JUICE #1: UNMANNED PREDATOR DRONE CRASHES ON MARYLAND'S EASTERN SHORE - Earlier this month, Maryland Juice reported on disturbing news that local governments and even college police forces were beginning to apply for permission to fly unmanned "predator drones" in U.S. airspace. Queen Anne's County, Maryland is one of the jurisdictions that had received authorization to fly drones. As we've seen through our (questionable) use of drones in other nations, they can be dangerous. Indeed, yesterday a $176 million "predator drone" crashed on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The Associated Press carried video footage of the flaming wreckage in Maryland:




REP. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER & VA GOV. BOB MCDONNELL SEEK EXPANDED DRONE USE: Notably, Maryland Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger wants to see more drones flying around and takes thousands of dollars ($190,000) from drone manufacturers. As a result of this mission creep, privacy advocates in the U.S. have become increasingly alarmed about the prospect of spy drones and now hummingbird-sized flying spy cameras being cleared for use by local law enforcement. The Examiner's Gene Healy recently raised red flags about drones invading Americans' reasonable expectations of  privacy (see excerpt below):

EXAMINER: Last week, in its report on the 2013 Defense Authorization bill, the Senate Armed Services Committee called for allowing drones to operate "freely and routinely" in U.S. airspace....

...they're increasingly "contributing to missions of agencies and departments within the United States. ... The pace of development must be accelerated," the report concluded.....

"It's great!" Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said on WTOP's "Ask the Governor" program last month....

JuiceBlender: Maryland Voter Roll Purge, Rep. Andy Harris Staff Raises, MoCo Accessory Apartments, Maryland Netroots & More

Here's a random blend of political tidbits from recent news, starting with a quick hello from the Netroots Nation conference in Providence, Rhode Island:

JUICE #1: MD POLITICOS AT NETROOTS NATION // SEN. CARDIN HIGHLIGHTS GOP WAR ON VOTING RIGHTS - This week, Maryland Juice is attending the annual Netroots Nation conference for work, but I've taken a few moments to try and gather some juice while I'm here. Though I was invited to speak on a panel about lessons for online organizers (watch video),  I've bumped into a surprising number of Maryland politicos. Indeed, from State Senator Jamie Raskin and MoCo Young Dems President Dave Kunes to a former aide to Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, the Free State is decently represented at this progressive gathering (see a couple photos below).

State Sen. Jamie Raskin (center) & Vermont Progressive Party legislator Chris Pearson (right)

SPOTLIGHT: The Issue of Race in Montgomery County // PLUS: MoCo Residents Fighting Affordable Housing Effort (Again)?

Maryland Juice caught an excellent article today from Center Maryland columnist Josh Kurtz. In his lengthy diatribe, Mr. Kurtz outlines how Montgomery County is an extremely diverse community -- both racially and socioeconomically. His thesis, however, is that the County's politicians are nearly all-white and oftentimes appear to be well-to-do. Kurtz discusses the political impact of this problem (excerpt below):

JOSH KURTZ: Hey Montgomery County leaders and voters: Tired of being the ATM for the rest of the state? Then it’s time to start electing a delegation to Annapolis that actually looks like the county....

The population, in the county, according to the 2010 Census count, is now majority-minority: 49 percent white, 17 percent African-American, 17 percent Hispanic, 14 percent Asian, and 4 percent who reported they were two or more races....

Almost one-third of all students were receiving free or reduced meals in school – and 41 percent of the student population had received free or reduced meals at some point in their academic career....

Yet the misconception persists around Maryland that Montgomery County’s streets are paved with gold – which can be mined at will by the legislature whenever the state is in a fiscal jam....

Plain and simple, it’s hard to make the case to the rest of Maryland that Montgomery County is a place with huge swaths of poverty and innumerable needs when so many members of the delegation the county sends to the State House look like they’re fresh out of an Ivy League fraternity – and counting the days till they can run for Congress.

In the past two elections, Montgomery voters have done a decent job of clearing out some of the legislative deadwood. But they haven’t done much to speed up the dismally slow process of diversifying the county delegation.

This majority-minority district currently sends just one African-American lawmaker to Annapolis among its delegation of 32, plus one Hispanic, one Chinese-American and, in an anomaly, three Indian-Americans. But you can’t say there’s a growth trend there when the lone Hispanic legislator, Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez, who is 70, could wind up retiring in 2014, and one of the Indian-Americans, Del. Sam Arora, is already being targeted for defeat for his vote against same-sex marriage.

The county’s eight-member Senate delegation is, and always has been, 100 percent white. The two legislative districts in Montgomery County with less than 50 percent white population, according to state figures – District 20, in inner Beltway Silver Spring and Takoma Park, with 57 percent minority population, and District 39, which covers Montgomery Village and much of Germantown, with 53 percent minority population – have all-white representation....

But does the onus lie just with the voters? Organizations that recruit and endorse candidates need to do more to promote and nurture minority candidates. Community groups need to encourage their own leaders to run for office. And minority candidates themselves need to step up, in every sense of the phrase....

Maryland Juice completely agrees with the main points in Josh Kurtz's article. Indeed, in the past, we've pointed out that the newest members of MoCo's legislative delegation do not look like the legislators of yore. But still, the pace of change is not fast enough -- and the Party (at every level) does not seem to care about developing the farm team. In many instances (ie: Mike Miller *cough*) they sabotage efforts to diversify and modernize the Democratic caucus.

HYSTERIA OVER MAKING HOUSING MORE 

AFFORDABLE IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Indeed, when Montgomery County used to actually be much more white and rich, a certain political culture existed that under-prioritized issues like workforce housing/housing affordability. But amazingly, even today, we persistently see a small but vocal minority of residents become extremely animated every time policymakers suggest ways of making housing more affordable in the County. The result is that our housing policies are completely B.S. and are NOT designed to solve MoCo's affordable housing crisis. They are designed to placate the residents who can already afford to live in MoCo. As we now know, this problem is keeping young professionals from moving to Montgomery County. Maryland Juice previously reported that MoCo is now more expensive than New York and San Francisco. Seriously. Think about that.

Now read the latest news report of residents getting hysterical (again) about the idea of allowing MoCo residents to rent out their basements. County planners are hoping to allow homeowners (who actually live in their home) to rent out their basements (aka "accessory apartments") without having to go through a year-long application process. MoCo currently has nearly 1 million residents, but fewer than 300 licensed basement rentals due to the current ridiculous "special exception" process. But notably, when Philadelphia implemented a policy similar to the one being proposed in MoCo, only 1 in 1,000 houses exercised their right to have a basement tenant.

Unlike past "affordable housing" initiatives, the accessory apartment proposal does not risk creating an over-concentration of cheap housing in any one place. So what's the hysteria all about? Well, did you read Josh Kurtz's article above? I think people are scared of "poor" people moving into their neighborhood -- even though "poor" might simply mean young professionals who are just getting started in the County or seniors on fixed incomes. Further proof that the hysteria against accessory apartments is unfounded lies in the fact that the proposed MoCo rules would require the home to be owner-occupied. After all, what homeowner is going to rent to a crackhead or criminal, if they have to live under the same roof? Ain't gonna happen, folks!

Check out the disturbing report from today's Wheaton Patch (excerpt below):

WHEATON PATCH: Montgomery County residents turned out in force at two public meetings on Monday to express concerns about a proposed rule change that would eliminate the special exception process for some accessory apartments, also known as “mother-in-law” apartments....

An estimated 275 to 300 accessory apartments exist in Montgomery County today, Pamela Dunn told the crowded auditorium at the Park and Planning headquarters in downtown Silver Spring. Dunn is the project manager for the comprehensive zoning code rewrite underway at M-NCPPC....

Current regulations require a special exception for every accessory apartment in Montgomery County, a process that usually takes nine to 13 months. The county's board of appeals approves special exceptions for an average of 10 apartments each year....

Instead of the board of appeals subjectively deciding which special exception applications to approve, a by-right process would establish objective criteria, Russ said....

“It doesn’t mean no oversight; it just means no public hearing,” Dunn said.

Russ repeatedly said that streamlining accessory apartments would result in more affordable housing throughout Montgomery County and more opportunities for elderly homeowners to age in place on a fixed income.

Barbara Sanders, a Silver Spring resident, remembers when her son Greg returned to the area after earning a graduate degree and getting a job in D.C.--but was unable to afford anything more than a studio apartment. Then he found a family with a basement apartment in their 1930s-era colonial home, looking for a renter. The arrangement suited both sides perfectly, as the family used the extra income to send one of their children to college. But Sanders was one of only a few people in the audience with something positive to say about streamlining the accessory apartment process....

Montgomery County Councilmember Marc Elrich attended the afternoon public meeting and shared how he had recently accompanied some county housing inspectors on their rounds in Wheaton....

“This is about taking other single-family neighborhoods and radically altering them,” he said after the meeting....

The next step is for the Planning Board to make a recommendation to transmit the zoning text amendment to the county council. Then, if a councilmember chose to formally introduce the ZTA, it would be sent back to the planning board, which would hold another public hearing before sending back comments to the council. Next, the council would hold its own public hearing, and the Planning, Housing, and Economic Development committee would hold worksessions. Finally, the ZTA would come before the full council for a vote.

The Planning Board is scheduled to take up the ZTA in June....

I hate to be all Rollin Stanley about this, but honestly, look at the photo below of the residents who turned out to oppose homeowners renting out their basements. Does this look like a representative sample of a vibrant majority-minority County?

PHOTO SOURCE: WHEATON PATCH 5/22/2012

OTHER POLICY CONSIDERATIONS: Republicans and Libertarians should be upset about this too, albeit from a property rights perspective. Montgomery County wants to tell me who can live in my house? My neighbors want to decide who I live with? Uh, no thank you.

Moreover, one has to imagine that a basement rental income stream may be a huge benefit to homeowners facing underwater mortgages, foreclosure, or who simply need a little extra cash to survive in expensive Montgomery County -- whether or not they are young families, seniors, or youths.

EMAIL THE PLANNING BOARD & COUNTY COUNCIL TO SUPPORT AFFORDABLE HOUSING & PROPERTY RIGHTS:

• PLANNING BOARD:  mcp-chair@mncppc-mc.org
• ALL 9 COUNCILMEMBERS:  montgomerycounty@lockheedwelfare.com

Maryland Juice will be following this issue very closely in the coming months. Stay tuned!

Maryland Labor Secretary Alex Sanchez to Become Baltimore Mayor's Chief of Staff // Transportation Secretary Also Vacates

SEARCH FOR A NEW LABOR SECRETARY: Maryland Juice has just learned that Maryland's Secretary of Labor Alex Sanchez has resigned. We discovered the breaking news when a source contacted us to suggest a replacement for Mr. Sanchez. The Baltimore Sun reports that Sanchez, who leads the Department of Labor, Licensing Regulation (DLLR), will be taking over as Chief of Staff for Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake:

MoCo JuiceBlender: Ambulance Fee Returns, O'Malley Launches Bike Share, Roger Berliner Calls for Innovation Officer

PLUS: A WARNING TO DEMOCRATS ABOUT INTERNET POLICY

Now that Annapolis legislators are currently pausing from legislative activity, Maryland Juice is paying closer attention to policy proposals floating through Montgomery County. We've provided extensive commentary on County Executive Ike Leggett's corporate welfare plan for Lockheed Martin, but there is much more to discuss. Below we provide a few recent tidbits, starting with a news item on a proposed Montgomery County ambulance fee:

JUICE #1: IKE LEGGETT'S AMBULANCE FEE PROPOSAL BACK FROM THE DEAD - MoCo politicos are likely familiar with the long-running debate about whether to charge insurance companies for residents' use of County ambulances. The proposal passed the County Council in 2010, but was struck down by voters later that year. Now County Executive Ike Leggett seeks to overturn the will of voters and is attempting to pass the ambulance fee yet again. Should the Council pass the plan one more time, opponents would have to organize yet another petition drive to strike down the measure. That doesn't seem fair -- no matter where you stand on the ambulance fee. The Washington Post reported last week:

WASHINGTON POST: An ambulance fee is back on the agenda in Montgomery County.

On Thursday, Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) proposed legislation to reinstitute the fee, which was struck down by referendum in 2010....

After dueling campaigns that involved hundreds of volunteer and career fire and rescue personnel, the law failed in a referendum. Leggett said the circumstances are different this time, because the state legislature is in the midst of adding significant costs to the county.

The General Assembly approved changes to the formula deciding how much counties must allocate each year for school funding, and Leggett said he expects that the legislature will soon enter a special session to approve a shift of teacher pension costs to the counties. Both measures will create substantial costs to the county in the long term, and Leggett said he wanted a stable source of revenue to help mitigate the effect.

“It would be irresponsible not to put this as an option given the financial conditions we’re in today,” he said.

Maryland Juice finds Ike Leggett's worries about MoCo's cash-flow to be very strange, given that the County Executive seems to think we have hundreds of thousands of dollars to give away to profitable multinational corporations right now.


JUICE #2: COUNCIL PRESIDENT ROGER BERLINER CALLS FOR MOCO INNOVATION OFFICER - MoCo's current Council President Roger Berliner has at least one idea for a better way to spend county money than on mindless corporate welfare. Yesterday, he sent some of his colleagues on the County Council a letter calling for MoCo to hire a Chief Innovation Officer (CIO). In a letter to members of the County's Government Operations (GO) Committee, Mr. Berliner stated some concrete goals for a CIO:

ROGER BERLINER: ...an early funder of Twitter and a representative from Google advised us that in their view our County needed to do more to embrace innovation. They specifically pointed to the wealth of data that our County possesses and how other communities are using that data to create economic opportunities.

The Chief Innovation Officer would assist in putting the data our County collects to work for our residents: turning information into services through cutting‐edge technology like mobile phone “apps”. He or she would engage a new generation of problem‐solvers, our County’s most tech‐savvy residents, to come up with new solutions to old problems.

CANARY IN THE COALMINE: AN EARLY WARNING ABOUT INTERNET POLICY: Over and over again, Maryland Juice has pleaded with politicians and policymakers to start taking Internet policy and citizen engagement more seriously than they may have in the past. We already witnessed citizen backlash to proposals to censor or invade privacy on the Internet (ie: SOPA & CISPA). I am pleading one more time for the Democrats to own Internet freedom as an issue, and to not cede one inch to the Republicans. In the short-term I believe this will aid Democrats in building a brand among younger voters; and in the long-term it will build us loyalty among a new majority voting population of Internet users who self-identify as such. More importantly, protecting the free-flow of information (and now commerce) on the Internet should be a bigger government priority than it currently is.

The New York Times today had a timely warning for U.S. policymakers. Germany notably has a multiparty democracy due to their country's proportional representation election system. But amazingly, the third most popular party in the nation right now is The Pirate Party. Given that the party is focused on Internet issues and is only six years old, Maryland Juice thinks this is pretty significant:

NEW YORK TIMES: The sudden roar erupting from the Jägerklause bar in east Berlin’s bohemian Friedrichshain district late on a recent Sunday sounded like the usual soccer-match pandemonium. But the crowd inside, with their jeans and sneakers and easygoing looks, didn’t seem like typical soccer fanatics.

Nor did they look like political operatives — but that’s what they were: members of the upstart Pirate Party, which had just scored a key electoral victory in the small western state of Saarland.

The German Pirates, founded in 2006 and long dismissed as a niche party obsessed with copyright reform and online privacy, picked up four seats in the Saarland regional Parliament, twice as many as the once strong Green Party — and far more than the pro-business Free Democrats, who were shut out.

This month they face their biggest challenge, with elections in two more states, including North Rhine-Westphalia, the country’s most populous. Should the results match recent poll numbers — as high as 13 percent, making the Pirates Germany’s third-most-popular party — they will serve notice that a new electoral force has arrived and offer a compelling political lesson for parties on both sides of the Atlantic.

On the surface, the Pirates are indeed niche: their platform stands for stronger protection for file sharing and against censorship, along with unorthodox ideas like voting rights for teenagers.

But their real goal, and the root of their success, is more meta: using the Internet to create a new structure of politics that can solve the problem of how to energize citizens — not only for the excitement of a campaign but also the often dreary realities of actual governance....

But the Pirates’ generation isn’t as radical as their parents’, and they understand the value of conventional politics. They just believe that it’s stuck in the past....

Still, the real lesson for American observers is not how to build a viable third party, but how Mr. Obama and other politicians must adapt to the political sensibilities of Internet-savvy voters. It’s easy to dismiss the Pirates as a quirky band of idealists. But as countless old-line German politicians can attest, American parties ignore them at their peril.

MOCO COUNCIL RAPS WITH GOOGLE & TWITTER REPS: Below, you can a video of the County Council discussion with representatives from the Internet companies and startups mentioned by Mr. Berliner. We also re-print Mr. Berliner's letter to the Council below:




Montgomery County Council President Roger Berliner Calls for MoCo Chief Innovation Officer (CIO)


JUICE #3: O'MALLEY ANNOUNCES FUNDING OF MOCO BIKESHARE PROGRAM - Montgomery County Planning Board member Casey Anderson alerted Maryland Juice to an exciting new development:

CASEY ANDERSON: I just found out that Montgomery County received a grant to fund their bike-share program. Assuming the County Council funds the required match, the program could be operating by the end of the year. The state grant, if matched by County funds, would pay for all of the bike-share stations proposed inside the Beltway. It looks like there will be 29 stations and 204 bikes for now.

Councilmembers Valerie Ervin and Roger Berliner deserve huge credit for this. Valerie was pushing for bike sharing before anyone else, and Roger has pushed the County's Department of Transportation repeatedly to get it funded. Even MCDOT has come around and seems to be genuinely enthusiastic.

UPDATE:  A Maryland Juice reader notes that several state legislators also played a large role in ensuring funding for MoCo's bikeshare program. Effort was sponsored in the House by Delegates Bill Frick, Al Carr, Ana Sol Gutierrez, Sheila Hixson, Tom Hucker, Ariana Kelly, Susan Lee, Eric Luedtke, Heather Mizeur, and Jeff Waldstreicher. In the Senate, the measure was sponsored by Senators Brian Frosh, Rich Madaleno, and Jamie Raskin

Maryland's Department of Transportation made the announcement via press release yesterday (excerpt below):

GOVERNOR O’MALLEY KICKS OFF BIKE MONTH
BY ANNOUNCING $2.5 MILLION IN GRANTS
TO BRING BIKESHARE STATIONS TO MARYLAND

Seven Winners throughout the Baltimore-Washington Region

HANOVER, MD – As part of the O’Malley Administration’s Cycle Maryland Initiative, Governor Martin O’Malley today kicked off bike month, by announcing the first seven winners of his new Maryland Bikeshare Program grants to help Maryland communities plan, establish or expand bikeshare programs.  He announced the new Maryland Bikeshare Program in November 2011 to create bikeshare systems in Maryland.  Bikeshare systems can help solve the “last mile” problem, connecting public transportation riders to their final destinations.  Governor O’Malley’s new program will provide $2.5 million this year to three counties and several municipalities for a variety of projects in different stages of development from feasibility assessment to implementation of bikesharing stations....

The winners of grants to implement bikesharing systems are:  Baltimore City, Montgomery County and joint partners with University of Maryland at College Park and the City of College Park.  The winners of grants for feasibility studies of potential bikeshare stations are:  Frederick City, Howard County and joint partners with Prince George’s County and the City of Greenbelt.


JUICE #4: MOCO TO FACE EMPLOYEE RECRUITMENT COMPETITION FROM VA? - Maryland Juice periodically gets irate when policymakers blindly believe unproven claims that our state and county tax rates are responsible for residents moving to Virginia. During the recession (and even today), Virginia was constantly being used a bogeyman to justify tax cuts, corporate welfare, pay freezes, and government layoffs. Now some policymakers are hinting that we need to reverse course. Amusingly, the argument is still competition with Virginia. See the recent debate about government employee pay in The Gaithersburg Patch:

GAITHERSBURG PATCH: Instead of pay raises, most Montgomery County employees could receive a one-time $2,000 payment next year, according to a compensation and benefits package reviewed by a council committee Tuesday.

Analysts briefed the Government Operations Committee on County Executive Isiah Leggett’s recommendations, needed because the economic outlook was “uncertain,” Council Staff Director Stephen B. Farber said Tuesday.

According to county records, the lump-sum payouts to county government employees would cost $16.5 million — $14.4 million coming from tax-supported funds — and would include “longevity adjustments” or raises for certain employees who’ve worked for 20 years, according to county records.

Roughly 500 employees would be eligible for such a raise, a cost of $1.3 million, county data show....

Councilman Hans Riemer, D-At Large, said he was concerned that surrounding counties were doing more to increase employee pay, making Montgomery County seem like an “outlier.” Councilwoman Valerie Ervin, D-Dist. 5, asked Farber for “apples-to-apples” figures from surrounding counties and jurisdictions in Northern Virginia.

Councilwoman Nancy Navarro, the committee’s chairwoman, said offering the lump sum instead of pay raises was not ideal, but it was “better than nothing” given the state of the economy and not knowing whether the county would wind up picking up teachers’ pension costs — part of the so-called doomsday budget that resulted from the General Assembly’s unfinished business.

MORE ON MOCO POLICY DEVELOPMENTS SOON!

BREAKING: Montgomery County Planning Board Director Rollin Stanley Resigns // Major City Poaches Smart Growth Evangelist

UPDATE: Washington Post coverage of Rollin Stanley's departure today mentions Maryland Juice's coverage and notes that Stanley will be leaving mid-May. Meanwhile, MoCo blogger Dan Reed from Just up the Pike has a piece up at Greater Greater Washington that summarizes Stanley's work plotting out the future of land use in Montgomery County.

MoCo Planning Director Rollin Stanley

"THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE ANYTHING NICE"

ROLLIN STANLEY DITCHES MOCO: Maryland Juice has learned from two knowledgeable sources that Montgomery County's Park and Planning Director Rollin Stanley has resigned today. When asked about the matter, Democratic Planning Board member Casey Anderson stated simply: "He got a fantastic offer. A much bigger job."

This would indicate that Rollin Stanley was poached by another jurisdiction. When asked to provide details about where Mr. Stanley was headed, Casey Anderson stated: "It is a major city that has grown rapidly and is expected to continue growing fast. They want to announce his hiring themselves next week."

That Rollin Stanley should be poached is not surprising, considering that the public tide among planners and residents these days, strongly favors smart growth principles for land use. Stanley's vision for Montgomery County and his work for other cities has won national accolades. Even still, the timing of the poaching is very interesting, given recent controversy surrounding Mr. Stanley. He recently engaged in a war of words with anti-growth activists, and his job upgrade now leaves him with the last laugh. But the consolation prize for his critics is that he is now gone. Maryland Juice's hope is that the next Planning Board chief will bring the same broadview and gaming out of Montgomery County's future that Rollin Stanley did.

TUESDAY RUSH HOUR: The Future of Mass Transit in America? // Farragut Square Rally for Transit Commuters

Montgomery County's Action Committee for Transit President Tina Slater sent along the following event announcement. She is due to speak at a rally for mass transit on Tuesday morning. See the alert below and note that many advocates for sustainable and efficient transportation have been extremely disappointed in the continuing prioritization of funding for sprawl-inducing highways instead of transit.

The Future of Mass Transit in America?

The MD/DC Alliance for Retired Americans and the Amalgamated Transit Union invite you to join our members from the Washington, DC area and around the country as we educate the DC Riding Public about the crisis in transit.

Rush Hour Demonstration -  8:00-9:15 am
Tuesday, March 13th - Farragut Square

We will be leafleting morning commuters at Farragut North & Farragut West metro stops beginning at 8am and culminate in an 8:45 am rally led by ATU International President Larry Hanley and featuring guest speakers.

We welcome our friends’ & allies’ attendance!

MoCo's Battle Over Building Height Limits // Maryland Juice Makes Cameo Appearance at Rockville City Council Hearing

UPDATE: A reader provides more context to the development battles in Rockville, by way of a recent Gazette article. The City Council is currently weighing changes to their "Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance" -- which creates standards linking infrastructure with development.

A couple days ago, the Rockville City Council held a public hearing to discuss proposed mixed-use development at the Twinbrook Metro. As is becoming the norm, building heights were the topic of much of the discussion. Coincidentally, the February 27th hearing came only days after Maryland Juice published an article lamenting that activists too often fight density near Metro -- and that this could unintentionally thwart environmental and social justice goals.

The fact that Montgomery County is now more expensive to live in than New York City and San Francisco triggered this discussion on Maryland Juice, and we hope that the dialogue continues among policymakers throughout Maryland. But in the meantime, we are humbled to note that a reader reports that our article was invoked by a citizen activist at the hearing. A Rockville juicer testified in favor of the development project in question and for greater height limits near Metro stations.

We provide a short clip of the hearing below (Note: it begins with bits of testimony from an opponent of greater density at Twinbrook Metro):





Keep drinkin' the Juice!

Montgomery County More Expensive Than NYC & San Francisco // Fighting All Development Not Always Progressive or Green

INTRO: Montgomery County's population today is growing and changing in ways that make the once racially homogenous county one of the most diverse places in the region. This will have an impact on policy and politics for decades to come -- but in the meantime, policymakers will have to grapple with new priorities, new challenges, and new types of competition. Below we discuss a few aspects of this shift:

1. MoCo's New Face: 46% Black/Asian/Hispanic
2. MoCo Is More Expensive than NYC & San Francisco
3. MoCo Needs to Attract Young People & Families

Gov. O'Malley Signs "PlanMaryland" Executive Order // Play the Video Game & Watch the Video

UPDATE: Maryland Juice just noticed a few cool features to the PlanMaryland website: 1) PlanMaryland Video Game, 2) PlanMaryland Social Media Portal, and 3) PlanMaryland Citizen Input Map.

Numerous media outlets recently reported that Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley signed an Executive Order advancing his smart growth plan, dubbed PlanMaryland. If you've been listening to conservatives in the Free State lately, you would think that Mr. O'Malley was plotting to seize private land or carpetbomb rural parts of Maryland. The Washington Times noted GOP Senate Minority Leader E.J. Pipkin called PlanMaryland a "War on Rural Maryland." The Potomac Tea Party Report blog yesterday announced: "O’Malley signs Executive Order on PlanMaryland; citizens lose/UN wins." I believe the opposition to PlanMaryland can be categorized into a few groups:

• Global warming deniers/Tea Party
• Sprawl developers and/or rural-exurban landowners
• the GOP (either because it is now a regional/rural party or because it seeks wedge issues)

Granted, there are ordinary Maryland residents that are opposed to the policy for various reasons, but that is true for any policy change -- especially when it involves land use. The organized opposition -- and misinformation -- is emanating (in my opinion) from a partisan source. But Michael Dresser from The Baltimore Sun provided a decent snapshot of the rationale for PlanMaryland:

At a ceremony that included two of his Democratic predecessors, O'Malley formally accepted the plan, which had gone through two draft versions before being adopted. The plan has been decried by conservative county officials and Republican legislators as a usurpation of local power over land use, but O'Malley defended it Monday as a framework for making wise decisions about where the state should invest in capital projects....

O'Malley said the plan will not dictate local land-use policies but will guide state spending, steering money away from projects that promote sprawling development.

"The state's not going to be a part of those stupid decisions, and we're not going to be subsidizing stupid decisions — pardon me — unsustainable decisions," O'Malley said....

End Commuter Discrimination: Senators Cardin & Mikulski Fight to Preserve Transit Tax Credit - Relief Ends in 2.5 Weeks!

Federal News Radio today reported that U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski are calling on Congress to protect and expand a tax credit for mass transit commuters. The benefit is set to expire at the end of this year:

A group of 22 senators has called on the Senate Finance Committee to take up extending a mass-transit commuter tax benefit, which expires at the end of the year.

The mass-transit benefit is set to be cut nearly in half — from $230 a month to $120 — starting next year, barring action by Congress.

Maryland Democratic Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, who both signed the letter, said the cut could disproportionately affect federal workers....

The commuter benefit was last boosted in December 2010, when Congress upped the benefit to its current level — the same amount afforded parking benefits.

In a joint press release last Friday, the two Maryland Senators explained why they were fighting for this critical, but not-so-glamorous benefit:

U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski today joined a bipartisan coalition of twenty additional Senators in urging the Senate Finance Committee to include an extension of the widely used mass-transit commuter tax credit in any relevant legislation taken up by the Senate before it expires at the end of the year. The tax credit has an immediate impact on the region’s federal workforce and middle-class commuters across the nation. At a savings of over $1,000 per year, it eases the burden of high travel costs on families, allowing them to invest it in the local economy.

MoCo 2040: County Plots 150-Mile Transit Plan // MoCo 2012: Schools Seek 2% Increase, Cite Rising Transportation Costs

UPDATE:  HELP ME NAME THIS NEW PROJECT: Maryland Juice has decided that he's done calling this the "Bus Rapid Transit" plan. That sounds like an STD. This transit project needs a new name. I nominate something like "The MoCo Grid" or "The MoCo Web." Try it out: "Let's take the Purple Line and transfer to the Web/Grid in Silver Spring." Okay, maybe my idea isn't the greatest, but you get the idea.... Send your alternate suggestions to david@marylandjuice.com. If anyone has a good idea, I'll post it!

THE RETRO? Maryland Juice Reader Terrill North sends in the following suggestion: "How about the RETRO?  As in, I took the red line to Silver Spring and hopped the RETRO to Kensington.  I think a superbus is kind of retro compared to people movers you see in sci-fi movies."

Montgomery County 2040 | The Gazette reports on preparations for a 150-mile transit network. See the proposed routes below and an excerpt from The Gazette article below:

Map Source: http://montgomeryplanning.org/transportation/highways/brt.shtm

Route List source: http://montgomeryplanning.org/transportation/highways/brt.shtm

The Gazette reports on preparations for the 150-mile transit network:

Since its adoption in 1931, Montgomery County’s Master Plan of Highways has been altered to include some of the area’s most ambitious transportation projects, such as the Purple Line and the Corridor Cities Transitway....

At an open house meeting last month at the Upcounty Regional Services Center, transportation planners from the county talked about the work being done to make way for a bus rapid transit amendment in the plan. The amendment would help clear the way for the development of a 150-mile bus system in the county by 2040....

Bus rapid transit systems are akin to light rails in that they have routes, lanes and stations, though they often travel on dedicated bus lanes on public streets. And unlike the existing Ride On bus service, rapid transit buses would travel on lanes without any other traffic, provide real-time information about how soon the next bus would arrive and receive priority at traffic signals.... Read the full article at The Gazette.

Montgomery County 2012 | The Washington Post reports that new Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Joshua Starr is requesting a 2% increase in the school system budget:

The Future Of Montgomery County: Take DC's Streetcars to MoCo's Suburban Big Box Stores? // aka the Walmart Question

Rorschach's Journal 11/6/2012

The year is 2020. Tom Smith, a resident of Gentro Heights NW, needs a sack of grain. He picks up the Georgia Ave Streetcar from in front of his house and gets off at the Downtown Silver Spring Transit Hub, where he transfers to the Purple Line. Tom's journey ultimately ends at the Walmart West Montgomery Station in Rockville, Maryland. Welcome to Montgomery County 2020.... maybe.

Maryland Juice's domestic partner/wife Virginia Juice has recently been reading a classic land use and planning tome, "Death and Life of Great American Cities" by Jane Jacobs. I don't remember why she started reading it, and don't tell her, but I wasn't paying close attention when she was telling me about the book. Nevertheless, my eye was drawn to a mention of the book in the comments to this morning's very interesting MoCo-centric news round-up at the Greater Greater Washington blog (excerpts below):

Streetcar to Silver Spring?: Montgomery Councilmembers Nancy Floreen and Hans Riemer are asking DC to consider running the streetcar to Silver Spring. It's entirely logical, if only the various DOTs can work together. (South Silver Spring)

Berliner against anti-urban Walmarts: Councilmember Roger Berliner wants to stop the Walmart at Rockville Pike and Randolph Road because it will undermine the more urban form the county wants to foster in that area. (Patch) 

Mall owner prefers a town instead: The owners of White Flint Mall want to replace the mall with a town. The project would include 5 million square feet of offices, apartments, and shops and will take 25 years to complete. (Gazette, Mike) 

Jobs outstrip housing: The region is failing to match job growth with housing growth. Eventually, employers and workers may relocate to cities where housing is cheaper. (Post) ... Building up, rather than out, is the best solution we've got. (City Block)

Food stamps down in DC, up in MD, VA: The number of food stamp recipients fell 10.5% in DC while jumping 10.2% and 21.2% in Virginia and Maryland respectively. The shift may signal the displacement of poverty from DC to the suburbs. (Examiner) 

And...: Prince George's County will create "prostitution-free zones" along the DC border. (Patch)

Sidebar on the Future of Civic Activism: Increasingly the era of the suburban civic activist is being displaced (or at least enhanced) by the era of the digital civic blogger, email/listserv warrior, etc. Just look at the slow proliferation of interest in wonky sites like Greater Greater Washington, Just Up the Pike, the South Silver Spring Association blog, the Citizens League of MoCo and many other land-use oriented blogs. Too often, I hear elected officials asking why young people, working class folks, communities of color, and others don't "participate" more. They ask why people don't show up at public hearings, why they don't apply for advisory boards, etc. But when I look around, I see a vibrant culture of expression on some very nerdy policy issues -- from a range of voices. It is not hard to find the outlets where ordinary citizens are speaking out on such matters these days. Just look at the first few comments to the news roundup above (I highlight one comment for continued discussion below):

Maryland 2020 Transit Map: Smart Growth Leaders Demand Big Vision, Real $$$ // Biz Leader: Gas Tax for 100% Free Transit?

UPDATE: Some area business leaders agree with Maryland Juice. I just caught this majorly outside-the-box comment from prominent business leader Jack Garson in the The Gazette:

Jack Garson, founder of Bethesda law firm Garson Claxton and a member over the years of various state, county and regional advisory boards, said raising the gasoline tax is only fair, “so that all of the costs of driving are borne by drivers. This will increase the cost of driving to an amount that more closely approximates the true expenses created by driving....”

“But I would devote a large share to improving and constructing mass transit, especially subway systems. I would entirely eliminate the fee to users of the subways and run the trains on a 24/7 continuous basis,” Garson said.

Mass transit routes should be “dramatically extended ... This would result in increased usage, eliminate the costs associated with personnel and equipment for the collection of subway fees, [and] enhance productivity as businesses and society at large would have a new, round-the-clock means of traveling vast distances,” he said.

“It would potentially be the equivalent of a new Internet for people, not data. Free mass transit all of the time would produce all kinds of new business and new ways of doing business,” Garson said. “Similarly, the reduction in road congestion would then reduce time lost in traffic and the wear and tear on, and need for, new roads."

Maryland Juice thought this would be a good time to dust off an old map created by smart growth bloggers at Greater Greater Washington. The map was created in February of 2008, and came with this statement:

This map shows what the transportation system of the Baltimore-Washington area would look like if most of the proposed improvements are built. In particular, it includes the Silver Line to Dulles; several new infill Metro stations; turning MARC and VRE into transit-like service with frequent trains that run through from Maryland to Virginia so all commuters can reach Union Station, L'Enfant Plaza, Crystal City, and Alexandria; and light rail lines in the District, Northern Virginia, and Maryland including the Baltimore expansions that have been proposed.

In the meantime, some of these projects have moved forward (ie: the Dulles Silver Line), some are not on this map (ie: Montgomery Councilmember Marc Elrich's Countywide Bus Rapid Transit plan), and the DC Metro region is now #1 in the nation for traffic & long commutes.


VISION: DC Metro to Baltimore Transit Map (Zoom-In for Details)

It is hard to look at the future transportation goals of Maryland and not see the massive potential improvements in quality of life and the new ways we can fully harness our region's workforce and economic development potential. What are we waiting for?

Indeed, yesterday a coalition of groups from around the State banded together to push for Maryland to prioritize transit funding. The following groups issued the statement below: 1000 Friends of Maryland, Coalition for Smarter Growth, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, Prince George’s Advocates for Community-based Transit (PG ACT), Action Committee for Transit (ACT), and Red Line Now PAC.

Is Former GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Ellen Sauerbrey MD's New Anti-Smart Growth Lobbyist?

Politicians representing rural Maryland counties have their knickers atwist over Governor Martin O'Malley's new smart growth plan, dubbed simply "Plan Maryland." Maryland Juice will soon discuss the bold new initiative, but to give you a sense of the political context, note that Western Maryland counties are banding together to hire a lobbyist to fight "Plan Maryland." Two days ago Hagerstown's Herald-Mail wrote:

Concerned that a new state planning document will be used to "strong-arm" local governments, the Washington County Board of Commissioners decided Tuesday to join other Western Maryland counties in hiring a lobbyist to protect their interests....

Washington County will join Carroll, Allegany, and Frederick counties in pitching in for the lobbyist, Baker said. Garrett County opted not to contribute, he said.

Today, Maryland Juice notes that two-time GOP gubernatorial candidate Ellen Sauerbrey is now stumping against Plan Maryland. Is she the lobbyist they've hired?

Not surprising to see the GOP turn smart growth into a partisan issue. Note that the website above appears to be run by incoming Senate Minority Leader E.J. Pipkin.

Much more on Plan Maryland soon!

Action Committee for Transit's 25th Anniversary Gala // Plus, Purple Line Gets Engineering Approval (woot!)

UPDATE: The Sun reports that Baltimore's light rail Red Line proposal has also received FTA preliminary engineering approval.

Cabin John Streetcars (from Nat'l Capital Trolley Museum)

Tonight, the Action Committee for Transit (ACT) celebrates its 25th of year of aggressive advocacy for the region's bus, metro, MARC, and Amtrak riders. Check out their event invitation below, along with a quick discussion of their work -- and a flashback to Montgomery County's streetcar lines. We also discuss a key federal approval for the Purple Line. But first, a quick sidebar (sorry in advance) -- ACT also opposes MoCo's curfew proposal:

The traditional urban form of downtown Silver Spring is not an experiment that is at risk.... The renaissance of our downtowns...will fully succeed only when they are welcoming environments for everyone in the county. This requires strenuous efforts to ensure safety, but not a safety achieved by excluding one segment of the population.