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Local Government
Latest reporting from the Local Government desk.
Local Government
View MoreMontgomery Council faces incinerator, water rate votes Tuesday
Montgomery County Council President Natali Fani-González will introduce two competing resolutions Tuesday on the Dickerson incinerator's future while the council also votes on WSSC water and sewer rate limits.
Local Government
View MoreEquity group declares 'no confidence' in MCPS before elections
The Montgomery County Education Equity Action Group issued a formal "No Confidence" statement on Oct. 23 targeting MCPS leadership, the County Council's education committee and teacher and administrator unions over persistent achievement gaps for Black students, setting an Oct. 30 deadline for a response days before the Nov. 3 school board elections.
Local Government
View MoreMCPS board hears capital budget testimony from 34 speakers
The Montgomery County Board of Education held the first of up to three public hearings on its capital budget and Capital Improvements Program on Monday, Oct. 26, drawing testimony from elected officials, union leaders and eight students as the district faces major construction delays including at Burning Tree Elementary in Bethesda.
Local Government
View MoreDOJ watchdog declines Bethesda Olympian's Reflecting Pool probe
The DOJ inspector general has declined to investigate the handling of the criminal case against Bethesda Olympian David Hearn, who was cleared of charges he damaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, with his lawyers pushing back and alleging prosecutorial misconduct including witness tampering.
Local Government
View MoreMoCo Council votes on $5K street-takeover fines Tuesday
The Montgomery County Council is set to vote Tuesday on two bills: one imposing fines up to $5,000 for street-takeover participants, and another banning landlords from using algorithmic pricing tools to set rents.
Local Government
View MoreBethesda approves 450-unit tower on Wisconsin Ave.
The Montgomery County Planning Board approved a 26-story, 450-unit residential tower at 7201 Wisconsin Ave. in downtown Bethesda, replacing a half-vacant office building under the county's expedited commercial-to-residential conversion process.
Local Government
View MoreMCPS health care fund hits $97 million deficit
Montgomery County Public Schools' Employee Benefits Fund swung from a $57 million surplus in FY2021 to a $97 million deficit by the end of FY2026, driven largely by GLP-1 drug costs projected to top $100 million this year, according to a district presentation to the Board of Education.
Local Government
View MoreFriendship Heights draft plan proposes 500-plus homes near Bethesda
A draft sector plan for Friendship Heights proposes more than 500 new housing units on the former GEICO site starting in 2027 and targets the vacant Saks Fifth Avenue building for redevelopment, though a lawsuit over building heights heads to court Oct. 19.
Local Government
View MoreUnion-backed Super PAC spends $56,000 opposing MCPS candidate Diaz
Strong Maryland, a Super PAC funded by the Maryland State Education Association and AFSCME, has spent $56,125 on ads attacking at-large school board candidate Brenda Diaz ahead of the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election.
Local Government
View MorePurple Line sets Bethesda community meeting for Oct. 28
The MTA Purple Line project is resuming its Community Advisory Team meetings this fall, with the Bethesda/Chevy Chase virtual session scheduled for Oct. 28 as the light rail line moves toward a Winter 2027 opening.
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Local Government
View MoreFani-González pushes local-only search for next police chief
Montgomery County Council President Natali Fani-González says the county should look within its own police department for a permanent chief to replace Marc Yamada, who resigned Sept. 18 after an inspector general investigation found he falsified timecards and made false statements to investigators.
Local Government
View MoreMontgomery County weighs barring former ICE agents from jobs
A Montgomery County Council committee meets Thursday, Oct. 1, to review two bills that would screen or ban former federal immigration enforcers from county employment, while also receiving a briefing on a June data breach that exposed personal information of about 7,500 firefighters and retirees.
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