Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Councilman Philip Andrews, a vocal opponent of the raises, was the only dissenting vote.
All but one member of the Montgomery County Council voted to approve pay raises for county government, police and fire and rescue employees Tuesday. It will be the first raise for government employees in four years. Councilman Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist 3) of Gaithersburg, was the only dissenting vote. County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) negotiated the pay increases in his $4.8 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2014 as part of new two-year contracts with employees’ unions. Fiscal 2014 begins July 1. Most county employees will receive two raises this summer: a cost-of-living increase and a step increase. A step is a pay raise for one year of service. Police officers will receive an increase equal to one-and-a-half steps and firefighters …
Friday, April 26, 2013
County Council panels vote to back pay bumps for government and public safety workers.
A freeze in cost-of-living raises for Montgomery County government and public safety employees may be thawing out. The Montgomery County Council’s Government Operations and Fiscal Policy committees voted unanimously Thursday to back a proposal to raise county employees’ salaries by up to 3.25 percent. County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) negotiated the raises as part of new two-year contracts with employees’ unions and included them as part of his $4.8 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2014, which begins July 1. If approved as part of the county budget, the 3.25 percent raise for county government workers would go into effect in September. Police officers would see a 2.1 percent bump in July. Fire and rescue personnel would see a 2.75 …
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
County government disseminates information via social media. Patch brings it to you.
The Montgomery County government has gotten with the times. Elected officials and county offices are using Twitter and Facebook to communicate. That's a smart strategy, as that's where residents spend much of their time online. Patch will look to find interesting information posted via social media and share it with you. Today, we'll start with the county's page, which lists the Twitter accounts for County Council members, county government departments and other agencies. You can choose whom you'd like to follow on Twitter, or you can monitor the whole list with a list at this link.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Storm warning lifted; SHA continues to urge caution on roads.
Update, 5 p.m.: Snow emergency responses wound down, as the National Weather Service canceled the winter storm warning for the Washington metropolitan region Wednesday afternoon. The Maryland State Highway Administration urged motorists to continue to drive with caution, especially after sundown as visibility drops and roads could freeze. SHA encouraged drivers to dial 511 or go to www.MD511.org for traffic, weather alerts and road conditions. Road conditions, live traffic cameras and a variety of information to help with travel decisions and planning are available at www.roads.maryland.gov, SHA said in a news release. The Montgomery County government said its 311 call center would close at 7 p.m. and reopen at 6 a.m. Thursday. Pepco …
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Tell us what you think.
It’s budget season in Montgomery County, and at least one local parent wants to know what county leadership is doing to protect students—protection that can’t come from armed guards and locked doors. Football season is recently concluded, hockey season is underway and sporting concussions continue to pose health risks to high school, college and pro athletes across the country. While state and county lawmakers have made strides in requiring concussion-training for high school coaches, local advocate and Patch blogger Tom Hearn says it’s not enough. Hearn, whose own son sustained a concussion playing JV football at Whitman High School in 2011, urges the county school board to include $500,000 in funding for high school athletic trainers in…
Monday, January 14, 2013
In the wake of Pepco's most recent request for permission to raise electricity rates, the county tasked an assistant county attorney to focus solely on utility issues.
Montgomery County now has an in-house attorney dedicated to utility issues. "[Lawyer] Lisa Brennan moved from the Office of Consumer Protection, where she dealt frequently with utility issues, to the Office of the County Attorney where utilities will now dominate her time," Montgomery County spokesman Patrick Lacefield told The Gazette. So far, the county has hired outside attorneys as well as using in-house ones to fight against Pepco's rate increase requests. Dedicating one in-house attorney to utility issues, rather than paying for outside counsel, should save the county some money, The Gazette reported. The county's move to consolidate its efforts to ensure that county residents are paying fair prices for quality utilities comes in …
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Whether to reserve existing lanes for buses is among the issue for planners.
On Monday, Patch gave you a chance to “Speak Out” on bus rapid transit in Montgomery County. Meanwhile, County Executive Isiah Leggett told The Washington Examiner the proposed system is too expensive. Now, planners from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission want to hear from you. Planners will present their preliminary plans for a BRT system on the county’s main roads and hear public input on the plan at three meetings around the county beginning Tuesday evening. One of the topics: Should existing travel lanes be used or are new lanes needed for the network of high-speed buses? Exhibits will be on display between 6:30 and 9 p.m., with a formal presentation at 7 p.m. each night as follows: Click here for more …
Monday, October 29, 2012
Declaration means the county could receive federal aid for storm costs.
County Executive Isiah Leggett declared a state of emergency for Montgomery County on Monday, making the county eligible for federal aid as it responds to Hurricane Sandy, a county spokeswoman said. The declaration allows the county to call upon staff to respond to the storm as needed, Mary Anderson said. “It’s mainly a human resources [measure] in terms of getting people to work,” Anderson said. “It changes pay structures and it’s also useful in seeking federal reimbursement later on." States of emergency were declared in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC. Howard County Executive Ken Ulman also signed an emergency declaration for that county. The declaration makes the county eligible for federal reimbursement for overtime hours …
Don't travel these routes.
Updated 10:05 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 30: At 8:10 a.m., Montgomery County reported that the following roads were partially or entirely closed due to flooding or downed trees or wires. The county is urging residents to avoid traveling today as wind and flooding still could create hazardous road conditions. Note: Roads may reopen faster than the county updates this list. A Patch editor reported that he traveled the length of Quince Orchard Road and Montgomery Village Avenue this morning and did not encounter any closures. If you have information about closed or reopened roads to relay to neighbors, please add it to the comments below. If you see a tree touching a power line, stay clear of the tree and call Pepco at 1-877-737-2662. Call 911 in …
Monday, October 8, 2012
What's open? What's closed? Why do we celebrate Columbus Day, anyway?
Columbus Day remembers Italian explorer Christopher Columbus’ long journey across the Atlantic Ocean to the “New World." The voyage was victorious when land was first spotted on Oct. 12, 1492. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is responsible for making the day a federal holiday in 1937. The day is also considered a celebration of Italian heritage, as well as a huge shopping day. Many banks and the U.S. Postal Service are closed today in observance of the holiday. In Montgomery County, local government offices and schools are open, though libraries are closed. Ride On and trash collection services will operate as usual today. MCPS has designated Columbus Day for schools to hold open houses, so many parents who are off work may be …
jag
11:30 am on Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Well, at least you got the part about you being a dick right. All of those "parasit[ic]" police officers and fire fighters and teachers and domestic abuse counselors and code enforcement personnel and librarians and public defenders, etc. that you're *obviously* better and more important than are the ones who haven't seen an increase in several years (a period when incomes have in fact risen in … more ›