Councilmember Trachtenberg Speaks to the Montgomery County Commission on People with Disabilities

Councilmember Trachtenberg was the guest at last evening’s meeting of the Montgomery County Commission on People with Disabilities that took place at the Executive Office Building (EOB). The discussion focused on the current budget crisis and the potential cuts to services and how more needed to be done to address the unique needs of this community.

Two areas that were mentioned were the transportation challenges and the need for developers to do a better job of accommodating the physical challenges that exist for people with a wide range of disabilities. The Commission voted unanimously in favor of the proposed Montgomery County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Transport fee.

For more information of the Montgomery County Commission on People with Disabilities and their work, click here.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee Meeting on FY 11 Operating Budget

The Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee, on which Councilmember Trachtenberg serves, will meet this afternoon at 2pm in the Third Floor Council Conference Room to discuss two items in the FY 11 Operating budget:

• Public health services (continued from April 12th)
• Aging and disabilities services.

Those expected for this worksession:
Uma Ahluwalia, Director, Department of Health and Human Services
Dr. Ulder Tillman, Health Officer and Chief of Public Health Services
John Kenney, Chief, Aging and Disabilities Services
Kim Mayo, DHHS Management and Budget
Beryl Feinberg, Office of Management and Budget
Pooja Bharadwaja, Office ofManagement and Budget
Trudye-Ann Durace, Office of Management and Budget

This worksession will be televised live on County Cable Montgomery (Channel 6 on Comcast or 30 on RCN and Verizon).

Please contact Saschane Stephenson, Legislative Aide for Health and Human Services, at 240-777-7963 (direct dial) or saschane.stephenson@montgomerycountymd.gov with any questions regarding this HHS Committee session.

MFP Committee Approves Operating Budgets

The Management and Fiscal Policy (MFP) Committee, Chaired by Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg, met on Wednesday, April 14th at 2 pm to discuss the FY11 Operating Budget. Specifically, the Committee considered the budgets for Office of Management and Budget; Finance, Risk Management, and NDAs for Risk Management, Working Families Income Supplement, State Property Tax Services, and Restricted Donations; Debt Service and NDAs: Grants to Municipalities in Lieu of Shares Tax, Future Federal/State/Other Grants, Takoma Park Police Rebate, Municipal Tax Duplication. The MFP Committee unanimously approved all the operating budgets discussed during this meeting.

Please contact Laurie Mintzer Edberg, Director of Management and Fiscal Policy, at 240-777-7948 (direct dial) or laurie.edberg@montgomerycountymd.gov with any questions regarding this MFP Committee session.

Councilmember Trachtenberg Briefs Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce Infrastructure and Land Use Committee

Councilmember Trachtenberg briefed the Infrastructure and Land Use Committee of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce on issues related to the FY10 fiscal situation and the County Executive’s Recommended Operating Budget for FY11 at a morning meeting yesterday in Rockville.

Among the topics discussed were the County Executive’s Recommended FY11 Operating Budget, the FY10 Savings Plans, current revenue write-downs, and the status of the County’s bond rating. Councilmember Trachtenberg also discussed recent Council action regarding the White Flint Sector Plan and the Great Seneca Science Corridor Master Plan (formerly the Gaithersburg West Master Plan).

African American Advisory Committee Welcomes Councilmember Trachtenberg

Councilmember Trachtenberg was warmly welcomed by members of Montgomery County’s African American Advisory Committee at its regular meeting in the Executive Office Building in Rockville.

At the meeting, Councilmember Trachtenberg reported in-depth on recent developments related to the County’s serious fiscal conditions, commenting on the FY11 budget gap, FY10 savings plans, State aid cuts, recent revenue writedowns, and unexpected increases in expenditures. She also discussed aspects of the County Executive’s recommended FY11 Operating Budget, including compensation and benefits issues, the need to replenish the revenue stabilization fund, and government restructuring efforts. Councilmember commented in detail on elements of the Advisory Committee’s budget recommendations to the County Executive that were transmitted in January 2010.

In the question and answer period, members of the Committee discussed a range of issues including establishing priorities for health and human services programs, outreach to faith-based communities, and improving communication and collaboration with Montgomery County’s state delegation.

Our Chief of Staff, Alan Bowser, who is a member of the African American Advisory Committee, attended the meeting with Councilmember Trachtenberg.

Councilmember Trachtenberg In the "Council Close Up" Program

Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg stopped by the County Cable Montgomery studios this morning to tape an edition of the Council Close Up with host Susan Kenedy.

Councilmember Trachtenberg joined Dr. Sheryl Brissett-Chapman, Ed.D, ACSW, and Executive Director of the National Center for Children and Families and Chief Deputy Sheriff Darren Popkin for a roundtable discussion about the Montgomery County Family Justice Center (FJC) and the critical work being done at this one-stop center to help families dealing with the devastating effects of domestic violence.

Councilmember Trachtenberg made the point that this is an issue that affects everyone’s life, either personally or and through knowing a friend or family member secretly dealing this with private physical and emotional abuse. Dr. Brisset-Chapman added that the children exposed to this situation will often go on to abuse their own children and violently act out in society as well. So, since domestic violence touches everyone in one way or another, it is up to all of us to do what we can to find ways to bring and end to the violence.

For more information about County Cable Montgomery (CCM) and/or this Council Close Up program, click here.

Management and Fiscal Policy (MFP) Committee Meeting Tomorrow 4/15

The Management and Fiscal Policy (MFP) Committee, Chaired by Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg, will meet on Thursday, April 15th at 9:30 am to discuss the following agenda items:

Department of Technology Services
NDA: Interagency Technology Policy and Coordination Committee (ITPCC)
NDA: Desktop Computer Modernization

The meeting will take place in the third floor conference room of the County Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Avenue in Rockville. Please contact Laurie Mintzer Edberg, Director of Management and Fiscal Policy, at 240-777-7948 (direct dial) or Laurie.Edberg@montgomerycountymd.gov with any questions regarding this MFP Committee session.

Councilmember Trachtenberg Meets with the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce

This morning Councilmember Trachtenberg met with the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce(GGCC) as part of their Legislative Speaker Series which took place at the GGCC offices and gave a very sober assessment of the deepening fiscal challenges facing the county.

As the Chair of the Management and Fiscal Policy (MFP) she was able to provide the GGCC members with a reality check as to the need for a real restructuring of county government and the near-term need to do what’s necessary to maintain the county’s AAA Bond rating.

She was also joined by Councilmembers Leventhal and Elrich who also offered sobering comments about the climate in which we now find ourselves. Councilmember Trachtenberg stated that one critical key to maintaining the AAA Bond rating is going to be the expansion of jobs and tax revenues that the White Flint and Great Seneca Science Corridor Plans (the latter formerly known as the Gaithersburg West Master Plan) will be able to provide for Montgomery County in the years ahead.

Councilmember Trachtenberg encouraged the members of the business community to stay in touch with the Council and provide their ideas and suggestions as these various economic plans unfold.

For more information about the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber contact: Marilyn Balcombe, President/CEO; Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce, 4 Professional Drive, Suite 132, Gaithersburg, MD 20879; 301-840-1400 x15
Email: malcombe@ggchamber.org ; http://www.ggchamber.org/.

Statement of Montgomery County Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg On the Great Seneca Science Corridor Master Plan

Councilmember Trachtenberg adds language strengthening community engagement and health impact assessment in the newly named “Great Seneca Science Corridor Master Plan” formally known as the “Gaithersburg West Master Plan”

I am pleased that a majority of my County Council colleagues have today expressed support for the newly named “Great Seneca Science Corridor Master Plan.” With their approval, and with this plan, Montgomery County is poised to move into a bright future of technological innovation, economic growth, and environmental sustainability.

In the Great Seneca Science Corridor Master Plan, I believe that we have a plan that balances the growth we need with the quality of life we want; a plan that provides for important community amenities such as parks, walking trails, bikeways, athletic fields, and green spaces; and a plan that protects the environment, preserves our cultural and historic resources, and which, importantly, protects community health. And I believe that we have a plan that supports a community process that respects neighbors and neighborhoods, and the independent municipalities in the County.

I have worked hard to try to meet with, to hear and, importantly, to listen to the broadest range of stakeholders in the Great Seneca Science Corridor planning process. I have met with the civic community, and with the Mayors and Councils of Gaithersburg and Rockville. I have had numerous meetings with the Planning Board Chair and the Director of the Planning Department. I have had almost daily conversations with my Council colleagues.

As a consequence of these conversations, we now have a plan for the future development of the “Great Seneca Science Corridor” plan area that strikes a good balance between growth and quality of life.

Montgomery County needs a long term vision of economic growth. As a County, and as one who has been charged as Chair of the Council’s Management and Fiscal Policy Committee to be a steward of our financial health, we know the importance of devising and implementing a fiscal plan which will provide opportunities for growth, new jobs, and new and growing tax revenue in the future.

We can not stand back and hope that new jobs will just come to Montgomery County; we need to be proactive in our efforts to attract new capital. We need to be proactive in creating an environment of innovation, throughout the County, around life sciences and biotech, clean energy, and other industries.

I want to extend my thanks to all my colleagues and, in particular, the perseverance and diplomacy of Councilmembers Knapp and Andrews throughout this long process. I would also like to commend and thank all of the County Council staff, community groups, individual community members, and the university system representatives. I believe that this master plan is an integral part of our destiny as a County. The success of this plan is vital to our success as a County, in terms of not only providing services, but the legacy that we leave our children. Again I thank my colleagues, and now onto the next challenge of balancing this difficult budget.

Management and Fiscal Policy (MFP) Committee Meeting Tomorrow 4/14

The Management and Fiscal Policy (MFP) Committee, Chaired by Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg, will meet on Wednesday, April 14th at 2 pm to discuss the FY11 Operating Budget. Specifically, the Committee will consider the Office of Management and Budget, Finance, Risk Management, and NDAs for Risk Management, Working Families Income Supplement, State Property Tax Services, and Restricted Donations, Debt Service and NDAs: Grants to Municipalities in Lieu of Shares, Tax Services, and Restricted Donations. The meeting will take place in the third floor conference room of the County Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Avenue in Rockville. Please note that this meeting was postponed from Monday, April 12th.

Please contact Laurie Mintzer Edberg, Director of Management and Fiscal Policy, at 240-777-7948 (direct dial) or Laurie.Edberg@montgomerycountymd.gov with any questions regarding this MFP Committee session.

Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg Meets with Middle East American Advisory Group

Councilmember Trachtenberg met with the members of the Middle East American Advisory Group (MEAAG) at their regular meeting last evening. This is a monthly meeting that takes place on the second Monday of every month in the Office of Community Partnerships located at 255 Rockville Pike, Suite 102.

The Councilmember gave the group a very sober update on the deepening economic crisis and told them that while this is indeed a very challenging time it also presents the Council and County Government with a real opportunity to find more efficient and creative ways to run county government in the years ahead. She said that these challenges are not likely to end until 2014. However, she reassured the group that both the County Executive and the County Council still make Education; Public Safety and Social Services to the most vulnerable their top priority and will do everything possible to protect those areas when considering how and where to make cuts to the budget.
During a Q&A period she was asked to give a sense of where Montgomery County stands in comparison to other jurisdictions to which she responded that while Montgomery County is currently facing the most serious crisis we’ve ever seen that our unemployment numbers and rates of home foreclosures are far below what most other municipalities are dealing with and that because of that our recovery is likely to also happen sooner than in other parts of the country.

For more information about the Middle Eastern American Advisory Group, click here.

Health and Human Services Committee – Report on Worksession

The Health and Human Services Committee met yesterday, in the first of several committee worksessions deliberating County Executive Leggett’s funding recommendations for the HHS department and partner organizations. For FY11 the County Executive is recommending an appropriation of $246, 759, 450 for DHHS, which represents an overall reduction of about 8% from the FY10 approved budget.

At this session, the Committee’s discussions examined details representing the proposed 13.7% reduction in HHS Administration and Support Services, and included:

• Transfer of staff to the MC311 Call Center
• Changes in general funding and award dollars to programs and initiatives under the Office of Community Affairs—including general health outreach, several ethnic health programs/initiatives; and an after-school program in Rosemary Hills.

During the session, Councilmember Trachtenberg said “We are in a very challenging period and in a traumatic environment in which we must focus on the delivery of services to the most vulnerable. These are not strangers—they are our neighbors, our friends and our family members.” Councilmember Trachtenberg also expressed concerns about the likely disenfranchisement of those served by mental health and disability service agencies; and additionally joined colleagues in tabling several items for reconciliation.

The details of the proposed budget recommendations can be found in the April 12th Committee packet. A summary of determinations will be made available by Council staff. The Committee will continue its discussions on remaining items for the Department of Health and Human Services at the next committee session on Thursday April 15th at 2PM.