MoCo Planning Board Drama, Part Two
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Anonymous
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Is anyone else following the drama around the "power grab" that would allegedly give Elrich more say over the Planning Board? I guess State Sen. Ben Kramer introduced a bill at the state level that would shift the power balance away from the County Council... not really sure how that works... and all the urban planning-type people and the Council themselves of course are in outrage over it.
I have been following it on a surface level but I'm ambivalent. I do think it does look like an Elrich power grab, and I in a twisted way appreciate how it angers the people who I don't like. That doesn't mean it's a good idea. I also do kind of think that the Planning Board is due for a Draining of the Swamp considering this year's debacle with Casey Anderson & Friends, and who is to say the new council wouldn't just hire a new flock of Casey Andersons? Who knows. I just hope that whatever happens, happens, and it doesn't become the next big thing that Elrich and the Council fight about senselessly. I'd like to see both branches of government work together for once. |
Anonymous
| Did you watch the Council meeting? State Sen. Ben Kramer's appearance was ... something. |
Anonymous
So I've heard https://montgomeryperspective.com/2022/12/12/kramer-explodes-at-county-council/ |
Anonymous
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Part of the bill is a power grab.
Part of the bill updates the law to reflect that the Council has 11 members. Part of the bill — and I think a majority of the provisions — consists of ethics reforms. The reforms would end the revolving door, get the board members out of state and local political campaigns, improve transparency and accountability, and prevent the chair from personally profiting from his or her position. This is all pretty mundane stuff for a supposedly technocratic government body, but the County Council hasn’t done any of it in the century we’ve had the planning board. There is little reason to believe the county council will do it now. Casey Anderson wasn’t the board’s first scandal, nor was he the worst. It’s clearly a broken institution (in contrast to the staff, which appears to have many talented people) that needs to be reformed. Opinions differ about whether the power grab makes sense and whether someone likes or dislikes Marc Elrich seems to go a long way in informing opinions. There should be no difference of opinion on whether the second and thirds parts of the bill are worthwhile. They’re just good government. |
Anonymous
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Who believes that an unelected, legislatively appointed position should control its own police force?
The idea that this is a power grab lacks an understanding that the current arrangement provides for extremely inappropriate and unaccountable power. |
Anonymous
Evidently not unaccountable, eh? As for police forces controlled by unelected, legislatively appointed positions, how about the US Park Police, the US Postal Police, the US National Zoological Park Police, the Amtrak Police, the US Federal Reserve Police,... |
Anonymous
You don’t know that there is a democratically elected president of the United States? Seriously? |
Anonymous
| The best part is one of the new council members didn't vote with all the others. |
Anonymous
There's also a democratically elected county executive and an an eleven-member democratically elected county council. |
Anonymous
The POTUS is not democratically elected. The electors are not bound to the will of the people. |
Anonymous
You don’t understand who appoints the members of the Planning Board. They are directly appointed by the Council and the Council is responsible for oversight. It has little, if anything to do with the County Executive. It was a legislative branch agency initially formed to facilitate corruption for development companies 100 years ago. The oversight structure clearly does not work. And it has powers that it should not have that should be the domain of the government executive branch of government. There is no reason for Parks and Park Police need to be controlled by this organization and you would be hard pressed to find such an arrangement anywhere else in the country. This is obvious stuff. In addition, the County Executive should also have sole power to appoint at the very least the Board chair. If anyone wonders why the MoCo economy and development is so messed up it starts and stops with the Planning Board and MNCPPC. They have and continue to fail and the structure and lack of accountability are a big part of that. |
Anonymous
Big fan of Sayles stepping out and standing up. |
Anonymous
Zoo, Park Postal, and Federal Reserve chiefs ultimately report to people appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Amtrak has a board, whose members are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. It sounds like you’re endorsing the Kramer bill, or perhaps that you want to go further and have the executive appoint all members instead of just the chair. |
Anonymous
ALMOST right. It was actually created by a racist to perpetuate segregation. But now it must be preserved in amber at all costs because it keeps land use attorneys in business. |
Anonymous
And those land use attorneys are the most reliable political donors in the county. |