Kramer Bills - Working Group 12/20

[Anonymous]

Apparently, the bills are to be discussed at a Metro Washington Area Commision Working Group today. It might be helpful to contact the Chair, Vice-Chair, and members of the committee to voice support. In particular, the MC-PG 105-23 or The Montgomery County Planning Trust and Transparency Act of 2023.

Quote from GGW, "...would let the (county) executive appoint the Planning Board chair and make it harder for the County Council to appoint or remove Planning Board members. The bill would also require a public hearing for Planning Board appointments, something other county positions do not have."

I think that we have all learned how an unchecked council/planning board operate, so this would provide some balance and a small dose of reality to the processes of planning the future of our area. See THIVE lol.

Chair: Delegate Lesley Lopez
Vice-Chair: Delegate Long Charkoudian
Delegate Linda Foley
Delegate Marc Korman
Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apparently, the bills are to be discussed at a Metro Washington Area Commision Working Group today. It might be helpful to contact the Chair, Vice-Chair, and members of the committee to voice support. In particular, the MC-PG 105-23 or The Montgomery County Planning Trust and Transparency Act of 2023.

Quote from GGW, "...would let the (county) executive appoint the Planning Board chair and make it harder for the County Council to appoint or remove Planning Board members. The bill would also require a public hearing for Planning Board appointments, something other county positions do not have."

I think that we have all learned how an unchecked council/planning board operate, so this would provide some balance and a small dose of reality to the processes of planning the future of our area. See THIVE lol.

Chair: Delegate Lesley Lopez
Vice-Chair: Delegate Long Charkoudian
Delegate Linda Foley
Delegate Marc Korman
Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

UPDATE:

https://moco360.media/2023/02/07/deal-reached-on-effort-to-boost-transparency-in-planning-evaluate-development-review-process/?fbclid=IwAR0JwFZMunfdLpnAfIgLJuVAApnnIZFJjgWpxRjHljm4qcjwd8B9RZ_dt0k

[Anonymous]

The ethics bill got gutted and is pointless. The notion that you only have to wait a year before representing someone on a matter that you worked on as a board member is a joke. It’s the very definition of side switching and undermines trust in government. Feds have a lifetime ban on representing parties on matters they worked on while in the government. The bill also allows a member to solicit political donations from parties up until the day before an application or the day after a decision, just not the period when a decision is pending. It’s just a matter of time before the next scandal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The ethics bill got gutted and is pointless. The notion that you only have to wait a year before representing someone on a matter that you worked on as a board member is a joke. It’s the very definition of side switching and undermines trust in government. Feds have a lifetime ban on representing parties on matters they worked on while in the government. The bill also allows a member to solicit political donations from parties up until the day before an application or the day after a decision, just not the period when a decision is pending. It’s just a matter of time before the next scandal.

Do I understand correctly that they also allow the chair outside employment as long as it’s not full time? $200k per year from tax payers and that’s not enough?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ethics bill got gutted and is pointless. The notion that you only have to wait a year before representing someone on a matter that you worked on as a board member is a joke. It’s the very definition of side switching and undermines trust in government. Feds have a lifetime ban on representing parties on matters they worked on while in the government. The bill also allows a member to solicit political donations from parties up until the day before an application or the day after a decision, just not the period when a decision is pending. It’s just a matter of time before the next scandal.

Do I understand correctly that they also allow the chair outside employment as long as it’s not full time? $200k per year from tax payers and that’s not enough?

Yes, they do. With no limitation on who the employer is.