We are NEVER going back until covid is 100% gone - MCPS has no leadership

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe people are making excuses for why MCPS is not upgrading HVAC/filter systems. What's so wasteful or controversial about doing so?

Because in many schools it’s not as simple as putting in a new unit

Then what is it? Are they having evaluations done? Can they change filters where it does make sense?

You clearly have no clue the conditions at some schools or know about hvac. No it’s not just changing filters.

You are right...I do not. That's not the point, though. What steps, if any, are THEY taking in this area?

Teachers have been demanding better ventilation for years. I teach in a DCC school with a physical plant in horrific shape and we have been asking for better ventilation for at least 5 years. MCPS said no money then. I seriously doubt there’s money now.

So their plan for return to the classroom is to wait for a miracle? This is why they don’t publish any detailed plans? So when people say MCPS is too big, they really mean they’re just too broke...

What else can they do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe people are making excuses for why MCPS is not upgrading HVAC/filter systems. What's so wasteful or controversial about doing so?

Because in many schools it’s not as simple as putting in a new unit

Then what is it? Are they having evaluations done? Can they change filters where it does make sense?

You clearly have no clue the conditions at some schools or know about hvac. No it’s not just changing filters.

You are right...I do not. That's not the point, though. What steps, if any, are THEY taking in this area?

Teachers have been demanding better ventilation for years. I teach in a DCC school with a physical plant in horrific shape and we have been asking for better ventilation for at least 5 years. MCPS said no money then. I seriously doubt there’s money now.

So their plan for return to the classroom is to wait for a miracle? This is why they don’t publish any detailed plans? So when people say MCPS is too big, they really mean they’re just too broke...

What else can they do?

The article above said Elrich has paid $50M to unions for hazard pay, which will balloon up to $72M by the end of the year. And little if any of this may get reimbursed. So he couldn't find millions to begin outfitting schools to facilitate a return? When it's time to start phasing in, the teachers are going to ask what's been done to improve safety. And MCPS will say nothing, that they're still looking for funding to buy tape to mark one-way hallways. And then nothing will happen, and county leadership and posters here will blame nail salons. The leadership failure is just off the charts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe people are making excuses for why MCPS is not upgrading HVAC/filter systems. What's so wasteful or controversial about doing so?

Because in many schools it’s not as simple as putting in a new unit

Then what is it? Are they having evaluations done? Can they change filters where it does make sense?

You clearly have no clue the conditions at some schools or know about hvac. No it’s not just changing filters.

You are right...I do not. That's not the point, though. What steps, if any, are THEY taking in this area?

Teachers have been demanding better ventilation for years. I teach in a DCC school with a physical plant in horrific shape and we have been asking for better ventilation for at least 5 years. MCPS said no money then. I seriously doubt there’s money now.

So their plan for return to the classroom is to wait for a miracle? This is why they don’t publish any detailed plans? So when people say MCPS is too big, they really mean they’re just too broke...

What else can they do?

The article above said Elrich has paid $50M to unions for hazard pay, which will balloon up to $72M by the end of the year. And little if any of this may get reimbursed. So he couldn't find millions to begin outfitting schools to facilitate a return? When it's time to start phasing in, the teachers are going to ask what's been done to improve safety. And MCPS will say nothing, that they're still looking for funding to buy tape to mark one-way hallways. And then nothing will happen, and county leadership and posters here will blame nail salons. The leadership failure is just off the charts.

DP

This is all so completely true. The county leadership is horrendous.

But watch on Election Day. Voters will continue voting for the SAME nonsense. It truly makes no sense in such a reportedly ‘educated’ county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe people are making excuses for why MCPS is not upgrading HVAC/filter systems. What's so wasteful or controversial about doing so?

Because in many schools it’s not as simple as putting in a new unit

Then what is it? Are they having evaluations done? Can they change filters where it does make sense?

You clearly have no clue the conditions at some schools or know about hvac. No it’s not just changing filters.

You are right...I do not. That's not the point, though. What steps, if any, are THEY taking in this area?

Teachers have been demanding better ventilation for years. I teach in a DCC school with a physical plant in horrific shape and we have been asking for better ventilation for at least 5 years. MCPS said no money then. I seriously doubt there’s money now.

So their plan for return to the classroom is to wait for a miracle? This is why they don’t publish any detailed plans? So when people say MCPS is too big, they really mean they’re just too broke...

Well, according to that WaPo article above, there seems to be plenty of money. It’s just going to different people/things.

I don’t think the county would continue paying employees, etc if there was not enough money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe people are making excuses for why MCPS is not upgrading HVAC/filter systems. What's so wasteful or controversial about doing so?

Because in many schools it’s not as simple as putting in a new unit

Then what is it? Are they having evaluations done? Can they change filters where it does make sense?

You clearly have no clue the conditions at some schools or know about hvac. No it’s not just changing filters.

You are right...I do not. That's not the point, though. What steps, if any, are THEY taking in this area?

Teachers have been demanding better ventilation for years. I teach in a DCC school with a physical plant in horrific shape and we have been asking for better ventilation for at least 5 years. MCPS said no money then. I seriously doubt there’s money now.

So their plan for return to the classroom is to wait for a miracle? This is why they don’t publish any detailed plans? So when people say MCPS is too big, they really mean they’re just too broke...

Well, according to that WaPo article above, there seems to be plenty of money. It’s just going to different people/things.

I don’t think the county would continue paying employees, etc if there was not enough money.

How can a county this rich with such high tax rates not have money to upgrade HVAC systems? The complete executive failure is just unconscionable. How do people think this is okay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Broseph - not fox news. Right there in the WaPO. dude has no idea what he's doing. He was banking on reimbursement from FEMA. He's got 183 million in money to disburse but can't figure out how to do it.

Its actually pretty big local news. I'm surprised you weren't aware. Try to keep up

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/coronavirus-hazard-pay/2020/10/13/3106ec14-0cf1-11eb-8a35-237ef1eb2ef7_story.html

I don't know if you read the article you linked to, because that's not what it says.

By
Rebecca Tan
Oct. 14, 2020 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Maryland’s largest county has distributed about $50 million in hazard pay to essential workers risking exposure during the coronavirus pandemic, even as other jurisdictions have taken steps to curtail such payments or offered far less.

Montgomery County employees since March 29 have been able to claim an additional salary of up to $800 per two-week pay period if they perform “front-facing” essential services, such as policing, firefighting or working on public transit.

Hazard pay is $350 per two-week period in neighboring Prince George’s County, $250 in Anne Arundel and $200 in Baltimore County. The District suspended its hazard pay program July 25, after the city entered Phase 2 of its reopening plan, and the state of Maryland has curtailed most of its extra payments.

As of September, Montgomery had distributed $49.2 million in hazard pay. If current policies persist, that amount will reach $72 million by the end of the year, according to a recent memo to the Montgomery County Council.

But as the pandemic marches into its eighth month, with job losses and business closures cutting into tax revenue and boosting the need for social services, some lawmakers say they aren’t sure the wealthy suburb of 1 million can afford such largesse.

“What is your plan here? How do you envision the county paying for this?” council member Hans Riemer (D-At Large) asked Chief Administrative Officer Richard S. Madaleno Jr. in a hearing Tuesday. “It seems to me that this is a huge gamble that may end up as a major fiscal problem.”

“I’m glad [county workers] are getting hazard pay,” the council’s vice president, Tom Hucker (D-District 5), said in an interview before the hearing. “But it’s a real cost to the county at a time when there’s just enormous drains to our resources.”

Union leaders, who have been close allies of County Executive Marc Elrich (D), say the extra pay is a necessary expense in a county where almost 24,000 people have tested positive for the deadly virus, including over 1,200 county government employees.

“Police, firefighters and public employees every day go out and risk their lives to keep their county running,” said Scott Treibitz, a spokesman for the county government’s three main unions. “The idea that we are not in a hazardous situation anymore is just not true.”

According to an agreement Elrich negotiated in April with the unions — the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1664, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1994 (MCGEO) — hazard pay is supposed to continue for essential workers until Maryland’s state of emergency is lifted.

Montgomery approves $5.9 billion budget that maintains ‘continuity of operations’

Since the summer, many large retailers, hospitals and government agencies across the country have eliminated the pay raises they gave employees at the start of the pandemic.

In the Washington metro area, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties in Virginia never instituted pandemic-related hazard pay programs, though some distributed one-off bonuses to front-line workers. The District paid some of its employees $14 extra per day but halted the payments in July. Prince George’s distributed $12 million in hazard pay to employees from March to July and is evaluating whether it should continue, a spokeswoman said.

Maryland stopped paying extra salary to thousands of state employees on Sept. 11, with state officials saying at the time that there is “less of a need” for the extra pay given that more people are returning to in-person work. Only employees working in a designated coronavirus quarantine area — such as in detention centers — still receive a $5.13-per-hour “response pay” bonus.

At the hearing Tuesday, council member Andrew Friedson (D-District 1) grilled Madaleno on Elrich’s plans to afford the government’s generous program, especially given the revenue shortfalls that the county stands to face because of pandemic shutdowns.

Elrich aides have previously said they expected the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reimburse up to 75 percent of the costs. But based on recently updated federal guidelines, “it is likely that the county will need to cover much more than 25 percent of the total cost of the pay differential,” council staff members wrote in their report.

Montgomery’s head of emergency management, Earl Stoddard, said the application process for reimbursement has been unexpectedly complex and slow; as of this week, the county has received approval for only $20,000 in FEMA reimbursement. The county is preparing to submit a request for an additional $24 million in reimbursements, but that is largely for costs associated with protective equipment and other goods, not hazard pay, Stoddard said.

Madaleno said the county government “will be working toward making alterations” to the agreements signed with unions but noted that emergency pay is written into their contracts.

Lawmakers on Tuesday also slammed the Elrich administration for its slow rollout of several county relief programs. The council has appropriated millions of dollars in federal funding and drawn down on its general reserves to finance initiatives meant to help residents through the pandemic, from rental assistance to business grants. But implementation of some programs has been slow, the same council report revealed.

Of the $20 million that was approved in July for a rental assistance program, for example, only $600,000 — less than 3 percent — had been distributed as of Sept. 30. While the county received more than 2,200 applications for rental assistance by the end of last month, it issued only 145 checks.

“There’s no excuse for why this money has not been out there,” said council member Nancy Navarro (D-District 4).Officials said that if programs are not implemented faster, the county may lose federal funding for them.

“The process has been unacceptable. . . . I share your frustration over this,” Madaleno told lawmakers. He said the county has hired new consultants and redirected seven full-time employees to work on federal reimbursement applications.

It literally says it right there in bold. He was expecting more federal reimbursement but he was wrong. so he approved this extra money, thinking the fed will pick up the tab, but he was wrong. Why is this hard to understand?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

How can a county this rich with such high tax rates not have money to upgrade HVAC systems? The complete executive failure is just unconscionable. How do people think this is okay?

Montgomery County doesn't have "such high tax rates."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

DP

This is all so completely true. The county leadership is horrendous.

But watch on Election Day. Voters will continue voting for the SAME nonsense. It truly makes no sense in such a reportedly ‘educated’ county.

This is the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools forum.

In Montgomery County, the county-government offices were on the ballot in 2018 and will be on the ballot again in 2022. Nobody is voting for county-government offices in this election.

Maybe people in Volgograd don't know that, but people in Montgomery County do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

How can a county this rich with such high tax rates not have money to upgrade HVAC systems? The complete executive failure is just unconscionable. How do people think this is okay?

Montgomery County doesn't have "such high tax rates."

LOL you must have moved here from CA, NJ or NY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

DP

This is all so completely true. The county leadership is horrendous.

But watch on Election Day. Voters will continue voting for the SAME nonsense. It truly makes no sense in such a reportedly ‘educated’ county.

This is the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools forum.

In Montgomery County, the county-government offices were on the ballot in 2018 and will be on the ballot again in 2022. Nobody is voting for county-government offices in this election.

Maybe people in Volgograd don't know that, but people in Montgomery County do.

That's not entirely true. You're correct that we can't boot out Comrade Elrich, but we can try to break up their lower county monopoly by voting Yes to D, and try to give this county fair representation.

We can also try to hold them accountable for their foolish decisions by voting yes on B. It's easy for Elrich to approve 50 million in hazard pay when he knows he can easily tax us more. So we need to consider both questions A & B. B is more restrictive, and may not be wise given the hole we have to dig out. But at the very least, we should enact A.

So, don't be so dismissive about this local election. We still have the opportunity to vote for more of the same, or for change and accountability in our local leadership.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Broseph - not fox news. Right there in the WaPO. dude has no idea what he's doing. He was banking on reimbursement from FEMA. He's got 183 million in money to disburse but can't figure out how to do it.

Its actually pretty big local news. I'm surprised you weren't aware. Try to keep up

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/coronavirus-hazard-pay/2020/10/13/3106ec14-0cf1-11eb-8a35-237ef1eb2ef7_story.html

I don't know if you read the article you linked to, because that's not what it says.

By
Rebecca Tan
Oct. 14, 2020 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Maryland’s largest county has distributed about $50 million in hazard pay to essential workers risking exposure during the coronavirus pandemic, even as other jurisdictions have taken steps to curtail such payments or offered far less.

Montgomery County employees since March 29 have been able to claim an additional salary of up to $800 per two-week pay period if they perform “front-facing” essential services, such as policing, firefighting or working on public transit.

Hazard pay is $350 per two-week period in neighboring Prince George’s County, $250 in Anne Arundel and $200 in Baltimore County. The District suspended its hazard pay program July 25, after the city entered Phase 2 of its reopening plan, and the state of Maryland has curtailed most of its extra payments.

As of September, Montgomery had distributed $49.2 million in hazard pay. If current policies persist, that amount will reach $72 million by the end of the year, according to a recent memo to the Montgomery County Council.

But as the pandemic marches into its eighth month, with job losses and business closures cutting into tax revenue and boosting the need for social services, some lawmakers say they aren’t sure the wealthy suburb of 1 million can afford such largesse.

“What is your plan here? How do you envision the county paying for this?” council member Hans Riemer (D-At Large) asked Chief Administrative Officer Richard S. Madaleno Jr. in a hearing Tuesday. “It seems to me that this is a huge gamble that may end up as a major fiscal problem.”

“I’m glad [county workers] are getting hazard pay,” the council’s vice president, Tom Hucker (D-District 5), said in an interview before the hearing. “But it’s a real cost to the county at a time when there’s just enormous drains to our resources.”

Union leaders, who have been close allies of County Executive Marc Elrich (D), say the extra pay is a necessary expense in a county where almost 24,000 people have tested positive for the deadly virus, including over 1,200 county government employees.

“Police, firefighters and public employees every day go out and risk their lives to keep their county running,” said Scott Treibitz, a spokesman for the county government’s three main unions. “The idea that we are not in a hazardous situation anymore is just not true.”

According to an agreement Elrich negotiated in April with the unions — the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1664, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1994 (MCGEO) — hazard pay is supposed to continue for essential workers until Maryland’s state of emergency is lifted.

Montgomery approves $5.9 billion budget that maintains ‘continuity of operations’

Since the summer, many large retailers, hospitals and government agencies across the country have eliminated the pay raises they gave employees at the start of the pandemic.

In the Washington metro area, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties in Virginia never instituted pandemic-related hazard pay programs, though some distributed one-off bonuses to front-line workers. The District paid some of its employees $14 extra per day but halted the payments in July. Prince George’s distributed $12 million in hazard pay to employees from March to July and is evaluating whether it should continue, a spokeswoman said.

Maryland stopped paying extra salary to thousands of state employees on Sept. 11, with state officials saying at the time that there is “less of a need” for the extra pay given that more people are returning to in-person work. Only employees working in a designated coronavirus quarantine area — such as in detention centers — still receive a $5.13-per-hour “response pay” bonus.

At the hearing Tuesday, council member Andrew Friedson (D-District 1) grilled Madaleno on Elrich’s plans to afford the government’s generous program, especially given the revenue shortfalls that the county stands to face because of pandemic shutdowns.

Elrich aides have previously said they expected the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reimburse up to 75 percent of the costs. But based on recently updated federal guidelines, “it is likely that the county will need to cover much more than 25 percent of the total cost of the pay differential,” council staff members wrote in their report.

Montgomery’s head of emergency management, Earl Stoddard, said the application process for reimbursement has been unexpectedly complex and slow; as of this week, the county has received approval for only $20,000 in FEMA reimbursement. The county is preparing to submit a request for an additional $24 million in reimbursements, but that is largely for costs associated with protective equipment and other goods, not hazard pay, Stoddard said.

Madaleno said the county government “will be working toward making alterations” to the agreements signed with unions but noted that emergency pay is written into their contracts.

Lawmakers on Tuesday also slammed the Elrich administration for its slow rollout of several county relief programs. The council has appropriated millions of dollars in federal funding and drawn down on its general reserves to finance initiatives meant to help residents through the pandemic, from rental assistance to business grants. But implementation of some programs has been slow, the same council report revealed.

Of the $20 million that was approved in July for a rental assistance program, for example, only $600,000 — less than 3 percent — had been distributed as of Sept. 30. While the county received more than 2,200 applications for rental assistance by the end of last month, it issued only 145 checks.

“There’s no excuse for why this money has not been out there,” said council member Nancy Navarro (D-District 4).Officials said that if programs are not implemented faster, the county may lose federal funding for them.

“The process has been unacceptable. . . . I share your frustration over this,” Madaleno told lawmakers. He said the county has hired new consultants and redirected seven full-time employees to work on federal reimbursement applications.

It literally says it right there in bold. He was expecting more federal reimbursement but he was wrong. so he approved this extra money, thinking the fed will pick up the tab, but he was wrong. Why is this hard to understand?

The bold is extraordinarily poor leadership. He spent money he didn’t have but expected to have. FEMA reimbursement has ALWAYS been difficult. Why didn’t he know that or plan contingencies around? MCPS has no chance of going back because of complete abdication of leadership responsibility (which gets cheered on here incredibly).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

That's not entirely true. You're correct that we can't boot out Comrade Elrich, but we can try to break up their lower county monopoly by voting Yes to D, and try to give this county fair representation.

We can also try to hold them accountable for their foolish decisions by voting yes on B. It's easy for Elrich to approve 50 million in hazard pay when he knows he can easily tax us more. So we need to consider both questions A & B. B is more restrictive, and may not be wise given the hole we have to dig out. But at the very least, we should enact A.

So, don't be so dismissive about this local election. We still have the opportunity to vote for more of the same, or for change and accountability in our local leadership.

Break up the "lower county monopoly" by voting for the county ballot measure that's funded by real estate developers in Bethesda?

And "hold them accountable for their foolish decisions" by voting for the county ballot measure that's proposed by Robin Ficker?

How dumb do you think we are?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

That's not entirely true. You're correct that we can't boot out Comrade Elrich, but we can try to break up their lower county monopoly by voting Yes to D, and try to give this county fair representation.

We can also try to hold them accountable for their foolish decisions by voting yes on B. It's easy for Elrich to approve 50 million in hazard pay when he knows he can easily tax us more. So we need to consider both questions A & B. B is more restrictive, and may not be wise given the hole we have to dig out. But at the very least, we should enact A.

So, don't be so dismissive about this local election. We still have the opportunity to vote for more of the same, or for change and accountability in our local leadership.

Break up the "lower county monopoly" by voting for the county ballot measure that's funded by real estate developers in Bethesda?

And "hold them accountable for their foolish decisions" by voting for the county ballot measure that's proposed by Robin Ficker?

How dumb do you think we are?

So you’re saying that MC only gets awful choices at all levels?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

That's not entirely true. You're correct that we can't boot out Comrade Elrich, but we can try to break up their lower county monopoly by voting Yes to D, and try to give this county fair representation.

We can also try to hold them accountable for their foolish decisions by voting yes on B. It's easy for Elrich to approve 50 million in hazard pay when he knows he can easily tax us more. So we need to consider both questions A & B. B is more restrictive, and may not be wise given the hole we have to dig out. But at the very least, we should enact A.

So, don't be so dismissive about this local election. We still have the opportunity to vote for more of the same, or for change and accountability in our local leadership.

Break up the "lower county monopoly" by voting for the county ballot measure that's funded by real estate developers in Bethesda?

And "hold them accountable for their foolish decisions" by voting for the county ballot measure that's proposed by Robin Ficker?

How dumb do you think we are?

I suppose that's the beauty of democracy. As someone that lives upcounty, I am voting Yes on D, so that I can have the same representation as someone that lives in the lower county.

And speaking of how dumb you are, you entirely missed the point of my post. I was highlighting that even though we can't vote out Elrich, we still have the opportunity to effect change in our local election. Questions A-D show that.

You suggest to the previous poster that they must be from Russia because they suggested that the local election will still yield the same results. Your response was that they were a troll cause Elrich isn't on the ballot. You're wrong. Even though Elrich isnt on the ballot, relevant issues about how he is allowed to operate are. And if A or B is passed, he will have to change how he operates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I suppose that's the beauty of democracy. As someone that lives upcounty, I am voting Yes on D, so that I can have the same representation as someone that lives in the lower county.

And speaking of how dumb you are, you entirely missed the point of my post. I was highlighting that even though we can't vote out Elrich, we still have the opportunity to effect change in our local election. Questions A-D show that.

You suggest to the previous poster that they must be from Russia because they suggested that the local election will still yield the same results. Your response was that they were a troll cause Elrich isn't on the ballot. You're wrong. Even though Elrich isnt on the ballot, relevant issues about how he is allowed to operate are. And if A or B is passed, he will have to change how he operates.

You already have it.