MoCo residents to protest County Council ADU vote Tuesday

The Montgomery County Council will try to ram through revised Accessory Dwelling Unit zoning rules that will allow tiny homes to be constructed in backyards countywide, in many cases without requiring additional parking spaces. It is the first step in the Council's effort, driven by the developer sugar daddies who funded all nine members' 2018 campaigns, to end single-family home zoning in the County. Residents, over a thousand of whom have signed a petition opposing the ADU scheme, will protest outside the County Council building tomorrow morning, Tuesday, July 23, 2019 at 9:00 AM, at 100 Maryland Avenue in Rockville.

Councilmembers, led by Hans Riemer, plan to introduce another zoning scheme that will allow duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, boarding houses, and even assembly of single-family home lots into stack-and-pack apartment complexes, in currently single-family home neighborhoods. Too incompetent to address the County's moribund economy, failing schools, and rising violent crime, the Council's Maoist-inspired strategy is to bring down successful neighborhoods and school clusters via allowing multifamily development in every neighborhood countywide, and through forced busing of children to schools outside of their neighborhoods.

Residents who have seen the results of similar radical strategies in Seattle and San Francisco are saying, "No, thanks" to the ZTA plan. The ZTA plan will increase school overcrowding in desirable school clusters, and the ultimate multifamily rezoning will more than quadruple existing school overcrowding. Protesters will ask the Council to delay the ZTA vote tomorrow.

MoCo teachers union to protest "bullying and ineffective" Kemp Mill ES principal June 20 at 6:30 PM

UPDATE: The teacher's union has postponed tonight's rally after MCPS agreed to discuss the Kemp Mill ES situation with stakeholders.

Montgomery County's teachers union is leading a protest against Kemp Mill Elementary School Principal Dr. Bernard James, which will be attended by teachers, Kemp Mill parents, and community members, this Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at 6:30 PM at the Montgomery County Public Schools central office at 850 Hungerford Drive in Rockville. The Montgomery County Education Association calls James "bullying and ineffective."

The MCEA says Kemp Mill parents and staff have brought their concerns to MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith repeatedly, but have not received an adequate response. They say James has created "one of the worst school climates in the county," at a school with one of the highest percentages of low-income students in the county.

Kemp Mill ES has had a turbulent relationship between staff and leadership for years. Five Kemp Mill teachers and a secretary sued previous principal Floyd D. Starnes in 2012 for millions of dollars, but the harassment suit was settled out of court a year later.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY HOC EMPLOYEES STAGE PROTEST OVER LAYOFFS (PHOTO)

Fifty employees of the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission staged a protest at yesterday's HOC Commission meeting. According to the DC AFL-CIO, the workers were protesting the layoffs of 10 HOC employees.

Carlos Mellott, field representative for UFCW Local 1994, said the "inspectors are key to completing the work of the HOC. They inspect properties to ensure that they're adequately maintained and safe for residents. They have developed strong relationships with landlords and residents in the area. Not only is this a loss for HOC, it's an erosion of the quality of housing and services provided to Montgomery County's low income families."

Reportedly, the jobs are being subcontracted to the private sector. The county is facing a large budget deficit, but recently created several new executive-level positions with 6-figure salaries.

I thought this news was particularly timely, given tenant complaints regarding Charter House in Silver Spring at a recent County Council town hall meeting.

Photo submitted by Carlos Mellott: