Greg Visscher
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Montgomery County’s “Ethnic Advisory” Groups – Inclusion via Exclusion?
Read more: Montgomery County’s “Ethnic Advisory” Groups – Inclusion via Exclusion?Montgomery County government’s sprawling bureaucracy includes the ‘Office of Community Partnerships‘, led by Diane Vy Nguyen-Vu, who is the director. It first came on my radar as I researched Montgomery County’s “Sister Cities” non-profit. More to come on that – like how much did MoCo taxpayers spend on former CM Craig Rice (and maybe future “special…
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Seeds of Stagnation & Decline: County Executive Marc Elrich’s Early Years in Government
Read more: Seeds of Stagnation & Decline: County Executive Marc Elrich’s Early Years in GovernmentMontgomery County Executive Marc Elrich has been in public office, in either Takoma Park, MD city government or Montgomery County government, a staggering 35-plus years. That’s thirty-five, all in a row. In 2006, Elrich began his ascent in local politics, finally winning a seat on the Montgomery County Council after three previous attempts had come…
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Will Jawando Doubles Down on Conflating His Family History with Black Foundational American History
Read more: Will Jawando Doubles Down on Conflating His Family History with Black Foundational American HistoryCouncilmember Will Jawando (Democrat, At-Large) continues to use misleading language in his proclamations about America’s Black History month. As Clean Slate MoCo documented last month, the Councilmember made an obvious error in February 2022 in stating that “our ancestors” were brought “here in bondage” through the middle passage. As we noted then: His [Jawando’s] mother is…
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Marc Elrich Lauds MoCo’s Minimum Wage “Indexing”, Which Could Spur Still More Inflation
Read more: Marc Elrich Lauds MoCo’s Minimum Wage “Indexing”, Which Could Spur Still More InflationMontgomery County Executive Marc Elrich doesn’t seem to understand or even be familiar with basic cost-push inflation or wage-price spiral theory. Or, if he is familiar with Keynesian economic policy (which he seems to be, based on his rapacious desire for more government “stimulus” spending in 2020-22), CE Elrich seems to think these ideas of…
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CM Kristin Mink’s “Masks 4 America” Nonprofit Likely Contributed to Staggering Litter Problem with “COVID Trash”
Read more: CM Kristin Mink’s “Masks 4 America” Nonprofit Likely Contributed to Staggering Litter Problem with “COVID Trash”Montgomery County Councilmember Kristin Mink (Democrat, District 5) gained local and national notoriety as an “activist” and self-described “outspoken advocate for climate, immigration rights, and social justice.” In March 2020, CM Mink wrote on her blog that she “while still teaching middle school (virtually), I co-founded Masks For America, a volunteer-run nonprofit that crowdfunded, sourced,…
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CM Mink’s Senior Legislative Aid and Lead for the HHS Committee Appears to Still Be Involved with County Supported Non Profit
Read more: CM Mink’s Senior Legislative Aid and Lead for the HHS Committee Appears to Still Be Involved with County Supported Non ProfitCouncilmember Kristin Mink’s noted ‘Senior Legislative Aid’ (and lead for the HHS Committee on the County Council) along with her top aid for ‘residential tenant issues & housing code enforcement’ (per CM Mink’s own contact page) appears to still be involved with something called the ‘Montgomery County Racial Network’ (MORE), itself a “coalition of local…
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Are Taxpayer Investments in Biotech Companies Too Risky?
Read more: Are Taxpayer Investments in Biotech Companies Too Risky?Montgomery County Has Showered Millions of Taxpayer Dollars on Novavax, Company Recently Warned “Substantial Doubt Exists Regarding Our Ability to Continue as a Going Concern” Last week was a volatile one for Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Novavax, as it saw its stock price decline sharply on the back of a form 10-K filing where the firm added…
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A Quick Update on MoCo’s “Boost” No-Strings “Guaranteed Income Program
Read more: A Quick Update on MoCo’s “Boost” No-Strings “Guaranteed Income ProgramA quick update post on our last piece highlighting the (frankly outrageous) County-taxpayer sponsored “Guaranteed Income Program” pilot. We were able to hear back and get answers to some of our direct questions on how the program is being run and what kind of “reporting” taxpayers could expect in the future. The following is lifted…
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Reviewing the Board of “Independent” Montgomery Community Media (MyMCM)
Read more: Reviewing the Board of “Independent” Montgomery Community Media (MyMCM)A common originator and sharer of local news information and stories today in Montgomery County is MyMCM, or Montgomery Community Media. Interestingly enough, it sounds like Montgomery Community Television, Inc. (which runs / oversees MyMCM) was founded in 1984. When scouring the inter-webs, I found this interesting web page from 19+ years ago at montgomeryschoolsmd.org of…
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As Black History Month 2023 Draws to Close, Questionable Past Statements Made by Council Members Come Into Focus
Read more: As Black History Month 2023 Draws to Close, Questionable Past Statements Made by Council Members Come Into FocusAs the month of February draws to a close, it is important to reflect on the many contributions of foundational Black Americans, both in Montgomery County and beyond. This country (and county) wouldn’t be what it is without their tremendous contributions in the face of so much adversity, and despite past prejudices – much of…