News and Views
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Laura Stewart Misses the Point of Campaigning
Read more: Laura Stewart Misses the Point of CampaigningThe board game Game of Life as we know it today was originally published in 1960. My edition at home is from the year ca. 2000, and it certainly shows its age in terms of social norms. Nevertheless, there is one square that is as germane today as it was in 1960: Run for Mayor,…
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Will Laura Stewart Legitimize You?
Read more: Will Laura Stewart Legitimize You?On September 19th at 7pm, the Montgomery County Tax League (MCTL) will be hosting a virtual forum for candidates of the Board of Education (register here). Teaming up with MCTL are several co-sponsors: 480 Club, Gaithersburg/Germantown Chamber of Commerce, Moderately MoCo, Parents Coalition of Montgomery County, and CleanSlate MoCo. I volunteered to represent and ask…
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How optimistic can we be for school reform with “Term Limits” Boss Stein?
Read more: How optimistic can we be for school reform with “Term Limits” Boss Stein?In a video clip appearing on Montgomery County Media, incoming president of the Montgomery County Education Association (teachers’ union) David Stein delineated his responsibilities. I need to be the public face of the union…I need to be the person who is talking to MCPS, overseeing our bargaining processes, talking to our members, supervising the staff…
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Rabid Partisan David Stein, Longtime MCEA Rep, (Now MCEA President) Wants You to Know He’s “Setting Partisan Politics Aside” in Anti-Term Limits Advocacy
Read more: Rabid Partisan David Stein, Longtime MCEA Rep, (Now MCEA President) Wants You to Know He’s “Setting Partisan Politics Aside” in Anti-Term Limits AdvocacyDavid Stein, the new Montgomery County Educators Association (public school teacher’s union) President, is making some local headlines this week for putting out a statement (speaking on behalf of the MCEA membership) against “Question A”. The local ballot initiative this November, if passed, would term limit the County Exec to two terms, similar to the term…
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The Limits of Affordable Housing Initiatives—Part 2
Read more: The Limits of Affordable Housing Initiatives—Part 2Part 1 of this series summarized a few of the thoughts (out of many) presented by DC affordable-housing developer Patrick McAnaney in his extremely comprehensive series about affordable housing. We learn from McAnaney that zoning has a limited impact on the availability of affordable housing, because other factors are in play that are beyond the…
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The Limits of Affordable Housing Initiatives—Part 1
Read more: The Limits of Affordable Housing Initiatives—Part 1Today I rejoice, because I was proven wrong by someone with more wisdom and experience than I. Moments like that are as humbling as they are liberating. I’ve written quite a few posts about affordable housing, and my claim has been that the way to achieve an inventory of affordable housing is to re-zone. Throw…
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MoCo Boost “Storytellers” Video Features Jose, Is Fully in Spanish, and Doesn’t Confirm If Recipient is an American Citizen
Read more: MoCo Boost “Storytellers” Video Features Jose, Is Fully in Spanish, and Doesn’t Confirm If Recipient is an American CitizenA brief follow-up here on MoCo’s ongoing “Boost” UBI (partly paid for by you, the hardworking taxpayer or you, the business owner, or you, the public school teacher) that caught my eye as I went back to the county’s MocoBoost.org website to see if new data or – gasp- an actual report on the efficacy…
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Implementing Pre-K in Montgomery County
Read more: Implementing Pre-K in Montgomery CountyEarly child care is a remarkable industry, with entrepreneurs, providers, and customers from every demographic participating in the market. Some pre-K providers offer upscale facilities, others work out of their homes, and others work in their customers’ homes. Churches offer pre-K programs out of a sense of mission or as a way to utilize a…
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Reproductive Freedom Amendment Violates Parental Rights
Read more: Reproductive Freedom Amendment Violates Parental RightsThis election, Question 1 on the Maryland ballot asks voters to amend the Maryland Constitution with a reproductive freedom amendment. The Reproductive Freedom amendment is not what you think. Over 70% of Marylanders are pro-choice. Supporters and sponsors hoped to take advantage of that sentiment and get this amendment passed without any effort without voters…
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The New Needy in MoCo
Read more: The New Needy in MoCoToday, CE Elrich and a handful of Council Members held an event touting the new MC Groceries Program. The program seeks to provide families (noted you do not have to be a legal resident; you only have to reside in MoCo) access to shelf stable food via a partnership with Instacart. We applaud, especially during…