Put on a few holiday pounds this time of year?
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (Democrat, 20+ years in local politics), wants you to know:
“We are pleased to be offering this service free to our residents in 2023,” said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. “As we head into the new year and many are renewing their fitness goals, I encourage our County residents to take advantage of these great spaces. Make sure to head to a community recreation center near you to check out all they have to offer. Thank you to the team at Montgomery County Recreation for helping make this happen.”
The service isn’t “free” of course. There is no such thing as a free lunch Marc!
But, okay, kudos. We get some free gym time. Maybe. Hopefully you are close enough to a County Recreation Center to take advantage.
Curiously, in Olney, MD the Olney “Swim Center” is called an Aquatics Facility (but has a gym / weight room and fitness area) and thus does not qualify as a “free pass place”, but the new Silver Spring “Recreation and Aquatic Center” would seem to qualify as a place / gym / weigh room that could be used for free. Very confusing.
Maybe Mr. Elrich is concerned about rising obesity in Montgomery County? It isn’t like his Planning Commission compatriots ever cordoned off parks and took down outdoor basketball hoops, right?
This week, Casey Anderson, Chairman of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission posted photos on his personal Facebook page. They showed Montgomery Parks maintenance staff removing basketball hoops from Takoma-Piney Branch Local Park in Takoma Park, and the courts along Sligo Creek Parkway near Dennis Avenue in Silver Spring.
This, despite warnings from prior “reports” on prevalent obesity in Montgomery County per state-run media: In Montgomery County, the obesity rate for high school students was 8.6% during the 2018-2019 school year, according to results of the Youth Risk Behavior Study.
Such “studies” are dubious and should of course be critically investigated before basing public policy on them. Unfortunately, that lesson wasn’t learned in 2020-21 (or, perhaps, even to this day).
We digress. How does one get a fitness pass for free gym use? ID requirement, of course.
To apply for a fitness pass, visit a center location. Proof of residency (a photo ID with an address or a photo ID and a current utility bill) must be provided to qualify for the free pass.
Remember, Maryland’s AG Office wants to remind you: Usually, you will not be asked to show ID if your name is on the list of registered voters.
But wait! Prospective voters do have to “show ID” to register to vote in Maryland / MoCo. Rest assured, those voter registration lists / rolls are sound.
Flashback to July, 2020: Judicial Watch sued Maryland to obtain voter list data in 2017 after alleging that there were more registered voters in Montgomery County than citizens over the age of 18 who were eligible to register. It was part of the conservative group’s nationwide campaign to “clean up” voter rolls.
In August 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Ellen L. Hollander ordered the State Board of Elections to produce the Montgomery County voter data, concluding that Maryland election law “is an obstacle to” the intent of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.
Following the court ruling, state elections officials initially provided Judicial Watch with a list of registered voters — but one that did not include their dates of birth. On April 17, the court ordered the state to produce the registration list with every voter’s date of birth.
