Rockville seeks input on future of parks at public meetings tonight

Weigh in on the future of Rockville's parks and recreation programs and facilities at two public meetings being held tonight, Thursday, March 28, 2019 by the city's Department of Recreation and Parks. The first meeting will be held at 6:00 PM in the social hall at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, located at 603 Edmonston Drive. Tonight's second meeting will begin at 7:30 PM, and will be held at the Rockville Senior Center, located at 1150 Carnation Drive.

If you cannot attend tonight, you can also submit comments online.

Montgomery County ends veteran homelessness? Not quite

WTOP article parrots Montgomery County Council
claim that no veteran is homeless in MoCo in 2015

"All homeless veterans have found housing in Montgomery Co.," a WTOP.com headline declared on December 15, 2015. "No veteran is homeless in Montgomery County, officials announce," a Washington Post headline blared six days later. Montgomery County had "found a home for every homeless veteran," NBC4's Jim Handly assured viewers at 5:45 PM the same day. Then-Councilmember George Leventhal was widely quoted and toasted by obsequious local media, just months after he had been condemned by homeless advocates for his attempt to criminalize panhandling by the homeless on County streets. He and the Council were understandably seeking to change the narrative.

Change it Montgomery County did - with eager help from their cheerleaders and Fellow Travelers in the local media. While actual homeless advocates working in the community would be the first to acknowledge the claim was impossible, and that it was based on a belief that there would be available housing units in the future as homeless veterans were identified, that is not how the County's elected officials and their buddies in the local news media promoted it to the public.

Montgomery County government "Paperless Airplane"
headline from January 2016

The shameful, false claim that there are no more homeless veterans in Montgomery County was trotted out again by County officials Monday. A press release boasted that "Montgomery County was one of the first communities to reach 'functional zero' for veterans’ homelessness in December 2015. Since January 2015, Montgomery County has permanently ended homelessness for 148 veterans." No one in the local media pushed back on the false claim this time, either.

I've now confirmed that there are indeed homeless veterans on the streets of Montgomery County, and ironically, I came across one due to the failure of our County Council to provide a functional master plan highway system. Last week, I spent 90 minutes traveling between Bethesda and Shady Grove due to an accident-related backup on the Beltway and I-270. Along with many other frustrated drivers, I exited to Old Georgetown Road, to begin a red-light-at-every-intersection crawl north.

Lo and behold, when I arrived at the intersection of Old Georgetown and Rockville Pike, there was a homeless man panhandling in the median. He was holding a sign that read, "Homeless Veteran." We all know he is not the only one. But the County is putting a $10 billion Bus Rapid Transit boondoggle, a $1 million-a-year Ride On Extra carrying one passenger in each direction, tax cuts for developers, and millions in kickbacks to supporters and campaign donors in the "non-profit" community ahead of our great veterans.

Fact check: Although the latest false claim easily earns a Four Pinocchio rating, the ongoing mendacity of our corrupt elected officials has required me to follow the Washington Post in adopting the new "Bottomless Pinocchio," which it describes as "a new rating for a false claim repeated over and over again."

Rating: BOTTOMLESS PINOCCHIO

Olive & Loom opens at Pike & Rose, to host Grand Opening Saturday

Sabun Home is packing up their downtown Bethesda store this week and relocating to a larger space in Rockville at Pike & Rose, under the new name of Olive & Loom. Olive & Loom is now open for business at 11815 Grand Park Avenue. But they will be officially celebrating their arrival at Pike & Rose with a Grand Opening event this Saturday, March 30, 2019 from 2:00-5:00 PM. Stop by the new store for complimentary hors d'oeuvres and cocktails during those hours.

Rockville McDonald's gets more than a makeover (Photos)

Now it's clear why the McDonald's at 1390 Rockville Pike had to close for an extended period for its renovations. The building looks nothing like it did before. In place of the traditional McDonald's one-story design is a building now two stories in height. The cream-colored exterior walls and brown roof are now replaced with a monotone beige with dark brown accents. Drive-thru windows remain in the same spot, but now have small canopies directly over the windows, instead of the angled overhang of the original building's roof.

Inside, you will find another transformation. Darker floor tiles and lighter interior walls complete the redesign. There is still an outdoor seating area at the front. The famous Golden Arches and delicious foods remain the same. Annoy the Fellow Travelers on the Montgomery County Council, and stop by for a an All-American meal today.

China Garden Rockville opening update

A long time has passed since China Garden announced it was moving to the White Flint area at 11333 Woodglen Drive in Rockville. Some have expressed concern it wasn't going to happen, and "When is China Garden opening?" has become one of readers' most-asked questions in my mailbox. The good news is, things are moving forward at China Garden.

The permanent sign and statues have just been installed outside the restaurant. There's still a lot of work to be done inside, however. The owner told me that there were some delays getting the necessary permits from Montgomery County, which held up construction. They have a liquor license hearing scheduled for May 2, so that should give a rough idea of how close opening day is. This is the most grand restaurant entry in White Flint since the Lerners went berserk and demolished White Flint Mall, taking the impressive statuary of P.F. Chang's along with it.

Rockville Volunteer Fire Department vehicle strikes 2 pedestrians on Beall Avenue

A truck belonging to the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department struck two pedestrians on Beall Avenue Saturday night around 9:30 PM. Montgomery County police say they have not yet determined how or why the 2008 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Diane Evans, 59, came to strike the adult male and adult female as it traveled east on Beall.

The female victim was transported to an unidentified local hospital with life-threatening injuries. Although the male victim was also transported, police describe his injuries as "minor."

If anyone witnessed the collision or has additional information regarding this incident, they are asked to contact the Collision Reconstruction Unit at 240-773-6620.

Rockville Mayor & Council end process to fill vacant seat with no replacement

March 20, 2019 agenda shows no closed session,
no vote on candidates

Closed session vote was

not listed on agenda

The sudden end of what was otherwise a long process to fill a vacant Rockville City Council seat raises several questions, legal and otherwise. At a special meeting Wednesday night, the three finalists were again interviewed by the Mayor and Council. After the third interview was finished, the Mayor and Council abruptly went into closed session. When the public was let back into the room, Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton announced there was no consensus among herself and the councilmembers sufficient to give any of the three candidates a majority. 

Councilmember Beryl Feinberg then made a motion to end the Council vacancy process, and leave the seat vacant for the remainder of this term, which ends in November. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Mark Pierzchala, and passed unanimously. "The onus is now on this body to come together and serve this city as one for the remainder of the term," Newton said after the process fell apart. 

How the process ended was only the latest indication that appointments are not the way to fill Council seats. But it also left several questions about the legality of how it ended. There is a process on the books for filling this seat, as bad as it was. But it was not clear that the process could legally end with the seat remaining vacant.

Secondly, the public was not only reduced to spectator status in this process, but was not given public indication that a vote would take place Wednesday night. As the photo of the meeting agenda clearly shows, a vote was not shown on the agenda. Nor was a closed session indicated on the agenda. That does raise some question about the legality of the meeting under the Maryland Open Meetings Act, which states, "'Before meeting in an open session, the public body must make available to the public an agenda' that (1) contains 'known items of business or topics to be discussed at the portion of the meeting that is open' and (2) indicates 'whether the public body expects to close any portion of the meeting' under GP § 3-305." 

Third, the vote to select a new councilmember should have been held in an open session. 

And finally, one or more participants in the closed session leaked the proceedings of the session - including the number of votes each candidate received - following the meeting. Such leaks are illegal, and an elected official could be disciplined for leaking details of an executive session.

Ultimately, the outcome may be to the benefit of residents, as there is no majority to ram through any decisions on the future of RedGate golf course, or on adequate public facilities ordinance changes. Given past votes, it's unlikely the Mayor and Council would deadlock on the passage of the new budget, although other critical issues could wind up in a 2-2 tie. And with no members representing a specific district, the empty seat won't leave one area without representation.

If anyone was treated more unfairly in this process than residents, it was the applicants themselves. They clearly spent a great deal of time preparing written statements and for interviews - some for two or three interviews. To dedicate so many hours for a job that in the end does not even exist was a waste of everyone's time and energy. With voting by mail now the norm in Rockville, there's no reason this process can't be switched to a special election in the future.