Boardroom Salon for Men opening Rockville location

Men in the White Flint area will soon have another barbershop and grooming option. Boardroom Salon for Men will be opening a location at Montrose Crossing shopping center. The upscale barbershop has spread to 40 locations in 5 states since it began in Texas. At Montrose Crossing, it will fill the last vacant space in the property's newest Rockville Pike-facing structure between Slapfish and the AT&T Store.

In addition to haircuts and other salon services, you'll find complimentary beverages, chessboards, pool tables, televisions, dark wood paneling and plush leather chairs designed to create an upscale environment. Optional membership programs will give you unlimited haircuts at a discount rate over the life of the term you choose.

“Boardroom is a recognized leader and innovator in quality men’s grooming, with a mission to help men ‘relax, look great, and feel confident’ –they will fill a real niche for Rockville’s dense business and residential communities with their unique take on experiential service, adding to the convenience of Montrose Crossing as a shopping destination,” Federal Realty Director of Asset Management Kari Glinski said Monday.

Democrats propose Netflix tax for Montgomery County

Democratic leaders in the Maryland General Assembly are poised to propose a new tax on the highly popular entertainment streaming services used by most Montgomery County residents. The officials announced the proposed tax quietly in a Friday news dump strategically arranged by The Washington Post, whose reporters were aware of the pending tax earlier in the week, another clear example of coordination between the Montgomery County political cartel and the Post.

Subscribers to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV, and other streaming services could find a hefty tax added to their bill as soon as this year. The Post reports that the new Netflix tax would be one of several new taxes slapped on residents of Montgomery County and the rest of the state to cover a new $6000-per-taxpayer spending hike for public education statewide. Montgomery County is already spending record amounts on public schools, and the County's own recent report shows that the declining school system has only gotten worse for all the high spending.

Now residents' Baby Yoda and You addictions are squarely in the tax crosshairs of the cartel. With property and income taxes at record highs, it is almost impossible for officials to add $6000 in hikes via those taxes. The county is now turning to these sin taxes, similar to those you pay on your cell phone service and the rain that falls in your home's yard, to get the same amount in sneakier ways. You may recall that the County floated a new Trash Tax in 2019, for example.

The Netflix tax will be hard to pass openly, however. Most of their constituents will be furious, and the tax will fall heaviest on young people, the poor and senior citizens - like all of "progressive" Montgomery County's regressive flat taxes.

Destination Maternity closing at Montgomery Mall

Yet another Montgomery County business is closing its doors. Destination Maternity at Westfield Montgomery Mall will close. A closing sale is now underway.

The "Store Closing" and "Nothing Held Back!" signs now ubiquitous across moribund Montgomery County are present here, as well. We're in real trouble, folks.

MD board: Rockville Planning Commission violated Open Meetings Act

The State of Maryland Open Meetings Compliance Board has found that the Rockville Planning Commission violated the Maryland Open Meetings Act in its two closed sessions on November 5, 2018 and August 7, 2019. Rockville resident and former planning commissioner David Hill brought the matter to the board's attention last year, and their ruling has now been issued. Hill also informed the Mayor and Council of the issues and the ruling at their December 16 meeting.

Both Hill, and the West End Citizens Association, further argue that City staff actions and advice to the Planning Commission in regards to the closed sessions led to the violations, and failed to provide sufficient transparency to the public. WECA had actively participated in the public approval process of a development proposal for 107 W. Jefferson Street. Representatives of WECA were present at commission meetings during that process, in one instance waiting outside of the chambers during a closed session at which commissioners departed the room without returning to open session following their closed discussion.

The Mayor & Council will now discuss the violations and related issues at their January 6, 2020 meeting at 7:00 PM at City Hall. Hill is urging them to take some substantive action rather than let the OMCB's findings simply stand, as that body only determines whether the law was violated, but does not issue penalties. He also is requesting they investigate the actions of City Attorney Debra Yerg Daniel in the matter. "The City Attorney serves at Mayor and Council pleasure," Hill noted in his testimony. "That gives you supervisory responsibility of her conduct. As a citizen of Rockville and former commissioner, I call on you to discover why the law was broken, censure that, and fix it."

WECA is further recommending the Mayor & Council utilize an independent outside counsel to study the matter. The WECA board suggests that the approval of the 107 W. Jefferson Street development also be part of that independent investigation.

Mayor & Council photo via City of Rockville

New Audi Rockville showroom opens

The newly-built Audi Rockville showroom is now open for business at 1125 Rockville Pike. For most of the year, the dealership has been handling customers across the Pike at 1190 Rockville Pike. The new building has a German-inspired design.

Bangkok Garden Rockville menu (Photos)

I got a hold of a menu for Bangkok Garden at Wintergreen Plaza in Rockville. Click on each image to enlarge the pages. Bangkok Garden's address is 891-D Rockville Pike, and their phone number is 301-545-2848.

How did Montgomery County fail to attract yet another Fortune 500 HQ?

Montgomery County officials have failed yet again to attract a major corporate headquarters; the county hasn't attracted a single one in over twenty years. Fortune 500 financial services giant Schwab was looking for an escape plan from California, a state that is an economic powerhouse but seemingly doing all it can to relinquish that title. Texas, as it so often is, was the winning suitor. An excellent article in the Dallas Morning News explains why suburban paradise Westlake, Texas crushed Montgomery County in the bidding war for Schwab.

Our elected officials, and their few supporters among county residents, continue to suffer from a severe case of Lake Wobegon syndrome. With no critical press corps, massive voter fraud, and unlimited money from the local political cartel, they've been free to continue believing that every day, in every way, Montgomery County is getting better and better.

"There’s a cachet associated with Westlake," the Morning News reports. "Westlake is one of the nation’s premier suburban markets. It has great schools, great hospitals, great gated communities, a lot of celebrities, athletes and former athletes live in that area. It’s highly desirable for the types of executives and high net worth individuals that will be working on this new campus."

In contrast, Montgomery County Public Schools have steadily declined this decade, with test scores and graduation rates plunging, and a widening achievement gap. Many of the ultra-rich who don't share the radical, Neo-Communist views of the Montgomery County Council have fled to lower-tax jurisdictions in our region, tanking County revenues in the process.

Transportation and airport access remain critical to corporate relocation decisions.

"The qualitative parts of site selection that a Schwab would look at have to do with lifestyle amenities like transportation assets. Dallas also enjoys unique access to the global marketplace with major air service."

Montgomery County, on the other hand, has nation-leading traffic congestion, an incomplete highway network that County officials have openly boasted they will not complete, and no direct access to Dulles International Airport, the only airport in the region with the frequency and international destinations of flights demanded by international businesspeople.

County officials have refused to construct the new Potomac River crossing to Dulles that would provide that direct access.

Also important, according to the article, are "the relationships with local elected officials. Are they pro-growth like the folks in the Dallas are? Or do they tend to be anti-business, like elected officials in the Bay Area?"

Montgomery County is clearly in the anti-business category, as demonstrated by its rock-bottom economic development status in the region. MoCo was even whipped by Culpeper and Rappahanock counties this decade. Now that's embarrassing.

Once again, the need to be a desirable destination for millennials and Generation Z is a significant factor. "Fortunately for cities like Houston, Austin and Dallas, you have high in-migration rates of working professionals and young people."

Young professionals are avoiding Montgomery County like the plague, by comparison. MoCo shares the "out-of-control housing costs" of California, and is busy approving demolition of what affordable housing exists - with a redevelopment of Battery Lane that will deliver a net loss of affordable units being the latest.

The County Council's disastrous Nighttime Economy Task Force effort ended up destroying the nighttime economy, with 18 nightspots closing in downtown Bethesda alone in its wake. Young people are going just about anywhere but Montgomery County for nightlife, as it continues to grow its reputation as the boring and sleepy bedroom community for the booming job centers elsewhere in our region.

One new factor not really discussed before is the concern of shareholders. The Morning News reports that choosing a business-friendly HQ site like Texas or Tennessee pleases shareholders, who can expect greater profit margins as a result.

Business friendliness is especially important when the national economy goes south, the paper notes.

"There's an enormous amount of uncertainty about the economy. What the economy will look like a couple of years from now with respect to potential tax increases, regulations and uncertain trade issues.

"And that’s really bringing back a focus on the old fashioned cost-of-doing-business business climate analysis. Because states that will best weather the storm of an economic downturn are states like Texas and Florida that have pro-business policies, low taxes, fiscal restraint."