Historic District Commission meeting cancelled tonight

The scheduled meeting of the Rockville Historic District Commission tonight has been canceled.

New speed camera deployed in Rockville

Watch out, or watch your wallet. A new speed camera is being deployed this month in the 500 block of N. Horners Lane in East Rockville. 

The good news? No citations will be issued in July. The bad news? Beginning August 3, citations will be issued for vehicles exceeding the posted speed limit by 12 mph or more.

Twinbrook Library to close July 25 for 4.5 months for " refresh " in Rockville

When the Twinbrook Library in Rockville closes at 6:00 PM on Saturday, July 25, it won't open its doors again to the public for about four-and-a-half months. During the closure, Montgomery County's Department of Public Libraries will perform a "refresh" renovation. This is the first Montgomery County library to receive the refresh treatment, a new concept by MCPL to make more frequent improvements countywide, rather than wait for a 20-30 renovation or replacement.

The interior will be rearranged to create a new layout and 2 small conference rooms. The Children's section will be repainted and re-carpeted. Finally, public restrooms will be "modernized."

Twinbrook Library will not be available as a pickup location for holds during the closure. 

The book drop will remain open for returns through Thursday, August 13. Library patrons are being directed to the Aspen Hill and Rockville branches during the closure.

Mayor and Council restructure personnel authority in Rockville city clerk, attorney offices

A number of changes to the city code that would transfer powers currently under the City Manager to the City Attorney and City Clerk passed 3-2, with Councilmembers Tom Moore and Julie Palakovich Carr opposed. Both officers would now have direct supervisory, and hiring and firing power, over employees in their respective offices. The City Clerk would also gain the title of Director of the Council.

Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton proposed an amendment to strike language that she felt would have prevented the council, as a body, from weighing in with the City Manager, City Attorney or City Clerk on personnel under their respective supervision.

Moore said he thought Newton would prefer to have the Strong Mayor form of government in the city, rather than the current Council-Manager form.

"I will thank you not to put words in my mouth, thoughts in my head, or dreams in my heart," Newton retorted.

"I am frightened," Moore went on minutes later, that the mayor believes she has hiring and firing authority over employees supervised by the City Manager, City Attorney and City Clerk.

"I am going to ask you to knock it off, and not put words in my mouth," Newton replied.

Newton's amendment passed 3-2. A similar amendment to another of the code changes also passed 3-2.

Photo courtesy City of Rockville

Mayor and Council adopt new compensation structure for Rockville employees

Around quarter to midnight last night, Rockville's Mayor and Council reached a consensus on new guidelines for city employee compensation and classification policies. After hours of discussion to reach that point, Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton noted that the body still had 12 items left on the meeting's agenda. While the city will adopt a hybrid system that includes steps for city police and employees represented by the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the final approach adopted was not the most generous on the table.

The city's Chief Financial Officer, Gavin Cohen, prepared a one-page table that laid out the fiscal implications of providing anything more generous than what staff and consultant Evergreen recommended earlier this year.

Fiscal Impact chart
(click to enlarge)

Councilmember Beryl Feinberg asked if the chart reflected the potential $800,000+ in financial obligations the city might ultimately have to bear as a result of the Supreme Court's Wynne decision. Cohen said it did not. Ditto for additional financial obligations and capital expenditures in FY 2017-19.

On the question of whether the city could afford to offer COLAs and step increases together, Cohen said "we don't believe that we can without" significant changes to either revenue or expenditures.

Newton argued that "We are in this position because we have let 6 years go by without doing anything compensation wise. One of the reasons we don’t have the wherewithal….is because we went to 20% reserves." Despite surpluses during several of those years, city employees never received step increases, she said. Spending decisions "have limited this body’s decision making capabilities" on employee compensation.

Councilmember Virginia Onley asked Cohen, "Had we not had increased the reserve…how much of this sheet would have been green had we voted” to not go to 20% reserves? "From my perspective, none of them would have changed," Cohen responded. "The problem isn’t the …. reserves. The problem is ongoing. We should differentiate between the pot of money that you have, and the ongoing expenditure. That becomes the problem. It’s the combination of the things that makes it unsustainable.

"It’s the compounding” that makes it more expensive, Cohen said. "You start in '16, it’s the compounding of that” that is going to make it prohibitively expensive.

"We’re doing a disservice to the rank and file staff," Newton said. The mayor recalled her time on the council during the recession, when city employees' compensation dry spell began. "I bought into it," she said of the fiscally-conservative approach. But she believed "that we would make that change as soon as we" could, she said regarding restoring salary increases. Such a boost "honors the work that people in the city do," Newton argued. "The rank and file have not even gotten a COLA or a bump. I think we need to be honest about things. I really think you’re being disingenuous…you want to scare our city, scare our staff, into thinking that we don’t have the money."

When it came time to vote on the action items in the report, controversy resurfaced over what Councilmember Tom Moore said was reopening a discussion that had been settled by an early May vote on Item 1.

That item read, "Maintain the adopted compensation philosophy or modify the philosophy to accommodate step pay plans for AFSCME and Police."

"As far as I’m concerned," Moore said, "we decided that May 11. When we vote on something it matters."

"I would go for an hybrid plan which would have the FOP on a step plan, and administrative staff on an open range plan," Feinberg said.

Councilmember Julie Palakovich Carr suggested having the City Attorney settle the question. City Attorney Debra Yerg Daniel said the mayor and council were free to vote again on the question from a legal standpoint. "The mayor runs the meeting," she said.

Newton then attempted to call the vote.

"We can go through this lawlessly if you like," Moore said, arguing the mayor wanted to “blow through the rules." "The mayor is not 'blowing through our rules,'" Newton replied. "The mayor is following the advice of our city attorney."

Newton called the vote again. Moore appealed her decision under council rules. Moore, Onley and Palakovich Carr then voted 3-2 to overrule the mayor's decision. Feinberg then moved to adopt a compensation philosophy with steps for police and AFSCME, but not for administrative employees. Onley seconded her motion. The motion passed 3-2, with Moore and Palakovich Carr opposed.

For Item 2, "Approve a new classification structure for FY 2016 consistent with the results of the Compensation and Classification Study performed by the City's consultant," Newton had concerns about having different compensation at the Director level across city staff. Ultimately, she abstained from the vote, which passed 4-0-1.

Item 3, "Approve a new pay structure (single or multiple) consistent with the information provided by the City's consultant," passed 3-2.

Under Item 4, the Mayor and Council adopted an implementation approach with 50% penetration by a 3-2 vote.

The body stuck on the question of bonus compensation in FY-2016, with several motions failing for lack of a second.

Finally, a 3-2 vote passed Feinberg's motion to adopt Tract B, 50%, Lump Sum (see chart).

At 11:45, Feinberg said, "It’s been a painful process, I think, for everybody."

Rockville Mayor and Council to hold public conversation on Confederate statue Monday, July 20

Update, July 15, 2015

The old switcheroo - the official announcement for this event, published the day after the Mayor and Council meeting July 13, indicates that the Confederate statue public hearing will now be held before the meeting, and will begin at 6:00 PM, Monday July 20.

The article has been updated to reflect the schedule change.

Rockville will have a public discussion of the fate of the Confederate statue located by the Red Brick Courthouse before the Monday, July 20 Mayor and Council meeting. Officials and historical experts are being invited from the Montgomery County Historical Society, Peerless Rockville and Montgomery County NAACP, as are experts on the Civil War. No speaker is yet confirmed.

The conversation will be held as a work session before the meeting at City Hall.

Since the recent controversy over Confederate symbols began, the question of whether Rockville's statue - which is actually on Montgomery County property, making the statue's fate a county decision - should remain or be moved has been part of that discussion locally.

Next Monday's regular Mayor and Council meeting will begin at 7:00 PM at City Hall.

Cloud 9 closes in Rockville Town Square (Photos)

Cloud 9, a clothing boutique at 130-B Gibbs Street, has closed at Rockville Town Square. The space is now for lease, but is currently being utilized by neighbor VisArts as classroom space. That is the reason you may notice there are artworks prominently displayed in the storefront windows.

Cloud 9, with apparel considered by many to be in the style of Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters, still has stores in Towson and Baltimore.