Montgomery County Planning Board to weigh in on Rockville Confederate statue location

The Montgomery County Planning Board does not have jurisdiction over the Confederate statue at Rockville's Red Brick Courthouse. But it plans to weigh in on the topic Thursday morning, September 3.

According to the meeting agenda, the board will be briefed by Park and Planning staff on the statue. It will then be asked to name 3 parks it believes the statue should be placed in, should it end up in a park outside the city of Rockville. Finally, it will officially give its support of the statue's relocation.

The statue is owned by Montgomery County and is located on county property. However, the County must formally apply to the Rockville Historic District Commission on September 17 to relocate it.

Osdoby rumored to enter Rockville mayoral contest; new Team Rockville expected to announce tonight

Rumors have been flying since late last week that a new "Team Rockville" slate is being formed for the Mayor and Council elections November 3. Sima Osdoby has been said by several sources to be the new slate's mayoral candidate. There is no public confirmation of this yet, but The Seventh State  reported Saturday that she will indeed challenge incumbent Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton.

Speculation of a new slate picked up steam when incumbent Councilmember Virginia Onley announced that she would be making an appearance at the council campaign kickoff of former Rockville City Councilman Mark Pierzchala tonight.

Who else is rumored to be on the as-yet-unnamed slate with Osdoby, Onley and Pierzchala? Sources suggest they will be incumbent Councilmember Julie Palakovich Carr, and Rockville Environment Commission Chair Clark Reed.

Any potential slate would square off against council challengers Brigitta Mullican, Richard Gottfried, and incumbent Councilmember Beryl Feinberg.

Stay tuned.

Homeowners' property tax credit workshop in Rockville August 25

The Twinbrook Citizen's Association is hosting a free homeowners' property tax credit workshop on Tuesday, August 25, from 1:00-3:00 PM, at the Twinbrook Recreation Center at 12920 Twinbrook Parkway.

Richard Gottfried, CPA (and president of the TCA), will be the speaker.

Bring your 2014 federal tax return to the event. According to the event announcement, if your household income is less than $91,000 per year, and your net worth is less than $200,000 (not including the value of your home or qualified retirement savings), you could qualify for tax relief on the first $495,000 of your home's assessed value.

For questions, or to RSVP (it's not required to RSVP), email Richard Gottfried at richgott3 [at] verizon [dot] net.

New Team Rockville slate for Mayor and Council forming?

Having a formal slate of candidates is one Rockville electoral tradition that doesn't seem threatened with extinction anytime soon. Just when it seemed that 2013's Team Rockville slate was history, the 2015 contest is threatening to get interesting again.

Thursday's announcement by former Rockville City Councilman Mark Pierzchala that he is seeking a return to his old seat was followed Friday by a cryptic Facebook post from a former Team Rockville teammate. Incumbent councilmember Virginia Onley hinted at a big announcement she plans to make "about the upcoming Mayor and Council elections" Monday evening.

The interesting part? Her announcement will be at the same time and place as Pierzchala's previously-scheduled campaign kickoff event.

Mark Pierzchala to run for Rockville City Council again

Former Rockville City Councilman Mark Pierzchala wants his old seat back. Pierzchala announced his candidacy Thursday evening in a message to friends and supporters. He will be holding a campaign kickoff event Monday night, August 24.

In his announcement, Pierzchala cited his "financial and budgetary expertise", promotion of economic development, and fiscal conservatism on the council "during the Great Recession." The former councilman has expertise in survey methodology and statistics, and runs a Rockville-based consulting firm specializing in those areas.

Pierzchala was a member of the Team Rockville slate as a mayoral candidate in 2013. Outgoing councilmember Tom Moore was a member of that slate, as well. Moore recently hinted that he would be backing candidates in the November 3 election, and would reveal his plans to that end in the near future.

However, Team Rockville did not always vote as a bloc. The most constant two Team Rockville votes on the council have come from Moore and Councilmember Julie Palakovich Carr. Councilmember (and former Team Rockville member) Beryl Feinberg more often voted with Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton on controversial issues that drove angry citizens to testify at City Hall, such as the weakening of the standards on school overcrowding, proximity of self-storage facilities to schools, and backyard chickens. Feinberg is not running as part of a slate in this election.

Councilmember Virginia Onley also voted independently from her Team Rockville colleagues many times, often seeking to find a middle ground between disparate positions. In fact, Onley, Feinberg and Newton were more often than not a strong, 3-vote bloc as the current council term unfolded. But Onley cast the decisive vote to weaken school capacity standards, reversing her position a few months earlier to join Moore and Palakovich Carr.

One of the more interesting things we'll find out this fall in Rockville, is whether the APFS school standards votes will have any impact on the election results.

Pierzchala has not yet announced if he will run as part of any slate in this election, but promises to offer more details on his campaign Monday night.

Photo via Team Rockville website

Regal Rockville theater to begin searching moviegoers' bags

Regal Cinemas has responded to the latest movie theater shootings with a new bag check policy at its theaters nationwide. The cineplex giant operates the Regal Rockville in Rockville Town Center. Its new policy reads as follows:

Security issues have become a daily part of our lives in America. Regal Entertainment Group wants our customers and staff to feel comfortable and safe when visiting or working in our theatres. To ensure the safety of our guests and employees, backpacks and bags of any kind are subject to inspection prior to admission. We acknowledge that this procedure can cause some inconvenience and that it is not without flaws, but hope these are minor in comparison to increased safety.

The security check policy applies to bags, backpacks and packages, including purses.

Regal's corporate Facebook page is blowing up with customer backlash against the new policy, with many patrons feeling their 2nd and 4th Amendment rights are being violated. A few posters thanked the chain for ensuring their theaters would be gun-free zones.

Regal patrons weighed in on
both sides of the issue on
the chain's Facebook page

However, Regal's policy does not explicitly state which legal or illegal items would not be allowed to be brought into the theater. Nor does it specifically refer to firearms, even though it would seem obvious that weapons and explosives would be the primary intent of the policy.

Such a policy would not have prevented the infamous Aurora, Colorado theater mass shooting in 2012. In that incident, the shooter left the theater through the emergency exit. He then retrieved weapons, explosives and other materials from his car, and re-entered through that exit, which he had propped open enough to prevent it from locking.

That case made clear the security issues caused by a lack of ushers regularly patrolling theaters, as they once did not that many years ago. Had an usher simply ensured that door was closed on a routine walkthrough, and thereby locked to outside intruders, the shooter would have been foiled.

Southlawn Industrial Area Feasibility Study public meeting set for September 10

A third public meeting on the Southlawn Industrial Area Feasibility Study, a land-use and compatibility study that is currently underway, will be held on Thursday, September 10, 2015, from 6:30-8:00 PM at the Lincoln Park Community Center. The center is located at 357 Frederick Avenue in Rockville.

VHB, the consultant hired by the city, will give a short presentation on its latest findings and analysis. Questions and comments from residents and business owners will be taken afterward. This feedback will be utilized in preparing the study's final recommendations.

The study is designed to identify compatibility problems between the Southlawn area's industrial uses and adjacent neighborhoods, as well as consider future opportunities to improve the area, and what types of development should be considered there. For more information, visit the city's website on the study.