Montgomery County Council: Building a better $640 toilet seat...for $22000

Non-profits continue to be one of the biggest sinkholes in the Montgomery County budget, and as a source of political patronage, a hotbed of scandal for elected officials. A bloated Health and Human Services Budget remains just as "taxing" - pun intended. As I've previously mentioned, some non-profit employees who receive salaries and raises from the County Council turn around and write campaign checks to the councilmembers who voted for those outlays of taxpayer funds. Even as that scandal goes uninvestigated, your tax dollars are being wasted in outrageous grants to programs and non-profits that often defy common sense.

From the County that brought you the $900,000-over-budget sewer pipe in Glen Echo Heights, comes their next attempt to emulate the Pentagon's infamous $640 toilet seat. Yesterday, the County Council approved a barrage of budget line-items for County services and non-profits alike for FY-2018. Some were well-justified, and others a complete waste. Among the wasteful items was $22,000 for the purchase of a 4-camera security camera system for the County's new Supervised Visitation Center.

$22,000 for 4 security cameras in the year 2017? That price would certainly have gotten my attention if I were on the Council. If you consider that any County building would already have WiFi, you're talking about the four cameras, and video storage. According to Popular Mechanics, security cameras range in price from $100 to $950. Fixr.com, a website that estimates project costs, states that Network-Attached-Storage devices range from $168 for 1 TB of storage, to $499 for 4 TB. Installation labor costs are estimated by Fixr.com to be $680 for four cameras. In other words, this whole system could be purchased and installed for under $1000, but the Council is picking your pocket for $22,000.

Interestingly, the $22,000 camera figure was not broken out in the Council staff report, but lumped with other costs in a $34,500 line item. The camera cost was mentioned by a staff member testifying before the Council yesterday. Not a single councilmember questioned the cost, and the item passed unanimously.

Rockville construction update: Metropolitan at Rockville Town Center (Photos)

Construction crews have been working on a terrace above Beall Avenue at the future Metropolitan at Rockville Town Center. Scheduled to deliver in the 4th Quarter of 2017, the Metropolitan will house 275 apartments, and 6033 SF of retail space. The retail space is below the terrace at street level in the above photo, and is being marketed by real estate firm Streetsense.

Richard Montgomery HS security leader arrested for having sex with student...again

Montgomery County Public Schools superintendent Jack Smith's apparent giddiness over the shocking decision to drop charges against the two students accused in the alleged Rockville High School gang rape was short-lived, to say the least. Remember the Richard Montgomery High School "security team leader" MCPS didn't run a background check on before hiring him - and who was then arrested for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old female RMHS student? After being bailed out of jail quickly, Montgomery County police say he did it again.

Mark Christopher Yantsos was arrested Friday after a County judge revoked his bond. Police allege Yantsos defied orders to stay away from the student. Instead, they allege, he met with her several times since he was charged, and had sex with her once again.

Yantsos made headlines after it was revealed MCPS had hired him without doing a background check, which was proven by the fact that his previous run-in with the law - brandishing a revolver toward a woman he was trying to pick up at a topless bar - is easily called up in a simple Google search. Yet he was hired by MCPS to run security at Richard Montgomery. You can't make this stuff up, folks.

Rockville rape suspect freed after prosecutors drop rape charge

Henry Sanchez

Rockville High School gang rape suspect Jose Montano has been released by a Montgomery County judge, after prosecutors dropped rape charges against him in the alleged March 16 attack in a school bathroom. According to Fox 5, prosecutors are now going to pursue child pornography charges against Montano in juvenile court (he had been charged as an adult in the rape case).

Earlier this morning, the Washington Post reported that rape charges against the second suspect, Henry Sanchez, would also be dropped. The Post reported that he, too, would face child pornography charges, for having images of the alleged rape victim that were forwarded to him by Montano.

What we are not hearing, are the specifics regarding why prosecutors dropped the charges. Whatever evidence they are working with has obviously not been made public. Dropping the charges means the public is essentially being told a violent sexual encounter between a 14-year-old girl and two men in a school bathroom was a consensual and legal act. That is hard to believe, as Sanchez's defense attorney acknowledged to the Post. The public has a right to know what is going on here, in regard to the justification for dropping charges.

Equally important: If Montano is indeed being released, will he be arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE)? ICE has declined to comment publicly on Montano, citing his age. But both Montano and Sanchez were detained by the Border Patrol after illegally entering the U.S. last year, and set free to family members under the Obama administration's "Catch and Release" policy. ICE did place a detainer on Sanchez. Will the County alert ICE to Montano's release, and Sanchez's release, should it occur?

Stay tuned.

Rockville rape suspect in court today; defense claims rape charge will be dropped

Rockville High School gang rape suspect Henry Sanchez is scheduled to be in court today to face charges in the alleged March 16 attack in a school bathroom. Sanchez's attorney, Andrew Jezic, has told the Washington Post that prosecutors told him they are dropping the rape case against Sanchez. Prosecutors have not publicly confirmed that report as of press time.

Should the charge be dropped, it would raise serious questions about the prosecution of this case. As defense attorneys engaged in victim shaming, prosecutors seemed to suggest that Sanchez's alleged role in the attack was the more egregious. Even if a consensual encounter in a school bathroom had been planned between the victim and alleged rapist Jose Montano (and no evidence has been made public to support that contention), that did not mean the victim had agreed Sanchez could participate, prosecutors argued.

If their case against Sanchez falls apart today, then, where does that leave the victim and the case against Montano? As for Sanchez, the Post reports prosecutors will pursue a child pornography case against him, for possessing photos of the victim that were forwarded to him by Montano.

Regardless of the outcome of the case, Sanchez faces immediate deportation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), unless Montgomery County politicians help him escape by not honoring the ICE detainer. Both Sanchez and Montano are in the country illegally.

Pie 360 closes in Rockville

Well, that was quick. Pie 360 has closed at The Galvan by Twinbrook. The pizzeria only opened last December at the JBG development. Customers are still coming by, and are shocked to find the place cleared out. They had a good four-star rating on Yelp, so it's not clear what happened.

Change is permanent in Rockville's town center [Sponsored]

[Sponsored content]

by Robert Dyer

The only constant in Rockville's town center for the last 60 years has been change. Newcomers may find it hard to believe, but Rockville once had a charming, historic town center like those still found in Frederick and Hagerstown. But in the 1960s, city leaders decided to demolish it, and pursue "urban renewal."

Redevelopment brought with it brutalist office buildings, the Americana Centre, and the modern Rockville Mall, anchored by a Lansburgh's department store. Only a year later, Lansburgh's was gone, an ominous sign of what was to come. Urban renewal had more businesses checking the Yellow Pages for movers in Rockville, MD, than adding up profits. What was seen as the jewel in the crown of Rockville's urban renewal was ultimately considered an albatross around the city's neck - particularly by developers eager to replace it.

The arrival of the Metro subway in the early 1980s, and the much-later construction of "Regal Row" along E. Montgomery Avenue, failed to change perceptions. Over the next two decades, city leaders sought to start over again.

A new plan sought to recapture some of what had been lost in the misguided downtown demolition mania. Centered around a Federal Realty mixed-use project called Rockville Town Square, the new design would be one to emphasize public space. At its 2007 opening, that was primarily embodied in the namesake town square. Well-programmed with events, there's always something going on in the town square, providing an energy not found in wealthier downtown Bethesda.

Cambria Suites guest room

But the change didn't end there. Choice Hotels moved its headquarters to the town center from Silver Spring. Duball, LLC brought another high-quality development in 2015, with the Upton apartments and Cambria Suites hotel. Phase 2 of the town center's redevelopment is bringing Kettler's The Metropolitan at Rockville Town Center, the Brightview West End senior apartments, and the already-completed 475 N. Washington Street retail-office development by The JBG Companies.

The Metropolitan at
Rockville Town Center under
construction in January

The JBG project came to represent a larger demographic change in the town center. Almost all of the businesses in the new building are Asian-owned. As gentrification pushed residents and businesspeople in Chinatown out of the District, many found a new home in Rockville. The city has become a dining destination for Asian flavors, and the arrival of acclaimed chef Peter Chang in 2015 made official what those in-the-know already knew.

There are big changes still to come. The city is now studying a plan that would place MD 355 underground through the town center, opening up the land above for redevelopment, and the creation of a large park. That park could allow the annual Hometown Holidays event to again include large concerts, which were the main draw for the late-May celebration.

Whether you're opening a business, relocating your office, or moving into a new apartment in the town center, Artisan Movers can provide the professional planning and execution of your move. Seniors downsizing into the Brightview assisted-living apartments will appreciate Artisan's secure and climate-controlled self-storage facilities, enabling them to downsize their lifetime of "stuff" at their own pace.

Artisan Movers is a Rockville company, not an impersonal nationwide chain. They have a perfect 5-star rating on Yelp, where one customer raves: "I give Artisan Movers a huge round of applause. I would use them again, and recommend Artisan Movers!" Once you consider your individual situation, you may just conclude that Artisan Movers is the right move for you.

This content is sponsored by Artisan Movers.