Mayor and Council to discuss adoption of Rockville sanctuary city proposal Monday night

A highly-controversial ordinance that would formalize Rockville's status as a "sanctuary city" returns to the Mayor and Council's agenda this coming Monday night, June 19, at 7:00 PM. The legislation, introduced by Councilmember Julie Palakovich Carr, will be discussed and potentially adopted that night, if a majority support the measure. It would prevent any City employee, including police officers, from inquiring about a person's citizenship status.

At a previous public hearing, the sanctuary ordinance drew emotional testimony on both sides. Since that evening, several high-profile Rockville and Montgomery County crime stories involving illegal immigrants have made national headlines. The alleged gang rape of a 14-year-old student at Rockville High School by two illegal immigrants scuttled a sanctuary state proposal in Annapolis, and threatened to table further discussion of Rockville's proposed law. 

Under extreme political pressure, and with no detailed factual explanation, Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy suddenly declared he would not pursue the rape case any further. McCarthy stated there was not enough evidence to warrant prosecution, despite police officials' earlier statements that they had slam-dunk physical evidence from the scene of the alleged rape in a school bathroom. He did not explain what happened to that physical evidence, characterize the findings of any medical examination, or state whether the victim agreed with his decision, or was still seeking justice. With no media outlet holding McCarthy accountable, the firestorm ended in an instant, clearing the way for revival of the Rockville ordinance.

That didn't stop another illegal immigrant from breaking into a City of Rockville police cruiser, and stealing an assault weapon and several rounds of ammunition. We've never learned what Mario Alvarado intended to do with that assault weapon, or if he had a gang affiliation. We do know that this AR-15-wielding car thief was then improperly released back into the community by Montgomery County, despite U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement having put a detainer on him.

McCarthy's magic wand couldn't help County officials this time. ICE blasted Montgomery County for putting its agents, and county residents, at risk by forcing them to then find and apprehend Alvarado in an uncontrolled public setting. The County ultimately admitted they were in the wrong in releasing Alvarado, humiliating Montgomery County on the national stage once again.

Finally, we learned just how bad the gang situation is today in Montgomery County. A funeral was held for a 15-year-old girl who was executed by MS-13 gang members she became involved with at Watkins Mill High School. Sitting in the pews, and attending the burial service that followed, were armed undercover police officers, in case the gang attacked the funeral. Is that something you thought you would ever hear in Montgomery County, or in El Salvador?

Speaking of El Salvador, it gets worse. MS-13, with their charming motto of "Kill. Rape. Control," has a new rival gang. In response, the Washington Post reported, MS-13 kingpins are ordering their members to travel specifically to Montgomery County en masse. MS-13 leaders say that Montgomery County is the place they hope to establish a strong base of operations, and cited the large number of juvenile and/or unemployed illegal immigrants - living off of free County services - as ripe for recruiting by these soon-to-arrive MS-13 agents.

Guess who will be in the crossfire between these two gangs when they start to fight for territory in Montgomery County? The citizens of Montgomery County. Nice. Can you imagine what that's going to be like?

Despite all of this, the Montgomery County Council continues to insist there is no gang problem in the County. You know, the County where funerals now have to have armed guards, in case gang members attack the funeral!

There will be no public hearing Monday night, but residents can express their opinions on the proposed sanctuary legislation during the Community Forum segment of the meeting. Priority will be given to speakers who have signed up in advance by calling the city Clerk's Office at 240-314-8280 by 4:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting.

PM Pediatrics urgent care clinic opens in Rockville (Photo)

A new PM Pediatrics after-hours urgent care clinic has opened at 12254 Rockville Pike, in the Towne Plaza space that was formerly home to Chef Geoff's and Houston's. The company's founders established the network of clinics based on their own experiences in the healthcare industry. They realized most children's visits to emergency rooms weren't for life-threatening medical issues, and that the hospital environment was too complicated and intimidating to provide those children with the best care.

PM Pediatrics has clinics in New York state, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Maryland. The clinics are open until midnight seven days a week. You don't need to make an appointment, but you can "save your spot" and see the current wait time on their website.

Small business event to discuss:"Is your business or family safe in a sanctuary county?"

How do sanctuary immigration policies affect small businesses? That topic will be discussed at the next networking social event of the Small Business Action Network of Montgomery County, on Wednesday, June 28, from 6:30 to 9:00 PM at Hunter's Bar and Grill, located at 10123 River Road in Potomac.

The speaker will be Jonathan Hanen, who the event announcement says will discuss the question, "Is your business or family safe in a sanctuary county?" Montgomery County has been designated by the federal government as a sanctuary jurisdiction.

Recent crime headlines in the County make this a timely discussion, and the County has been blasted by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for not honoring ICE detainers on criminal illegal aliens. ICE said the County put its agents and the community at risk when it recently allowed a man with an ICE detainer who had stolen an assault weapon from a police cruiser to go free, forcing ICE agents to locate and take him into custody in an uncontrolled setting.

SBAN-MOCO is inviting small business owners from across Montgomery County to attend.

The cost to attend the event is $15. The cost to join SBAN-MOCO is $25. There will be a cash bar. Space is limited - to reserve a spot, email your RSVP.

Mayor and Council vote to acquire two other Chestnut Lodge properties

Chestnut Lodge in 2003; the
building burnt down in 2009

Rockville's City Manager is now authorized to acquire two parcels at the former Chestnut Lodge site, after a unanimous vote by the Mayor and Council last night. The City moved to acquire the main Chestnut Lodge property from owner JNP Chestnut Lodge, LLC earlier this year. These two additional parcels are owned by the Chestnut Lodge Homeowners Association.

All three pieces of land are expected to be converted into a passive public park, on the site where the famed Chestnut Lodge psychiatric hospital once stood. A 40-year covenant will be placed on all three for that purpose.

Photo courtesy City of Rockville

MoCo drags feet on correcting illegal traffic signals, refunds for drivers wrongly ticketed by red light cameras

Montgomery County still has illegally-timed traffic signals, which could be issuing unwarranted red light camera tickets to drivers, a recent report by the County's Office of the Inspector General found. On Friday, Delegate Marc Korman (D - District 16) asked County Executive Ike Leggett to consider an outside audit of its signal timing (the OIG had to rely on the word and data of the County Department of Transportation), turn off any cameras ticketing at an illegally-timed signal, and to begin reimbursing drivers who were wrongly ticketed at those intersections.

After being caught ticketing drivers with illegal signal timing in 2015, the County initially resisted adopting the Maryland-required yellow light time of 3.5 seconds. It then promised to correct the problem. However, the OIG report - based on MCDOT data not confirmed by an independent audit - found that 13% of signals countywide are still illegally timed.

When asked by the OIG for a schedule for correction of those 105 remaining signals, MCDOT refused to produce one. And while MCDOT insists that there are no red light cameras at the out-of-compliance intersections, the OIG noted that "We did not test or verify the accuracy of the information provided by MCDOT."

"Improper timing of traffic signals at locations with red light cameras goes to the heart of the confidence people can have in their government," Korman wrote in his letter to Leggett. 

Montgomery County responded to the OIG report with a one-sentence promise to create a schedule for signal correction, but did not say when such a schedule would be released. Once again, Montgomery County seems unable to deliver the basic functions of government - collecting the trash, clearing snow from sidewalks along its properties (sometimes as long as a month(!) after the snowstorm ended), plowing roads, providing 911 service or completing construction projects on-schedule (with the Wheaton Library being the latest, now a year-and-a-half behind-schedule).

New house proposed on Martins Lane in historic district

A property owner has proposed building a new home in the Hebron House Historic District of Rockville, on a newly-subdivided lot at 19 Martins Lane. The single-story home will have an attached garage. Hebron House itself is located at 17 Martins Lane.

The Historic District Commission will take up the proposal at their June 15 meeting. Staff is recommending approval of the home, once advice from the Commission is incorporated into the design.

Rendering courtesy City of Rockville

Dunkin' Donuts Community Celebration this Saturday in Rockville

The local Dunkin' Donuts franchisee is hosting a community celebration this Saturday, June 10, from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM, at the Dunkin' Donuts at 15180 Frederick Road, in the College Plaza shopping center. There will be games, a raffle, facepainting and a moonbounce.