Thursday, January 31, 2013
What's going on in Annapolis that affects Montgomery County?
'Tis the season, when dozens of legislators from Montgomery County file into Annapolis to create and pass (or shut down) a bevy of new laws that may or may not change our daily lives. The Maryland General Assembly convened Jan. 9, 2013 and it won't adjourn until April. Since you can't be there, keeping an eye on lawmakers from your town, we'll be rounding up some of their more important deeds each week. Here's what our local legislators did recently: Takoma Park Delegate Heather Mizeur, a Democrat who everyone says is running for governor next year, is doing something that only a person interested in state office would do—leave her district to give a speech. She's talking to the Queen Anne's County Democratic Club next month about "major …
Thursday, August 2, 2012
The ballot measure would make it possible for people with significant disabilities to hold certain county positions from which they are currently barred.
An amendment to Montgomery County law that would give the government more flexibility to hire people with significant cognitive and physical disabilities will be decided by voters this November. The Montgomery County Council unanimously voted Tuesday to send a proposed charter amendment to the ballot for county voters. Spearheaded by Councilmember Phil Andrews (D-Dist 3), with the support of County Executive Isiah Leggett, the change would create a program within the county's internal employment system to recruit, select and hire people with certain disabilities for some county jobs. Currently, the language of the county's charter prevents people with significant disabilities from holding some positions within county government, according…
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Councilmember Andrews says county law blocks people with serious disabilities from some county posts.
Councilmember Phil Andrews (D-Dist 3) wants to reduce disproportionate unemployment among people with disabilities in Montgomery County. This week he urged fellow Council members to place on the November ballot a Charter amendment that would create a "special hiring authority" to recruit and hire people with significant physical or cognitive disabilities to county jobs. “In order to help reduce the high unemployment and underemployment rate for people with disabilities, Montgomery County has taken a number of important steps to expand opportunities and be a model employer. Now, we have to take this next step,” Andrews said in a statement. Currently, among internal candidates, veterans and people with disabilities who are among the …
Sunday, September 18, 2011
As debate continues, we ought to think about what happens to kids who will be cited for these violations.
The Montgomery County Council will be holding work sessions in its Public Safety Committee on the new curfew legislation proposed by County Executive Isiah Leggett. This may doom any hopes for speedy action by the council, but it also allows more opportunity to examine the specifics of the legislation and how it fits into the bigger picture. The proposal itself seems to be gaining support as it moves forward, and will likely see some compromises to address concerns that have been expressed in recent weeks. The curfew would take effect from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weeknights and from midnight to five on weekends, and applies to youth 17 and under. Exceptions to the curfew appear to be expanding as residents have weighed in. Youth who are out …
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Andrews wants 'data-driven' approach.
- GOVERNMENT
- Holly Nunn
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Wednesday, September 14, 2011
County Executive Isiah Leggett said Tuesday that a decision to impose a curfew on teenagers is too complex to rely on studies conducted in other jurisdictions. "Any study you bring to me, I could debunk it," Leggett said, because variables like population density, income and geography vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. But a key opponent to the curfew, Councilmember Phil Andrews, called on a "data-driven, evidence-based" approach to fighting juvenile crime. Andrews (D-Dist. 3) chairs the Montgomery County Council's Public Safety Committee, which begins work on Leggett's curfew proposal this week. After a July gang fight in Silver Spring, Leggett proposed a curfew of 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight Friday and Saturday. The…
Monday, September 12, 2011
Andrews opposes measure, Berliner skeptical and Rice wants to prevent racial profiling.
Proposed teen curfew legislation goes before the Montgomery County Council's Public Safety Committee at a Thursday morning work session, the next step for a controversial measure proposed to combat teenage violence. The committee's chairman, Councilmember Phil Andrews, opposes the bill. "It's not justified based on what has occurred in Montgomery County," Andrews (D-Dist. 3) said. "A curfew is only justified in an emergency situation. We don't have an emergency in Montgomery County. ... A number of council members are undecided. It’s a knee-jerk reaction to one serious but isolated gang fight in downtown Silver Spring." County Executive Isiah Leggett proposed the bill in mid-July on behalf of the Montgomery County Police after a highly …
Peter Mork
12:49 pm on Tuesday, September 20, 2011
I didn't think Mr. Nephew was comparing a curfew to slavery. He was noting that historically curfews were targeted at groups like slaves and African Americans. His assertion (which I didn't necessarily believe at first) is supported by the Wikipedia article on curfews: "An order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time. It can be imposed to maintain public … more ›