Montgomery Councils Hosts 1st of 5 Public Hearings on FY12 Operating Budget

Release ID: 11-081
Release Date: 4/4/2011
Contact: Neil H. Greenberger 240-777-7939 or Delphine Harriston240-777-7931
From: Council Office

Also on Tuesday, April 5: Report on County Strategy for Bioscience, Briefing on Impact of Economic Downturn, Bill Limiting Roadside Solicitation by Employees

ROCKVILLE, Md., April 4, 2011—The Montgomery County Council at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5, will hold the first of five public hearings on the Fiscal Year 2012 Operating Budget. About 40 speakers have signed up to speak at Tuesday’s hearing, with many indicating they will be speaking in regard to the budget request for Montgomery County Public Schools.

The public hearing will conclude a full day for the Council that will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the start of the weekly general session in the Third Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The general session and the evening public hearing will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon) and also will be available via streaming through the County Web site at www.montgomerycountymd.gov. The meeting will be rebroadcast on CCM at 9 p.m. on April 8.

The other four public hearings on the FY12 Operating Budget will be held on Wednesday, April 6, at 1:30 and 7 p.m. and on Thursday, April 7, at 1:30 and 7 p.m. The Council will be discussing aspects of the budget in the ensuing six weeks and is scheduled to adopt the budget in late May. The budget will go into effect on July 1.

During the morning session on Tuesday, the Council will receive a briefing on the implementation strategy for bioscience in the County. Representatives of the County’s Department of Economic Development will brief the Council on programs to attract new biosciences businesses to the County and to help bolster businesses already located here. Among the speakers will be Richard Bendis, the president and CEO of Innovation America. He has been retained by the County to develop a plan to implement the strategies.

Also during the morning session, the Council will hold a worksession with representatives of the County Chamber of Commerce about how current economic conditions are impacting the County.

Bill 12-11 will be introduced before the Council during the morning session. The bill would amend the County Ethics law to prohibit a County employee from standing in a roadway, median divider or intersection during official work hours to solicit money or donations of any kind from the occupant of a vehicle. The bill’s chief sponsor is Councilmember Phil Andrews. Council President Valerie Ervin and Councilmember Craig Rice are co-sponsors of the proposed legislation.

The morning will begin with the presentation of a proclamation to the Good Counsel High School football team, which finished the 2010 season recognized as the No. 1 team in the Washington region.

At 1:30 p.m., the Council will receive a semi-annual report from the Montgomery County Planning Board.