News and Views
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MoCo’s Triple A Ratings: Part 1—Municipal Bonds
Read more: MoCo’s Triple A Ratings: Part 1—Municipal BondsWhile working at an engineering firm, I had to endure yet another annual review. “Bell,” said the manager. “You’ve come to work every day, and you’ve completed your assignments on time.” “Don’t forget that I also proposed suggestions for process improvement and organizational efficiency.” “As you have,” said the manager. “That’s why I’m ranking you…
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Students for Justice in Palestine & the University of Maryland
Read more: Students for Justice in Palestine & the University of MarylandPhoto credit to The Diamondback. On July 31st the University of Maryland Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) group reserved the entire McKeldin Mall for an invitation only event for 25-50 people on October 7th, from 7 am to 11pm. The university approved this request which granted SJP exclusive use of the mall on October…
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Anti Semitism Disproportionately Leads Bias Incidents in MoCo
Read more: Anti Semitism Disproportionately Leads Bias Incidents in MoCoAccording to the Montgomery County Department of Police 2023 Annual Bias Incident Report released March 2024, 41% of all bias incidents were anti-Jewish, 30% were anti Black, 7% were anti-Homosexual, 5% were anti-Asian, 4% were anti Hispanic, and 3% were anti-Arab or anti-Islamic. The statistics are more remarkable when you consider the County population is…
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Zoning Change Proposal Impacts Only 55% of County Council
Read more: Zoning Change Proposal Impacts Only 55% of County CouncilAs the county holds listening sessions and reviews a proposal put forward by the Montgomery County Planning Board, it is important to see how these changes might impact the County Council members. Shockingly, 45% of the current county council will be excluded from any direct impact from these zoning changes. The proposal recommends these changes:…
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The Fallacy of the Life Sciences Obsession: Part 2—Betting against the Annapolis casino
Read more: The Fallacy of the Life Sciences Obsession: Part 2—Betting against the Annapolis casinoIn Part 1 of this series we listed the infrastructure the local, state, and county governments are giving away for free for the University of Maryland’s Institute for Health Computing (UM-IHC) in North Bethesda—all sited at the coveted Metro North Bethesda station. How wise is this move? The UM-IHC is funded by MoCo, state, and…
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The Fallacy of the Life Sciences Obsession: Part 1—Subsidizing live/work/learn/play but not bus service
Read more: The Fallacy of the Life Sciences Obsession: Part 1—Subsidizing live/work/learn/play but not bus serviceFor many years our county’s officials have been extolling MoCo as a bio-tech center. In his weekly message from August 2, Marc Elrich said MoCo is #3 among all of America’s life science hubs. In a Glass Gazette from July 2024, Council Member Evan glass noted that “Our life sciences sector is incredibly important to…
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What Words Don’t Often Appear in CM Friedson’s “Flyer” Newsletter to Residents, Taxpayers?
Read more: What Words Don’t Often Appear in CM Friedson’s “Flyer” Newsletter to Residents, Taxpayers?We’ve posted about Councilmember Andrew Friedson’s “newsletter” before here at CleanSlateMoCo.com. Dubbed the “Friedson Flyer”, the Councilmember sends it out at least once a month, sometimes twice in a 30-day span. It is meant to inform residents and taxpayers about the good work his office has been doing and the happenings in and around his…
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Laura Stewart Misses the Point of Campaigning
Read more: Laura Stewart Misses the Point of CampaigningThe board game Game of Life as we know it today was originally published in 1960. My edition at home is from the year ca. 2000, and it certainly shows its age in terms of social norms. Nevertheless, there is one square that is as germane today as it was in 1960: Run for Mayor,…
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Will Laura Stewart Legitimize You?
Read more: Will Laura Stewart Legitimize You?On September 19th at 7pm, the Montgomery County Tax League (MCTL) will be hosting a virtual forum for candidates of the Board of Education (register here). Teaming up with MCTL are several co-sponsors: 480 Club, Gaithersburg/Germantown Chamber of Commerce, Moderately MoCo, Parents Coalition of Montgomery County, and CleanSlate MoCo. I volunteered to represent and ask…
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How optimistic can we be for school reform with “Term Limits” Boss Stein?
Read more: How optimistic can we be for school reform with “Term Limits” Boss Stein?In a video clip appearing on Montgomery County Media, incoming president of the Montgomery County Education Association (teachers’ union) David Stein delineated his responsibilities. I need to be the public face of the union…I need to be the person who is talking to MCPS, overseeing our bargaining processes, talking to our members, supervising the staff…