News and Views
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File an MPIA: An Easy Action Step
Read more: File an MPIA: An Easy Action StepThough CleanSlateMoCo offers an open platform for you to submit your viewpoints, opinions and research, it is often hard putting pen to paper. We get it! You know you aren’t satisfied with the conditions of the county. You might even know specific issues that really bother you. But the writing is hard. We wanted to…
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Who Exactly Was Advocating for HOME Act. Only the .001% of MoCo
Read more: Who Exactly Was Advocating for HOME Act. Only the .001% of MoCoSocial media has been flooded with pictures of a packed county council room with supporters holding signs and giving testimony. The perception is that there is a wide and inclusive foundation of support for the HOME Act. But is that really the case? Let’s take a closer look at who sent the participants and what…
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Renters Should Pay More (Immediately) in Taxes Each Fiscal Year to Contribute to MoCo’s Budget and Spending
Read more: Renters Should Pay More (Immediately) in Taxes Each Fiscal Year to Contribute to MoCo’s Budget and SpendingSeveral years ago, even prior to being a homeowner in Montgomery County, Maryland, I came across this article by the fantastic personal finance blogger ‘Financial Samurai’. I majored in economics from the University of Maryland, so I always had an interest in this kind of thing. But even more so then basic economics, personal finance,…
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Rent Control: Prejudice in the Form of Legislation
Read more: Rent Control: Prejudice in the Form of LegislationDuring the Obama and Trump administrations, the federal government inflated the currency, but you blame the landlords for rent increases. Prices of food are going up, but you put price controls only on the landlords. Prices of insurance are going up, but you put price controls only on the landlords. Prices of fuel are going…
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Mink’s 2021 Anti-SRO Hearing Testimony to Board of Ed
Read more: Mink’s 2021 Anti-SRO Hearing Testimony to Board of EdCouncilmember Kristin Mink’s 2021 Anti-SRO Hearing Testimony to Board of Ed Included Reference to Questionable Study (and Appears to Conflate Correlation with Causation) In March 2021, activist and now-current Montgomery County Councilmember Kristin Mink supplied written testimony to the MoCo Board of Education in which she urged an end to the Student Resource Officer (SRO)…
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As Montgomery County Faces Recession Pressures and Uncertainty, Marc Elrich Departs for Taiwan with Member of County Council
Read more: As Montgomery County Faces Recession Pressures and Uncertainty, Marc Elrich Departs for Taiwan with Member of County CouncilTen days after revealing his “recommended” fiscal year 2024 budget for Montgomery County, Maryland, that includes big tax hikes via property tax rates, County Executive Marc Elrich is departing for business and “international smart city” representation in Taiwan. Does it reflect someone concerned about County finances? On March 15, 2023, CE Marc Elrich put out a…
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Marc Elrich’s “Core 19th Century Beliefs”: Seeds of Stagnation Part 3
Read more: Marc Elrich’s “Core 19th Century Beliefs”: Seeds of Stagnation Part 3You can view Part 1 of the series here, and Part 2 here. “Maybe we need a formalized format that brings labor and others into an active discussion on what principles we might agree on – heaven knows that Republicans coalesce around their core 19th century beliefs.” The above “zinger” towards ‘Republicans’ was excerpted from…
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Who is Pillaging the Taxpayers Faster: MoCo vs Fairfax Edition
Read more: Who is Pillaging the Taxpayers Faster: MoCo vs Fairfax EditionLocal ABC7 News Affiliate WJLA reporter Nick Minock did some actual investigative journalism yesterday and revealed some pretty stunning facts about the state of our neighbor to the south, Fairfax County, Virginia, and their own local politician’s perks and taxpayer pillaging. Let’s see how Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors stack up to Montgomery County’s Councilmembers…
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MoCo Sets Aside its Values with “Sister City” Partnership with Xi’an, China
Read more: MoCo Sets Aside its Values with “Sister City” Partnership with Xi’an, ChinaDid you know Montgomery County has five “Sister Cities”? Three are in Asia, one in Africa and one in, yep, Marc Elrich’s favorite country, El Salvador (more on this in another investigative post). Per the ‘about’ page on the County’s Sister City website, the mission here is: People have come to Montgomery County, Maryland from…
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Underlying Fundamentals Have Changed. We Must Adjust Our Course.
Read more: Underlying Fundamentals Have Changed. We Must Adjust Our Course.Some interesting charts that should be considered and debated as Montgomery County pushes for approval of a larger budget, with more spending (and taxing). Labor Force This data is published monthly and is a representation of all persons in the civilian noninstitutional population ages 16 and older classified as either employed or unemployed. The civilian…