budget
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Bringing SNAP home
Read more: Bringing SNAP homeCouncil Member Marilyn Balcombe stated it perfectly: she cast the county’s recent special SNAP appropriation as a “response to federal chaos.” The recent federal shutdown was due to deliberations concerning lifting the debt ceiling. Without congressional authorization to borrow even more money than it already has, the government shut down due to lack of funds.…
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MoCo’s SNAP decisions: Part 2—Can MoCo feed its poor?
Read more: MoCo’s SNAP decisions: Part 2—Can MoCo feed its poor?In Part 1 of this series, we explored the ethical nature of asking the entire American public—present and future—to subvent our county’s poor. In this installment we’ll show that MoCo doesn’t need to beg the federal or state governments to fund local poverty relief; we can do it ourselves. The Department of Agriculture publishes biannual…
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MoCo’s SNAP decisions: Part 1—Should the feds pay for our less fortunate?
Read more: MoCo’s SNAP decisions: Part 1—Should the feds pay for our less fortunate?We’ve previously introduced Maria and Juanita: one an irresponsible alcoholic parent, the other a local version of Mother Theresa. I overheard them having a discussion at the Fort Totten Metro stop. “Maria,” said Juanita, “I’m not able to take care of your grandmother any more.” “Why not?” asks Maria. “Well, as you know, I travel…
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Board of Education Compensation: Part 2—Nobody needs a full-time BoE
Read more: Board of Education Compensation: Part 2—Nobody needs a full-time BoEIn part 1 of this series we reviewed the historical narrative for granting full-time pay to MCPS Board of Education members. The overarching theme for the pay increase is that the board members are doing full-time work for part-time pay. Here is a map of the counties in the DC region. The ones shaded in…
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Board of Education Compensation: Part 1—At MCPS, friends don’t let friends make less than $124,000
Read more: Board of Education Compensation: Part 1—At MCPS, friends don’t let friends make less than $124,000MoCo delegates Lorig Charkoudian and Joel Vogel have introduced MC 7-25, which provides for the following: a) MCPS Board of Education members get pay raises to $124,000/year starting December 2026 from the current $25,000/year (BoE president gets $10,000 more); b) the student member of the board is entitled to 80% of that $124,000 to be…
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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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MoCo Boost “Storytellers” Video Features Jose, Is Fully in Spanish, and Doesn’t Confirm If Recipient is an American Citizen
Read more: MoCo Boost “Storytellers” Video Features Jose, Is Fully in Spanish, and Doesn’t Confirm If Recipient is an American CitizenA brief follow-up here on MoCo’s ongoing “Boost” UBI (partly paid for by you, the hardworking taxpayer or you, the business owner, or you, the public school teacher) that caught my eye as I went back to the county’s MocoBoost.org website to see if new data or – gasp- an actual report on the efficacy…
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JOBS: Spending money where it’s needed least
Read more: JOBS: Spending money where it’s needed leastCouncil Member Andrew Friedson, the closest thing we have to a moderate and reformer on the County Council, recently introduced his JOBS (Jobs, Opportunities and Business Support) initiative. According to the press release, there are three components to JOBS: $10 million for job creation, offering $10,000 per employee paid $100,000 or more ($12,000 if in…
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Perfect Investment to Keep Pace with Inflation? Become a Council Member
Read more: Perfect Investment to Keep Pace with Inflation? Become a Council MemberAs Montgomery County still battles with every increasing inflation, a quick look at the Montgomery County Charter will show you how the Council Members have guaranteed themselves the ability to keep pace with inflation much better than a majority of the county. In Sec. 1A-106. Salaries of the County Executive and Councilmembers it states: This…
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Christy Handy and Jennifer Martin’s opinion piece suffers from ethical bias and reversible short-term dementia
Read more: Christy Handy and Jennifer Martin’s opinion piece suffers from ethical bias and reversible short-term dementiaIn a MoCo360 piece Opinion: Full funding for MCPS is key to county’s future prosperity, Christine Handy (president of both Montgomery County Association of Administrators and Principals and Montgomery County Business Operations Administrators) and Jennifer Martin (president of the teachers’ union) make a claim that “fully funding” the school district results in prosperity. Regarding ethical…