Press Releases

Four Montgomery County Council Committees Hold Virtual Meetings on Nov. 1 Starting at 9:30 a.m.

For Immediate Release: Friday, October 29, 2021

Committees to discuss emergency department capacity at local hospitals, the Great Seneca Science Corridor Minor Master Plan, out of school time programs, vehicle repair in the rural village center overlay zone and internal affairs procedures and reporting requirements for the Montgomery County Police Department

The joint Public Safety (PS) and Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee will meet on Monday, Nov. 1 at 9:30 a.m. to review hospital emergency department capacity and the need for psychiatric beds.

The members of the PS Committee include Chair Sidney Katz, Council Vice President Gabe Albornoz and Council President Tom Hucker. The members of the HHS Committee include Chair and Council Vice President Gabe Albornoz and Councilmembers Evan Glass (Lead for Homelessness & Vulnerable Communities) and Craig Rice.

The Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PHED) Committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. to review the Great Seneca Science Corridor Minor Master Plan Amendment and Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 21-05, Rural Village Center (RVC) Overlay Zone – Vehicle Repair.

The members of the PHED Committee include Chair Hans Riemer and Councilmembers Andrew Friedson (Lead for Parks) and Will Jawando.

Joint PHED and Education and Culture (E&C) Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. to review to review out of school time programming in the 2021-2022 School Year.

The members of the E&C Committee include Chair Craig Rice and Councilmembers Will Jawando (Lead for Libraries) and Nancy Navarro.

The PS Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. to review Bill 18-21, Police – Internal Affairs Procedures and Reporting Requirements.

More detail on each agenda item is provided below.

Hospital Emergency Department Capacity and Need for Psychiatric Bed

Review: The joint PS and HHS Committee will meet to review hospital emergency department capacity and the need for psychiatric beds. The County’s hospitals are experiencing delays in being able to appropriately discharge people who come to the emergency department with a mental health crisis to an in-patient psychiatric bed or community-based treatment center, which has had an impact on hospital emergency department capacity. The Committee will also discuss the growing number of people experiencing mental health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, a trend that has been seen both locally and regionally.

Those expected to attend and provide information from Suburban Hospital include Dr. Barton Leonard, M.D., chief, Emergency Medicine; Greta Cuccia, R.N., director of nursing; and Leslie Ford Weber, director, Government & Community Affairs, Montgomery County and Federal. Those expected to attend and provide information from Holy Cross Hospital include Dr. Novell Coots, president and chief executive officer and Scott Graham, director of emergency preparedness, EOC/life safety and workforce wellness. Those expected to attend and provide information from Adventist Healthcare include Terry Forde, president and chief executive officer; Marcel Wright, vice president, Adventist Healthcare Behavioral Health Service Line and Shady Grove Medical Center; and Dr. Marissa Leslie, medical director of psychiatry. Those expected to attend and provide information from Montgomery County government include Dr. Earl Stoddard, assistant chief administrative officer; Dr. Raymond Crowel, director, Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS); Dr. Rolando Santiago, chief, Behavioral Health and Crisis Services (DHHS); Scott Goldstein, chief, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS); Peter Friedman, assistant chief, MCFRS; and Avital Graves, manager, Mobile Integrated Health, MCFRS.

Great Seneca Science Corridor Minor Master Plan Amendment

Review: The PHED committee will review the Great Seneca Science Corridor Minor Master Plan Amendment. The plan amendment was approved by the Planning Board on July 1, 2021 and will amend the approved and adopted 2010 Great Seneca Science Corridor Master Plan. This amendment is not a traditional master plan amendment, as it does not provide recommendations for land use, zoning, transportation, parks, trails, open space, community facilities or the environment.

The amendment evaluates the 2010 plan, considers progress towards the plan’s vision, illustrates departures from and barriers to implementing the original vision and provides a recommendation for adjustments to the plan’s staging requirements.

For more information, the Planning Board draft can be viewed here.

Those expected to attend and provide information include Casey Anderson, chair, Planning Board; Gwen Wright, director, Planning Department; Robert Kronenberg, deputy director, Planning Department; Carrie Sanders, Chief, Midcounty Planning Division, Planning Department; Jessica McVary, master plan supervisor, Midcounty Planning Division; and Maren Hill, planner coordinator, Midcounty Planning Division.

Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 21-05, Rural Village Center (RVC) Overlay Zone – Vehicle Repair

Review: The PHED committee will review ZTA 21-05, which would allow vehicle repair and service in the Rural Village Center (RVC) Overlay Zone. Under the current Zoning Ordinance, minor repair is a prohibited use in the RVC Overlay Zone. The lead sponsor of this ZTA is Councilmember Glass.

Those expected to attend and provide information include Casey Anderson, chair, Montgomery County Planning Board; Jason Sartori, chief, Countywide Planning and Policy, Planning Department; Benjamin Berbert, planner coordinator, Countywide Planning and Policy, Planning

Department; Victor Salazar, division chief, Zoning, Well & Septic and Code Compliance, Department of Permitting Services (DPS); and Mark Beall, zoning manager, Division of Zoning, Well & Septic and Code Compliance, DPS.

Out of School Time Programming in the 2021-2022 School Year

Review: The joint PHED and E&C Committee will review out of school time (OST) programming and expansion of programming to address community needs. The discussion will include recent efforts to expand access to OST programming to County youth, assess the unmet need for services and identify barriers to service delivery and opportunities for coordination among public and private service providers.

Those expected to attend and provide information include Ramona Bell-Pearson, director, Community Use of Public Facilities (CUPF); Robin Riley, director, Department of Recreation; Adriane Clutter, division chief, Programs, Department of Recreation; Shane Tate, director of programs, Montgomery County Collaboration Council for Children, Youth and Families (Collaboration Council); Kimberly Rusnak, project director, Children’s Opportunity Fund (COF); Byron Johns, co-founder, Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Equity and Excellence; Dana Edwards, chief, Office of Districtwide Services and Supports, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS); and C. Douglas Hollis, executive director, Office of Finance and Operations, MCPS.

Bill 18-21, Police – Internal Affairs Procedures and Reporting Requirements

Review: The PS Committee will review Bill 18-21, Police - Internal Affairs - Procedures and Reporting Requirements. Introduced by lead sponsor Council President Hucker, the purpose of the bill is to improve police accountability through the random review of body-worn camera footage and through the prompt reporting of serious Internal Affairs Division (IAD) investigations. Councilmembers Jawando, Riemer, Glass, Navarro, Rice and Vice President Albornoz are cosponsors of the legislation.

The bill requires the Montgomery County Police Department to issue a body-worn camera for the use of an on-duty employee of the department whenever the officer is wearing a uniform or prominently displaying a badge or insignia.

The bill also requires internal random reviews of body-worn camera recordings to evaluate officer performance and compliance with police rules. In addition, the bill provides that certain types of potential administrative misconduct discovered on body-camera recordings be investigated by the IAD.

Those expected to attend and provide information include Marcus Jones, chief, Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD), Darren Francke, assistant chief MCPD; Willie Parker-Loan, assistant chief, MCPD; and Haley Roberts, assistant county attorney.

The Committee meeting schedule may change from time to time. The current Council and Committee agendas, Council staff reports and additional information on items scheduled for Council review can be viewed at: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/ondemand/index.html.

The Council and committees are meeting via Zoom this fall because of ongoing construction and technology upgrades in the Council's Hearing Room and the inability to conduct meetings in a socially distant way in other areas of the Council Office Building with television broadcast capacity. Councilmembers will continue to hold meetings in their offices by appointment.

The virtual Council and committee meetings will be streamed live on the Council’s web page via YouTube and on Facebook Live and can be watched on County Cable Montgomery on Xfinity/RCN 6 HD 996/1056, Fios 30, and on the CCM live stream.

Release ID: 21-434
Media Contact: Sonya Healy 240-777-7926, Benjamin Sky Brandt 240-777-7884