For Immediate Release: Monday, November 16, 2020
Council also will introduce additional COVID-19 funding, receive an update on COVID-19 public health planning and recovery and receive a briefing from the Office of the Inspector General on data security
The Council will meet virtually on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 9:30 a.m. and will begin with proclamation presentations recognizing the following: Ms. Bonnie Fogel's retirement from Imagination Stage by Councilmembers Gabe Albornoz, Craig Rice and Andrew Friedson; Dr. Harvey Alter on his 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine by Councilmember Andrew Friedson; and Transgender Remembrance Day by Councilmember Evan Glass.
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 meeting schedule may change from time to time. The current Council agendas can be viewed at: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/ondemand/index.html.
On the guidance of Health Officer and Chief of Public Health Services Dr. Travis Gayles, there is currently no public access to the Council Office Building. The virtual Council meeting 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 and Fios 30.
Council Agenda Items
Supplemental Appropriation to Montgomery College’s FY21 Operating Budget - $1,361,801 for CARES Act Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund
The Council will introduce a supplemental appropriation of $1,361,801 to the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) Operating Budget of Montgomery College for the CARES Act Governor’s Emergency Relief (GEER) Fund. Montgomery College plans to use the funds to help residents pursue workforce training and continuing professional education that will lead to industry-required certifications or licenses. A majority of the funds will be used for direct student support through scholarships and financial aid. The remainder of the funds will be used for project personnel and other administrative costs. The Council is tentatively scheduled to hold a public hearing and vote on this supplemental appropriation on Dec. 1.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
Special Appropriation to the County Government’s FY21 Operating Budget, Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA) - $3,473,228 for COVID-19 Response: Maryland State CDBG-CV HUD CPD Funding
The Council will introduce a special appropriation of $3,473,228 to the Department of Housing and Community Affairs’ FY21 Operating Budget for the COVID-19 response. The COVID-19 public health crisis has resulted in the total or partial loss of income for many households. Montgomery County has received additional federal CARES Act Community Development Block Grant-CV (CDBG-CV) funds from Maryland to provide assistance to residents who are facing financial hardships due to COVID-19. The Council is tentatively scheduled to hold a public hearing and vote on this appropriation on Dec. 1.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
Special Appropriation to the County Government’s FY21 Operating Budget, DHCA - $4,227,565 for COVID-19 Response: CDBG-CV HUD CPD Funding
The Council will introduce a special appropriation of $4,227,565 to the Department of Housing and Community Affairs’ FY21 Operating Budget for COVID-19 response. The COVID-19 public health crisis has resulted in the total or partial loss of income for many households. Montgomery County has received additional federal CARES Act Community Development Block Grant-CV (CDBG-CV) funds to be used for financial assistance and emergency shelter support for people facing financial hardships because of the COVID-19 health crisis. The Council is tentatively scheduled to hold a public hearing and vote on this appropriation on Dec. 1.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
Special appropriation to the County Government’s FY21 Operating Budget -Department of Health and Human Services - $312,455 for Children, Youth, and Family Services - Therapeutic Recreation Services for School-Age Youth
Councilmembers Will Jawando and Hans Riemer are proposing a package of appropriations and legislation to invest in mental health professionals and restorative justice while prohibiting the Montgomery County Police Department from placing school resource officers (SROs) in school buildings. This special appropriation would provide therapeutic recreation services for school-age youth. A public hearing on this special appropriation is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 1.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
Special appropriation to the County Government’s FY21 Operating Budget - Department of Recreation, $406,000 for Youth Development - After School Youth Support and Engagement Hubs and Amendment to FY21 Operating Budget Resolution Section G, FY21 Designation of Entities for Non-Competitive Contract Award Status: Montgomery Collaboration Council for Children, Youth, and Families
Councilmembers Will Jawando and Hans Riemer are proposing a package of appropriations and legislation to invest in mental health professionals and restorative justice while prohibiting the Montgomery County Police Department from placing school resource officers (SROs) in school buildings. This special appropriation would provide structured, positive youth development and social and emotional learning services for vulnerable County youth targeted at specific needs identified by their school community. A public hearing on this special appropriation is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 1.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
Special appropriation to Montgomery County Public Schools' FY21 Operating Budget - $750,000 for Restorative Justice Training for School Staff Funds
Councilmembers Will Jawando and Hans Riemer are proposing a package of appropriations and legislation to invest in mental health professionals and restorative justice while prohibiting the Montgomery County Police Department from placing school resource officers (SROs) in school buildings. This special appropriation would provide restorative justice training for teachers and staff in Montgomery County Public Schools. A public hearing on this special appropriation is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 1.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
Resolution to Amend Resolution 19-557; COVID-19 Human Services and Community Assistance Non-Departmental Account (NDA): COVID-19 Response: Rental Assistance and Eviction and Homelessness Prevention
This resolution is needed to increase the amount of funding that a household may receive for rental assistance and provides funds for residents to leave the emergency shelter system. On July 28, the Council approved Resolution 19-557, which approved $20 million in CARES funding for rental assistance and eviction and homelessness prevention. Amendments to this resolution are needed to increase the maximum amount of rental assistance from $4,000 to $6,000 per household and to allow up to $5,000 of assistance per person to help an individual exit the emergency shelter system.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
Resolution to Approve Ride On's Title VI Policies, Title VI Implementation Plan 2021-2023, and Title VI Compliance Monitoring Report
The Council will introduce a resolution to approve Ride On's Title VI policies. Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. Every three years the Federal Transit Administration requires each transit operator to update its Title VI policy, plan and monitoring. Ride On’s last update was in 2017. The links to these documents can be found here.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and County Public Health Planning
The Council will sit as the Board of Health to receive an update on the County’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its recovery efforts. The Council will be joined by Dr. Travis Gayles, County health officer and chief of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS) Public Health Services; Dr. Earl Stoddard, director, Office of Emergency management and Homeland Security; and Dr. Raymond Crowel, director, DHHS.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
Maryland State Department of Education Rejection of Waiver Request for Relaxed Child Care Teacher-Child Ratios
The Council will discuss the recent request from County Executive Elrich to the to the State Superintendent of Maryland Schools Dr. Karen Salmon for a waiver from the requirement that child care staff to student ratios return to the standards established in the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) for three and four-year-old children. During phase two of the state COVID-19 reopening plan for child care, the state superintendent allowed the temporary relaxation of ratios for this age group of one adult to fourteen children, recognizing the challenges faced by child care providers. The COMAR standard is one adult per 10 children. County Executive Elrich requested a waiver to stay at the phase two level, but the state superintendent denied the request.
The Council staff report will be available here by Nov. 17.
Coronavirus Relief Fund
As the result of the Council’s Oct. 13 meeting, requested by Councilmember Nancy Navarro and supported by the full Council, about the Coronavirus Relief Fund, the Council receives a weekly status report on appropriations and expenditures from the fund by executive branch staff. Since all funds must be used by Dec. 31, 2020, it is important to track the County’s use of the funds and whether any reallocations or additional appropriations are necessary. Rich Madaleno, chief administrative officer, and Dr. Earl Stoddard, director, Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, will brief the Council.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
Bill 45-20, Police – Community Policing – Data
The Council will introduce Bill 45-20, which aims to ensure greater transparency in the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) and to create publicly available data related to the race, ethnicity, gender and other voluntarily provided information about residents involved in policing actions. Councilmember Will Jawando, Council President Sidney Katz, Council Vice President Tom Hucker and Councilmember Gabe Albornoz are the lead sponsors. Councilmember Hans Riemer is a cosponsor. Bill 45-20 implements recommendations from the Office of Legislative Oversight's Report 2020-9 regarding the use of data to enhance community policing.
The legislation requires MCPD to report annually to the Council about the demographic information regarding individuals stopped (including a stop and frisk that doesn't result in a citation or arrest), searched, cited, arrested or the subject of a use of force incident by the department. Bill 45-20 would require MCPD to post on Data Montgomery information about each of the following types of incidents, including information about race and ethnicity: use of force incidents; field interview reports; juvenile citations; criminal citations, including trespassing citations; alcohol beverage violations; possession of marijuana violations less than 10 grams; and smoking marijuana in public places. A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 8.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
#OpenPoliceData and #OpenPoliceDataMoCo are being used for this bill on social media.
Bill 46-20, Police - School Resources Officers – Prohibited
The Council will introduce Bill 46-20, which would prohibit the Montgomery County Police Department from deploying School Resource Officers (SROs) to Montgomery County Public Schools. Councilmembers Will Jawando and Hans Riemer are the lead sponsors. A school resource officer is a sworn uniformed law officer trained in emergency preparedness, crisis management, community policing concepts and problem solving who is assigned to work as a liaison to Montgomery County Public Schools. The Montgomery County Police Department currently has 23 police officers assigned to work as SROs in specific public schools pursuant to an existing memorandum of understanding with Montgomery County Public Schools. A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 12.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
#PoliceFreeSchoolsMoCo is being used for this bill on social media.
Office of Inspector General (OIG) Report Publication #21-003 – County SharePoint Exposes Sensitive Information of Vulnerable Populations
The Council will receive a briefing from Inspector General Megan Davey Limarzi about OIG Report Publication #21-003. On Sept. 23, the OIG received information from a concerned County employee that they were able to access records pertaining to clients of the Tree House of Montgomery County through the SharePoint platform, which is used by Montgomery County government. The Tree House is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing trauma and promoting healing for child and adolescent victims of sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect. OIG investigated and was able to access information for 529 Tree House clients. Inspector General Limarzi sent a Memorandum of Investigation to then-Acting Chief Administrative Officer Richard Madaleno to advise him of the discovery of sensitive and personally identifiable information found. Executive staff will present their response to the five recommendations in the report and describe the actions they have taken thus far. In addition to Inspector General Limarzi, the following individuals are expected to attend the meeting: Fariba Kassiri, deputy chief administrative officer, Gail Roper, director, Department of Technology Services (DTS), Keith Young, Enterprise IT Security Office, DTS; David Godfrey, chief information officer, DTS; and Dr. Costis Toregas, senior legislative analyst, County Council.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
Semi-Annual Report of the Planning Board
The Council will receive the Semi-Annual Report of the Montgomery County Planning Board, which outlines accomplishments, current work program items and both the Planning Department and Parks Department responses to COVID-19. The Semi-Annual Report of the Planning Board to the Council typically occurs in the spring and fall each year. It is an opportunity for the Planning Board to brief the Council on the accomplishments of the Parks and Planning Departments and provide an update on work program items. Casey Anderson, chair of the Planning Board; Gwen Wright, director of the Planning Department; and Michael Riley, director of Montgomery Parks, are among those expected to attend the meeting.
The Council staff report can be viewed here.
Public Hearings
All Council public hearings will be held at 1:30 p.m.
Special Appropriation to the County Government’s FY21 Operating Budget, - $35,636,325 for Federal Coronavirus Relief Fund NDA and Amendment to Resolution 19-498, Special Appropriation to the County Government’s FY20 Operating Budget, Federal Coronavirus Relief Fund NDA
The Council will hold a public hearing and is scheduled to vote on a special appropriation of $35,636,325 for the Federal Coronavirus Relief Fund NDA. This appropriation is requested for the remaining unappropriated CARES funds received from the federal government to allow funds to be expended by Dec. 30. This appropriation would authorize Montgomery County government to expend these additional funds on the list of uses previously approved in Resolution 19-498 as amended; further amend Resolution 19-498 to allow three additional uses for funds from the NDA; and allow the NDA to reimburse the General Fund for two previously approved special appropriations. The Council staff report can be found here.
Special Appropriation to the FY21 Operating Budget, Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation Non-Departmental Account, Restaurant Relief Grant Program, $8,230,497 (Source: State grant) and Amendment to the FY21 Operating Budget Resolution 19-472, Section G, Designation of Entities for Non-Competitive Contract Award Status: Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation
The Council will hold a public hearing and is scheduled to vote on a special appropriation of $8,230,497 to the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) NDA’s FY21 Operating Budget. The County Executive has requested approval of the subject resolution to implement the Restaurant Relief Grant Program. This program is fully funded through a state grant as part of Governor Hogan’s $250 million “Maryland Strong: Economic Recovery Initiative.” The County Executive has proposed that MCEDC implement the program for the County. The Council staff report can be viewed here.
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Release ID: 20-455