For Immediate Release: Thursday, March 7, 2024
From the Office of Councilmember Marilyn Balcombe
The Montgomery County Council recently received a report from the Office of Legislative Oversight to examine the demographic makeup of the County’s boards, committees and commissions (BCCs). The study was commissioned by the Council to better understand how members of the 92 County BCCs are selected, their demographics, their history of BCC service, and how to strengthen racial equity policies and practices.
The study (“Contractor Study on Member Selection for Montgomery County Citizen Commissions, Committees, and Boards”) found that there were no overall disparities for gender, sexual and gender identity, and individuals with disabilities. In addition to disparities found for race/ethnicity, age and income, there were significant disparities in geography.
The report stated “The Upcounty region, given its large population, was represented at a lower rate (19 percent) than other areas of the County. The most represented cities included Rockville, Silver Spring, Bethesda and Gaithersburg, and the least represented city in proportion to its population size is Germantown.” Even though Germantown is the largest community in the County, it had only 51 residents represented on BCCs compared to smaller communities of Rockville (276), Silver Spring (263) and Bethesda (104).
As the Councilmember representing Germantown and much of the Upcounty, Councilmember Marilyn Balcombe was not surprised by the geographic disparities identified. Civic engagement and community representation in local government has been one of her major concerns for a long time. In the first few months of her term, Councilmember Balcombe voiced her concerns as she noticed that her community was not reflected in the many BCC nominations put forward by the County Executive’s Office.
“If there is a BCC that is focusing on a countywide issue, the membership of the body needs to be countywide,” Councilmember Balcombe said. “It was eye-opening to see the rosters of the various boards and commissions and notice that some of them didn’t have a single representative from my district. The importance of this disparity cannot be overstated. Constituents who serve on BCCs have the unique opportunity to participate in advising County systems and processes. When Upcounty residents are not included in these groups, they lose an important opportunity to advocate for their communities. Given the diversity represented in the Upcounty, adding more geographic representation will add more representation overall.”
“I look forward to working with the Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO) Committee to work through the recommendations outlined in the report. I want to thank Council Vice President Kate Stewart for recognizing the importance of this subject and for including geographic representation in the study.”
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Release ID: 24-089