Contributor Opinion By Christina Ginsberg: Important Steps On In-House City Attorney

>The following contributor opinion is by Rockville Central friend Christina Ginsberg. The report to which she refers was prepared by Drew Powell:

On Monday, July 28, the Rockville City Council took an important step to bring the City’s attorney function in house. The City was contracting with the firm of Venable, LLC, a very large law firm with many clients including developers such as FRIT that operate within Rockville City limits. For example, in last year’s discussions regarding the COPT property that borders King Farm, Venable attorneys represented the City of Rockville, while other Venable attorneys represented the property owners. As agents of the City, Venable attorneys wrote the GDA (general development agreement) for Rockville Town Center, that governed Rockville’s development with the property owners FRIT and RDI.

I’m glad to say that the City Council voted 5-0 to discontinue its service contract with Venable.

Please keep this issue on your minds – I’m sure it will be discussed this fall.

Rockville Central runs occasional, edited opinion pieces by contributors as well as other guest columns. Their views are not necessarily those of Rockville Central. We encourage you to join the growing list of contributors! To submit your piece for consideration, contact us.

Update On RORZOR

As >Rockville Central readers know, the Mayor and Council are hard at work reviewing, amending, and preparing to pass a new zoning ordinance. Rockville Central friend Mark Pierzchala, who has been following the process, sent along an update on where things stand:

Apparently they stayed until 12:30am on Monday, and last night finished about 11:20pm. As a result of this concerted effort, they got through the text part of the ordinance and started on the map part. Their plan is to finish the map review on Monday, August 4. I would guess that the provisional meeting for Wednesday, August 6 will not be needed.

Last chances for citizen input are as follows: (1) the record is open until Monday August 4 (probably close of business, meaning the meeting time would be too late), (2) citizen’s forum will be held Monday, and (3) there is the Mayor and Council drop-in before that.

Then they’ll pass it after their summer recess.

Should You Go To Monday's Mayor And Council Meeting? Yes!

As >Rockville Central readers know, I have long pined for a way to watch meetings of the Mayor and Council on my computer — on my own timetable, rather than tuning in only when they are televised. For folks who are involved in civic activities, Monday night can be a big night and I, for one, often have other things on my mind than moseying on down to City Hall.

So I am delighted to learn that this Monday’s meeting of the Mayor and Council will be the first one that will test out the new “video on demand” service from the Our Fair City! I can watch our city leaders on my own schedule now, and for that I am grateful. I will post the link when I know it (it may be this one, in fact).

But, there’s still a good reason to go to Monday’s meeting! It is the second in a series of two public hearings on the new zoning ordinance. The Mayor and Council are gathering input as they consider revisions to the proposed new rules — and there are definitely issues to be discussed. Rockville Central friend Rich Gottfried is hoping that citizens who have small home-based businesses will come and weigh in, for example. (Rich has had a lot of success advocating — with other residents — for the creation of a new “no impact” home business category).

At the last such hearing, if memory serves, there were five speakers. So there is definitely room for you!

Zoning Hearings Set — Be Heard!

The City has announced two public hearings where the Mayor and Council will hear public comments on the draft revision of Our Fair City’s >zoning law. This is what used to be referred to as “RORZOR.” That committee drafted a new set of rules, which the Planning Commission has now reviewed and submitted to the Mayor and Council. It is now up to the Mayor and Council to consider the new zoning rules, make amendments, and, finally, adopt them.

These rules will govern development in Rockville for the next few decades. The hearings are slated for June 16 and June 30.

According to the City’s press release:

The draft ordinance was a culmination of the City’s evaluation and rewriting of its 30-year-old Zoning Ordinance, which began in 2005. Beginning in early 2006, the RORZOR (Representatives of Rockville Zoning Ordinance Review) committee, working with City staff, developed a draft Zoning Ordinance. The Mayor and Council authorized public review of the RORZOR draft on October 8, 2007 by referring it to the Planning Commission for recommendation. Since that time there has been extensive public comment and review, including two public hearings and multiple worksessions before the Planning Commission. The resulting draft, finalized on May 21, reflects the Planning Commission’s desire for high quality development and improved procedures.

Here’s the schedule:

• June 16: First Public Hearing
• June 30: Second Public Hearing
• July 7: Joint Meeting of the Mayor and Council and Planning Commission
• July 9, 14, 16: Worksessions to review public comment and provide direction on changes to be made
• July 11: Public Comment period closed
• August 4: Proposed adoption of revised Zoning Ordinance

The hearings on the 16th and the 30th will be at 7:00 pm in the Mayor and Council’s chambers in City Hall.

The Mayor And Council Open Retreat

As >Rockville Central readers know, last night the Mayor and Council held a two-part meeting at “the Cottage,” a small and very inviting outbuilding next to the Glenview Mansion. Part One was a closed retreat, while Part Two was an open, regular meeting of the Mayor and Council.

This meeting had been controversial. It began life as just a retreat, scheduled for June 4. This fit into a series of quarterly “mini-retreats” that the Mayor and Council voted to hold at a meeting in March. The “retreat” idea has since attracted criticism, with some saying it runs counter to the transparent ethos that Our Fair City’s leaders wish to promote, others saying they don’t believe such a retreat can really be held without discussing policy (and hence possibly running afoul of the state’s open meeting laws), others saying that the Mayor and Council has plenty of work to do without wasting time and effort on “working relationship,” and still others pointing out that there’s a seeming disconnect as they cancel public meetings due to lack of agenda items while at the same time holding closed meetings. (I am trying to paraphrase the arguments here.)

The retreat, at some point, changed dates and morphed into its current two-part arrangement, which prompted a new round of criticism. If the Mayor and Council is to hold a “regular meeting,” why hold it off-site, where it is difficult or impossible to video effectively? In fact, it was suggested that I video the proceedings to provide a record. I chose not to do that, for technical as well as philosophical reasons. While there is nothing to stop any citizen from videotaping an open meeting of the Mayor and Council (which includes meetings like the West End Town Meeting where I and the City were strangely barred by the Board of WECA from recording), in this instance it seemed to violate the spirit of what the meeting is about.

Council members Piotr Gajewski and Anne Robbins chose not to attend the closed “retreat” part of the meeting. In various email messages, they had made their intentions known. They talked about different reasons: Piotr felt that such retreats ought not to be held at all, while Anne felt that the agenda for this particular retreat was not well prepared and also objected to the lack of a facilitator for the meeting. (Again, I am paraphrasing the arguments and I welcome Piotr and Anne to correct me in the comments.)

Readers of this space and listeners to our weekly radio show know that, for my part, I don’t think it outrageous at all that the Mayor and Council meet on their own to keep their inner workings on track. Nor do I worry that this is taking away from other important work. I believe the Mayor and Council work hard, and will gladly work harder where it is needed.

All this is to say, last night’s meeting carried with it a fair amount of expectation. I have had a number of emails from people asking me “how it went.”

It was a quiet little gathering in the cottage, fewer than I have seen typically show up at Mayor and Council meetings. By my count, there were seven observers: two press (Sentinel and Gazette), one idiosyncratic blogger (me), and four real, live citizens. So we were well-balanced by the number of principals around the table, which included the entire Mayor and Council (five, once eight o’clock rolled around) and Scott Ullery, the city manager. Don’t count the press and the citizens were outnumbered!

In fact, the intimacy of the setting and the number of observers made me oddly feel like I had to keep stifling an urge to jump into the conversation, as if I was an actual participant. (Readers will be pleased to learn I was able to control myself.)

Enough, Brad, what happened in the meeting?

Well, first they argued a bit about whether they ought to be meeting. (There were only three votes to even begin the meeting, with two abstentions.) Mayor Susan Hoffmann read into the record a letter from the City Attorney that outlined the ins and outs of the state’s open meeting law. She said that it made clear that the kind of meeting they had just held (the retreat) was permitted. Piotr objected, saying that was a conclusion he did not support.

Then they got down to business and reviewed the vision priorities established in their “real” retreat in January.

And to be honest, there was not a heck of a lot of substance that came up. Which is not to say they did nothing. To the contrary. I’ll just highlight a few things:

• There was a lengthy discussion of whether, and in what ways, the priorities established by the Mayor and Council actually end up reflected in the budget. Scott Ullery pointed out that the budget and its quarterly reports are organized around these priorities. In some ways, this seemed satisfactory, but in other ways not. There was a clear thread (especially in listening to Council Member Phyllis Marcuccio and Anne Robbins, who have experience being in the minority and report feeling as if they are being excluded — but this did not not just come from them) that a more methodical and explicit connection between planning and budgeting would be useful. Council Member John Britton expressed a desire for more informal, and earlier, previews of some of the basic directions that the City Manager’s budget appears to be taking, so that the Mayor and Council can discuss it and think about it before it gets presented and they have to start making serious decisions.

• Somewhere around here (actually it was at 8:25), Piotr Gajewski’s wife came in with a video camera, set it up on a tripod in the corner, and walked out. This prompted Council Member Phyllis Marcuccio to object that this violated the spirit of the retreat and was nonprofessional. Mayor Susan Hoffmann asked if, in fact, the camera was rolling and Piotr Gajewski answered he did not know. Two separate audience members went over to the camera to see if it was going and the consensus was it probably was. John Britton angrily said it was a distortion of the spirit of the meeting, and Piotr Gajewski answered that citizens are allowed to video open meetings. Then they settled down and got back to the meeting, with the untouched camera sitting over in the corner. I assume, therefore, there is a record somewhere.
• In talking about the “Green Rockville” priority, John Britton asked if the City offers any incentives for property owners to make energy-efficient modifications to their property (like solar panels). This seemed to get widespread interest and I would not be surprised if we saw something like that become law.
• The group discussed their upcoming duty to consider, amend, and pass the City’s new zoning ordinance. The thing is a behemoth, notwithstanding the excellent work that went into it by the RORZOR committee and then the Planning Commission. The group a
  greed to, if necessary, double up on meetings (adding in a televised worksession into the mix in some weeks) in order to get it done. They are shooting for getting it done by the August 4 recess. However, there is a division: Piotr Gajewski asked that, if their work is not completed by recess that they continue working until the new zoning law is done — people are waiting to build. Others said that they thought it was possible, with hard work, to meet the deadline but that if they do not, they do not feel it is important to suspend recess. Mayor Hoffmann pointed out that it is not like the Iraqi Parliament taking summer off when they had not yet completed work on their nation’s fundamental establishing documents. Phyllis Marcuccio pointed out that the citizens of Rockville demand and eserve the Mayor and Council to do its best job on this law, which will affect how Rockville looks for decades, and that this should trump other considerations, such as whether people are waiting to build or not.

• Speaking of worksessions, the group took up the question of Boards and Commissions. There is an ongoing question about whether the current system could be improved and made more systematic (I am of two minds about that, to tell you the truth — I am not necessarily opposed to an explicitly political appointment system). That facet of this issue came up, and no decisions were made. However, a new wrinkle was discussed. There is little satisfaction currently with the way the work of the boards and commissions gets integrated (or even considered) by the Mayor and Council. It appears that many commissions believe that their Mayor and Council liaison is making regular reports on their work, but there is in fact no mechanism for that. It appears that the Mayor and Council will be moving (back) to a system where each commission holds a worksession with the Mayor and Council at least once per year. Piotr Gajewski did not agree with this idea, saying that any Council member is welcome at any time to any commission meeting and so that access should suffice. Notwithstanding that, I would expect to see more joint worksessions moving forward.
• The group discussed Community Engagement, which is one of the priority areas. Nothing concrete was decided. However, this is my own professional area, so I have strong views on the issue. (No, I am not angling for a consulting gig with the City.) In a later article, I’ll write more on this subject.
• As the group discussed economic development, they made it very clear that they want to e City staff to move on developing and implementing a coherent branding campaign. The communications arm of the City has been understaffed but now has key positions filled and has added a staffer, so that they have more capacity to handle routine communications work (press releases, etc.) and can think more strategically. The group reiterated that they want to see robust movement on this issue — so watch for a new City tagline soon! And more.

No doubt I have missed something. I hope others who were there will add bits and pieces in the comments section of this article. That includes the Mayor and Council, as well as the City Manager!!

The meeting ended on the dot at ten and, as I left, Bailey Quinonez from the Sentinel and Contessa Crisostomo from the Gazette were interviewing members of the Mayor and Council and the City Manager, so I am sure their pieces later in the week will have lots better information than this rambling bit.

Me, I wanted to get home to see my family so, thankful that I am not a real live journalist but instead just a private citizen, I hightailed it home.

The Bank Of Civic Trust

>This is an “open letter” from me to Our Fair City’s governing body, the Mayor and Council. I am also sending it to their public email addresses.

Dear Mayor Hoffmann, and Council Members Britton, Gajewski, Marcuccio, and Robbins:

As a private citizen, I want to thank you for your service to Rockville. You make a good team, each bringing a unique set of skills, temperament, and attitude to your work. If I had to write down a set of archetypes that would comprise a governing body, I might well choose the personalities that you all embody.

I am well aware that serving in local elected office, while personally gratifying, is sometimes a thankless, dispiriting job. People often seem to feel they “own a piece of you,” by virtue of the fact that you are their elected representative. In today’s political environment, it is also sometimes difficult for community members to move beyond self interest when it comes to public policy options — so debates may get quite heated, more than is necessary.

There is also the uncomfortable, added difficulty of the fishbowl into which you are suddenly thrown when you win office — everything is on display, and there can seem to be little room for forgiveness on the part of the public.

I understand, and sympathize with, the desire to have some time to work together where the “heat” is turned down. In discussions I have had with elected officials across the nation, one of the chief things they have told me they want is more “room” to do their work — to hash things out, to make mistakes, to think out loud.

But there’s another side, too. From the perspective of the citizens of Rockville, there is not complete trust. The “east-west divide” in town is well-documented, and some decisions may exacerbate the sense (rightly or wrongly) that things go well for the West while the East gets short shrift. With the economy slowing, and surrounding jurisdictions considering staggering tax increases, local citizens are understandably a bit anxious for what their own tax bills will contain. There’s a new, massive development in town — one that is very welcome but related to which some feel there have been a misstep or two. These are just examples; I could go on.

All this can add up to a sense on the part of some citizens that they’d better keep a close eye and a short leash on our elected leaders. Above all, we hear from citizens, around the nation and within our town, that whey want authenticity and accountability from their elected leaders.

These two desires — for “room” on the one hand and for “accountability” on the other — are obviously in tension. There is no way around that; there is no magic town meeting format that will remove it, no engagement consultant that will turn it magically into consensus.

I am led to understand that, on June 2, there is a “mini-retreat” scheduled to take place. It is a part of the series of such meetings that you agreed to in your more formal retreat at the beginning of the year. The June 2 meeting is evidently set to take place at the Cottage (next to Glenview Mansion) at 6pm. There will be a public session and a closed session. No policy discussions and no decisions are to be taken at this meeting; it is intended to improve interpersonal working relationships among and between the members of the Mayor and Council.

As I understand it, the meeting will not be televised on The Rockville Channel, neither live nor taped.

Some have pointed out that this meeting may be a violation of Maryland’s open meeting act, which provides for only a limited set of reasons that a body may go into executive session. Some have also said that holding the meeting at an inconvenient time and location goes against the typical spirit of open and accessible governance that Rockville has become known for. These voices do have a point.

However, it is just as true that it was a perception of dysfunctional relations that drove much of the last campaign — people over and over said they wanted a Mayor and Council that could work together. This “meta-issue” trumped all other specific policy issues. From my professional life, I am well aware of how useful just going off-site, away from the normal setting, can [be to] improve the ability of a group to work together and air issues that need to be discussed.

As you can see, I am sympathetic to both sides in this question. I don’t think it’s an outrage that a retreat is being held, and that part of it is by design private. But I do think that it would be beneficial to take all the steps possible to make the rest of the meeting fully transparent. Whenever a public body goes into a closed session, it is essentially drawing on the bank of trust from the citizens. It seems wise to make as many “deposits” into that bank as possible.

It has been suggested to me that I come to the mini-retreat with my little video recorder in hand, and post all the video I can. While it sounds like a hoot, I do not plan to do that. Instead, I plan to attend, if it is permissible, and just write a simple recap of what happens in the public portion of the meeting. I hope that some citizens will trust that I will do my best to be fair and accurate to all.

So, when you see me at the meeting, know that I am not there to keep you on a short leash, but instead am there to try, from my perspective as a private citizen, to bridge a divide. Ultimately, I am writing this note simply to let you know that at least one citizen understands the bind that you, as a body, are in. The answer is not easy.

Thanks again for your service.

–Brad Rourke

Rockville's Mayor For A Day Has A Big Agenda

>I was fortunate enough to catch up with Ricky Allen, Our Fair City’s Mayor For A Day and a fourth grade student at Beall Elementary, at local favorite Giuseppe’s Pizza today. He was taking time out from his day to lunch with Mayor Susan Hoffmann and do a quick photo-op.

In case you did not know, Ricky Allen was the Rockville winner of the “If I Were Mayor” contest, which is sponsored each year by the Maryland Municipal League. Fourth graders from around the state complete the “If I Were . . . ” sentence in brief essays.

The two were kind enough to let me sit and ask Ricky a few questions.

Asked what the best thing of the day so far, Ricky answered that he’d had a ride-along with the police — and that they’d run the lights and siren briefly, which he liked. He also got a souvenir street sign that had his name on it. (I have to admit, that would be pretty cool.)

Later this afternoon, he planned a trip to Croydon Creek Nature Center, one of my favorite places in town.

It was simply a delight to talk to this articulate and intelligent young man. In an unfamiliar situation, alone with a bunch of adults peppering him with attention and questions, he reported that he didn’t feel nervous at all and, in fact, was highly engaged throughout. I can only hope to be as poised in my next interview.

I asked Ricky about his essay. What would he do if he were mayor? He immediately replied he would improve transportation for seniors, and get police officers onto the streets (and out of their cars), as a way of combating global warming. He went on to point to a number of things he’d do, including improve the timeliness snow removal and fix potholes.

Having worked for an elected official before, I can say I think Ricky’s on to something with those last two. Constituent services is the name of the game! Expect to see more of him in the future.

Constitutional Crisis Averted: Rockville Has Rules

Correcting what appears to be a quarter-century of profligacy, the Mayor and Council have formally approved a set of rules under which to operate, >according to our friend Warren Parish at the Gazette.

The City charter requires each Mayor and Council to “pass rules and by-laws for its own government while in session” — an act that, according to City attorney Paul Glasgow, has not happened until last Monday’s meeting.

The rules govern such mundane matters as how many votes are required for passage of motions — in this case, it is a majority of the Mayor and Council (three votes) and not simply more “ayes” than “noes.”

If a situation is not explicitly covered in Rockville’s Rules, then Robert’s Rules of Order will govern.

This issue came to a head after a motion by council member Piotr Gajewski failed passage on 2-0 vote with two abstentions and one absence. He looked into whether the vote had been interpreted correctly and discovered the quarter-century omission.

Civics Lessons In Council Chambers

I attended this evening’s meeting of the Mayor and Council mostly to hear citizens’ testimony on the budget — tonight being the last official opportunity for comment. Much of the testimony was by people who lead organizations who deliver the human services that far too many of our Rockville neighbors need to avail themselves of. Each cut of $3,000 to this or that program translates into a serious human impact and, when weighed against a budget in the tens of millions, does not feel like too much to put back in.>

One speaker pointed out that the amount of money the City spends on human services (such as emergency shelter for homeless people, or medical clinic services for uninsured) is far, far less than 1% — she expressed the desire, one day, that the City might reach 1%. “We could do a lot with that,” she said. (I am sorry I did not attribute that quote so I can’t say for sure who it was who said it.) (UPDATE: Piotr passed along that it was Agnez Saenz from Community Ministries of Rockville – Caregivers’ Coalition. Thanks Piotr!)

This came about 30 minutes after the ceremony officially designating April 25 as Arbor Day in Rockville, which is one of four criteria required for Our Fair City to earn recognition as a Tree City by the Arbor Day Foundation. One of the criteria is that the City spend at least $2 per resident on tree planting and maintenance (it is probably more involved than that, but that is the gist). With our approximately 60,000 residents, we need to spend at least $120,000 for the designation — turns out we spend upwards of $1 million. I don’t mean to get anyone upset, but maybe that’s somewhere we could look. I’m just sayin’.

Anyway, speaking of designations, of interest was an item that followed the budget. The City took up the question of whether to designate the old Rockville Library site as being of historic value. Many see this as an important move in the City’s overall effort to get the State decide to build its new court house elsewhere. The substantive argument for the designation is that this is one of the few examples of this kind of modern architecture in the City — and it most certainly is the only one facing imminent destruction.

Problem is, the City’s designation seems to have no formal power in this particular case, because the State is within its authority to ignore municipalities’ local ordinances.

Council member Piotr Gajewski twice voted alone in the minority, first against a procedural move that allowed the matter to come to a vote (instead of waiting for a week) and second against the measure itself.

In his comments, he referred to the result of the City making such a designation, in the face of the State’s authority to simply ignore it, as “sticking a finger in the eye” of the state.

Mayor Susan Hoffmann replied “My vote will not be to stick a finger in the eye of anyone.” She followed with an impassioned reminder that the State, County, and City are all different animals: “We are a separate and independent government, and we have every right” to do this, she said. I thought I was in a Frank Capra movie (and I mean that in a good way)!

But, to my mind, fireworks aside, council member Phyllis Marcuccio reasonably offered what I felt the best substantive argument for voting for the historic designation even in the face of its possible anemic effect. She imagined a scenario in which, somehow, the state chose some other path for its courthouse. So the building goes to the County. Then, in this same scenario, the County chose not to do anything with the land but sold it to a private entity. So now it’s in the hands of a developer. “In that case,” said Phyllis, “I want the City to be protected.”

Which seemed like a very reasonable argument to me.

Just my opinion. What do you think?

Interview With Mayor Susan Hoffmann

As a part of >Rockville Central’s ongoing effort to tape an interview the Mayor and each member of the City Council, I sat down with Rockville Mayor Susan Hoffmann yesterday and we had a terrific discussion.

Here is the interview. Stay tuned for more!

(If you can’t see the video, click here.) (UPDATE: YouTube is having issues today; please be patient.)

Note that late last year, I was on hand to capture the Mayor’s thank you speech (along with Council Member Piotr Gajewski’s) on election night. That video is here.

I’ve already posted an interview in this series with Council Member John Britton — here it is.

Also, note that YouTube limits uploaded videos to ten minutes, so I edit these conversations down — however, I always preserve the sense and intent of the subject’s words. Mostly, I cut myself out so they can do the talking!

A Constitutional Crisis?

That’s how council member >Piotr Gajewski jokingly referred to the situation facing the leadership of Our Fair City in a recent telephone call. We were discussing the apparent fact that the City’s governing body, the Mayor and Council, though charged in the City Charter to “pass rules and by-laws for its own government while in session,” evidently has not done so.

In fact, according to the Gazette, “City Attorney Paul Glasgow said the council has not adopted a formal set of operating guidelines since he began serving the city more than 25 years ago.”

My feeling: Since it’s a state of affairs that may have been going on for a quarter-century, “crisis” is probably the wrong word for it.

However, if it is true there’s no set of rules governing how the Mayor and Council conduct business, this ought to be remedied as soon as possible. For the most part, it may not be a big deal — but you never know when a decision that is particularly sensitive may come before the City.

The question that touched off this exchange was whether the Mayor and Council ought to hold a meeting on April 7 — a meeting which has been canceled due to “insufficient business.” The motion, to hold the meeting, got a 2-0-2 vote (two abstentions, and council member John Britton was absent). The Mayor ruled that the motion did not carry, because it would have had to achieve three “yea” votes (a majority). However, an argument could be made that 2 yeas to 0 noes means the motion carries.

Having clear procedural rules would settle valid disputes such as this.

For my part, I agree with council members Gajewski and Phyllis Marcuccio, who pushed for the City to adopt, as an interim measure while legislation can be drafted, Robert’s Rules of Order. Robert’s is the “gold standard” when it comes to the way groups conduct business. (Their effort failed on a vote of 3-2, which would likely be held valid under any possible set of rules!)

I can see an argument for not moving precipitously to just adopt rules out of a sense of urgency. Adopt rules once, the argument goes, not twice. But, I urge the Mayor and Council to establish some set of rules with as little delay as possible.

There are issues facing the Mayor and Council that are emotionally charged in the minds of many Rockville citizens: How often to meet, the City’s response to the state’s efforts to place a new District Court House on the old Library site, how best to move forward with the creation of a new stormwater management utility, and the budget, to name just a few.

Good governance would seem to call for a stable, well-articulated set of rules under which to conduct the business of leading Our Fair City.

As I say — not a crisis, but definitely a situation to remedy. Indeed, Mayor Susan Hoffmann’s reassuring words are important to keep in mind: “I would not want anyone to get the impression that this governing body is spinning out of control because it does not have written rules.”

What do you think?

Want to talk about this? Call in and listen to Rockville Central Radio on Friday at noon: (646) 200-3332.

Budget On The Agenda For Mayor And Council

The >agenda for the Mayor and Council meeting on Monday, March 31 is now available at the City’s website and it reveals that there are a couple of interesting issues on the agenda.

One interesting item: the group will hold a public hearing on “Historic District overlay zone for the former Rockville Regional Library, 99 Maryland Avenue.” This is part of the ongoing controversy over the location of the new district court house.

The other interesting item: this is the first public hearing on the City Manager’s FY2009 budget. At their meeting on the 24th, the Mayor and Council were presented with a presentation on the budget. On Monday, the Mayor and Council will hold the first of two public hearings on the budget. Monday’s public hearing is on the tax rate.

There will be another public hearing on April 14, devoted (I believe) to the rest of the budget.

After the two hearings, the Mayor and Council will hold two work sessions — April 28 and May 5 — and will adopt the final budget on May 19.

To examine the budget in its entirety, go here.

(Image from the City of Rockville, doctored to give it a background that matches our fine color scheme.)

Stormwater Management Utility Set To Be Created

The proposed plan to create a City “utility” to manage stormwater took a step closer to becoming a reality at >last night’s Mayor and Council meeting [UPDATE: it was the 3/17 meeting...my bad], on a 4-1 vote. The Mayor and Council voted to move ahead with the City Manager’s plan to create the utility — final approval will come when the City’s budget is adopted later this spring.

While the utility was created, though, the accompanying homeowner fee was put off a year and in the meantime existing stormwater management funds will be spent down. The new stormwater management fee is slated to begin in July 2009.

According to the City’s press release:

“We are fortunate to be able to begin this program without introducing the fee this year,” said Mayor Susan Hoffmann. The first year of the program, expected to cost $3.1 million, will be funded by money in the existing SWM [stormwater management] fund. Ongoing support for the SWM program will be provided by the SWM utility fee, which will be charged to all property owners, including government, schools, churches, businesses and residents. The proposed fee is $55.80 for single-family homes. For commercial, institutional and multi-family, the fees will be based on the amount of impervious surface contained on each property. The SWM fund also will continue to receive revenue from developer fees and contributions, interest income and occasional grants.

“It is important that we start this program right away,” said City Manager Scott Ullery. “The longer we wait, the more our infrastructure deteriorates, and the more expensive it becomes. The program also will help us comply with EPA and state regulations.” The expanded SWM program includes maintaining, improving and expanding the City’s stormwater ponds and conveyance structures, reducing flooding, and improving stream quality. Related projects include upgrading old SWM facilities or creating new facilities in older areas of the city, as well as stream restoration and drainage improvements.

Mayor Hoffmann along with council members John Britton, Piotr Gajewski, and Anne Robbins voted for the measure. Council member Phyllis Marcuccio voted against.

Contributor Opinion by Susan Hoffmann: Rockville's Pressing Waterline Issue and Associated Fiscal Decisions

The following >contributor opinion is by Rockville Mayor Susan Hoffmann:

Dear Friends,

As Mayor of Rockville, I am committed to Rockville being the safest City anywhere in the world. To that end, it is incumbent upon me and my Council colleagues and City staff, to provide services that will keep us protected, safe in our homes, and on our streets. The provision of safe and dependable drinking water, a reliable sewer system, and smooth-functioning waterline system throughout the City is one of the two most important services the City provides. The other is police protection.

As your Mayor, I will not be satisfied with anything less than the best. And I will not, on my watch, tolerate a situation in which there is a fire in our City and the water pressure to the necessary hydrant(s) fails and the fire cannot be extinguished quickly, or, God forbid, there are injuries or worse. That is why I support moving forward aggressively to deal with our failing system. Just as we are seeing infrastructure failures all across the country, Rockville is experiencing the same issues. And, we have discovered, that a larger number of lower-pressure hydrants and aging pipes are to be found east of Route 355. As I have said over and over, we must be particularly sensitive to residents east of the Pike. We have learned from resident surveys that there is a perception that the quality of life is not as high on that side of Rockville as compared to west of 355 and 270. Since perception is reality, and in this case, the problem is real, the issue of hydrant water flow and fire safety must not be ignored. The Mayor and Council are considering several different proposals . . . some more aggressive than others, some more cost-effective than others.

I ask for community support for the most reasonably aggressive, cost-effective solution. I urge my colleagues to join me in moving forward in this way.

We are not unsympathetic to the additional burden these increased fees will have on our population. To that end, we are exploring ways to mitigate the impact. Below is a summary of the presentation made by staff on Monday evening, March 10, to eliminate the imposition of some fees in FY09, including the Stormwater Management Fee. The $100 Property Tax Credit will be continued, as will the Homeowner’s Tax Credit Program.

• The most important new program priority for FY09 will be to kick off a serious effort to renew our water system infrastructure, including the distribution line replacement, and the water plant and pump station upgrades. The risks of not getting started on a systematic upgrade program are significant. We’ve all read in the press that WSSC, facing challenges similar to Rockville’s, has chosen to not act for at least another year.

• As we’ve indicated previously, the water rate increases needed to fund the infrastructure program will be significant. The water rates in the Recommended Budget for FY09, taken together with the ready to serve charge, could, if adopted, result in an “average” household water bill increasing from $35.48 to $50.91 or about $62 per year.
• We continue to recommend that the Stormwater Management Utility Program be adopted for FY09, but the SWM fee not be introduced in FY09. Instead of the fee beginning in FY09, we are recommending that we ramp up the program during FY09 and pay for it from the utility’s fund balance. In FY09, we will have a lot of hires to complete and reorganization to accomplish. Deferring the fee will better allow us to continue our community outreach and education efforts. Not implementing the fee in FY09 will have the added advantage of not subjecting citizens to yet another fee in addition to the substantial water rate increases in FY09. This should help us keep our eye on the top new program priority of attending to the water infrastructure.
• Because our revenues continue to run strongly, and ahead of what we projected previously, the Recommended Budget will again include a $100 property tax credit per owner-occupied household. This credit will provide general tax relief for homeowners, and in some instances more than offset the water rate increase for homeowners. Among the features of this credit that distinguishes it from a tax rate reduction, are (1) it is progressive — as a flat amount it is worth proportionately more to lower-income than to higher-income residents, (2) it is flexible, in that it targets residential owners and excludes commercial property owners, and (3) it is easily reviewed and adjusted annually as a “one time,” rather than a recurring loss of revenue.
• The FY09 Recommended Budget will again include the Homeowner’s Tax Credit Program (“circuit breaker” program). The City’s supplement to the state’s credit was introduced in the FY06 budget, and 366 low income households participated. In FY07 we expanded significantly the eligibility, and 630 households participated. The expanded program continued in FY08.
• Pending expected confirmation from the State, the FY09 Recommended Budget will also offer a new property tax credit for homeowners of limited income and at least 70 years old. This will be an add-on to the Homeowner’s Tax Credit Program. Eligible homeowners can receive an additional credit of 25% of the combined State credit and City supplement. There will be no need to file separately, the current application is good for State credit, the City supplement, and the senior credit.
• As presented in the budget preview, no change in the property tax rate will be proposed in the FY09 Recommended Budget.

This is a challenging, yet exciting time for Rockville. I am committed to continuing our progress on your behalf. I welcome your thoughts.

Best,
Susan

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Worksession Televised After All

As >Rockville Central readers know, the Mayor and Council recently chose to stop televising their worksessions, in hopes of creating an atmosphere more conducive to getting work done. This was a decision taken at their recent off-site retreat. The worry was that cameras rolling could tend to spur a bit of grandstanding, when what is needed is a more informal, get-it-done approach.

Worksessions would remain open to the public, just not be televised on The Rockville Channel.

The move created a great deal of controversy, if my email inbox is to be believed. A number of readers shared comments with me decrying the move. For my part, while I understand the desire that all public officials have to be able to get down to work without looking over their shoulder, I also believe that more transparency rather than less is a good thing. And, given that there is a precedent already set that such meetings are televised, it seems to be more trouble than it is worth to shut the lights off.

Rumors had been crossing my desk in the last few days that, if viewers care to tune in to The Rockville Channel sometime shortly after 7pm to tonight’s Mayor and Council meeting, they would find the cameras to be rolling and will be able to observe our local government’s deliberations over the FY09 City budget.

I am happy to say the rumors were true. After returning from a Cub Scout event, I popped open my browser and lo and behold, a streaming live PowerPoint presentation on the City’s water system greeted me. Joy!

I applaud our elected leaders for making a good choice. I know personally it is sometimes painful to go back on a public decision!

If you missed tonight’s Mayor and Council meeting, you should now be able to watch it repeated on The Rockville Channel.

(Image from Allie’s Answers.)