
MoCo Has Ended Veteran Homelessness
There are no more homeless veterans in Montgomery County according to County Councilmember At-Large George Leventhal. Earlier this week, Leventhal, who ended his stint as President of the County Council on Dec. 1, tweeted “Montgomery County has successfully found housing for every identified homeless veteran — a total of 58 vets no longer homeless.” Montgomery County has reached its goal of ending homelessness for County veterans by achieving a “functional zero” level, 54 vet

MoCo DEP Giving Away Free Bags for Holiday Season
The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection reminds residents to bring reusable bags when holiday shopping to help reduce waste and litter in the community. To help with this effort the DEP is giving away free reusable bags to County residents. Reusable bags are not just for the grocery store — they can be used when shopping at the mall, big box stores, or all other local businesses. Plastic bags are one of the top four litter items found in County streams. U

Public Safety Chiefs Urge Public to “Be Safer this Holiday Season”
At the Montgomery County Public Safety Headquarters today, Police Chief Tom Manger and Fire Chief Scott Goldstein urged community members to “Be Safer this Holiday Season,” and to “Be Seen, Be Alert, and Be Responsible.” Already this year in Montgomery County, there have been 33 fatal traffic collisions in which 34 people lost their lives. “The fourth quarter of the year, which includes the holiday season, is one of the most dangerous times of the year for drivers and pedestr

MoCo Bond Rating Among Best in Nation
County Executive Ike Leggett announced that Montgomery County has maintained its Triple-A bond rating for 2015 from three Wall Street bond rating agencies. Fitch, Moody’s, and Standard & Poor’s all affirmed the “AAA” rating – the highest achievable— for the County. They all termed the outlook for Montgomery County as “stable.” The Triple-A bond rating enables Montgomery County to sell long-term bonds at the most favorable rates, saving County taxpayers millions of dollars ove

Montgomery County Launches New Redesigned Website
Montgomery County Government deployed the next generation of its website today to better showcase content and provide improved access to the information relied on daily by residents, business people and other constituents. The County’s website team analyzed user feedback, website metrics and usability studies, and used the results to guide the redesign, resulting in a cleaner information-centric website. The goal was to highlight the most current and relevant content, as well

County Council Votes to Privatize the Economic Development
Last week, the Montgomery County Council approved County Executive Ike Leggett’s plan to privatize the County Department of Economic Development. It is hoped that the move will boost business attraction and retention and strengthen the growth of good jobs in the County. The bill, which was approved by a unanimous vote of the County Council last Tuesday, June 30, eliminates the Department of Economic Development as a principal department of the Executive Branch; provides for t

MoCo Council Approves Leggett’s Nominees for Departmental Heads
The Montgomery County Council unanimously approved the appointment of four county wide department heads. In May, County Executive Ike Leggett announced that he would appoint Scott E. Goldstein as the new fire chief, Robert L. Green as head of the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, Cherri L. Branson as head of the Office of Procurement, and Michael Smith to the post of Development Ombudsman. “These selections reflect the best of the past and present in County Governm

MoCo Unemployment Rate Lowest in Seven Years
The Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation and the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics have reported that Montgomery County's unemployment rate in April 2015 was 3.7 percent, marking the first time it has been below 4 percent since December 2008, when it was 3.0 percent. The last time the rate was at 3.7 percent was in October and November 2008. County Executive Ike Leggett welcomed the news; but, acknowledged there is room to grow. “While the County is doing a

Winter Returns: Winter Weather Advisory for Germantown
The Winter of 2015 is not done yet, even as Spring officially starts Friday morning, Winter will not go quietly. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the Germantown area and all of Northwest Montgomery County from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm on Friday, March 20. The NWS is expecting light rain to move into the area Thursday evening and transition to all snow in the early morning hours on Friday. The National Weather service is calling for accumulations

MoCo Lakes to Remain Closed Until March 28
Boaters and anglers will have to wait even longer before they can satisfy their desire to hit the lake and go fishing as the County has delayed the opening of the lakes, yet again due to the harsh winter. Montgomery Parks is delaying the opening of Little Seneca Lake in Black Hill Regional Park and Lake Needwood in Rock Creek Regional Park for the second time this season. The lakes will remain closed until March 28 at the soonest, according to the Montgomery Parks Website. On

Leggett Presents MoCo FY2016 Operating Budget; Schools Funds Increase, But Not Enough to Cover Expec
“This budget signals that our hard work of fiscal responsibility is not done,” said Leggett. “We see lower-than-expected income tax revenues, a still fragile national economic recovery and the prospect of less State funding. While my FY16 budget is, essentially, a ‘same-services’ budget, I have strategically looked for opportunities in it to improve job growth and expand our tax base.” Leggett’s budget includes a tax-supported County government budget of $1.4 billion, a 1.1 p

MoCo Enacts Law Requiring Training
for HOA Board Members
In February, Montgomery County enacted legislation that mandates members of home and condo owners associations be required to attend training courses. The bill came about as a result of a legal battle between Germantown residents and their local HOA. The legislation, which was signed into law by Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett on February 11, mandates the training of common ownership community board members in order to promote more knowledgeable and responsible mana