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You learn a lot more from listening than you do from talking. We’ve continued to hit the ground running to start 2019 with a packed schedule of meetings and events with civic and neighborhood organizations and our first Community Conversation last week. With a terrific crowd of more than 120 District 1 residents, we had a great conversation about everyday quality of life issues, pedestrian safety, airplane noise, climate change, education funding, growing our County’s private-sector economy and much more. We are here, digging in, and working every day to make progress on these important issues for you.
Providing the world-class constituent service District 1 residents rightfully expect and deserve is my top priority and it’s only possible by being out in the community as frequently as possible. Based on the success of this Community Conversation we will be holding events like this on a regular schedule. Stay tuned for future dates and locations.
Hanging on the walls of our office, these Fundamentals remind us who, why, and how we serve.
As your District 1 Team, these are the guiding principles we have established for ourselves, and want to share with you, so you can hold us accountable to them:
People Always remember who we’re here to serve.
Principle Take the high road. There’s less traffic.
Presence Bring the Council to the Community.
Problem-Solve That's our job, every single day.
Policy Without data, it's not policy; it's ideology.
Progress Small steps can make major impact.
Persistence Follow through until the job gets done.
Partnership We rise or fall, sink or swim, together.
Our economy isn’t growing at a level that keeps up with our growing needs. As a result, we continue to face significant budget constraints. To ensure we are fiscally prudent and responsive, I joined my colleagues this week in approving a fiscal year 2019 Budget Savings Plan of $45.7 million in operating budget savings and $200,000 in current revenue in the Capital Improvements Program.
We made this decision due to updated estimates from the Department of Finance, the FY18 year-end results, along with the set aside for snow removal costs for the current fiscal year, which showed a shortfall in available resources for the FY20 Operating Budget. This savings plan, which was proposed by the County Executive, will reduce costs in the current fiscal year and will keep our budget balanced as we head into the next fiscal year.
Last Year’s Approved Operating Budget for FY19
While we are awaiting the release of the County Executive’s recommended FY20 Operating Budget on March 15, the Council will start to review items in the capital budget and Capital Improvements Program (CIP) next month. If you’d like to sign up to testify on proposed cuts to the CIP, the public hearing will be on February 5. Click here to sign up, or if you prefer to send your comments through email to the full council, the email address is County.Council@MontgomeryCountyMD.gov
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As many as 20,000 District 1 residents are facing near-constant disruption from Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) flight path changes that have redirected planes into Reagan National Airport directly over our communities near the Potomac River. I joined the January meeting of the Montgomery County Quiet Skies Coalition to talk about the ways we are trying to find solutions to this pressing quality of life issue at the county, state, and federal levels. I supported $125,000 in County funding that will help us hire a consultant to devise alternative flight paths and procedures, expertise we simply do not have in County government. Our State Attorney General Brian Frosh recently filed an opening brief in the State’s case against one FAA flight path change that moved planes over our community without proper notification or the proper environmental studies. Additionally, Senator Cardin and our Congressional delegation recently helped lead the effort to have airplane noise impacts studied in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018.
If you’re experiencing noise impacts from low-flying planes, I encourage you to reach out to us as well as the Quiet Skies Coalition, which has done tremendous work so far in researching complex FAA policies and advocating for improvements.
We’ve had a full agenda at the Council these past weeks, but I’ve learned the most by getting out in the community and seeing issues first-hand. We will continue to get out to as many events and meetings as possible, to stay up-to-date with issues facing our community and to provide you with the type of proactive and responsive representation you deserve.
Tour of Upgrades Needed at Chevy Chase Library & Ribbon Cutting for the Potomac Location of the International School of Music
Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service & Women's Legislative Briefing (Commission for Women)
South Bradley Hills Neighborhood Association Annual Meeting & Luxmanor Citizens Association Board Meeting
As always, we hope you will continue to keep in touch and reach out to us with any issues.
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