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August 2021
I am incredibly proud of Montgomery County residents. Over 72% of our neighbors are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, showing that we are a community that respects science and respects each other. The Board of Health recently reinstated the indoor mask mandate to keep the highly transmissible Delta variant contained.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the County now has a substantial transmission rate, which is why the new health order was issued. The masking requirement ends once the County returns to moderate or low transmission rates for seven consecutive days under the CDC guidelines. This approach ensures a clear, data-driven, public health guided metric based on the ever-changing COVID-19 community transmission levels.
You can read the health order here.
Having more early voting sites will ensure that all voices are heard — regardless of zip code, work schedule or access to transportation. While jurisdictions around the country are working to restrict voting rights, we are committed to making it easier for all Marylanders to vote.
I recently joined other elected officials and community leaders at the White Oak Community Recreation Center to advocate for an early voting center there. White Oak is home to many lower-income, Black, immigrant, and seniors who don’t have access to a car, and taking public transit to the nearest early voting centers in Silver Spring or Burtonsville can take over 40 minutes. The Board of Elections will hold public hearings on September 18 and September 20, with a final vote to determine early polling locations on October 18.
I am pleased to share that the Montgomery County Council has passed legislation that will help ease the financial and regulatory burden on current and future farm alcohol producers.
As someone who supports small businesses and locally made craft beverages, easing the regulatory burden on cideries, breweries and wineries is critical to ensuring that the Agricultural Reserve and areas that are home to farm alcohol production remain an economic powerhouse. This legislation (SRA 21-01) will improve agritourism and agribusiness while helping to create jobs and strengthening our local economy.
 Enjoying a glass at Brookeville Beer Farm
On July 21, members of the community gathered to honor and remember individuals who experienced homelessness in Montgomery County and died in 2020 and 2021. Leaders from local social service organizations that help those in need spoke about each of the 88 individuals who we lost, sharing details about their struggles, their perseverance and their hearts. Among those we lost were military veterans, dedicated mothers, a professional soccer player, a professor and a gifted woodworker.
Even though we have achieved national recognition for our efforts to provide safe accommodations for individuals, there is still more work to do. As the Council’s Lead for Homelessness and Vulnerable Communities, I call upon all of us to recommit ourselves to ensuring that homelessness is rare, brief and nonrecurring.
Our Regional Service Centers are invaluable linkages for a County as large and diverse as ours. They provide information, identify and assess regional problems and issues, implement solutions and promote community empowerment. I welcome the four new Regional Service Directors who were unanimously confirmed by the Council:
- Luisa Cardona de Vence will manage the Mid-County Regional Office
- Peter Fosselman will manage the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Office
- Jacob Newman will manage the Silver Spring Regional Office
- Gregory Wims will manage the Upcounty Regional Office
They join current East County Regional Director Jewru Bandeh as the County Executive’s liaisons in their respective regions.
I thank Cathy Matthews, Luisa Montero and Reemberto Rodriguez for their decades of public service to Montgomery County and wish them well in their retirement. They leave big shoes to fill and will be missed.
My office is frequently contacted by county residents who are behind on rent and at risk of being evicted. I have connected numerous residents with the Montgomery County Office of Maryland Legal Aid, which provides free legal assistance to eligible residents. If you have received a “notice to vacate” and have an upcoming date in eviction court, please call Maryland Legal Aid at 240-314-0373.
There is a new eviction moratorium in place by the federal government that applies to localities experiencing significant levels of COVID-19 transmission, which includes Montgomery County. More information about how the new federal eviction protections will affect Maryland residents can be found here.
If you need any other assistance with rent relief or would like to be connected to free legal services, please contact my office.
Almost 20 miles directly north of the White House is a small town in Montgomery County called Brookeville. Established in 1794, the town would later serve as the Capital of the United States for a single day in August 1814 -- following attacks from the British Army which left the White House on fire. For days, then President James Madison sought shelter from the British and was finally accommodated by Brookeville residents in the small town north of current day Olney. The house, in which President Madison stayed, still stands today off Georgia Avenue in Brookeville.
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