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Summer Update - August 2023
Summer Update: MCPS Oversight, Historic Rent Stabilization Law Passed, and More!
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Message From Kristin
Hello, neighbors,
Last week, the Washington Post reported disturbing allegations about a long-time MCPS staff member recently appointed to be principal of Paint Branch High School. He has now been placed on leave, but the allegations reached back years. Action should have been taken long ago.
As one of three Councilmembers who sits on the Education and Culture Committee, I have urged MCPS Superintendent Monifa McKnight to be an open book with both the public and the Council about how this happened, and to enact changes before the start of the school year. (See recent developments and my quotes in MoCo360.) The Education and Culture Committee will be conducting hearings about this issue.
Please see the Updates section below for other recent news, including the recent passage of historic rent stabilization legislation that I am proud to have championed, and then take a look ahead in Community Events.
As always, contact my office if you have any questions or if we can be of assistance. I hope you have a wonderful conclusion to your Summer and I look forward to seeing you around District 5!
Sincerely,
Kristin Mink
 She / Her / Ella
County Councilmember | District 5
Montgomery County Council
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Updates: Rent Stabilization Bill Passes, and more
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Montgomery County Passes Historic Rent Stabilization Legislation
Last month, the Council passed permanent, county-wide Rent Stabilization legislation! It caps annual increases at the lesser of 6% OR Inflation plus 3%, and regulates fees (a critical amendment I was proud to add). It was a 7-4 vote following a full day of amendment debate, months of advocacy on this bill, and years of advocacy for this issue. The bill will go into effect once regulations are in place.
Months ago, I introduced the HOME Act with Councilmember Will Jawando. We wrote the bill with County Executive Marc Elrich, working with local tenants, community groups, and labor unions who’d been calling for rent stabilization. We also worked with rent regulation researchers, and talked to small landlords and nonprofit developers. We read legislation, old and current, from across the country, and related analyses.
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Another rent regulation bill was introduced the same day as the HOME Act with a cap of Inflation + 8% and no upper limit. The public hearing for the competing bills was packed, and in July, we passed a compromise which contains most of the provisions of the HOME Act. See more bill details here.
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Oversight and Community Outreach at Enclave Apartments
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White Oak’s Enclave Apartments are home to thousands of residents and have spurred hundreds of complaints about code violations, as the County has struggled to effectively hold management accountable. This complex, in part, inspired me to write a provision into the Rent Stabilization bill which imposes much lower rent increase limits on buildings with code enforcement issues.
As I continue to explore avenues for improving conditions and compliance, I am prioritizing my physical presence and community connections on site.
Many residents speak languages other than English, including a large population of resettled Afghan refugees and other immigrants.
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Recently, I held a multilingual meeting in Pashto and Dari with leaders of the Afghan community to discuss their concerns and their rights as tenants. I was joined by Lt. Irvin Smith, Community Action Coordinator of Montgomery County Fire Rescue, and Chief Charles Bailey, who shared the best ways for residents to stay safe from fires.
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Other Highlights:
White Oak Improvements: On September 13th we celebrated the $500,000 state investment in a White Oak Facade Improvement Program, which will improve the look of the neighborhood and boost area businesses. Burtonsville and Hillandale have also benefited from the business facade program. Thank you to the District 20 team in the General Assembly for helping secure this funding!
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National Night Out: On National Night Out, I got to chat with residents in White Oak, Hillandale, West Hillandale, Burtonsville, and Four Corners. We talked about renters’ rights, traffic lights, sidewalks, universal pre-K, safety, and the wide range of constituent services my office can help with.
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Leisure World transit tour: When Leisure World residents raised concerns about the lack of adequate transit services for their community, my office worked with them to organize a meeting and tour with the relevant transportation County and State entities to strategize a plan for improvements that will positively impact other senior communities as well. We were joined by Councilmember Laurie-Anne Sayles and State Senator Ben Kramer.
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Hope to see you around District 5!
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East County Recreation Food Distribution
Saturday, August 19 & 26
9AM
East County Recreation Center
3310 Gateshead Manor Way
Silver Spring, MD 20904
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Burtonsville Elementary School – Community Input Meeting:
Tuesday, September 19th
4:15 PM
Burtonsville Elementary School - All Purpose Room / Cafeteria
15516 Old Columbia Pike
Burtonsville, MD 20866
MCPS is scheduled to begin the Schematic Design Phase for the new Burtonsville ES. Construction of a new school was approved following years of community advocacy and Councilmember Mink’s passage of a funding bill this past budget season. Participate in the design process by attending the next community work session on September 19th.
Burtonsville Day: Parade and Festival
Saturday, September 23rd
Parade 10 - 11AM
Festival 11AM - 3PM
Marilyn J. Praisner Library & Community Recreation Center
14906 Old Columbia Pike
Burtonsville, MD 20866
Parade route will run from Paint Branch High School to Praisner Community Center.
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Thank you for reading! If you have any comments, concerns, feedback, questions, or constituent inquiries you can reach my office by email at <councilmember.mink@montgomerycountymd.gov> or call 240-777-7955.
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