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Montgomery Village and Gaithersburg Community Center Town Hall and Next Steps

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Dear Friends,

I partnered with Councilmember Laurie-Anne Sayles and County Recreation to host a community town hall at Montgomery Village Middle School to discuss and get feedback on the concept of building a new community recreation center in the Montgomery Village/Gaithersburg area.

There was a huge turnout and we were able to hear directly from residents and community leaders about the great need for this facility. We also received lots of ideas for how to expand access to existing recreation programming in the area.

Participants expressed enthusiasm for:

• A safe and affordable place for the community to gather; 
• Indoor and outdoor playing fields and courts for a variety of sports as well as space for academic support, workforce development, health and wellness, senior activities, and arts programming; and
• Improved transportation to ensure the proposed facility is truly accessible, especially for youth and seniors.

Check out a recap of the event by clicking here or the image to the right. If you would like to provide feedback about the project, please click here.

We must work together to advocate for a Montgomery Village/Gaithersburg Community Recreation Center in the next County capital budget.

Click the image to view more from the town hall

Simultaneously, we are continuing our conversations with the City of Gaithersburg and the developer of Lakeforest Mall about the possibility of including this facility as a part of the project. And, of course, we will need to continue outreach to community members for additional input regarding what a new community recreation center should offer.

Expanding Public Safety Coverage

Council Committees Advance Drone As First Responder Pilot

Yesterday, our Public Safety and Government Operations Committees recommended funding approval for the County Police Department's Drone as First Responder Pilot Program.

The concept is proven to help first responders better understand and respond to emergency calls. By providing more accurate information, the program can help reduce dangerous interactions. It will help ensure our officers have appropriate resources for 21st century public safety professionals. It is especially important we pursue innovative solutions to expand public safety coverage as we continue to face staffing shortages. The Committees' recommendation heading to the full Council also makes explicit policies Montgomery County Police already have in place to ensure drones cannot be used for general surveillance or any activities not related directly to an emergency call for an active incident.

The Pilot will operate in Silver Spring and Wheaton; these locations were chosen based on call volume, police staffing, and crime trend analyses. I look forward to seeing the results of the Pilot and I am optimistic we can use this tool as part of our emergency response in more areas of the County.

Update on Voluntary 9-1-1 Registry

Our work continues to establish a Voluntary 9-1-1 Registry for Montgomery County.

This program would give individuals or their caretakers the option to provide information to first responders about symptoms and behaviors that may present in a person with intellectual, developmental, physical, or behavioral health conditions. Some of the symptoms and behaviors covered include auditory, visual, and tactile sensitivities, elopement, avoidance of eye contact, and preferred communication methods.

How would this work? Here's a firsthand account we received from a supporter of our legislation detailing how the program works in neighboring Howard County and the benefit it can provide to those who choose to take part:

I met yesterday with the County's newly-formed Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Commission to discuss the details of our legislation and look forward to this coming back to our Council Committees. If you are interested in this program, please reach out to us at councilmember.luedtke@montgomerycountymd.gov.

At the Council and in the Community

It has been a busy few weeks at the Council and in the community. We kicked off Halloween celebrations with the Montgomery Village Foundation’s annual Great Pumpkin Race, celebrated the opening of a new Smoothie King in Olney, and joined a great group of students, parents, and guardians for Walk to School Day at Brooke Grove Elementary School.

I was proud to join Councilmembers Sayles and Marilyn Balcombe to honor our agricultural producers with a proclamation recognizing National Farmer's Day. I joined the Damascus Lions Club to let them know what is happening at the Council and learn more about upcoming volunteer opportunities. I was honored to present local architect Miche Booz with an award from Montgomery Preservation, Inc. for their project to preserve and improve a historic Brookeville structure. 

I joined community members at B'nai Shalom of Olney congregation last weekend for a special service to stand in solidarity with the people of Israel after the devastating terrorist attacks. I also recently visited the Dawoodi Bohra community in Ashton and the Muslim Community Center's Health Clinic to discuss how we can continue building on our partnerships. We must remain vigilant for hate bias and hate crimes directed at our Jewish and Muslim communities. 

County Executive Marc Elrich recently announced more information on how faith organizations can apply for security support.