 Wednesday, February 28, 2024
 A flyer advertising the upcoming MCPS Girls' Summit on Saturday, March 9th from 9AM-1PM at Northwood High School.
I am so excited to be a part of the Montgomery County Public Schools' Girls' Summit again this year! The event will be held on Saturday, March 9th from 9AM-1PM at Northwood High School in Silver Spring. This year, I will be hosting a wellness workshop for students and will be participating in the fashion show!
There will be a plethora of activities for students of all ages to participate in, from informative workshops to invigorating discussions. Learn more about the event at the MCPS website.
I look forward to seeing you there!
The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of events! I had the pleasure of attending the Clarksburg Village HOA's Lunar New Year celebration at Rocky Hill Middle School last weekend, and was blown away by the talented performances by our local youth!
 I had a great time at the Clarksburg Village HOA's Lunar New Year with my fellow elected officials.
Later in the week, I was invited to attend the Montgomery County Black Collective Black Business Expo. I had the chance to meet with so many business leaders in our community who are doing phenomenal work. Coming from a business background, I love to meet with businesses in our County! Thank you to the Black Collective for a great event!
 Thank you to the Black Collective for inviting me to your annual Black Business Expo!
By now you all know that I love to spend my Fridays visiting various locations in District 2. This past Friday, I had a very fun visit to Station 31 in the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department. I plan to visit all of the fire stations in my district over the next few months to chat with the amazing teams that keep us safe every single day.
 A huge thank you to the folks at Station 31 for letting me visit your station. It was great to learn more about all of the important work that our fire department does every day.
I ended my week with the Jack and Jill Spelling Bee! Congratulations to all of the participants in this year's competition!
As many of you know, I am incredibly concerned about civic engagement and representation in Upcounty. This is an issue I have been passionate about long before I was elected to the Council. Germantown is one of the most populated and diverse parts of Montgomery County, yet it falls behind when it comes to political representation. The Upcounty has struggled to retain a voice, and I have been working to ensure that residents of District 2 apply for and are appointed to County Commissions, Committees, and Boards. By sitting on these bodies, residents have the opportunity to participate directly in our local political process. In every newsletter, I include information about how to apply for open positions and encourage my constituents to take advantage of these opportunities. As an example, the County is currently seeking applications for the Library Board. Applications are being accepted until March 13th, and I encourage everyone who is interested to view the posting and apply as soon as you can.
Yesterday, the Office of Legislative Oversight (OLO) released a report entitled Contractor Study on Member Selection for Montgomery County Citizen Commissions, Committees, and Boards. The report reaffirmed what I have been concerned about - Upcounty residents are disproportionately outnumbered in these groups. This is unacceptable, and we must take holistic action to remedy this lack of representation. Simply telling individuals who live in Germantown or Clarksburg to apply to these positions is not enough. The County has a responsibility to ensure that opportunities exist for all constituents in an equitable manner.
I will be continuing to work on this important matter, and encourage those of you who are interested in this issue to review the OLO report. Upcounty voices deserve to be heard and represented just as much as the rest of the County.
***Education and Culture (EC) Committee***
While I do not sit on the Education and Culture committee, I wanted to make sure everyone was aware of an upcoming EC committee session. On Thursday, March 7th, the EC committee will be meeting to discuss the libraries portion of the CIP. The committee will also be working on an amendment to the FY23-28 CIP and a supplemental appropriation to the FY24 capital budget about the Clarksburg Library. I know this is a topic that is incredibly important to District 2, especially residents of Clarksburg.
The staff packet for this session has not yet been posted, however, it will be uploaded to the County Council's website several days before the session. You can watch the committee session live or on demand on both the Council website or on our YouTube channel.
Economic Development (ECON) Committee
The Economic Development committee met on Monday, February 26th at 9:30AM. We discussed general government economic development projects in the FY25-30 CIP. Three projects were the topic of conversation in our conversation:
- Glenmont Redevelopment Program:
- This new project $452,000 project supports the acquisition of property at the Glenmont Shopping Center from the Maryland Department of Transportation. This project - in the long term - will facilitate the aggregation of parcels in the shopping center to support its redevelopment consistent with the vision of the 2013 Glenmont Sector Plan.
- HJF Innovation Labs at Montgomery County:
- This new $300,000 project supports a partnership between Montgomery County and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF) to develop a co-branded lab facility. This funding would support the buildout of 4,300 square feet at the HJF headquarters in Bethesda.
- Wheaton M-NCPPC Headquarters Retail:
- This new $4 million project will support minimal fit-out of the vacant retail space in the Wheaton M-NCPPC headquarters in Wheaton.
You can review our staff packet on the website and watch a recording of the session on the County Council's YouTube page.
The next ECON committee session will be a joint meeting with the Health and Human Services committee on Thursday, February 29th at 1:30PM.
Transportation and Environment Committee
The Transportation and Environment committee met on Thursday, February 22nd in a joint session with the Government Operations committee. We worked on supplemental appropriations to the FY24 Operating Budget and amendments to the FY23-28 CIP.
You can review our staff packet on the website and watch a recording of the session on the County Council's YouTube page.
The TE committee also met earlier this week on Monday, February 26th at 1:30PM for a discussion about Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) regulation and for a work session about transportation projects and WSSCWater updates included in the CIP.
You can review our staff packet on the website and watch a recording of the session on the County Council's YouTube page.
Council Legislation
We had a busy afternoon Council session yesterday, with a couple of public hearings and multiple action items regarding supplemental appropriations to the FY24 operating budget. We also confirmed a number of appointments to various County Boards, Commissions, and Committees -read more about these in the section above. As we officially begin going through and taking action on the budget, I encourage you to tune in to our weekly Council sessions on Tuesdays. During these meetings, we will be discussing a number of different budgetary issues, and it is important for everyone to be aware of and informed about how their elected officials are voting throughout the budget process.
Upcoming Public Hearings
The next public hearings at the Council will be held at 1:30PM on March 5th. The deadline to sign up to speak is March 4th at 2PM. Below is the list of scheduled public hearings.
- The Montgomery County Planning Board is seeking applicants. The deadline to apply is March 11th at 5PM. Learn more on the Council's website.
- The Planning Board has scheduled a public hearing for the Great Seneca Plan: Connecting Life and Science on Thursday, March 14th. You can sign up to attend live and can also send in written comments to the Board until March 21st via email.
- The Montgomery County Animal Services and Adoption Center has a new interactive tool - Home to Home - that can help County family's rehome their pets. Those needing to rehome their pets can easily register, fill out a brief profile, upload information about their pet, and hit submit. Home to Home is a free resource used in shelters across the country.
- The Montgomery County Charter Review Commission is holding virtual and in person public listening sessions about three potential charter amendments. The in person meeting will be held at the Council Office Building on March 6th from 2-3:30PM and the virtual meeting will be held on March 6th from 7-8:30PM. Register for the in person session here and for the virtual session here.
- The Maryland Transit Administration has announced an artwork competition in celebration of Earth Day! Youth ages 5-17 are encouraged to create designed highlighting environmental conservation and the positive aspects of public transportation. Selected designs will appear on a special Earth Day bus! The deadline for submissions is March 8th. Submit your submissions online now!
- Montgomery County Recreation is hiring! Available positions include camp directors, assistant directors, camp counselors, lifeguards, and more. Check out the Rec website to find a job fair near you.
 The Plum Gar Community Recreation Center always has some great events planned. Click the flyer to learn more.
 A flyer advertising the 2024 Girl Power Contest, which runs from March 1st through March 31st.
If you would like to get in touch with me regarding anything mentioned in this newsletter or any other concerns you may have, please email me at Councilmember.Balcombe@montgomerycountymd.gov or call my office at 240-777-7960.
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