Sen. Ben Kramer has decided to take action regarding the Planning Board. Beyond filing a bill to study removing its functions back to the county, he has proposed the Montgomery County Planning Trust and Transparency Act of 2023. It would take major steps towards ethics compliance and allow the county executive to appoint the Board ..read more

After the appointment by the Montgomery County Council of Amy Presley as an interim Planning Board Member, I reported here about her right-wing conspiracy theory filled Facebook posts. Turns out that the Council was informed about them in advance through a public submission. Not only that, but Council Executive Director Marlene Michaelson wrote to a ..read more

Amy Presley, a former Clarksburg activist and Planning Board Member, has now been given a “temporary” appointment in the wake of the previous Planning Board’s en masse resignation. Presley has a very interesting Facebook page that reveals she believes in many right-wing conspiracy theories. The Council has to appoint some non-Democrats to the Board. But ..read more

Jeff Zyontz (D), Chair.Amy Presley (R).Cherri Branson (D).David Hill (I).Roberto Pinero (D). Two are from Rockville and two are from Silver Spring. Amy Pressley formerly served on the Planning Board. Cheri Branson served on the County Council after being appointed to fill a vacancy ..read more

Rep. Jamie Raskin has been a truly outstanding representative and leader in office. In the past, he has spoken eloquently about the importance of Ukraine’s fight. So I was shocked to read that he was one of the signatories to the appalling Progressive Caucus letter on Ukraine that has now been ignominiously withdrawn. Markos Moulitsas ..read more

Although I have spent many posts detailing the Planning Board’s and the Council’s extreme failure to conduct proper and inclusive consultation, the central problem with Thrive 2050 is that it is backward rather than forward thinking. Why is this? Telework Telecommuting was a trend even before COVID-19 but the pandemic has accelerated it on steroids ..read more

Former Maryland Democratic Party Chair and Congressional Candidate Maya Rockeymoore Cummings lit up Twitter earlier this week when commenting on the decisions of various social media sites to turn off Kanye West’s accounts (deplatform as the kids say) in response to his directing death threats at the Jewish community: Many replies found this dog whistling ..read more

The Planning Board is overseen and appointed by the County Council, though the County Executive can veto appointments and is obviously deeply involved in planning and land use processes. The following is County Executive Marc Elrich’s statement: Statement from County Executive Marc Elrich on the Resignation of the Montgomery County Planning Board Like many in ..read more

Sen. Ben Kramer has decided to take action regarding the Planning Board. Beyond filing a bill to study removing its functions back to the county, he has proposed the Montgomery County Planning Trust and Transparency Act of 2023. It would take major steps towards ethics compliance and allow the county executive to appoint the Board Chair. This Act’s summary description: FOR the purpose of altering the appointment process, salary authorization process, and terms for commissioners appointed to the Maryland–National Capital Park and Planning Commission from Montgomery County; requiring the County ..read more

Jeff Zyontz (D), Chair. Amy Presley (R). Cherri Branson (D). David Hill (I). Roberto Pinero (D). Two are from Rockville and two are from Silver Spring. Amy Pressley formerly served on the Planning Board. Cheri Branson served on the County Council after being appointed to fill a vacancy ..read more