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Bill Proposes Transparent Legislator Appointments
The current practice of filling state legislator vacancies by secret ballot "should trouble anyone who is an advocate of open, honest government. It certainly troubles me," Del. Saqib Ali (D-Montgomery) wrote on his blog.
(By Michel Du Cille -- The Washington Post)
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All Paulson would say was, "there are individuals who would like to examine the issue and address it over the next few months."
A public hearing on the bill will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 15 at the County Council building in Rockville.
Bethesda Park Land on Hold
Not so fast, said members of the Montgomery Council's planning, housing and economic development committee, when they took up a proposal this week to buy a 1.3-acre addition to a Bethesda park.
Committee Chairman Marilyn Praisner (D-Eastern County) and Nancy Floreen (D-At Large) expressed reservations about the planning board's proposal to buy the additional acreage for Hillmead Neighborhood Park, just off Bradley Boulevard.
Praisner said she was concerned that the parks department planned to tear down a house on the property that might be habitable and could be put to some other use in a county hurting for moderately priced housing.
Floreen also chimed in. "Maybe it could be used for a group home," she said.
The county planning board two weeks ago approved a plan to spend $2.5 million to buy the land, but final approval is up to the County Council.
Bill Gries, who handles park acquisition for the park's department, called the price "a bargain sale," but that too caused some questions from the committee members. The land was appraised at $2.8 million.
The landowner, Phyllis T. Piotrow, will seek to have the sale viewed as a charitable donation because she is selling the property at less than its appraised value.
Council approval of the acquisition would formally mark an end to plans by Piotrow, a retired professor, to sell to a developer who wanted to build four luxury homes.
Last year, over objections of two neighbors and the leader of a countywide civic group, the planning board had approved a proposal to subdivide the property for development. Opponents had questioned the validity of drawings depicting the site; a state probe of that is continuing.
Planners recommended buying the land out of the county's Advanced Land Acquisition Revolving Fund, which has more than $30 million, Gries said. That too gave the council panel pause, because they thought maybe the parks system should repay the fund from its own budget. Praisner said she would have her staff prepare a memo to the full council, which will take up the matter Tuesday.
