Hello Fellow Montgomery County Resident,
A new report was recently released by Nspiregreen Consulting on the Racial Equity and Social Justice (RESJ) Review of Thrive Montgomery 2050 (the 30-year general plan for the county)
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/Resources/Files/agenda/col/2022/20220913/20220913_3.pdf
It cites more than 60 items for improvement.
The NEWEST chapters of Thrive were *just released* on Environment, Economic Development, Racial Equity and Social Justice
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/resources/Thrive2050/index.html
Thrive Montgomery 2050 - Montgomery County, Maryland
The Montgomery County Council is currently reviewing Thrive Montgomery 2050, which is a framework to guide land use planning for housing, economic development, equity, transportation, environmental sustainability and more for the next three decades in Montgomery County.
www.montgomerycountymd.gov
These will be taken up at a work session Thursday, Sept. 22. Work sessions can be viewed on YouTube.
WHAT CAN YOU DO??
- Sign this NEW petition.
- Write Letters to County Leadership (emails listed below)
- Share information about it with your friends, family, neighbors who have an interest in Montgomery County, and with your own relevant networks and listservs.
https://www.change.org/p/moco-council-fix-planning-board-parks-planning-delay-thrive
A small, ad hoc group of residents came together to look a little beyond Thrive to some of the upcoming changes in the entire Planning Board/Planning/Parks institutional system, in particular retirements and term limits of key personnel, and necessary actions to restore the integrity of these institutions. Thrive remains part of those concerns.
Please see the details below, including the petition language and link:
In the past three years the Montgomery County Planning Board, under Chair Casey Anderson, and the departments it oversees, Parks and Planning, have increasingly turned a deaf ear to our communities and advocated for policies and actions without hearing our input. Anderson is term limited in June 2023, but rumor has it that he wants to be Director of Parks when current director Mike Riley retires, which could be before then. Planning Director Gwen Wright has already announced her retirement at the end of 2022.
If you want to get our planning and parks functions back on track, with new leadership and full participation of all residents, please sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/moco-council-fix-planning-board-parks-planning-delay-thrive Our current and incoming councilmembers need to know that we want change and we don’t want to reward current Planning Board members.
We also want to stop the rush to approve Thrive Montgomery 2050 – the proposed land use general plan that the Office of Legislative Oversight said failed to meet racial equity and social justice needs. The council will also consider several new chapters – on the environment, economic development, and implementation - to fill gaps in the plan. Thrive must be done right – not fast. This council has tried to fix its problems, but there’s simply not enough time between the council’s return on September 13 and the statutory deadline of October 31, 2022 – and a fresh start is needed with a new council.
Please sign this new petition and share widely: https://www.change.org/p/moco-council-fix-planning-board-parks-planning-delay-thrive
If you have time, write an email to old and new councilmembers – you can use the petition language.
Democratic current councilmembers:
County.council@montgomerycountymd.gov
Councilmember.albornoz@montgomerycountymd.gov
Councilmember.friedson@montgomerycountymd.gov
Councilmember.glass@montgomerycountymd.gov
Councilmember.hucker@montgomerycountymd.gov
Councilmember.jawando@montgomerycountymd.gov
Councilmember.katz@montgomerycountymd.gov
Councilmember.navarro@montgomerycountymd.gov
Councilmember.rice@montgomerycountymd.gov
Councilmember.riemer@montgomerycountymd.gov
Democratic council nominees:
At large: Laurie-Anne Sayles: info@laurieannesayles.org
D2 Marilyn Balcombe: marilyn@marilynbalcombe.com
D4 Kate Stewart: KateS@takomaparkmd.gov
D5 Kristin Mink: kristin@kristinmink.com
D6 Natali Fani-Gonzalez: NataliFaniGonzalez@gmail.com
D7 Dawn Luedtke: dawn@dawnluedtke.com
Republican council nominees:
At large –
Christopher Fiotes cfiotes@comcast.net
Lenard Lieber lenardlieber@outlook.com
Dwight Patel info@dwightpatelforMoCo.com
D1 none
D2 Dan Cuda dancuda76@gmail.com
D3 George Hernandez Hernandez.george.d03@gmail.com
D4 Cheryl Riley cherylrileypr@comcast.net
D5 Kate Woody kathleenwoodypa@msn.com
D6 Viet Doan info@voteforviet.com
D7 Harold Maldonado maldonado4council@usa.com