MoCo exec gets $65,000 bathroom
March 20, 2008
Cost of a private bathroom, small sitting room and shower for MoCo executive Ike Leggett = $65,225. Oh, and a critical story in the Washington Post.
Timing is everything; even though the bathroom’s cost was approved last spring, its construction begins as Leggett proposes 225 job cuts and increased property taxes to close the county’s nearly $300M budget shortfall.
Leggett’s security chief says that walking through a crowded lobby to use the public restroom could expose him to harm, even though former County Executive Doug Duncan used it for his 12 years in office.
“We had perfectly good bathrooms right at the elevators,” [Duncan] said yesterday. When asked whether he ever felt unsafe using the public restroom, Duncan chuckled, “Heck no.”
PG Exec Jack Johnson has a private bathroom, built prior to his election; so does DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, although he uses the public bathroom at city hall. But unlike federal office buildings, the MoCo offices don’t have security checkpoints or metal detectors.
“We have had some challenging, disgruntled employees or citizens demanding to see the county executive, and from a security perspective he can walk into that,” Chief Administrative Officer Timothy L. Firestine said. “Quite frankly, Ike didn’t want [the new bathroom], but we more or less suggested from a security perspective that he needs it.”
Call me crazy, but it sounds like what’s needed isn’t a private bathroom; it’s a metal detector.
This one only costs $4,000.
But don’t take my word for it - hear what Leggett has to say in his online town hall meeting today at noon.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentMoCo provides calculator for property taxes
March 19, 2008
Beginning April 1, home sellers in Montgomery County are required to provide their buyers with an estimate of the next year’s property tax bill.
The idea behind the new law is to “eliminate the shock” that many county homebuyers have endured after realizing they will pay significantly higher property taxers than the previous owner.
See, even though the state reassesses residential properties every three years, the taxable assessment is capped at a 10% maximum increase per year - except when the home changes ownership. The new buyer will pay tax based on 100% of the current taxable assessed value.
In some cases, the difference is in the thousands.
But the county’s making this one easy: they’re providing a web-based calculator that will reveal the answer for potential homeowners.
Have fun testing it out. I tried out a few addresses of stately homes in the Potomac area, only to cringe at the estimates.
If you do try it, remember only to put the house number and street name - ex.: 100 Maple.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentLaw blog round-up
March 10, 2008
Here are a few law links for your “this-time-change-is-making-this-Monday-morning even-worse-than-usual” Monday morning:
- Bloggers post on a variety of Maryland measures: the bill to ban foie gras, the bill to impose liability on lead-paint manufacturers, the bill to ban Marylanders from selling certain things on e-Bay and the bills on shipping wine into Maryland.
- What do you think of the lead-footed Montgomery County cops’ logic that they should not have to pay speed camera fines because they don’t own their cruisers?
- 60 Minutes last night featured a story about two lawyers who knew that a defendant hadn’t committed a murder because their own client had confessed to them. The lawyers revealed the truth only after their client died last year — despite the fact that the guy who hadn’t done it has been behind bars for 26 years. The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog asks whether the lawyers were right to follow legal ethics or wrong to let an innocent man serve time. (This case from Illinois is a lot like this one from Virginia.)
- From Ms. JD comes the news of this law review article (PDF) on women’s progress at the big firms.
CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentMoCo Councilmember Floreen launches blog
February 29, 2008
Welcome to the blogosphere, Nancy!
Montgomery County Councilmember Nancy Floreen launched “Nancy at Large” today to connect better with her constituents.
“I know that my constituents have expertise, questions and opinions,” said Councilmember Floreen. “I hope the interactive environment of the blog will allow us to work through some of these issues together.”
Her first post concerns proposed changes to the Forest Conservation Law. Appropriately enough, the blog banner is a pleasing cherry blossom pic.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentAll the news that’s not fit for print
February 21, 2008
Warren Brown, the owner of CakeLove bakeries (with an upcoming Canton location) who we recently profiled for his environmental practices, is facing new competition. The (Washington) Examiner reports that “cupcake wars” began with the recent opening of Georgetown Cupcake. Apparently, employees at G.C. say they’ve sold more than 1,000 cupcakes a day at $2.75 a pop. You have to wonder how many bakeries the sweets market can bear…
- Is recreational golf a dying industry? Our sister publication in Long Island and the NY Times each examined the declining popularity of the corporate leisure activity.
- MoCo Council President Mike Knapp explains the county’s new gender identity law, which aims to protect the rights of transgender citizens. The crux? “Some people are confused about the effect of this new law on … the use of a public bathroom or locker room,” said Knapp. “Nothing is any different than it was before. People can feel safe and confident that they can walk into the restroom. Their safety is as protected as it ever was.” Whew.
- Paul Gordon at Maryland Politics Watch writes about the “blurring of the line between civil marriage and religious marriage” in last year’s legislative debate on the Orthodox Jewish divorce law. He points out one opponent of said law, Sen. Anthony Muse (Democrat-Prince George’s), who, he says, is a “pivotal committee vote on the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act” now up for debate.
- For our attorney readers: how would you feel if your nomination to become a federal judge was publicly protested by a former inmate?
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentMoCo police partner to provide mobile crime alerts
January 29, 2008
Starting in February, MoCo residents will be able to sign up for email alerts to notify them when a crime occurs near their home, child’s school or office. It’s all thanks to a partnership between police and a software development company.
Envious? Invite your local law enforcement agency to participate. (Thanks for WJZ for the tip).
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentMoCo considers bill requiring contracts with domestic workers
January 28, 2008
In this hour, MoCo Councilmembers Marc Elrich and George Leventhal are holding a press conference in Rockville to announce a bill that would require employers to sign a written employment contract with certain types of domestic workers. The county is lauding it as potentially the “first legislation nationally of this type.”
The bill would require an employer to present a written employment contract to the potential employee and offer to negotiate the terms and conditions of employment. It would apply to employers of housekeepers, childcare workers, and caretakers for the elderly or sick, among others.
A 2006 study found that MoCo domestic workers have limited access to information about their rights under state and county law and few have written contracts. Consequently, many of them are paid less than the required minimum wage and do not receive overtime pay for work in excess of 40 hours per week.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentBethesda, D.C. and Baltimore in Forbes’ Best Cities for Jobs list
January 15, 2008
At No. 21, Bethesda ranked higher on the Forbes’ Best Cities for Jobs in 2008 list than D.C. (No. 25) or Baltimore (No. 35).
Perspective check: Wilmington, DE beat all three.
Five equally-weighted data points were used to configure the list: unemployment rate, job growth, income growth, median household income and cost of living. Bethesda’s (above) high scores for median income and low unemployment rate propelled it up the list, outweighing the city’s high cost of living (ranked 92 out of 100).
Here’s Baltimore’s breakdown: 24th in median income; 29th in unemployment; 54th in income growth; 65th in cost of living; 57th in job growth.
JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor
Sphere: Related ContentMoCo Council president launches blog
January 8, 2008
I’m guessing Montgomery County Council President Mike Knapp is a basketball fan.
It’s a reasonable guess because the name of his new blog, launched Monday, is “Starting with the Socks,” after a concept dreamed up by former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden.
Knapp’s explanation:
Each year at the first practice of basketball season, [Wooden] would sit down with his entire team – even if they were all seniors who had played for him before – and would teach them the proper way to put on their socks. His thought was this…. If the simple issues were adequately addressed, then the more complex challenges could be tackled.
So, too, Knapp believes the blog will allow him a venue to communicate even simple things to citizens of Montgomery County.
As a fellow blogger and Montgomery County resident, I wish him good luck.
JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor
Sphere: Related ContentPolice perspective on combating gangs
December 31, 2007
After writing today’s feature on Montgomery County’s Gang Prosecution Unit, I had a chance to speak with 18-year veteran Capt. David Gillespie, director of the county police department’s special investigations division, about the police perspective on the prosecutor office’s new approach to gang crimes.
This fall, arresting officers were required to fill out a special alert form that is sent to the prosecutor’s office whenever a known gang member is arrested and charged with a crime.
He said the extra work has “not had much impact,” and in fact, he believes that most officers “are happy to do it” because they know the case will be sure to get attention.
“It’s imperative that we track those active gangs and the crimes these gangs are committing so that we are knowledgeable in both the crime activity and what motivates them,” he said.
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