silverblog

by Lindsey McPherson
Capital News Service

Photo by Julie Wiatt

After decades of working to enhance civil rights, Maryland Secretary of Labor, Licensing and Regulation Tom Perez has brought his expertise to the person who could make the most use of it -- President-elect Barack Obama.
   
Perez, a 47-year-old attorney from Takoma Park, has led transition efforts for the Justice, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development Departments for the past several months.
   
"He's a tremendous, passionate advocate of civil rights issues (and has) a tremendous ability to work with people of all backgrounds and points of view," said Montgomery County Councilwoman Nancy Floreen, who was on the council with Perez, the county's first Latino member, from 2002 to 2006.

In his four-year term, Perez fought against predatory lending and high prescription drug prices and worked to improve literacy and immigration programs.

"He's immensely smart," said Councilman George Leventhal. "Tom Perez has a great analytical mind, and it's not just his brain; it's also his heart. He cares deeply about people who are left behind and making sure that everybody gets a chance to participate."
   

by Nadiah Rodriguez

Once 2009 officially kicks off, the era of the paper bus transfer will be over.  No longer will bus drivers award passengers with a smile and a transfer, and the machines dispensing rail-to-bus passes in metro stations across the area will soon be a faded memory.    

Come Jan. 4, Ride On transit services will adopt the practice of the Washington Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and offer riders a discounted rate on bus-to-rail transfers.  Another perk of the new system is that the current two-hour time period a typical transfer is good for will be increased to three hours.  This will also give passengers extra time to get the full benefit of their transfers.  

Also, because metro, Ride On and metrorail are all participating in this arrangement, the flexibility afforded when traveling across regions will increase convenience for the average passenger.  

For passengers who have grown accustomed to paper transfers, Ride On plans to entice them with new incentives in the hope of not only increasing the use of public transportation, but to get "old school" passengers to ease into the future of SmarTrip.  

Although passengers will be strongly encouraged (or gently forced) to use the SmarTrip, it is not to say those without the transit card will not gain entry onto the bus.  Cash will still be readily accepted, but using cash just will not obtain any free rides once the bus of origination is departure.

Despite the discount is meager, it is definitely better than nothing.  Ride On has stated that passengers transferring from bus to rail will get 50 cents deducted from the total amount of their trip.

Being a customer of Ride On for many years now, I see this situation as both a blessing and a curse.  While it may be true that Ride On is offering a percentage off to those exiting the bus and heading off to metrorail travel, I can only wonder if it plans to add the extra 50 cents to something else.  And if so, where?  Will it be added to the cost of buying a SmarTrip, raising the total to $5.50?  Or maybe the bus fare goes up slightly.  Perhaps it will be a joint effort between WMATA and Ride On and the rush hour metrorail fares will increase yet again.  Before I can jump up and pat the institution of public transportation on the back, I must know how much this will cost me in the long run.

I think it is a semi-nice gesture. Semi because the discount and the length of time a transfer is valid could be a little better, but I do understand that Ride On was not obligated to do anything at all.

Passengers will not be the only ones to "save" money.  The transferless system will save Ride On hundreds of thousands of dollars in paper transfer costs.  Expected is the elimination of altercations between bus drivers and passenger over fares paid, transfer longevity, etc.  Transfer fraud and abuse, is also proposed to be eliminated, saving the Ride On administration from the heartache of documenting such incidents in an avalanche of paperwork, ultimately decreasing the money spent on paper.

When you look at the glass with innocent optimism and see it as half full, it seems as if everyone benefits from the transportation proposal.  Unfortunately, only time will reveal to passengers the fine printed terms and restrictions of the upcoming changes.  We all will have to just wait and see.

by Nadiah Rodriguez

County Executive Isiah Leggett and County Council President Mike Knapp announced last month that Montgomery County will be the latest addition to the Maryland House Keys 4 Employees program, making it the tenth county in the state to sign on.

The House Keys 4 Employees program, a branch of the Maryland Mortgage Program, was established in 2005 and has had a fairly successful run.  It was created to help home buyers, in the wake of the mortgage crisis, get increased financial assistance with their down payments and closing costs.

Many employers who have signed on with the program are optimistic; they feel it will not only offer a strong incentive for future employees to join their organization but it will keep their employees within close proximity to the job.

A few of the several employers participating are: Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission Under Amour, Inc., John Hopkins HealthCare LLC, The Bozzuto Group and Access Capital Mortgage LLC.  For a complete list of involved employers, please visit the Maryland Mortgage Program's Web site.

As a part of the program, the Department of Housing and Community Development will work with participating employers and offer to match dollar-for-dollar contributions up to $5,000 towards the down payments or closing costs of qualified employees.  Financial assistance from other sources, such as non profit organizations, unions and local jurisdictions, can also be combined with this offer.  Contributions from the program are considered to be zero percent deferred loans that can be repaid when the home owner pays off, refinances, sells or transfers the property.  This assistance is put forth to give consumers more choices when attempting to buy a home.

With the Smart Keys 4 Employees program, the DHCD will double the contribution made by the employer to up to $10,000 if the future home owner finds a residence under 10 miles from the job and it is located in a "priority funding" area.  

Those who are qualified are already receiving assistance with down payments or closing costs from their employer and meet all eligibility requirements of the Maryland Mortgage Program.  
Leggett spoke of the program's objective in a press release, "This program will further two of the goals that are closest to my heart.  Providing affordable housing opportunities in our communities and enabling our County workforce to be more effective and efficient by living closer to work."

Considering the long road that lies ahead of the ongoing affordable housing crisis in Montgomery County, Knapp said, in a press release, he was pleased that the county was making a conscious effort to assist its employees with becoming home owners, especially during the tide of the failing economy.

Montgomery County's participation in most of Maryland's home ownership assistance programs, especially House Keys 4 Employees, shows the county's dedication to do whatever it can for its residents in the wake of the mortgage and affordable housing calamities.  With a continuation of this type of effort from the county and employers alike, the housing and mortgage dilemma will be a thing of the past.   

by Lindsey McPherson
Capital News Service

Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen can add another leadership position to his resume.

Van Hollen will serve as the assistant to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a role she expanded Tuesday to include incumbent retention.

"We need to make sure that our new members who were just elected cement their relationships with the voters back home, and so we're going to be working with them to make sure that they have the tools and support necessary to maximize their ability to do a good job for their constituents," Van Hollen said.
 
The assistant to the speaker attends all House leadership discussions and focuses on issues or policies the speaker assigns to him, according to Pelosi's spokesman Brendan Daly.
   
"I am looking forward to having a policy formation development role within the Democratic leadership and looking forward to working on our legislative strategy and working with the Obama administration to follow through on the agenda that (President-elect Barack) Obama talked about during the campaign," Van Hollen said.

by Brian Roan

December 4, 2008 -- After two weeks of investigation, police continue to investigate the death of Davonn Denise Dupree, the 14-year-old runaway from Springfield, Virginia who was found dead in the stairwell of a Silver Spring apartment building in the early morning hours of November 18.

According to a statement released by the Montgomery County Police Department, a call reporting "suspicious activity" in the Briggs Chaney area of Silver Spring came in at 1:30 a.m. Police and emergency vehicles arrived at the 13900 block of Castle Boulevard, and pronounced Dupree dead at the scene.

Dupree's death was "attributed to multiple injuries," according to the Medical Examiner's Office, and was ruled a homicide, but no further information was available.

Following the discovery of her body, police released photographs of as-of-yet unidentified Dupree's clothing and jewelry in an attempt to ascertain her identity. For a short time following a tentative identification, the police withheld Dupree's name from the public so that they could continue their investigation unimpeded, as well as inform her family.

Two weeks later, no further information of note has been discovered, a spokesman for the PGCPD said.

The detectives pursuing the investigation are looking for the male caller who first informed them about the "suspicious activity" as well as two occupants of a red Lexus that was reportedly at the scene during the time of the call.

by Pareesha Narang    

After several disputes throughout the summer over proposed changes to Montgomery County's forest conservation law, the department of environmental protection from the county executive's office said it now has a strategy to expand the local bill to make it more comprehensive.

Stan Edwards of the department said that there is no official set of amendments or proposals currently on the table, but that they are planning to have some work sessions to put everything together.

In recent months, the county has twice postponed hammering out the details of legislation proposed by Councilmember Marc Elrich, who says that the county law must do more to protect the forest areas of the county. Elrich did not express concern with the delay.

"We're hoping it gets better and addresses a lot of the [different] concerns," Elrich said.

Environmentalists wanted the bill to cover both small and large lots. The previous bill only covered development plans over 40,000 square feet, but Elrich's proposal would cover smaller lots as well.  It would require developers to replant trees that they got rid of during construction.

"Erlich's proposal [to the county law] would make the property coverage go down by 5,000 square feet," Edwards said.

Elrich said that although developers generally do not favor environmental regulations, some of the changes may benefit them. The slow process that builders currently must go through in order to get their development plan approved may be changed. "The executive's office proposed a setup where we would have an organization that would plant the trees for them," Elrich said

Builders would pay a fee to this group who would use the money to plant as many trees as the developer is expected to - it speeds up the process for the developers, Elrich said.

County Executive Isiah Leggett himself has not been involved and has yet to be informed of everything in detail by the members of the department of environmental protection within the office, Edwards said.

The statewide bill that the county law exists under sets the limits, but counties are permitted to propose legislation that strengthens - but doesn't weaken - the state law, according to Councilmember Elrich.

According to a press release, in 2007 Elrich held a series of meetings to talk about his proposed improvements to the law, which include making the law understandable; increasing onsite forest retention requirements; increasing replanting requirements after wooded land is removed; and give third parties rights to intervene when forest removal is to occur based on false or misguided information.

The law was first proposed in 1993.

Stay tuned for updates