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Office of Community Partnerships - Community Engagement Cluster
Newsletter
July 2012, Issue 51
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4th of July Celebrations
in Germantown and Kensington |
 Two spectacular 4th of July Celebrations in Montgomery County at two locations, highlighted by a fantastic fireworks display!
"Germantown Glory" at South Germantown Recreational Park, 18041 Central Park Circle, Boyds, MD. Live music at 7pm and fireworks at 9:15pm. Or come to "Mid-County Sparkles" at Albert Einstein High School in Kensington, MD. Live music at 7:30pm and fireworks at 9:15pm. Raindate: July 5 - Fireworks only. |
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Commission for Women Celebration
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The Montgomery County Commission for Women
40th Anniversary Celebration
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
6:30 - 9:00 p.m.
Rockville Hilton Hotel
- Atrium Room
1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville
Read more.
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Second Annual Ethiopian Festival
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The Montgomery County African Affairs Advisory Group is proud to sponsor the Second Annual Ethiopian Festival at Veterans Plaza in Silver Spring, July 22, 2012. The event will feature educational, cultural and traditional Ethiopian performances and food. One of the highlights of this year's festival will be Montgomery County's first Sister City in Africa, Gondar, Ethiopia and the planned trip in September 2012 by County Executive Leggett for a formal signing of the Montgomery - Gondar Sister City Partnership.
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Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is pleased to invite your participation in the Annual Back-to-School Fair. The event will be held on Saturday, August 25, 2012, from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m., on the grounds of Carver Educational Services Center, 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville. Exhibitors' participation is limited to school system offices, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations that directly work with students and their families to improve learning and academic achievement.
All MCPS students and their families will be invited to kick off the new school year at the fair.
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Montgomery Sister Cities Board Meeting
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Tuesday, July 17, 2012 @ 12:30 p.m.
Preliminary action: Chinese Sister City
CAO Conference Room
Executive Office Building, Second Floor
101 Monroe Street
Rockville, MD 20850
For information, email:
bruce.adams@
montgomerycountymd.gov
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| Remember the upcoming election November 6, 2012 |
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Programs at the Gilchrist Center
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Summer programs at the Gilchrist Center will be announced in the brochure soon to be available on the website,
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Message from the Director
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A Work in Progress
Bruce Adams
Director, Office of Community Partnerships
Last month in this space I asked: "what will it take for Montgomery County to become the nation's most welcoming community?"
We are spending a lot of time and energy at the Office of Community Partnerships trying to answer that question. What are our strengths? What do we need to do better? We are constantly looking for best practices here in the Washington region and across the globe. This is a particularly important time to be doing this work. We are helping prepare for a September 20 Diversity Summit by County Executive Leggett's top management team. Karla Silvestre is leading an intensive study of how we can broaden the network of the Gilchrist Center for Cultural Diversity to best serve our New Americans. Charles Du is here for the summer from Princeton University to help us with our strategic planning for immigrant integration (click here to learn more about Charles and his project).
Sometimes it bothers me that we don't have this all figured out. But then I realize that this important challenge is really complicated and ever changing. When I describe our work as "flying the airplane while we build it," some people get really nervous. But, honestly, that's the nature of the work.
Julie Chavez Rodriguez, speaking at the White House Hispanic Community Action Summit at Blair High School on June 16, made me feel a lot more comfortable about wrestling with difficult questions in a time of rapid economic, social, and demographic change. Cesar Chavez's granddaughter explained: "growing up I learned that this country is a work in progress." Exactly! The important thing is that we have a lot of really talented and thoughtful people working together to make sure that Montgomery County remains a special place where people of all backgrounds can thrive.
Tell me what you are thinking. Let me know how you would like to join our work: bruce.adams@montgomerycountymd.gov.
 | Sister City board members express appreciation by presenting Mier with a cake and County Executive certificate.
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I want to thank Mier Wolf, a retired federal government lawyer and the former Mayor of the Town of Chevy Chase, who has been a Senior Fellow in our Office of Community Partnerships since we initiated the program at the start of the Leggett administration. Mier has demonstrated the value of the Senior Fellows program that was designed to tap the experience of successful public citizens on a part-time basis. Mier helped turn County Executive Leggett's dream of a Montgomery County Sister City program into reality. Under Mier's leadership, Montgomery Sister Cities, Inc was established, a Sister City agreement with Morazan, El Salvador was formalized, and great progress has been made to pin down Sister City relationships in China, Ethiopia, and elsewhere. Because of Mier's position as a Senior Fellow, this important people-to-people initiative has been established with limited taxpayer dollars. Many thanks, Mier!
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| Join the Election Day Team |
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The Montgomery County Board of Elections is currently seeking registered voters to serve as Election Judges in the upcoming 2012 election. We need volunteers of all party affiliations; however, Republicans and bilingual English/Spanish-speaking judges are always in greatest need.
The general election will be held on November 6, 2012. Sign up today to add your name to our community service training and polling place assignments list, and we will send enrollment information. Please visit our website at
to get more information regarding our Election Judge Program. An application is on that page.
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| Nominations Sought for Arts and Humanities Awards |
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Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett is seeking nominations for the annual County Executive's Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Awards to be presented at a special ceremony on Monday, October 22.
Now in its 11th year, the Executive's Awards are the most prestigious honors conferred by Montgomery County on individual artists, scholars, organizations and cultural patrons.
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PerformWell is a free comprehensive online resource that helps nonprofit practitioners identify quality performance indicators for various social service programs and use them to engage in performance practices. Designed by Urban Institute, Child Trends and Social Solutions, PerformWell provides indicators, tools to collect data, and guidance for the user. Over time, the site will be expanded to additional programs.
There will be periodic webinars to introduce users to the site:
http://performwell.org.
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| Hispanic Community Action Summit |
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 | Councilmember Nancy Navarro welcomes participants at the White House Summit
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White House officials on Saturday, June 16, hosted a Hispanic Community Action Summit for Maryland at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring. Montgomery County Council Vice President Nancy Navarro, a member of the White House Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, led the organizing for the summit.
The Community Action Summit for Maryland was the latest in a series of regional meetings across the country organized by the White House. The Action Summit was an opportunity for senior White House and cabinet officials to interact with members of the Hispanic community on a wide range of issues critical to the Hispanic community and the nation.
Read more about goals.
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| Celebrate Montgomery-Gondar Sister City Official Signing Ceremony in Ethiopia |
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Join County Executive Ike Leggett in September, 2012 for the formal Montgomery-Gondar Sister City signing ceremony scheduled for Thursday morning September 27, 2012 in Gondar, Ethiopia.
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Montgomery County Launches New Website
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 Sharing Montgomery Fund Grants Available |
DEADLINE: 5:00pm on Thursday, August 2, 2012
The Community Foundation for Montgomery County is currently accepting Letters of Inquiry (LOI) for the Sharing Montgomery Fund's FY13 grant cycle. The Sharing Montgomery Fund was established to address the needs of Montgomery County's lowest income children, adults, families, and seniors. To download a copy of the LOI and submission guidelines CLICK HERE. |
Impact Silver Spring
Job Opening |
IMPACT Silver Spring has an opening for an Administrative/Development Assistant
The position requires an organized, enthusiastic, and proactive self-starter to support general organizational administrative functions and resource development/fundraising activities of the organization. For the full job description and instructions for applying, please go to www.impactsilverspring.org/news |
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Understanding Diversity Through the Arts
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 | | Best in Show |
The eighth annual "Understanding Diversity Through the Arts" awards reception was June 7, 2012, at the Rockville Memorial Library. This annual event was in collaboration with the Office of Community Partnerships, the Montgomery County Libraries, and the Montgomery County Public Schools. Twelve middle schools participated with a total of 63 pieces of student art work on display through August 29, 2012. Students were asked to depict aspects of their cultural heritage through any two-dimensional media. The "Best in Show" was awarded to Woayorm Kumazah of Gaithersburg Middle School for her scratchboard piece entitled "Market," from her family's memories in Ghana. In addition, a musical interlude was provided by the Hoover Middle School advanced band.
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The Class of 1997 was the first to have service learning mandated by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) as a condition of public high school graduation. Although Maryland continues to be the only state that requires service learning as a condition of graduation, the mandate continues to affect every public education graduation in Maryland. Read more.
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Montgomery County has received 19 National Association of Counties (NACo) Achievement Awards this year for outstanding programs.
The Community Engagement Cluster received an award for Montgomery County Community Service Week 2011.
Read more
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Recognize an Outstanding Nonprofit Leader Today!
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The Center for Nonprofit Advancement is now accepting nominations for the Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman 2012 EXCEL Award.
This competitive award spotlights up to three outstanding nonprofit leaders in the Washington metropolitan area for outstanding nonprofit chief executive leadership. Each winner receives a $5,000 professional development account to use in their role as an organization's chief executive. In addition, the winning organization receives a $2,000 grant to provide professional development opportunities for their staff.
Nominations are due Friday, July 13, 2012. There is no fee to participate.
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Opening for Senior Fellow for Community Empowerment
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The Senior Fellow for Community Empowerment will be responsible for working with the director of the Office of Community Partnerships and the Manager of the Volunteer Center to broaden participation in the civic life of the community, promoting corporate civic engagement, and strengthening the volunteer management capacity of our community nonprofits. The Senior Fellow will play a leadership role in organizing Montgomery County's three Seasons of Service events: MLK Day of Service in January, Earth Month in April, and Community Service Day in October.
Montgomery County seeks to identify national best practices and put them to work increasing the time and talent that our residents commit to
helping with the major challenges facing our County. Preference will be given to those with experience working with nonprofit and faith
organizations with special but not exclusive priority given to organizations that engage senior populations. Expertise in communications and public relations will be highly valued.
General information on the Senior Fellows Program is at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/ The position is not posted at the time of newsletter publication. It will be posted along with three other Senior Fellow positions on the County's website:
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| Montgomery County Proclaimed June as Caribbean American Heritage Month |
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Yvonne Stevens; Claude Barrington; Derrice Dean; Venice Harvey-Chair CAAG; County Executive Leggett; Former CAAR Co-Chair Leo Edwards; Kim Watson
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On Friday, June 15, 2012, County Executive Leggett read a joint Proclamation also signed by County Council President Roger Berliner proclaiming June as Caribbean American Heritage Month in Montgomery County.
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Meet Charles Du
OCP Summer Intern
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I study sociology, African American studies, and gender studies at Princeton, where I'll be a senior in the fall. I'm big into music, and I sing in an all-male a cappella group at school. I was born and raised on the other side of the country in Spokane, WA, and this is the first time I've been in the county.
I will be working with the Office of Community Partnerships until August 24th on an immigrant integration plan. I'll be doing research to find the best practices of other municipalities and conducting interviews with local stakeholders in order to determine what the most effective course of action will be for Montgomery County. I'm excited to be working with such a dynamic and dedicated group of people, and I'm looking forward to a great summer!
If you want to reach me with any ideas you have about immigrant integration or anything else, feel free to email me: Charles.Du@montgomerycountymd.gov.
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Public Hearing on
Rapid Transit |
Comments are being sought on plans to build 160 mile rapid transit system at a hearing in Rockville on July 12th.
Read more. |
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| Student Service Learning (More) |
The Class of 1997 was the first to have service learning mandated by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) as a condition of public high school graduation. Although Maryland continues to be the only state that requires service learning as a condition of graduation, the mandate continues to affect every public education graduation in Maryland.
Once mandated, each of the 24 state school districts designed their own implementation plan for MSDE approval. The Student Service Learning (SSL) plan designed and approved for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) many years ago continues today to include options within specific courses, school-sponsored clubs, and community organizations. Through a 15-year partnership between the Montgomery County Volunteer Center (MCVC) and MCPS service and learning opportunities with nonprofit community organizations within the greater metropolitan area have been generated, expanded, and nurtured. The MCPS SSL Program is the envy of every county in the state and throughout the country because of the strong, enduring public school and county government partnership that administers, promotes, and celebrates its students, families and community organizations through meaningful service-learning opportunities! As a result of the Best Practices demonstrated by the MCPS MCVC partnership secondary public school students in Montgomery County are addressing real need in their schools and community, gaining skills and knowledge, developing responsibility, and establishing relationships with organizations. The following data as of June 5, 2012 are proof of this highly successful model partnership program: · MCPS students in Grades 6 through 12 have contributed more than 5,507,981 hours of service during their secondary education tenure! · 2,025 seniors (19% of the senior class) will graduate this season having been recognized by MSDE and MCPS for their meritorious service (260 SSL hours or more). · The Class of 2012 has contributed 1,672,762 SSL hours. · 159 is the 2012 per senior average number of SSL hours contributed (state requirement =75)! Pamela A. Meador Return to top. |
| Commission for Women Celebration (More) |
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The Montgomery County Commission for Women
40th Anniversary Celebration
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
6:30 - 9:00 p.m.
Rockville Hilton Hotel - Atrium Room
1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852
Join us for dinner to commemorate four decades of advocacy and service on behalf of the women and girls of Montgomery County
Honor ten distinguished women whose achievements will be added to the Montgomery County Women's History Archives:
The Honorable Sharon V. Burrell, Patricia E. Cornish, The Honorable Jean B. Cryor, Pamela Foltz, Barbara J. Krumsiek,
Ingrid U. McKee, Terry A. O'Neill, Dr. DeRionne P. Pollard, Carmen Delgado Votaw, Eun Yang
And help us unveil the new Montgomery County Women's History Quilt created by fiber artist Anne Sanderoff Walker
Admission Includes a Plated Dinner $50 per person
Registration Here
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| Nominations Sought for Arts and Humanities Awards(More) |
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Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett is seeking nominations for the annual County Executive's Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Awards to be presented at a special ceremony on Monday, October 22.
Now in its 11th year, the Executive's Awards are the most prestigious honors conferred by Montgomery County on individual artists, scholars, organizations and cultural patrons. The following recognitions will be presented: the Education Award, Community Award, Volunteer Award, Outstanding Artist or Scholar Award, Business or Individual Patron Award and Emerging Leader Award. Past recipients include Drs. Jeffrey and Carolyn Leonard, Shizumi Shigeto Manale and The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation.
Members of the community are invited to nominate an individual or group worthy of an award. The deadline for nominations is July 13.
"These are the most prestigious honors conferred by the County on individual artists and scholars, organizations and patrons of the arts and humanities," said Leggett.
For details and nominating instructions, visit the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County's website at http://creativemoco.com/executives-awards.
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| NACo Achievement Awards (More) |
Montgomery County has received 19 National Association of Counties (NACo) Achievement Awards this year for outstanding programs.
"These awards honor the dedication of all of our employees who work so hard to serve the residents of Montgomery County," said County Executive Isiah Leggett. "I'm pleased that NACo has recognized their efforts."
The following departments and programs received awards:
- Corrections and Rehabilitation - Workplace Digital Skill Training Program;
- Community Engagement Cluster - Montgomery County Community Service Week 2011;
- Community Use of Public Facilities - Community Use of Public Facilities-ICBweb Portal;
- Consumer Protection - Volunteer Depot Database;
- Environmental Protection - Arcola Avenue Green Street Project; MyGreenMontgomery.org;
- Emergency Services and Homeland Security - Continuity of Operations (COOP) Automation Program;
- General Services - The Procurement Centralized Workflow Dashboard Portal, AKA: Your Online Database Application (YODA);
- Health and Human Services - Safe Transitions-Managing Hospital Discharge for County Residents Who Are Homeless;
- Liquor Control - Alcohol Over Service Project; ICatalog Web Application;
- Police - Drug Market Intervention; Police Adventure Camp;
- Recreation - Miracle League of Montgomery County; Montgomery County Excel Beyond the Bell;
- Silver Spring Regional Services Center - The Silver Spring Community Service Weekend Program;
- Technology Services - Making Bicycling Easier in a Digital Way; Election Management System; and
- Transportation - Navigation Guided Plowing Project.
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| Hispanic Community Action Summit (More) |
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Summit organizers established three key goals for the event:
o Establishment of a space where community leaders can meaningfully engage and interact with key decision-and policy-makers in the federal government's executive branch on matters involving diverse policy areas that affect the Hispanic community.
o Identification of policy and programmatic areas of concern, receiving and responding to constructive criticism and feedback, and identifying local success stories and practices in policy areas that benefit the Hispanic community and the nation.
o Identifying and developing opportunities for Hispanic leaders and stakeholders to collaborate with the federal government's executive branch and other leaders from across the country in addressing the interests and concerns of the Hispanic community.
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| Caribbean American Heritage Month (More) |
The process started in June of 2005, when the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously adopted H. Con. Res. 71, sponsored by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, recognizing the significance of Caribbean people and their descendants in the history and culture of the United States. On February 14, 2006, the resolution similarly passed the Senate, and since the declaration, the White House has issued an annual proclamation recognizing June as Caribbean-American Heritage Month. This year marks the seventh anniversary of June as National Caribbean American Heritage Month. The campaign to designate June as National Caribbean American Heritage Month was spearheaded by Dr. Claire Nelson, Founder and President of the Institute of Caribbean Studies and a member of the Montgomery County Caribbean American Advisory Group (CAAG).
Mrs. Venice Mundle-Harvey thanked the County Executive, CAAG members and the audience for attending the Proclamation event and also thanked the employers and panelists, who attended the job fair and business development forum earlier that afternoon. She also stated that CAAG members are encouraging other community members to come and participate in order to build a fully engaged Caribbean community in Montgomery County. For more information, go to www.montgomerycountymd.gov/caribbean and contact Daniel Koroma.
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| Ethiopia Signing Ceremony (More) |
There will be tours to the Ethiopian National Museum in Addis Ababa. Some of the Sister City community projects in Gondar will be helping at the Gondar Medical Clinic, Gondar University, and high and middle schools.
Total cost for this incredible trip is $2,000 including airfare. A deposit of $100 is required by Friday, June 29, 2012 to reserve your flight, hotel, and transportation. Total payment is required by Friday, August 31, 2012. Make your deposit at: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=HWZPA7W4B8ZZC or call one of the contacts for a check deposit (payable to "Montgomery Sister Cities, Inc.") or invoice. There is an additional $200 for the Faith delegation.
Please contact: Daniel Koroma - daniel.koroma@montgomerycountymd.gov - 240.777.2584; Reverend Tim Warner - tim.warner@montgomerycountymd.gov - 240.777.2503; Solomon Ayala - soulalem@aol.com - 240.381.2051
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| New County Website (More) |
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Montgomery County has launched a new website for County government at www.montgomerycountymd.gov. The new site has been redesigned with a fresh look, new and enhanced features and easier and more straightforward navigation tools. One of the enhancements is greater accessibility for disabled and non-English speaking constituents. Some of the other improvements include the following:
· maintains consistent branding while improving navigation and usability;
· utilizes more screen real estate;
· supports popular desktop and mobile devices and browsers;
· incorporates and/or interfaces with emerging technologies including a new content management system, C311, social networking sites and cloud services to more cost-effectively collaborate with and deliver content to user communities; and
· improves the County's competitive standing to better attract residents and businesses.
For more information, call 240-777-6507.
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| Transit Task Force Seeks Public Comments (More) |
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Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett and the 15-member Transit Task Force he appointed will hold a public hearing to seek comments on the plan developed by the Task Force to establish a 160-mile, innovative, "best-in-class" rapid transit system in Montgomery County.
The hearing will be held Thursday, July 12 from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Council Office Building, 1st Floor Auditorium, 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville.
The Task Force is recommending that the rapid transit system be built in three phases over the next nine to 20 years to mitigate both construction and affordability issues. Leggett created the Transit Task Force in February 2011.
Individuals and representatives of organizations wishing to speak may sign up at the public hearing. Speakers will be limited to two minutes and are encouraged to bring a written copy of their testimony. If time runs out before all speakers are accommodated during the two-hour hearing, a copy of their written testimony will be entered into the record.
Those who cannot attend the meeting may also provide written comments by mail or email to:
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett
101 Monroe Street, 2nd Floor
Rockville, MD 20850
ocemail@montgomerycountymd.gov
Free parking is available in the Council Office Building garage at the intersection of Jefferson and Monroe streets. Use the Jefferson Street entrance.
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