THE GAZETTE
Page A-8
FUNDING Continued from Page A-1 soon. Andrews’ bill also drew support from Kate Planco Waybright, executive director of Progressive Maryland, who said in a release from Common Cause Monday that public funding shifts campaigns away from big donors and toward regular voters. Waybright could not be reached for comment Monday. The bill would limit candidates who accept public financing for their campaign to donations of $150 or less from voters registered in Montgomery County. In order to qualify for the
GIRL
Continued from Page A-1 gen levels and pulse after birth, reveal the majority of heart defects, but holes in the heart can go unnoticed, Martin said. Maryland, along with about 33 other states, now require screening by law, he said. Everything was normal in the first two weeks for Samantha, except she was having trouble eating, which turned out to be related to her heart. The pediatrician referred her to a cardiologist right after the appointment, who told Haley that Samantha had holes in her heart and sent her to a hospital for immediate treatment. “It was wretchedly scary,” Haley said. “You’re thrown into this whole world of medical jargon and doctors.” Two months later, “they did open-heart surgery to repair the holes,” she said. But after the repairs, half of Samantha’s heart couldn’t beat
COUNCIL
Continued from Page A-1 sumes 8 percent caps on the three big sites, as well no further building on county-owned sites hosting the existing jail and a once-planned bus depot. “That’s a big improvement. It’s more protection than the Planning Board recommended,” Cameron said.
Equal treatment Applying the same cap to all three big development sites counteracts Pulte’s claim that it was treated unfairly under recommendations that growth should be concentrated east of I-270. “There’s no argument for treating anybody differently,” Elrich said after the meeting. Elrich and Berliner also said the county earlier set a similar 8 percent impervious cap in the Paint Branch and Rock Creek watersheds. “We’re clearly treating [sites] equally,” Berliner said.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014 d
matching funds, candidates for county executive would have to get 500 in-county individual contributions and raise $40,000; at-large council candidates would be required to attract 250 individual contributions and raise $20,000; district council candidates would need 125 contributions and raise $10,000. County executive candidates who qualify would receive $6 for every one dollar of the first $50 of an in-county contribution; $4 for every dollar of the second $50 and $2 for every dollar of the third $50. Council candidates would get $4 for each dollar of the first $50; $3 for each dollar of the second $50 and $2 for each dollar of the third $50.
Andrews said he thinks that will give candidates a strong incentive to seek out as many new contributors in the county as possible and getting those people involved in the political process. The bill doesn’t put a limit on the overall level of spending, as long as donors stay within the $150 limit, Andrews said. But public financing is capped at $750,000 for county executive candidates, $250,000 for at-large council candidates — who run countywide — and $125,000 for council candidates running in a district. Andrews said the bill isn’t meant to finance an entire campaign, but just to be “a bridge to raising enough funds
to be competitive.” While groups like Common Cause can’t do much to bring down the costs of running, they can find better ways for candidates to get that money, BevanDangel said. Polls show a bipartisan concern about the influence of money in politics, she said. The General Assembly gave counties the ability last year to pass bills such as Andrews’, and Bevan-Dangel said the Montgomery bill would hopefully inspire other counties to take action that could hopefully lead to a bill passed on the state level. “We know others are watching,” she said.
on its own. One week later, Samantha underwent another surgery to have a pacemaker implanted. When she was 16 months old, a new one was installed. “They said that one would last 10 years, but she’s very active,” Haley said. Samantha wore it out in 8. At 9, she got another. How many years will this one last? “We’re thinking 7,” Haley said. When the conversation turns to books, Samantha perks up. “I like to read and draw,” she said. “I like pretty much any book.” She’s working her way through the Harry Potter series. She loves Greek mythology, too — Poseidon is her favorite of the gods. “I want to be a music teacher when I grow up,” she said. On Thursday, Samantha showed off her love of music at a talent show at the family’s church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in
Mount Airy. She had prepared songs on the piano and guitar, and a violin duet with her best friend, Kaylee Walsman. In the car on the way there, Samantha turns from reserved to downright chatty, talking about her friends, an upcoming school performance, and her teacher, Steven Zimmerman — the funniest in the fourth grade at Clearspring Elementary in Damascus, she said. In front of a small crowd of friends and parents, Samantha opens the talent show, playing “Teach Me to Walk in the Light” on the piano. Following several other performances, she and Kaylee go on stage to play “Lightly Row” on the violin. They’ve been taking lessons together the past several months. After the song, Samantha lowers herself near the floor, crouching intently over her guitar strings to play “Ode to Joy” — the same song Samantha’s mother walked down the aisle to as she married Saman-
tha’s father. She has taught herself to play since receiving the guitar last Christmas. Haley said she and her husband, Larry, turned to religion when Samantha was undergoing intensive treatment and surgeries in her first months of life. This community came to their side, with meals and support. In terms of medicine, Martin said, “It has changed dramatically. How we do things has gotten much better over the last two decades. The results of treatment in this era are very successful.” An audience member wore a T-shirt the family made for Samantha’s last surgery, with illustrated faces of all of the kids in Samantha’s class, grouped in the shape of a heart. All of the kids wore it on surgery day. Beneath the smiling faces, it reads, “and the beat goes on.”
Last year, Pulte Homes threatened to sue if the council significantly scaled back its proposal, claiming it violated Pulte’s property rights. Council members met with the company’s attorney in closed session for more than an hour Tuesday afternoon to discuss the possibility of a lawsuit before Berliner introduced the 8 percent cap late in the meeting. Pulte originally sought a 12.5 percent impervious cap under existing zoning. The Planning Board recommended a 10 percent cap. “We’d be very disappointed if that was the final output of the committees,” Lewis Birnbaum, president of Pulte’s mid-Atlantic division, said about the 8 percent cap. “It significantly undermines the use of the property.” Berliner said the 8 percent cap would scale back the footprint of the Pulte project, but not necessarily the number of housing units, which could be clustered. That likely would mean fewer single-family homes and more townhouses, but still provide a return on investment.
Shift to housing
Taylor Chess, president of the Peterson Companies retail division, argued the 8 percent impervious cap would limit the walkability design of future development on the property. “By ignoring the recommendations of the Planning Board contained in the master plan amendment, this proposal makes it impossible for us to bring sewer connections to relieve failing septic systems of the historic district, nor can we provide the beginnings of the critical bypass road — two things that the community has been asking for from the County for many years. This inconsistency with the 1994 master plan is troubling to us and the Clarksburg residents and business owners who made investments in the Clarksburg area based on those guiding principles,” Chess wrote in an email to The Gazette. Berliner also recommended the 8 percent cap for the 100acre Egan site east of I-270 owned by High Point Catering.
An 8 percent cap on the Miles-Coppola site east of I-270 would knock out a Peterson Cos. proposal to build a Tanger fashion outlet center on the site. Earlier on Tuesday, the full council voted to support plans for a Premium fashion outlet center on the Cabin Branch property at the southwest corner of I-270 and Md. 121 owned by Adventist HealthCare, making demand for a second outlet center in Clarksburg unlikely. “We don’t need two,” Berliner said. Berliner, however, said he supports, under the 8 percent cap plan, intense development on a 5.2-acre parcel on the Miles-Coppola site that he said would help support the still-tobe-built town center retail area. “You can do as much as you can there,” Berliner said. The Berliner plan recommends residential zoning for the developable land on the rest of the property, which is hilly and generates some of the headwaters of Ten Mile Creek.
rmarshall@gazette.net
sscully@gazette.net
vterhune@gazette.net
Professional Services
Gansler backs school construction push Democratic gubernatorial candidate calls it ‘fiscally responsible’ n
BY
KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER
Montgomery County has another ally in its fight for more school construction money. Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the governor’s race, is backing the executives of Montgomery, Prince George’s and Baltimore counties in their push to create a program for funding school construction. Gansler joins Del. Heather R. Mizeur, one of his opponents for the party nomination, in support of the push. Mizeur (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park is a co-sponsor of legislation to create the program. In a statement Friday, Gansler said the portable classrooms, leaky roofs and inadequate bathrooms cited as issues at many aging schools are not hallmarks of the best education system in the nation, but rather symbols of a system that serves some and not others. Maryland was previously ranked no. 1 in education by Education Week, but this year that publication changed its
SALT
Continued from Page A-1 November to coordinate the response to a weather event, Buck said. The agency already has spent about $70 million on winter operations, and has used about 288,000 tons of salt to treat the 17,000 “lane miles” of roads around the state that it’s responsible for, Buck said. Different types of weather call for different responses from road crews, Compton said. When they’re dealing with snow, crews can plow the roads and then put down a light covering of salt, Compton said. But the only treatment for ice is salt. “It’s really all about the management of the pavement,” Compton said. Keeping roads plowed and salted is important to helping keep the county’s transit system open. That means that a severe storm won’t damage the county economically by shutting down businesses or keeping workers and customers from getting to work, Compton said. But most important is making sure people can get wherever they need to go
system from a ranking to a grade and Maryland fell below seven other states. “With the endless stream of gambling revenue that the administration promised will fund our schools, we should fully expect Lt. Gov. [Anthony] Brown to submit this as one of the signature pieces of legislation for the administration this session,” Gansler said. Brown (D), also running for governor this year, was unavailable to comment due to the death of his father. Gansler, Brown and Mizeur will face each other in the June 24 Democratic primary. In his letter of support to the county executives, Gansler called the proposal “fiscally responsible.” “Your proposal enables the state to support county-led efforts, at primarily county expense, to obtain construction bonds that will go directly to schools and not be diverted to projects for special interests,” he wrote. “This investment of state resources will be repaid tenfold in the increased success of our students.” County Executive Isiah Leggett said existing state funding for school construction in Montgomery goes to cover the ever-increasing enrollment at Montgomery County Public Schools. About 2,000 new students enroll each year, he said. safely. “It’s all about public safety,” he said. Takoma Park has gone through about 450 tons of the mix of salt and sand that it puts on roads, said Daryl Braithwaite, the city’s director of public works. This year’s cold temperatures have meant that crews have had to work more days of extra shifts to keep treating roads where ice would often re-freeze at night after it partially melted during the day, she said. That has forced the city to already spend close to the nearly $33,000 it had budgeted for salt and the $20,000 for overtime, Braithwaite said Monday. The city usually plans for about three storms per year with overtime and heavy treatment of streets, a point that’s already been reached. “At this point in the year, we’ve pretty much spent all that we’ve budgeted,” she said. With forecasts calling for the possibility of more snow this weekend, Buck said the highway agency’s crews will be out to deal with whatever weather comes. “All we can do is look at the next forecast,” he said. rmarshall@gazette.net
Call 301-670-7106
1905889
BANKRUPTCY THE LAW OFFICES OF
RICHARD B. ROSENBLATT, PG CHAIRMAN OF THE MD BANKRUPTCY BAR ASSOCIATION 1998-1999
LOAN MODIFICATION
www.rosenblattlaw.com
1905888
GD27177
• Chapter 7, 11 & 13 • General Litigation • Tax Debt • Divorce • Traffic/DUI-MVA • Criminal FREE CONSULTATION • PAYMENT PLANS SE HABLA ESPAÑOL
Rockville
301-838-0098 THE BANKRUPTCY CENTER The Law Offices Of Erik G. Soderberg, Esq.
STOP Foreclosure, Garnishment, Repossession, Lawsuits & Creditor Harassment
FREE CONSULTATION * PAYMENT PLANS We are a debt relief agency.We help people file for bankruptcy relief.
GD27176
301-279-0303 ext. 368 Also representing clients in Personal Injury and DUI cases.
GD27218
1905891