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In: Lt. Governor, Maryland, Maryland Economic Council, Pieter Friedrich

May 30, 2024 The appointment of a longstanding member of a far-right supremacist movement is causing consternation amongst Marylanders, according to transparency activists. Dr. Sudhir Sekhsaria of Potomac was appointed last year to the Maryland Economic Council, a select-group of business leaders from across Maryland with longstanding business interests inContinue Reading

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In: Information, Local Author, Small Businesses

May 24, 2024 – By Moderately MOCO Local author from Rockville, Maryland Andrea Durbin just released her debut book of short stories titled “Beyond the Words: Exploring the Edges of Language and Life” which can be purchased on Amazon here. Per her press release, Durbin is “a speech-language pathologist andContinue Reading

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In: Board Of Elections, BOE, Community Feedback, County Council, Local Government, MCPS

We have our first Moderately MOCO in person event which is a 2024 Board of Education Candidate Forum taking place on April 15 at the County Council building. We hope to see you there. See here for Parking and Directions information to the County Council building. Parking is free afterContinue Reading

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In: BOE, Community Feedback, County Council, Education & Culture, Government, Local Government, MCPS, Montgomery County Police Department, Policing, Public Funding, Public Safety, Safety, School Funding, Special Education, Transportation

April 8th, 2024 – This testimony was given to the County Council on the FY2025 operating budget Hello my name is Jason Makstein and I run the blog Moderately MOCO but today I am testifying as a community advocate about various items in the operating budgets. My focus will beContinue Reading

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In: Administrators, BOE, Community Feedback, Community Reports, MCPS, Superintendent

March 10, 2024 – Anonymous Op-ed What does MCPS have in common with the old Soviet Union? Both were or are good at “disappearing” top staff. The USSR was famous for air-brushing the disfavored out of photographs or even paintings. MCPS simply wipes their names from the organizational chart withContinue Reading

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In: Community Feedback, Community Reports, County Council, Local Government, Montgomery County Police Department, Policing, Public Safety

March 8, 2024 This was sent in as a follow up to Opinion: Defending Effective Policing: The Case Against Restricting Consent Searches and Bill 2-24 – Moderately MOCO following the County Council Public Hearing on the bill. Any councilmember who is for Councilmember Jawando’s Bill 2-24 must be prepared toContinue Reading

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In: Community Feedback, Community Reports, Incident Response, Maryland, MCPS, Opinion, Restorative Justice, Safety, Special Education

February 26, 2024 – Opinion submitted by an MCPS elementary school special education teacher of 10 years Once upon a time, in the summer before we returned from COVID, the county pushed a new initiative. Rooted in peaceful ideals, restorative justice (RJ) was sold as a panacea for hate andContinue Reading

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In: BOE, Community Feedback, Community Reports, Local Government, MCPS, Opinion, School

February 23, 2024 “We need you to succeed, the taxpayers need you to succeed, and more importantly, our kids need you to succeed” That was said by Councilman Evan Glass to MCPS Board President Karla Silvestre on February 8th. The key phrase there is “our kids”. As an employee ofContinue Reading

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In: Community Feedback, Community Reports, County Council, Local Government, Montgomery County Police Department, Policing, Public Safety

February 23, 2024 Councilmember Jawando introduced Bill 2-24 to prohibit police from searching a vehicle when the driver specifically consents to the search. Consent searches are an important tool for police to address serious crime. When police reduce discretionary enforcement, such as traffic stops, violent crime rises. The Montgomery CountyContinue Reading

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In: Administrators, BOE, Community Feedback, Community Interviews, County Council, Education & Culture, MCPS, Superintendent

February 13, 2024 – Employee that allegedly hindered OIG’s Investigation and was allegedly a key source of cronyism and retaliation in MCPS is back from Administrative Leave Update 2/13/24 11:30pm – This article was updated to correct the title (and subsequent details) which was originally written as “Chief of DistrictwideContinue Reading