Posts
December 22, 2009
The Honorable Nancy Floreen
President, Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Dear President Floreen and Councilmembers:
On behalf of the Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board I am writing to urge the County Council to support the County Executive’s package of “Quality of Life” code enforcement reforms now before the Council. The County Executive’s package of reforms resulted from recommendations of his Code Enforcement Working Group, which worked closely with residents and organizations in the Mid-County area to identify problems and solutions.
As you are aware, progress has stalled on Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 09-03, which is designed to further restrict the encroachment and expansion of home occupations into residential neighborhoods, as well as limiting the paving of front yards and prohibiting the parking of heavy commercial vehicles in residential zones. We support ZTA 09-03 as submitted to the Council by the County Executive.
Still pending before the Council committee is Bill 24-09 to limit permits on unfinished residential construction to 18 months (currently there is no deadline). We support this bill. We also support adoption of Bill 22-09 to speed up the process for resolving code violations.
We urge you to work to bring ZTA 09-03, Bill 24-09, and Bill 22-09 to the full Council for action as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Sheldon Fishman
Chair
cc: Isiah Leggett, County Executive
Sunday, June 20, 2010
pedestrian safety
December 22, 2009
The Honorable Isiah Leggett
County Executive
101 Monroe Street
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Dear Mr. Leggett:
The Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board (MCCAB) endorses the County’s efforts to increase awareness of pedestrian safety through its “Pedestrian Safety Program” and its participation with the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board’s “Street Smart 2009 Campaign.” The MCCAB believes that an effective, proactive awareness campaign can help to reduce what should be avoidable accidents and possible injuries and minimize the resources necessary to engage in enforcement activities and the related costs of enforced compliance.
The MCCAB believes that the major participants targeted by these campaigns -- pedestrians, drivers and bikers -- should all be aware, alert, respectful and accountable. As Montgomery County residents, we literally need to look out for each other. And while most of us are safe (on the roads, on sidewalks, bike paths and in parking lots) and are quite capable of looking out for ourselves, we need to recognize that there are some residents who are at a higher risk for pedestrian collision. This includes young children, seniors, those in various age groups who may have special needs and those from other countries who are unfamiliar with our traffic patterns - they need us to be on the lookout for them.
We look forward to monitoring these two very important campaigns and are hopeful to see successful results on an on-going basis.
Sincerely,
Sheldon Fishman
Chair
The Honorable Isiah Leggett
County Executive
101 Monroe Street
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Dear Mr. Leggett:
The Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board (MCCAB) endorses the County’s efforts to increase awareness of pedestrian safety through its “Pedestrian Safety Program” and its participation with the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board’s “Street Smart 2009 Campaign.” The MCCAB believes that an effective, proactive awareness campaign can help to reduce what should be avoidable accidents and possible injuries and minimize the resources necessary to engage in enforcement activities and the related costs of enforced compliance.
The MCCAB believes that the major participants targeted by these campaigns -- pedestrians, drivers and bikers -- should all be aware, alert, respectful and accountable. As Montgomery County residents, we literally need to look out for each other. And while most of us are safe (on the roads, on sidewalks, bike paths and in parking lots) and are quite capable of looking out for ourselves, we need to recognize that there are some residents who are at a higher risk for pedestrian collision. This includes young children, seniors, those in various age groups who may have special needs and those from other countries who are unfamiliar with our traffic patterns - they need us to be on the lookout for them.
We look forward to monitoring these two very important campaigns and are hopeful to see successful results on an on-going basis.
Sincerely,
Sheldon Fishman
Chair
2009-2011 Growth Policy
December 22, 2009
The Honorable Nancy Floreen
President, Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Dear President Floreen and Councilmembers:
The Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board has reviewed the proposed 2009-2011 Growth Policy and would like to share our concerns with you.
Due to the long and very fluid nature of the planning process, we support the Growth Policy amendment in Bill 38-09 proposing the adoption of a four year review cycle for the growth policy rather than the current two year process. We believe this would enable the County to address planning issues in a more deliberate manner. Many key issues we face regarding development, schools, zoning changes and reclassifications have become so cumbersome that in many instances more time is needed. Furthermore, builders with approved plans are finding the “rules of the game” being changed in the middle of their approved projects. We would not want to send the wrong message of being anti-development and anti-builder. We are also very concerned about the potential for overcrowding in many of our schools and strongly believe that a four-year review could be more comprehensive and beneficial in the school planning process. We also believe that the proposed plan is based on many assumptions which could significantly impact the quality of life in our County and again feel more time is needed to study issues such as increasing density near Metro stations.
In addition, we very strongly believe that the Policy Area Mobility Review (PAMR) process is quite difficult to understand and has done a poor job of helping to manage and mitigate the effects of our heavy traffic. We are concerned that instead of a possible solution to gridlock, PAMR has the exact opposite effect. We, therefore, support the Council’s recommendation to request the Montgomery County Department of Transportation carefully study this issue and propose a more common sense and easy to understand policy for analyzing traffic patterns throughout the County. The members of the Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board are willing and available to assist in the process of developing the new transportation test to be used in the Growth Policy
Overall, we are pleased that so many issues pertinent to the quality of life in Montgomery County have been studied in your plan and we believe that our Mid-County region as well as the entire County could benefit from our suggested changes.
Sincerely,
Sheldon Fishman
Chair
cc: Isiah Leggett, County Executive
Royce Hanson, M-NCPPC Planning Board
The Honorable Nancy Floreen
President, Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Dear President Floreen and Councilmembers:
The Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board has reviewed the proposed 2009-2011 Growth Policy and would like to share our concerns with you.
Due to the long and very fluid nature of the planning process, we support the Growth Policy amendment in Bill 38-09 proposing the adoption of a four year review cycle for the growth policy rather than the current two year process. We believe this would enable the County to address planning issues in a more deliberate manner. Many key issues we face regarding development, schools, zoning changes and reclassifications have become so cumbersome that in many instances more time is needed. Furthermore, builders with approved plans are finding the “rules of the game” being changed in the middle of their approved projects. We would not want to send the wrong message of being anti-development and anti-builder. We are also very concerned about the potential for overcrowding in many of our schools and strongly believe that a four-year review could be more comprehensive and beneficial in the school planning process. We also believe that the proposed plan is based on many assumptions which could significantly impact the quality of life in our County and again feel more time is needed to study issues such as increasing density near Metro stations.
In addition, we very strongly believe that the Policy Area Mobility Review (PAMR) process is quite difficult to understand and has done a poor job of helping to manage and mitigate the effects of our heavy traffic. We are concerned that instead of a possible solution to gridlock, PAMR has the exact opposite effect. We, therefore, support the Council’s recommendation to request the Montgomery County Department of Transportation carefully study this issue and propose a more common sense and easy to understand policy for analyzing traffic patterns throughout the County. The members of the Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board are willing and available to assist in the process of developing the new transportation test to be used in the Growth Policy
Overall, we are pleased that so many issues pertinent to the quality of life in Montgomery County have been studied in your plan and we believe that our Mid-County region as well as the entire County could benefit from our suggested changes.
Sincerely,
Sheldon Fishman
Chair
cc: Isiah Leggett, County Executive
Royce Hanson, M-NCPPC Planning Board
Monday, June 14, 2010
MCCAB Ambulance Fee support with conditions
April 27, 2010
The Honorable Nancy Floreen
President, Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Dear President Floreen and Councilmembers:
I am writing on behalf of the Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board (MCCAB), to convey our general support of Bill 13-10, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Transport Fee - Established, along with our concerns regarding certain aspects of the draft legislation.
In the past, the MCCAB has opposed the establishment of this fee. However, in light of the current fiscal situation the County faces, and with reassurances from the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) about how fees will be collected, the MCCAB voted to support the proposal with some conditions. This decision was made at our April meeting following presentations by Fire Chief Bowers and Assistant Chief Scott Graham and comments made by representatives of the community, the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire Rescue Association, the Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad, the East County Citizens Advisory Board and the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board.
While the MCCAB did vote to support Bill 13-10, we had some concerns about the legislation as proposed. The MCCAB members felt that:
•
language should be added to the legislation to clearly state that transport fee bills and/or invoices will be sent directly to the insurance company of the patient - no County resident will receive a bill for any reason.
•
the phrase in subsection (h) Use of revenue, “…and in the first fiscal year this fee is implemented, …” should be deleted. The Board feels strongly that the revenues collected from these fees should be dedicated to the Fire and Rescue Service indefinitely and recommend the establishment of a dedicated enterprise fund to accomplish this.
In addition, the MCCAB supports the provision of the Bill requiring that the transport fee “…must be used to supplement, and must not supplant, existing expenditures for emergency medical services and other related fire and rescue services provided by the Fire and Rescue Service…” In November 2009, the MCCAB urged “…the adoption of EMS patient outcome measures into the County’s Fire and Rescue Master Plan….” We felt then, and continue to feel, that the establishment of EMS patient outcome measures, such as EMS patient survival from sudden cardiac arrest, would contribute to improved performance by the MCFRS. Similarly, we also believe that it is important to ensure the revenues from the transport fees are returned to the patients, through improvements to emergency medical services delivered at a regional level, rather than towards supplanting other Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service operating costs.
Sincerely,
Sheldon Fishman
Chair
cc: Isiah Leggett, County Executive
The Honorable Nancy Floreen
President, Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Dear President Floreen and Councilmembers:
I am writing on behalf of the Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board (MCCAB), to convey our general support of Bill 13-10, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Transport Fee - Established, along with our concerns regarding certain aspects of the draft legislation.
In the past, the MCCAB has opposed the establishment of this fee. However, in light of the current fiscal situation the County faces, and with reassurances from the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) about how fees will be collected, the MCCAB voted to support the proposal with some conditions. This decision was made at our April meeting following presentations by Fire Chief Bowers and Assistant Chief Scott Graham and comments made by representatives of the community, the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire Rescue Association, the Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad, the East County Citizens Advisory Board and the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board.
While the MCCAB did vote to support Bill 13-10, we had some concerns about the legislation as proposed. The MCCAB members felt that:
•
language should be added to the legislation to clearly state that transport fee bills and/or invoices will be sent directly to the insurance company of the patient - no County resident will receive a bill for any reason.
•
the phrase in subsection (h) Use of revenue, “…and in the first fiscal year this fee is implemented, …” should be deleted. The Board feels strongly that the revenues collected from these fees should be dedicated to the Fire and Rescue Service indefinitely and recommend the establishment of a dedicated enterprise fund to accomplish this.
In addition, the MCCAB supports the provision of the Bill requiring that the transport fee “…must be used to supplement, and must not supplant, existing expenditures for emergency medical services and other related fire and rescue services provided by the Fire and Rescue Service…” In November 2009, the MCCAB urged “…the adoption of EMS patient outcome measures into the County’s Fire and Rescue Master Plan….” We felt then, and continue to feel, that the establishment of EMS patient outcome measures, such as EMS patient survival from sudden cardiac arrest, would contribute to improved performance by the MCFRS. Similarly, we also believe that it is important to ensure the revenues from the transport fees are returned to the patients, through improvements to emergency medical services delivered at a regional level, rather than towards supplanting other Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service operating costs.
Sincerely,
Sheldon Fishman
Chair
cc: Isiah Leggett, County Executive
Sunday, June 13, 2010
MCCAB Fire Rescue and Patient Outcomes
Fire, Rescue, Emergency Medical Services, and
Community Risk Reduction Master Plan
Public Hearing
November 29, 2009
Montgomery County Fire Chief Richard Bowers,
Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the Fire, Rescue, Emergency Medical
Services, and Community Risk Reduction Master Plan. I am Sheldon Fishman, Chair of the Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board (MCCAB). With me is Gam Wijuntunge, MCCAB’s Parliamentarian and Chair of our Quality of Life Committee.
The Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board (MCCAB) strongly supports the mission of the Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service (MCFRS) to keep our communities safe and healthy. We applaud the dedicated and heroic efforts of MCFRS’ career and volunteer personnel in providing our county with world class fire, rescue and emergency medical services (EMS). The MCCAB’s comments on the Master Plan are intended to help build on this tradition of excellence.
In general, the MCCAB is pleased with the Master Plan’s emphasis on performance measures and ongoing performance improvement. This is in keeping with the County Executive’s use of the CountyStat program to foster outcome-focused performance management.
The MCCAB notes that the Master Plan, as well as the County Executive’s FY10 budget proposal, includes reducing residential fire deaths and injuries as an outcome-focused performance measure. Mid-County residents, particularly the many senior citizens living in the Mid-County area, have previously expressed support for reducing residential fire deaths and injuries. This outcome measure justifies the process-oriented measures included in the Master Plan such as response time goals for fire engines.
However, the MCCAB is concerned that no comparable EMS outcome measures are included. The MCCAB urges the County Executive to adopt EMS patient outcome measures as a new high priority recommendation in the Master Plan. Outcome measures such as survival to hospital discharge and other EMS patient outcomes should be considered. Process measures such as EMS response times should accompany these outcome measures provided they have demonstrated impact on the patient outcome. MCCAB recognizes the technical complexity of patient outcome measures and recognizes the additional legal and regulatory requirements, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). We recommend coordination with stakeholders such as hospitals in developing practical outcome measures.
The MCCAB sincerely believes that the MCFRS saves lives and contributes significantly to our quality of life in Montgomery County. However, we must be able to measure that contribution and to determine how it can be improved. A Master Plan which focuses on measuring this impact can only improve the MCFRS, improve the quality of life of Montgomery County citizens, and assist with the wise allocation of County resources.
We urge you to incorporate these important changes into the 2009 update of the Master Plan.
Community Risk Reduction Master Plan
Public Hearing
November 29, 2009
Montgomery County Fire Chief Richard Bowers,
Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the Fire, Rescue, Emergency Medical
Services, and Community Risk Reduction Master Plan. I am Sheldon Fishman, Chair of the Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board (MCCAB). With me is Gam Wijuntunge, MCCAB’s Parliamentarian and Chair of our Quality of Life Committee.
The Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board (MCCAB) strongly supports the mission of the Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service (MCFRS) to keep our communities safe and healthy. We applaud the dedicated and heroic efforts of MCFRS’ career and volunteer personnel in providing our county with world class fire, rescue and emergency medical services (EMS). The MCCAB’s comments on the Master Plan are intended to help build on this tradition of excellence.
In general, the MCCAB is pleased with the Master Plan’s emphasis on performance measures and ongoing performance improvement. This is in keeping with the County Executive’s use of the CountyStat program to foster outcome-focused performance management.
The MCCAB notes that the Master Plan, as well as the County Executive’s FY10 budget proposal, includes reducing residential fire deaths and injuries as an outcome-focused performance measure. Mid-County residents, particularly the many senior citizens living in the Mid-County area, have previously expressed support for reducing residential fire deaths and injuries. This outcome measure justifies the process-oriented measures included in the Master Plan such as response time goals for fire engines.
However, the MCCAB is concerned that no comparable EMS outcome measures are included. The MCCAB urges the County Executive to adopt EMS patient outcome measures as a new high priority recommendation in the Master Plan. Outcome measures such as survival to hospital discharge and other EMS patient outcomes should be considered. Process measures such as EMS response times should accompany these outcome measures provided they have demonstrated impact on the patient outcome. MCCAB recognizes the technical complexity of patient outcome measures and recognizes the additional legal and regulatory requirements, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). We recommend coordination with stakeholders such as hospitals in developing practical outcome measures.
The MCCAB sincerely believes that the MCFRS saves lives and contributes significantly to our quality of life in Montgomery County. However, we must be able to measure that contribution and to determine how it can be improved. A Master Plan which focuses on measuring this impact can only improve the MCFRS, improve the quality of life of Montgomery County citizens, and assist with the wise allocation of County resources.
We urge you to incorporate these important changes into the 2009 update of the Master Plan.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
MCCAB Recommendations to County Council on FY-11 Operating Budget
April 23, 2010
The Honorable Nancy Floreen
President, Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Dear Council President Floreen and Councilmembers:
The Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board (MCCAB) appreciates the opportunity to share with you our suggestions on how to address the very serious budget crisis facing our County and to re-enforce your resolve to protect our most vulnerable residents even during this budget crisis.
This is, in every sense of the term, a real budget crisis. Therefore, with great angst, we are making these very difficult, but very critical recommendations. We don’t relish any of the proposals we are making; however, we strongly believe that the alternatives are worse.
First a few words of appreciation and encouragement. We recognize that health and human services and public safety programs have suffered fewer cuts than most areas of the County government and agencies. We urge you to retain that set of priorities. We must first protect the most vulnerable among our residents.
We have one immediate suggestion and four longer term suggestions for dealing with the current budget crisis.
Short-term Recommendation #1
The Honorable Nancy Floreen
President, Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Dear Council President Floreen and Councilmembers:
The Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board (MCCAB) appreciates the opportunity to share with you our suggestions on how to address the very serious budget crisis facing our County and to re-enforce your resolve to protect our most vulnerable residents even during this budget crisis.
This is, in every sense of the term, a real budget crisis. Therefore, with great angst, we are making these very difficult, but very critical recommendations. We don’t relish any of the proposals we are making; however, we strongly believe that the alternatives are worse.
First a few words of appreciation and encouragement. We recognize that health and human services and public safety programs have suffered fewer cuts than most areas of the County government and agencies. We urge you to retain that set of priorities. We must first protect the most vulnerable among our residents.
We have one immediate suggestion and four longer term suggestions for dealing with the current budget crisis.
Short-term Recommendation #1
Our County has lost many great employees due to job cuts and even more are slated to be cut in the coming months. Our suggestion is that in these painful times, we stand together and ask everyone endure a little bit of the pain instead of a select few absorbing the brunt of it. We recommend across the board paycuts for everyone who receives a paycheck from the County. Everyone, means everyone: elected, appointed, union and non-union, public safety employees, every single person who works for the County government and the full alphabet of agencies that receive one dollar of the over $4 billion dollars in this operating budget: Montgomery College, Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, etc.
We recommend a permanent, tiered pay adjustment which would be set at various rates according to salary levels and be sustained for the future. This is especially important since 80% of the County’s operating budget is earmarked for personnel costs.
Recommendation #2
Looking beyond the current moment, we believe there is a long-term structural budget deficit, especially if you account for the unfunded County liabilities. We recommend an across the board validation and reclassification of every single job funded by this $4 billion dollar operating budget.
Recommendation #3
While General County Government has already done so, other County agencies who have not, especially Montgomery County Public School employees, should be required to replace the defined benefit package with a defined contribution package for all new and existing employees.
Recommendation #4
Reallocate central staff and decision making to the Regional Services Centers. We suspect that the County has reached the point of diminishing economies of size. Further, we believe the residents will be better served by decision makers living closer to them. Rather than cut the regional offices to 3 people or eliminate them altogether, we think the County would save money and improve services by reallocating people, decision making and services from the central office to the regional offices.
Recommendation #5
Commit to zero based budgeting. Zero-based budgeting requires a review of all budget items every year, rather than the current process of concentrating on new items. We believe such justification of every dollar will inevitably lead to improved fiscal efficiencies.
We thank you for the opportunity to share our suggestions with you and we wish you well in your budget deliberations.
Sincerely,
Sheldon Fishman
Chair
cc: County Executive Isiah Leggett
We recommend a permanent, tiered pay adjustment which would be set at various rates according to salary levels and be sustained for the future. This is especially important since 80% of the County’s operating budget is earmarked for personnel costs.
Recommendation #2
Looking beyond the current moment, we believe there is a long-term structural budget deficit, especially if you account for the unfunded County liabilities. We recommend an across the board validation and reclassification of every single job funded by this $4 billion dollar operating budget.
Recommendation #3
While General County Government has already done so, other County agencies who have not, especially Montgomery County Public School employees, should be required to replace the defined benefit package with a defined contribution package for all new and existing employees.
Recommendation #4
Reallocate central staff and decision making to the Regional Services Centers. We suspect that the County has reached the point of diminishing economies of size. Further, we believe the residents will be better served by decision makers living closer to them. Rather than cut the regional offices to 3 people or eliminate them altogether, we think the County would save money and improve services by reallocating people, decision making and services from the central office to the regional offices.
Recommendation #5
Commit to zero based budgeting. Zero-based budgeting requires a review of all budget items every year, rather than the current process of concentrating on new items. We believe such justification of every dollar will inevitably lead to improved fiscal efficiencies.
We thank you for the opportunity to share our suggestions with you and we wish you well in your budget deliberations.
Sincerely,
Sheldon Fishman
Chair
cc: County Executive Isiah Leggett
Letter to the Council's PHED and MFP Committee Regarding the Regional Centers
April 23, 2010
The Honorable Duchy Trachtenberg
Chair, Management and Fiscal Policy Committee
The Honorable Michael Knapp
Chair, Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee
Montgomery County Council Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue 100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, Maryland 20850 Rockville, Maryland 20850
Dear Councilmembers Trachtenberg and Knapp:
I write on behalf of the Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board (MCCAB) in anticipation of your April 30th joint worksession of the Management and Fiscal Policy and the Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee to discuss the Regional Service Centers and the Office of Community Partnerships. We appreciate the fact that both Committees will have the opportunity to review the work of these important County agencies.
We are deeply concerned about the County Executive’s proposal to cut each of the five Regional Centers’ staffs to three staff members, in some cases a cut of 66%. The recommended budget would allow for the positions of Regional Director, Program Manager I, and Senior Executive Administrative Aide.
However, we believe a better use of scarce County resources would be to reallocate central staff and decision making to the Regional Services Centers. We feel the County has reached the point of diminishing economies of size. Further, we believe the residents will be better served by high-level County staff who have immediate contact with decision makers working in our neighborhoods where we can easily reach out to them. The County would save money and improve services by reallocating human and monetary resources from the central offices to the regional offices.
On a personal note, this recommendation is built on a series of MCCAB recommendations over many months. For example, one recommendation made to the County Executive at our CIP priority meeting last summer included recommending a stronger role for the regional centers in coordinating and reviewing capital projects. In addition, the MCCAB has expanded the number of its meetings in various settings throughout the Mid-County region. While this choice has involved more work for staff, we have found a very positive return on investment for improving two-way communication.
In each case, speakers identified long festering problems and the Regional Center staff solved those problems forthwith. Thus, we recommend transferring more decision making from the central offices to the Regional Services Centers and we believe there may be a budget savings realized.
We thank you for the opportunity to share our recommendations with you.
Sincerely,
Sheldon Fishman
Chair
cc: Councilmembers
County Executive Isiah Leggett
The Honorable Duchy Trachtenberg
Chair, Management and Fiscal Policy Committee
The Honorable Michael Knapp
Chair, Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee
Montgomery County Council Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue 100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, Maryland 20850 Rockville, Maryland 20850
Dear Councilmembers Trachtenberg and Knapp:
I write on behalf of the Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board (MCCAB) in anticipation of your April 30th joint worksession of the Management and Fiscal Policy and the Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee to discuss the Regional Service Centers and the Office of Community Partnerships. We appreciate the fact that both Committees will have the opportunity to review the work of these important County agencies.
We are deeply concerned about the County Executive’s proposal to cut each of the five Regional Centers’ staffs to three staff members, in some cases a cut of 66%. The recommended budget would allow for the positions of Regional Director, Program Manager I, and Senior Executive Administrative Aide.
However, we believe a better use of scarce County resources would be to reallocate central staff and decision making to the Regional Services Centers. We feel the County has reached the point of diminishing economies of size. Further, we believe the residents will be better served by high-level County staff who have immediate contact with decision makers working in our neighborhoods where we can easily reach out to them. The County would save money and improve services by reallocating human and monetary resources from the central offices to the regional offices.
On a personal note, this recommendation is built on a series of MCCAB recommendations over many months. For example, one recommendation made to the County Executive at our CIP priority meeting last summer included recommending a stronger role for the regional centers in coordinating and reviewing capital projects. In addition, the MCCAB has expanded the number of its meetings in various settings throughout the Mid-County region. While this choice has involved more work for staff, we have found a very positive return on investment for improving two-way communication.
In each case, speakers identified long festering problems and the Regional Center staff solved those problems forthwith. Thus, we recommend transferring more decision making from the central offices to the Regional Services Centers and we believe there may be a budget savings realized.
We thank you for the opportunity to share our recommendations with you.
Sincerely,
Sheldon Fishman
Chair
cc: Councilmembers
County Executive Isiah Leggett
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