By Adam Pagnucco.
Below are the top ten stories on Montgomery Perspective in December 2023, ranked by page views.
1. Three Years Without White’s Ferry
2. Navarro’s MCPS Pay Revealed
3. Kagan Files Complaint Against Rockville Elections Board
4. What Must Come Next in the Beidleman Investigation
5. Park and Planning Settles Lawsuit by Former Planning Director
6. Elrich Says He is Running for Reelection
7. Glass Raises Possibility of “Retribution” at Permitting Department
8. Was Last Spring’s Property Tax Hike Necessary?
9. Jawando Launches a Federal PAC
10. Council Seeks Executive Director
If you don’t live in western MoCo, you should still care about the loss of White’s Ferry. Check out the Google map of the ferry location below.
The ferry provides a super convenient route between the western side of the county and North Virginia. Without it, folks seeking to cross the river need to use the American Legion Bridge or the Point of Rocks Bridge on US-15. Either option generates dozens of miles of extra travel per car trip and the American Legion Bridge is already notorious for crowding and delays. The negative consequences for emissions and the transportation network are obvious.
Could eminent domain be used to fix this issue? I have little doubt that County Executive Marc Elrich’s administration would use it in a heartbeat if it could. (This is one time that a bit of socialism would be a good thing!) But since part of the land is in Virginia, the solution seems to lie on the other side of the river. What can we try that we have not tried yet?
Until the White’s Ferry anniversary surged ahead, the Navarro story was the month’s leader. This reaction from a reader was typical: “I guess MCPS just had some extra money in the budget that they didn’t need.” Is that what MCPS wants county residents to think – not to mention their own employees?
For the near term, the most meaningful story might be the one illustrating that last year’s property tax hike was not necessary. Over the last two fiscal years, county revenues have come in $455 million over projections. The tax hike was only supposed to raise $105 million. This is a good thing for the county budget, but let’s bear in mind that sometimes revenues come in high and sometimes they come in low. The county needs to be careful with how it uses its unanticipated surplus. And the next time county leaders tell us that a tax hike is necessary, will anyone believe them?
On to January!