We’re skipping the drinking game this week. Why? Well, it’s for your own good. There are some issues to be discussed this evening that are just so aggravating that we fear that the temptation to over imbibe may be too strong. Like alcohol poisoning strong. So, grab your agenda, tune into the highly rated FCGTV channel, and try not to break everything in your house.
First, on the agenda, is a road needs study for the New Market/Monrovia area. Read through this study and you’ll see why it is needed. Just try not to choke over the final price tag. Hopefully Steve Horn can make it out without Billy flinging an insult at him.
Now comes the part that may make you want to pack it in and move on. Janice Speigel will be in attendance to go over the School Capacity Needs Analysis report. Folks, it’s bad…real, real bad. With over 21,000 residential units in the pipeline we are in real trouble when it comes to our schools and overcrowding. It’s going to be really expensive, especially since the last BOCC allowed these developers to sign DRRA’s that made it so they didn’t have to pay up. Of course we expect Kirby to pipe up with his super discounted many-times-over-debunked leaseback idea, which would only spell more disaster for our fine county. Here’s a taste of what you can expect to hear about this evening:
And don’t forget that two people responsible for this mess want to run for County Executive and Maryland State Senate. Can you imagine?!
Lastly, we have dueling Senior Tax Credit bills from Jerry and Kirby. Quick poll! Before you even look at them, predict whose bill is more complete and helpful to our struggling seniors!
frederick local yokel 
One of the comments I’ve heard is that’s it’s likely that all 21,000 won’t be built – unless the DRAA holders think they’ll sell, in which case they will be built.
But from the view of public infrastructure, school capacity and – often left out – operational capacity – we have to plan for all possible 21,000+ units.
And keep in mind the context that the State of Maryland released a 2015 analysis showing we are currently underinvesting in education just to maintain the “steady state”.
And that the Young Board used TIFs that will tie up incremental tax increases that new residents will bring in, and that those tax increases usually don’t make up for the increased need for public services.
It’s an argument I’ve had several times with Kirby: you can’t have it both ways. You can’t increase public demand that results from residential development, tie-up incremental tax revenues, and not raise revenues. It’s a fantasy world that’s exposed by straight forward math.
LikeLike
Kirby has a lot of trouble with math we’ve noticed.
LikeLike
OMG – you nailed it with the comment about Kirby not being able to grasp math. Holy HELL it was nauseating to watch Delauter drone on (and on, and on) during the school capacity needs analysis. He basically rattled off a bunch of figures and numbers with no real concept of what they meant in a feeble attempt to poke holes in the analysis.
Janice Spiegel and Ray Barnes both said a couple times they had no idea (paraphrasing) WTF Delauter is getting at. Speigel explained a few times to Delauter and Shreve the formula behind FCPS’s pupil yield, but I think she realized she was talking to a brick wall. By the way, the council received the analysis study in July! Ray Barnes was able to draw upon his expertise to substantiate the analysis and show that all Shrelauter did during the Blaine Young era was follow in lock-step with Young and not bother to actually understand anything.
LikeLike
Too much dirt between the ears
LikeLike