Last week WDC members toured the 95,000-acre Agricultural Reserve in upper Montgomery County. Guided by Caroline Taylor, Executive Director of the Montgomery Countryside Alliance, the group explored five stops across the Ag Reserve which is a first-in-the-nation visionary plan that set aside a large swath of the up-county decades ago.
The goals of this sweeping zoning change were -and remain- several:
Manage and restrict sprawl, with its prohibitively expensive implications for government services: extending sewer and water, road networks, libraries, fire & rescue, schools and other public amenities.
Preserve the economic viability of both commercial and smaller-scale farming and agricultural activity. The Reserve also includes national, state and local parkland.
Retain dwindling open space through a coherent large-scale plan for environmental and recreational purposes in proximity to a major and increasingly urban region. The plan protects our drinking water supply and air quality, and offers access to hiking, biking, birding, hunting, camping and more.
Read moreThe death of long-time Speaker of the House of Delegates, Mike Busch eclipsed the usual Sine Die* celebrations of bills passed and regrets about good bills for which “time ran out.” WDC joins Marylanders across the state, regardless of party affiliation, in mourning his passing.
In the next few weeks, we will have many opportunities to learn about the 2019 legislative session. Membership and Outreach co-chairs Enid Light and Andrea Grossman arranged for several legislators to provide highlights at last week’s WDC Happy Hour: Senator Susan Lee, and Delegates Al Carr, Lorig Charkoudian, Sara Love, Lesley Lopez, Emily Shetty, and Jared Solomon. Mark your calendar April 27, for a more in-depth analysis of what bills did – and did not – advance this past session at the Democratic Clubs of Color Legislative Wrap-Up, co-sponsored by WDC.
Read moreChalk up another first for WDC’s energetic PACE Committee, co-chaired by Barbara Noveau and Nancy Walker. PACE worked with both RCV Montgomery and DoTheMostGood MoCo to show 70 Leisure World (LW) Democratic Club activists what Ranked Choice Voting is all about. LW organizer Sandy Zimmett and Club Chair Roger Blacklow spearheaded LW’s participation.
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