Category Archives: Montgomery County

Unclear On The Concept

Jonathan Shurberg   January 19, 2016   No Comments on Unclear On The Concept

Shorter Adam Pagnucco to Kathleen Matthews: here’s all the reasons why your campaign for Congress sucks. You know what would really help? Support meeeee! That’s some quality persuasion right there. Dale Carnegie would be proud. But even apart from the “insult her, then suggest she support you” problem, the advice is terrible. Already subject to criticism, as I’ve pointed out, for being a… Read more »

Purple Line Announcement Fakeout

Jonathan Shurberg   January 15, 2016   No Comments on Purple Line Announcement Fakeout

Turns out the January 15 (i.e., today) deadline was not really a deadline. Bethesda Magazine: Maryland Transit Administration officials are still evaluating proposals from four teams that are bidding to build the estimated $2.2 billion, 16-mile light rail line. The MTA, in putting out a request for bids, had set Friday as the date it would notify a team it… Read more »

Sebastian Johnson Running For Board Of Education

Jonathan Shurberg   January 11, 2016   No Comments on Sebastian Johnson Running For Board Of Education

Sebastian Johnson, formerly the student member of the Montgomery County Board of Education, is running for an at-large seat on the Board in 2016, a seat currently held by Phil Kauffman, who is running for reelection. A more detailed bio of Johnson can be found on his website.

A Position I Didn’t Know I Held In An Organization I Didn’t Know Existed

Jonathan Shurberg   January 5, 2016   No Comments on A Position I Didn’t Know I Held In An Organization I Didn’t Know Existed

In response to my after midnight post about Adam Pagnucco’s letter to County Attorney Marc Hansen, Barry O’Connell was sufficiently outraged that he wrote the following Facebook post.    Pure comedy gold. “Explaining how to read a legal case” = “scathing blog based hatchet job.” I had no idea. And would it have been a better or worse “hatchet job” if it… Read more »

Don’t Try This At Home

Jonathan Shurberg   January 5, 2016   6 Comments on Don’t Try This At Home

I’ve been a lawyer for almost (gulp) 25 years now. One of my pet peeves when I was in private practice was when clients would offer their own legal advice or even better - this actually happened - advice from their bartender. Which opened up a whole host of other issues, but that’s a different story. Law is the only… Read more »

Outsourcing The Liquor Argument

Jonathan Shurberg   January 4, 2016   1 Comment on Outsourcing The Liquor Argument

Councilmember Roger Berliner, the lone member of the Montgomery County Council supporting privatization of the county’s liquor monopoly, has a Facebook post up about some of the problems that the Department of Liquor Control had over the holiday season. There’s a number of comments, but this one is particularly instructive. Until some of the many good questions raised by the commenter are answered,… Read more »

George Leventhal Responds To Franchot Report 

Jonathan Shurberg   December 24, 2015   No Comments on George Leventhal Responds To Franchot Report 

From Facebook: I like and respect my old friend Comptroller Peter Franchot but I wish he would exercise more due diligence and help Montgomery County government figure out means to mitigate the damage that would be done to our operating and capital budgets by giving away a profitable asset (liquor sales) to private interests and getting nothing in return. It seems… Read more »

The Inigo Montoya Alcohol Report

Jonathan Shurberg   December 23, 2015   No Comments on The Inigo Montoya Alcohol Report

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” The word in this case being not “inconceivable,” but “revenue.” Yesterday, Comptroller Peter Franchot held an event to tout his new “report” about all the “revenue” that will be gained by doing away with Montgomery County’s alcohol monopoly. I kept hearing Inigo Montoya’s voice over… Read more »

A New Baltimore Agenda?

Jonathan Shurberg   December 22, 2015   No Comments on A New Baltimore Agenda?

The Sun today has the word on plans by House Speaker Mike Busch and others for extensive new spending for Baltimore City. Leading Democrats in the House of Delegates plan to push at least a dozen legislative proposals aimed at addressing persistent problems highlighted by Baltimore’s unrest last spring. The sprawling package of bills would invest millions more to demolish vacant buildings,… Read more »

New Board Of Education Candidate?

Jonathan Shurberg   December 19, 2015   No Comments on New Board Of Education Candidate?

Reliable sources indicate that a new candidate is considering a run for the MoCo Board of Education, most likely in District 2 but potentially in the at-large race. Oscar Alvarenga is the president of the Summit Hall Elementary School PTA, and he was recently voted the PTA President of the Year by the Montgomery County Council of PTAs. Here’s a… Read more »