gaithersblog.net

As a result of the Labor Day Holiday, the next meeting of the Gaithersburg Mayor and Council will be on Tuesday, September 5 — if you routinely TiVo the meetings you may have to adjust the programming. No agenda has been posted as of late Thursday, which often is an indication that it will include something controversial — I’ve seen it get posted as late as 3:00 on Friday when they had a whopper that could draw a crowd. The agenda for the August 21 meeting (the agendas often give advance notice of topics for later meetings) mentions only proclamations of “Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month” and “Prostate Cancer Awareness Month”.

It seems that Montgomery County might be getting a venue for national musical acts for the first time since the closure of the Shady Grove Music Fair. Now if we could only have decent public transportation between Gaithersburg and Silver Spring that ran both ways in the evening.

(revised)

According to The Sentinel,

State board of election officials say they are “looking into” recent reports that developer Aris Mardirossian may have run afoul of campaign contribution laws by giving more than $10,000 over the state limit during the current election cycle - but stopped short of calling it an investigation.

I’ve looked for campaign finance data for Gaithersburg City elections, but haven’t found a direct source. I did find a Gazette story that indicates that Mardirossian gave $500 to Henry Marraffa’s City Council bid in 2005, which I believe may have been the maximum for that campaign. Marraffa is a reliable supporter of development in the City, who is now running for County Council as a Republican in District 3, most likely against the man who may be his polar opposite, developer-phobic Phil Andrews. Personally I don’t think this is much of a choice; I have real concerns about both of them. It isn’t clear that Andrews pays much attention at all to Gaithersburg (Andrews was completely absent when Mike Knapp was trying to get a day labor center placed in Olde Towne Gaithersburg, conveniently outside his upcounty district) and may be too much of an outsider to be effective, while I expect that Marraffa would be happy if every last square inch of the county was developed. Well, perhaps that’s overstating it but from what I’ve seen on the City Council, Marraffa isn’t much into burdening developers. However, I do think that he does care deeply about Gaithersburg, and in that regard he’s probably a better choice. He’s also likely to provide some conservative balance to a County Council that is heavily skewed to to the left. In the end I’ll probably vote for him, as the anti-Andrews if nothing else.

Anyway, if anyone knows a good source for finance data for Gaithersburg City races, please let me know in the comments, or drop me an email.

It’s almost time for the annual Labor Day Parade. Given that it is a major election year for County, State and US offices — pretty much everything but President — with many of the races wide open, it should be a long parade. If you’ve never come for the parade before, expect it to be pretty lively, especially near the intersection of Diamond and Summit Avenues, where they set up the reviewing stand and you can expect all the bands and dancers to perform. If you want to keep track of your kids, or just want a quieter experience, come reasonably early and sit somewhere along Russell Avenue, preferably somewhere near Asbury Methodist Village; there’s lots of open grass where you can spread out blankets and lawn chairs, although the bands do start to get kind of tired by that point and it’s hit or miss as to whether they’re going to play in front of you. If you want to be down near Diamond & Summit, park in the city parking garage off Summit & Olde Towne Aves. If you’re headed for Russell, park in the neighborhoods along there (Brookes, Walker, Maryland, Montgomery) or at the Mall.

Update: Here’s an article in the Gazette about the parade.