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The City has posted the outcomes document from the November 6, 2006 meeting of the Mayor and Council. In this document was the text of the City Manager’s statement regarding the Day Laborer situation:

“We are all aware that the proposed lease for an employment center site at the Festival at Muddy Branch Shopping Center fell through. We appreciate the efforts made by all of the parties but, in the end, the center’s owners and Montgomery County simply could not agree to terms that would have adequately addressed the concerns of the tenants at the shopping center.

City staff and I met with County representatives last week to provide and update and try to determine next steps. The discussion touched upon a wide range of issues but focused on the ongoing site selection process. To that end, the County has requested a formal communication of our intent going forward.

After consultation with the Mayor and Council tonight I intend to prepare a letter to the County that makes three specific points -

1. After an exhaustive search, it does not appear that a site that both meets the spirit of the Task Force criteria and that is acceptable to a property owner will be found within the City. We therefore believe the County must begin immediately to search for alternative locations for an employment center
2. We strongly recommend that the site be in a heavy commercial or industrial area, already frequented by contractors, and where residential neighborhood disruptions are minimized. Areas such as Oakmont Avenue or the Airpark may be able to serve as more regional locations that could serve workers from Rockville and the up-County as well
3. We reiterate the City’s position that the gathering of workers at 17 North Frederick Avenue must come to an end as quickly as possible, and we are exploring the legal and/or zoning actions available to us to achieve that goal.

If the goal is still to find a location for an employment center that will serve day laborers in the Gaithersburg area, the County will need to be flexible in its approach. For example, in facilitating use of a site in an industrial area, the newly-formed pastoral coalition can work with County staff on logistical matters such as transportation. We encourage these parties to work together.

I mentioned legal actions a moment ago. One of those actions would be an anti-solicitation ordinance. Tonight I am recommending that the Mayor and Council introduce what staff believes is an enforceable ordinance that will make “unofficial” gatherings spots such as 17 North Frederick Avenue unusable. We will be discussing it in detail later in the meeting and have tentatively scheduled the public hearing for Monday, November 20th.

Additionally, the pastoral coalition has proposed a temporary site employment center site across from St Martin’s church. We do not feel that this is an appropriate location, however. It does not meet the Task Force criteria and simply shifts the problem into a different area. It is very likely that such a site will have an impact on the surrounding residential areas, and both Gaithersburg High School and St Martin’s parochial school. Certainly, the coalition can choose to go through the planning and zoning process to determine if they can get approval to use this location but I think the conclusion will be the same; that this is not a site that is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood.”

Next Monday, November 13, 2006, the Mayor and Council will hold a work session on regulations implementing the Affordable Housing Ordinance which they just passed last night. The draft regulations — 37 pages of detail — have now been posted for review.

Readers may or may not be familiar with the Richard Thompson’s comic strip, Richard’s Poor Almanac, which has run weekly in the Washington Post for the past several years. Today, Mr. Thompson takes on electronic voting.

Mr. Thompson is one of my all-time favorite cartoonists, and I’d encourage readers to buy a copy of his book. Sadly, his other weekly masterpiece, the strip “cul-de-sac”, which runs in the Washington Post Magazine, does not appear to be available online, although it is discussed a bit in this online chat.

While I would be astonished to learn that anyone found out from me that today is Election Day, I still want to encourage all my readers to go out and vote. It’s important, really.

Update: Avi Rubin has some Advice to Voters on November 7.

For what it’s worth, my experience voting today was pretty much trouble-free, assuming that the Diebold equipment actually recorded my vote as I cast it.

Some outcomes of last night’s meeting:

• In the City Manager’s Day Laborer Report, Mr. Humpton told the Council that staff now believes that there is no viable location within the City for a day laborer center. He was preparing to suggest to the County that they (the County) were going to need to be more flexible in finding a location for this facility, and suggested that places such as Oakmont Avenue and the Airpark might stand a better chance. He also stated that the day laborer activity at 17 N Frederick needed to be shut down. Council offered strong support for these positions.
• The Crown Farm presentation went on just short of forever. Council and the Planning Commission kept their records open “indefinitely”.
• The anti-solicitation ordinance was introduced, with strong support from the Council. There was a bit of concern over possible unintended consequences.
• Alternative 2 (Olde Towne treated differently) of the affordable housing ordinance (T-379) was adopted by the Council.
• The 120-day deferral is dead. Were there to have been a motion to adopt it, it would have failed two (Alster & Edens) to three (Marraffa, Schlichting and Sesma).
• The bond bill is legislation that allows the State to borrow money for the City.
• The Council expressed willingness to consider providing financial incentives for the Bozzuto project, although concern was expressed about the possibility of this setting a precedent.

Several members of the public, as well as the Council members and the City Manager, expressed concern over recent gang activity. City staff has set up an internal task force to try to expand and improve the City’s response to the gangs, and they are attempting to get MCPS to work more closely with them on this issue.

Chuck Floyd showed up and took his three minutes at the podium to speak about illegal immigrants and crime. Largely it was a campaign speech, although he did do a reasonable job of sticking to matters relevant to the City Council.

Update: Nancy Trejos has an article in today’s Washington Post:

Gaithersburg officials abandoned plans last night to find a location for a county-funded day-laborer center in the city.

After more than a year of searching for a site acceptable to residents, the City Council agreed to send a letter to Montgomery County officials asking them to look elsewhere in the county.

[The City Manager] welcomed the county to find such a place in the city limits. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’ve been trying,” he said.

The City Council also agreed to consider later this month an ordinance that would strengthen its ability to ban loitering in an effort to keep the day laborers from continuing to congregate at the parking lot on North Frederick Avenue.

In addition, the council unanimously voted to require developers to set aside affordable housing for moderate-income and working-class families, despite objections from residents who said it could hinder economic development in some areas.

Actually, as far as I know, no residents — or even developers — expressed opposition to the ordinance itself. The opposition was toward having it apply in Olde Towne, which, as Ms. Trejos notes, didn’t happen:

The council decided to exempt from the requirements housing in the Olde Towne area, which contains the city’s main commercial district. In lieu of providing affordable housing units, developers would contribute to a housing fund set up by the city.