DRUG TAKE-BACK DAY Ten locations set up around county Saturday. A-4
SPORTS: Avalon baseball player doesn’t change his game despite playing with diabetes. B-1
The Gazette GAITHERSBURG | MONTGOMERY VILLAGE
NEWS: Montgomery County Public Schools names Teacher of the Year. A-4
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
25 cents
Sodexo puts info at Asbury’s fingertips City’s proposed
budget open for public comment
n Touchscreen allows residents to track energy efficiency in Gaithersburg
BY
SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER STAFF WRITER
At Gaithersburg’s Asbury Methodist Village, the continuing care retirement community in Gaithersburg, residents can now see firsthand the extent of the energy consumption on the campus. In order to work towards reducing use and becoming more energy efficient, an interactive touchscreen is being set up by Sodexo, the “quality of life services” company headquartered in Gaithersburg. Asbury owns and operates several continuing care retirement communities around the country, including Asbury Methodist Village. Randy Michael, the senior director of energy management services at Sodexo North America, explained that Sodexo has been providing services to Asbury for many years. He explained that Sodexo has an employee on site at every location that they provide their services to, which range from food services and soft services such as groundskeeping and reception to hard services such as energy efficiency and HVAC system management. Now residents of Asbury can
Budget tightened after overestimates in FY15
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BY
STAFF WRITER
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Kenneth Rogers, a member of the Greenability Team at Asbury Methodist Village in Gaithersburg, uses a touchscreen monitor to check his energy use. use a touchscreen, which will be set up in a permanent kiosk in a common area, to monitor the energy, water and other sustainability on campus. The data provided by the touch screen comes straight from utility bills. According to Michael, in addition to being able to compare Asbury Methodist Village to another As-
bury community, residents can also compare previous months and previous years, inform residents about energy-centered events on the campus and read tips on how to reduce energy use. “Unless you tell people how much they’re using and what the impact is of their actions, they
don’t know what the impact is and they’re a lot less interested,” Michael said. “The touch screen helps you see ‘this month we used this and last month we used this.’ It creates an interest, feedback on the results of their actions and some competition.”
See ENERGY, Page A-10
Board interviews superintendent candidates Search firm presented about 14 possible matches for position n
BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
The Montgomery County Board of Education is interviewing the first round of candidates for the county school district’s superintendent position. The school board was still talking with candidates as of Tuesday, said Hank Gmitro, president of the firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates. He
expected the interviews to continue “for a while” and at least through this week. The same search firm helped Montgomery County Public Schools discover former Superintendents Joshua P. Starr and Jerry D. Weast. Starr resigned from the post in February. The board likely will interview about six or seven candidates, Gmitro said, but could interview more. Gmitro said the search firm presented to the school board about 14 people who it thought might match a leadership profile the firm created. The profile is
based on input from community members, parents, teachers, students, administrators, board members and others. The firm asked participants to share desired attributes in the next superintendent, the district’s strengths, and issues and challenges to address. The profile report said that, among many desired traits, stakeholders want the superintendent to have “the ability to narrow the achievement gap,” “effective communication skills,” and “educational experiences that include classroom teacher, building principal, and
central office administrator.” Both Gmitro and school board President Patricia O’Neill said they could not share information about candidates under consideration because the search is confidential. Asked if the candidates are from both inside and outside the school system, Gmitro said he could not say anything about the candidates. The next step, he said, will be a second round of interviews. That typically involves about three candidates, but the district may have more or fewer, he said.
See CANDIDATES, Page A-10
Laytonsville Parade to march through town Town thrilled to have beloved tradition return
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TERRI HOGAN
BY
STAFF WRITER
After a year’s hiatus, the annual Laytonsville Parade will be held May 16. The parade is sponsored by the town of Laytonsville, the Laytonsville Lions Club, the Laytonsville Woman’s Club, the Laytonsville Historical Center, the Laytonsville Elementary School PTA and the Laytons-
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SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER
ville District Volunteer Fire Department. The community tradition began in the early 1990s to help support the elementary school’s Spring Festival. Last year, due to a logistics problem, the parade wasn’t held, leaving some townspeople disheartened. “Last year we did not have all of the pieces in place to hold the parade,” Mayor Dan Prats said. “It was a great disappointment to all.” Charlie Kearse of the Laytonsville Lions Club vowed
there would be a parade this year, and he is chairing the parade committee, joined by Town Clerk Charlene Dillingham. “These two folks are essential to the whole event and I can’t thank them enough, but I also have to give my heartfelt thanks to all of those volunteers, groups and businesses who are digging deep to bring this event together,” Prats said. Prats said he and town residents are overjoyed to have the parade return. “The parade brings the
whole Laytonsville community together from planning, where all of the area groups are involved, to enjoying an event larger than the town itself with people from all around the area,” he said. “Everyone loves a parade and this year’s will be one for the history books.” This year’s theme is “The Future is Now,” with a nod to the past as former Mayor Willard Oland and former Town Clerk Kathy Buit are slated to join the parade.
A&E
ON THE MONEY Rocker takes to the stage at Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club. B-4
See PARADE, Page A-10
Volume 28, No. 17 Two sections, 28 Pages Copyright © 2015 The Gazette
Please
RECYCLE
Following Monday’s Mayor and City Council Budget Work Session, the public record for the City of Gaithersburg’s fiscal year 2016 budget will be open until May 13 for citizens to voice their concerns and opinions. City Manager Tony Tomasello began and then presented each department Monday evening to the council and residents as they highlighted significant changes as well as changes they believed were important to mention. The proposed budget for FY16 is $67.8 million, which shows a 14.3 percent increase over FY15. The most significant overall changes to the budget come with the addition of the Stormwater Management Capital Improvement Plan and the increase in the Other Post-Employment Benefits Trust in order to account for future retirees and increasing costs. The reappropriation of the
city’s reserves to fund the Capital Improvement Plan also marks a significant change in the budget. The Stormwater Management CIP is proposed at $3.4 million. With new legislation regarding the control of pollution, especially in relation to the Chesapeake Bay, property owners in the city will pay a fee based on the amount of impervious surface on their land. This includes driveways, rooftops and sidewalks. Tamasello explained that the city took this out of the CIP into its own category in order to be as transparent as possible. In a meeting on Friday, Tomasello said he has been getting a variety of emails from residents. Some who do not want to pay, he said, have emailed him wondering, “What does the Chesapeake Bay have to do with Gaithersburg?” Tomasello said it has everything to do with Gaithersburg, because pollution has to start somewhere. Though the city does not have the phase two permits needed to make the changes that must occur in order to reduce pollutants by 20 percent in the next five to
See BUDGET, Page A-10
State of the City hosts past, current mayors Speech highlights challenges, event introduces junior leader n
BY
SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER STAFF WRITER
At Gaithersburg’s State of the City Address on Thursday, Mayor Jud Ashman spoke to the crowd about the future of the city. The evening also recognized citizens and organizations for what they give back to the city each day and introduced new junior mayor. Andrew Volat, 10, is a fourthgrade student at Diamond Elementary School and took over the junior mayor position from last year’s essay winner Emma Leath, who is now a fifth-grade student at St. Martin of Tours School. He said it was a school assignment to write an essay describing the actions he would take if he were mayor to solve a disagreement among residents in his town. Once his essay was chosen, he and a handful of other students were interviewed at City Hall and from there he was chosen for the honor. For the essay, students were
asked to write in 275 words or less about how to make all citizens happy after a playground was chosen to be built on the site that some people wanted to build a skatepark. In Andrew’s essay, he explained that first the citizens should gather in a meeting and talk about what would be best for the town and the playground. “I think it’s the best way to do it because then people can vote on it,” Andrew explained before the State of the City Address began. He said he would get everyone involved in the funding and construction by asking business to donate supplies and schools to raise money. Andrew also decided that it would be best to add a small and safe skating area in the same area of the new playground so that everyone can enjoy the space. “I think it’s the best thing because people couldn’t agree whether they want a playground or a skatepark, so why don’t they have both so it’s fair?” Andrew said. Lauren Volat, Andrew’s mother, explained that he likes
See MAYORS, Page A-10