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ROCKVILLE | ASPEN HILL | WHEATON
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
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Montgomery residents face food stamp cuts Federal stimulus program ended Friday n
BY
SYLVIA CARIGNAN STAFF WRITER
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Above, Rockville mayoral candidate Bridget Donnell Newton gets a visit from Rockville City Council member John Hall Jr. while waiting for results. Below, Rockville City Council candidate Julie Palakovich Carr talks with mayoral candidate Mark Pierzchala at Giuseppi’s Pizza in Rockville Town Center.
Newton takes Rockville mayor’s office n
Team Rockville to fill all four council seats
BY
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
Councilwoman Bridget Donnell Newton is set to be Rockville’s next mayor, the city has announced. Newton defeated Councilman Mark Pierzchala with 53 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results from the city. Pierzchala was running on a slate billed as Team Rockville. All four of the slate members seeking council seats were elected: Beryl L. Feinberg, Councilman Tom Moore, Virginia Onley and Julie Palakovich Carr. At a party with supporters Tuesday night, Newton emphasized her desire to work with the newly elected council members,
despite campaigning against the slate for the past several months. “This is an opportunity to show that we can work with ev-
eryone, that we can make this a great city,” she said. “And I will go back to my mantra from the beginning (of the campaign),
that together we can do great things.” Pierzchala told The Gazette on Tuesday night that despite missing out on the mayor’s seat, he was happy that the other members of his slate got in. “It was always going to be a tight race,” he said. “Nobody could call it ahead of time.” The top vote-getter in the council race was Palakovich Carr, who received more than 18 percent of the vote. She was followed by Onley, Moore and Feinberg. Donald H. Hadley and Claire Marcuccio Whitaker fell short of the votes needed to secure seats on the council. According to a city news release, 6,685 ballots were cast in this year’s election, which is 16.6 percent of the 40,226 registered
See MAYOR, Page A-12
Proposed bill would require health insurance for county contractors n
Plan would apply to new contracts and renewals in Montgomery BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
After talking with workers during recent strikes at two garbagecollection companies, Montgomery County Council President Nancy Navarro is preparing a bill requiring
many county contractors to provide affordable health insurance to their employees. Navarro (D-Dist. 4) of Silver Spring sent a memorandum to other council members on Oct. 30 asking them to consider signing on as cosponsors. The bill would amend the county’s living wage law that requires companies that have contracts with the county to pay at least $13.95 an hour.
See INSURANCE, Page A-12
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Striking Potomac Disposal workers on the picket line last month in front of the company headquarters in Gaithersburg. The strike has been settled.
NEWS
SPORTS
County police look to expand school resource officers; County Council concerned about cost.
Saturday’s state crosscountry meet focuses on runners, not hills.
MIXED FEELINGS ON SRO PROGRAM A-4
THIS YEAR, IT’S ABOUT THE RUNNERS B-1
Around the County Automotive Business Calendar Classified Entertainment Opinion School News Sports Please
A-4 B-15 A-13 A-2 B-11 B-5 A-16 A-14 B-1
As federal stimulus money dries up, thousands of hungry Montgomery County residents are scrambling to make ends meet. An expansion of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program meant to cover individuals and families during the recession expired Friday. In 2009, President Barack Obama’s stimulus package included a temporary increase in funding for food stamps. All households that receive federal food stamps will now see about a 5 percent cut this month. The maximum amount of SNAP funding an individual could receive per month was $200. But as of Nov. 1, that maximum is $189. For a
Deeper cuts possible for food stamp benefits n Page A-7
household of two people, the maximum funding level, $367, fell by $20. And for a family of eight, $65 is cut, leaving them with a maximum allowance of $1,137, according to Brian Schleter, spokesman for the state’s Department of Human Resources. Jenna Umbriac, a nutrition educator at Manna Food Center, said the cuts in SNAP funding mean participants will have to make difficult decisions about their food budget. Since protein is often the most expensive food item on a shopping list, meats like chicken and beef are going to be the first items a cashstrapped resident will cut out of their diet.
See FOOD STAMPS, Page A-12
Duball plans for more Town Center apartments Developer asking to add units, decrease their size n
BY
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
Duball LLC is seeking to add nearly 200 more apartments to a building planned for Rockville Town Center. The development company is planning two buildings at 198 E. Montgomery Ave. in front of the Regal Rockville Town Center 13 theater in downtown Rockville. Construction started on the first building, which includes 263 apartments and a Cambria Suites hotel, last November. According to an application submitted to the city of Rockville, Duball now wants to increase the number of apartments planned for the second building from 222 to 400. The increase in apartments would not make the building any larger, however, because the apartments would be smaller. According to the application, the approved plans include “overly large units,” and current market demand is for smaller apartments. The change would bring the total number of apart-
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Photographed behind the fountain at the Red Brick Courthouse, construction cranes rise from the site at Rockville Town Center.
ments in Duball’s Town Center development to 663 units. The development also includes a 140-room hotel and about 45,000 square feet of retail space. A Planning Commission briefing is scheduled for Nov. 13, and a mayor and council briefing is scheduled for Dec. 9. If the new plans are approved, construction would start by May 2019, the application says. ewaibel@gazette.net
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