Silver Spring Residents Voice Concerns to County Executive Isiah Leggett

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) hosted a community meeting at the Silver Spring Civic Center Thursday evening to listen to the concerns about the upcoming operating budget for Fiscal Year 2013 (FY13).

In front of a crowd of about 100 county residents and officials, Leggett explained how this year's operating budget will have minimal changes.

“We are, right now, in a position that we can have at a minimum of what I call a standstill position. We have a one percent adjustment,” Leggett said.

He added that he remains optimistic about the county’s long-term future.

“What we have to do is get through this short hump that we are going through. To make sure we don’t do anything that’s disastrous, something that will come back to haunt us and something that would make it even worse for us,” Leggett said.

This community forum is one of three that will be hosted in Silver Spring.

Throughout the meeting, Leggett listened to various concerns from community groups. Patch caught up with some of those residents and officials to compile their thoughts about FY13.

1. Michael Womack, a volunteer with , works with The Long Branch Athletic Association. He is interested in having funds allocated to creating a study hall at their center.

“My pitch was more along the lines of a couple key points he [County Executive Isiah Leggett] made about helping the youth and helping the community. What we do with the [Long Branch Community Center] basketball team is promote life-skill studies. We don’t get their minds just focused so much on basketball, but on how to do a budget and understand how to interact with each other,” Womack said.

2. Jessica Fusillo, with . She favored the idea of Leggett supporting community events such as .

“We would definitely need that support. We also want the businesses to be partnering with us so that we can help the county during these economic crisis times,“ Fussillo said.

3.  Alan Bowser is the president of the Silver Spring Town Center and coordinates events in downtown every year, including the Silver Spring Blues Festival and a very successful Veterans Tribute Concert. Bowser is in favor of changes to the .

“We would like to see the Building stay open longer in the evenings—it currently closes as 6 pm.  Expanding the hours of operation would allow more community groups to use their public space. And, presently, many members of the community who work during the day cannot take advantage of this beautiful facility in the evenings without paying special fees to Montgomery County."

"Similarly, we believe that the facility should be more accessible to the community on weekends.  Community groups and people who work should be able to take advantage of this public building—its gallery, atrium and meeting rooms—on Saturdays and Sundays, without paying special fees. We also believe that there should be access to the restrooms for visitors to the Plaza on weekends,” Bowser wrote in a statement.

4. Council Member Marc Elrich (D-At large) who attended Thursday’s forum said he agreed with the standstill budget and that it is better than cuts. Restoring some of the previous cuts would be even better.

“I really like it. I think he’s in the right direction and we’re hoping there aren’t any cuts either and we’re hoping we can undo some of the damage we did the past. I was really happy with his presentation,” Elrich said.

5.  David Dise is the director of Montgomery County’s General Service.

"As everyone knows we have made some fairly dramatic cuts in our operating budget costs. Our custodial budget, for example, has been cut 60 percent over the last three years. A number of residents who use the libraries, the recreation centers and new public facilities have been aware of that. The executive is very sensitive to that and he’s asked us to look for ways in which we can incrementally restore that," Dise said.

OPERATIONAL BUDGET FORUMS REMAINING: