Ward 2 Report
Greetings.
Hope all of you are surviving the winter and this winter’s flu! I had to deal with the flu and bronchitis for
the entire month of January, and still have a lingering cough. Lots of things are going on in our City, and
The following is a report on some of the activities
and/or items of interest that I thought were important and/or vital to
1. The
annual audit for 2004 audit which is already two or three months behind will
hopefully get started this week. Our
financial director, Mr. Manjani has been under the weather, but has done a lot
of preparation to make this audit move more quickly by having his paperwork in
order. He has brought sense to our
financial department, and we are expecting another great audit while continuing
to maintain control over this year’s financial activities.
2. An
Election Manual has been developed and passed by the Mayor and Council. I believe that this is critical document that
will help with City elections. In the
past, there have been questions and concerns raised by residents, candidates, and
by the City’s Board of Elections that were not answered in any of the City’s
documents. The new election manual which
will be available to City’s Board of Election, candidates and residents is in
its final stages of being printed. As
with all written documents, the Elections Manual is a work in progress. It should also be noted that there are some
areas of conflict in the Elections Manual that must be corrected in our City
Charter. (NOTE: I am working on some of the changes that must
be made for our City to be in compliance with State and County election
processes, e.g., the County permits voting in upcoming elections if the person
is registered 21 days before the election.
Our Charter provides for residents to participate in our election if
they are registered 30 days before an election.
However, all of our voter registration is done through the County, and
follows County rules making it difficult for us to enforcement our Charter
requirement.)
3. Our
Public Works Department employees have petitioned the City to become
unionized. This process will be on the
Mayor and Council’s plate for the next few months as they begin the process of
becoming a union. It should be noted
that Public Works employees were previously unionized. We will keep you posted on this item as we
receive more details, and the process is further along.
4. The
City has been notified that their Community Legacy Grant has been approved, but
not told the amount or when the funds will be made available to the City. It should be noted that Governor Ehrlich
and
Lt. Governor Michael Steele have been traveling the State and personally making
the presentation of the grant. As soon
as we are notified of their attendance in our City, we will alert you so that
we can have our residents participate in this great occasion. I can’t remember the last time the governor
of our State came to visit us bearing gifts.
So, stay alert, you won’t want to miss this one.
5. The
NEXT MEETING:
March
6. The
Mayor and Council is in the process of appointing a Personnel Board. Neighbors and residents along with persons
from neighboring cities have agreed to serve on this very important Board. It is anticipated that the final actions on
these appointment will occur in the next few weeks. Persons being considered for the Board are
Karen Hampton, City Council College Park; Mayor George Denny, Brentwood; Ivy
Thompson, Mount Rainier’s Tree Commission; Grover Gardener, Mount Rainier Resident;
Mayor Paula Noble, District Heights; Joan Ring-Cook, Mount Rainier;
7. March
19 from
8. Traffic
Light on
9.
10. The Marking
of
11. Bass
Liquors’ Update – A public hearing was held
12. The City has authorized the payment of the registration fee to
participate in the America In Bloom contest.
The Mayor and Council is encouraging all of resident to actively
participate in this project. With our
resources in the Community Tool Shed, Jack Engel’s past year experience,
coordinated activities with the M-NCPPC, and our almost completed Artspace
building, we are well on the way to getting this year’s project off the
ground. The registration deadline for
this year’s entrance is
13. New Car Theft Task Force –
14. Are you contributing to car theft in
15. Opt-out
aggregation also called Community Choice is an issue coming before our State
legislators and the City of
PGCMA is supporting the community choice legislation and
is asking each municipality to sign a letter in support of this
legislation. I will be bringing this
before the Mayor and Council at our next work session. Please let me hear from you on this
initiative. For more information on
Community Choice go to http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/electricity/deregulation/articles.cfm?ID=4174 and/or search the web for information on
Community Choice or opt-out aggregation.
One report supported by Maryland Municipal League (MML) is called the
Ohio Council Report (you can go to http://www.local.org/pucomay3.html to get
this one). I believe that the City
should support this piece of legislation, and should so legislate in the City
so that we can have some say over our energy cost!
16. The Seniors Emergency Preparedness Commission got a new name
during the past month. The Mayor and
Council, at the request of the Commission’s Chairperson, Regina Wardwell was
changed to the Emergency Preparedness Commission so that it would not be
limited to serving seniors. In addition
new members were appointed to the Commission.
The Commission has been working hard at work developing processes and
procedures to help make our lives better in case of a disaster. They are in the process of identifying
churches to serve as emergency shelters, and setting up a command station to
coordinate services and activities. In
addition, they are urging citizens to sign up and take CERT classes so that
they will be prepared to join the emergency team in case of a disaster. Training is free and there is a mandatory 20
hours of training that must be completed.
For more information contact
17.
18. It is tax season. Don’t
forget to file your income taxes. If you
can’t file right away, remember to ask for an extension. You can get an extension up until August
without any penalty.
19. “IF I WERE MAYOR….” CONTEST Last year, the City’s two schools
contributed more than 150 essays in this contest. It was the best showing we had in our
District. This year, we would like to
improve on the number of participants and the quality of the essays
submitted. In other words, we want one
of the winners to be from
20. Citizens needed for committees – The City still needs your help
in filling vacancies on its committees.
To be appointed to one of the following committees, all you need do is
call City Hall and let staff know the committee you would like to serve
on. Below are a few of the City’s
committees and/or commissions that need you!
1 Cable Commission (appointed by Mayor and Council)
2 Tree Commission (appointed by Mayor and Council)
3 Community Tool Shed Committee (appointed by Mayor and
Council)
4 Senior Emergency Preparedness Commission (appointed by Mayor
and Council)
5 Mount Rainier Day Committee volunteer group
6 Parenting Committee – volunteer group*
7 Personnel Review Board – (appointed by Mayor and Council)
8
9 Design Review Committee
10
11
These committees and
commissions only meet once or twice a month or less. The time and service that you give to them
would be invaluable, and would reduce the amount of time required by some of
your very busy neighbors. I know we are
all very busy, but this is our City, and it takes each of us, doing just a
little to make it an even better place to live.
Some of them may already have sufficient members, but it is not too
early to become familiar with their functions or serve as an alternate or even
get appointed. The City NEEDS YOU. To sign up for a committee or commission,
please call 301-985-6585.
Announcements:
*Economic Development
PEPCO urges all Prince George's
County residents who need assistance with paying their gas, electric or heating
fuel bills to attend the Energy Assistance Expo on February 22, 2005 at the
Langley Park Community Center, 1500 Merrimac Drive, Langley Park, Maryland. PEPCO is one of several exhibitors at the
Expo, which will also include other area utilities as well as state and county
agencies that offer assistance programs to county residents. Also, information will be available on how to
save money through low-cost and no-cost energy efficiency measures. County residents interested in obtaining
assistance do not need a turn-off notice to apply for benefits. However,
applicants must meet the income limits in the chart below. Energy Assistance Income Eligibility
Guidelines - Program Year 2005 (
Household Maximum Monthly Gross
Size Income Standards
1 $1,164
2 $1,561
3 $1,959
4 $2,356
5 $2,754
6 $3,151
Each additional person - $398
Eligible applicants must bring to
the Expo originals or copies of: proof of identity (photo ID); proof of
residency (lease, rent receipt or mortgage invoice); Social Security numbers
for all household members; proof of total gross income for the past 30 days for
all household members 18 and over (including pay stubs, award letters from TCA,
SSI, Unemployment, Pension, etc.); and electric/gas utility bills or heating
fuel receipts. The Expo is co-sponsored
by PEPCO and other area utilities along with the
*The Jim Henson School of Arts,
Media, and Communication, at
*Future PGCMA Meeting: The next PGCMA meeting will be held
* BABYSITTING CO-OP – Melissa Barringer is still moving
forward with the Babysitting Co-op. If
you need a time out from parenting and want to share this responsibility from
time-to-time, PLEASE give Melissa a call at 301-699-5395. The next meeting will be held February 27th
at Dana's house,
*The Department of
Environmental Resources recently underwent a re-organization resulting in name changes for
several divisions as follows: COMMUNITY
SERVICES DIVISION formerly Community Standards Division - manages housing and
commercial code enforcement, vehicle audit unit 301-883-6100; ENVIRONMENTAL
SERVICES DIVISION formerly Programs and Planning Division - manages
environmental and regulatory activities and programs 301-883-5934; LICENSES
& INSPECTIONS DIVISION formerly a part of the Community Standards Division
manages building & inspections and business licenses - 301-883-6033.
*Each year, Prince George's County Delegates and
Senators organize "Annapolis Nights" or District Receptions.
These events are great opportunities to talk with your Delegates and Senators
about restoring the elected school board in
*Mark your calendar now and plan to attend the 47th Legislative
District’s Reception March 28,
District 21: March 7,
District 22: A District Reception is not planned for 2005.
District 23: January 24,
Floor (check time)
District 24: February 28,
time)
District 25: February 7,
District 26: March 7, Time to
be announced;
House and Government Hearing Room.
District 27: February 14,
FOR BUSINESSES: NEW RULES FOR 2005 PERSONAL PROPERTY
EXTENSIONS http://www.dat.state.md.us/sdatweb/2005ex
New legislation, SB 508 passed by the 2004 General
Assembly, changed the rules for requesting a two month extension for the filing
of 2005 personal property returns. An extension allows a business to file
a personal property return on or before June 15th without incurring
a late filing penalty. The two options for requesting an extension are
via the Internet or by paper document.
1) Internet extension requests via the Department’s
website are available from February 1st through April 15th
of each year and are free of charge. This option offers
accurate Department ID# look-up, verification of previously submitted
extensions, printed confirmation lists and confirmation numbers, and recall
lists by last year’s confirmation number. Please visit our website at www.dat.state.md.us and click on “File a Personal
Property Extension online” underneath “What’s New?” any time on or after
2) Extension requests submitted via paper
documents must be postmarked or received by SDAT on or before March 15th
of each year and require a $20 non-refundable processing fee
for each entity. If using this method, businesses should use the
Department’s revised extension request Form AT3-71 to help ensure that complete
and accurate information is submitted. It will be available in January
2005 in the personal property return booklet, on our website and through our
forms request phone line (410-767-1180). Businesses and preparers must
retain copies of all request forms and cancelled checks used to pay for paper
extensions in the event of a discrepancy between the entity’s and the
Department’s records.
3) Extension requests via fax
or telephone are no longer available. See the
comparison chart below for the advantages of Internet extensions.
|
Comparison Chart - Internet vs. Paper
Extension Requests |
||
|
|
Internet |
Paper |
|
Submission Deadline |
April
15th |
March
15th |
|
Cost Per Entity |
Free |
$20 |
|
Printed Confirmation Numbers and Lists Available |
yes |
no |
|
Recall & Editing of Last Year’s Confirmation
Number and List |
yes |
no |
|
Verification of a Previously Submitted Current
Year Internet Request |
yes |
no |
|
Department ID# Lookup |
yes |
no |
|
Immediate Approval |
yes |
no |
|
Inactive Status Indicated (e.g., forfeited,
merged, dissolved, etc.) |
yes |
no |
Department of Assessments & Taxation
Business Personal Property Division
301 West Preston Street, Room 801
Baltimore, Maryland 21201-2395
410-767-1170 Legal Entities
410-767-4991 Sole Proprietorships & General Partnerships
1-888-246-5941 Toll Free in Maryland
website: www.dat.state.md.us
email: persprop@dat.state.md.us
*
The following web site might be
of interest to you.
Historic Mount Rainier Maryland
--- http://www.mountrainiermd.org
Mount Rainier Police Department
-- http://www.mountrainiermd.org/government/mrpd/index.html
Bunker Hill Volunteer Fire and
Rescue Company --- http://www.mrvfd.org
Friends
of the