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Starting With The Socks"Success begins from the ground up. It never bothered me to be chided over my commitment to doing the little thing right. Make sure that you and your team put their 'socks' on in the correct manner." -- John Wooden, On Leadership |
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Thursday, May 29, 2008We've Moved!I've relocated this blog to a new site, michaeljknapp.blogspot.com. If you're using a subscriber to alert you to new posts to this blog, please update them to reflect the new site. Thanks, as always, for reading, and I'll see you over on the other site! Mike Tuesday, April 01, 2008The WhirlwindWell. I've been called out by some bloggers for not being informal enough. It would seem that some in the blogsphere want to really know what's really going on behind the scenes -- so far behind the scenes, in fact, that apparently my breakfast choices are of interest to some. So, here goes...
Typically, my day begins at 6:00 a.m. with about an hour of exercise -- weight-lifting or some type aerobic activity, such as running or the elliptical trainer. Afterwards, I either have breakfast at home (cereal with fruit, juice and a vitamin pill), or at a meeting with constituents or community leaders, usually at the Panera Bread at Falls Grove or the Broadway Diner. I generally arrive at the office between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. to attend a morning meeting, or to make some constituent calls.
If it's Monday or Thursday, there’s usually a committee meeting from 9:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. -- and on Mondays I also have a weekly press briefing at 11:30 a.m., which can last 30 minutes to an hour. During the months when the General Assembly is meeting, the County Council attends a State Legislative update from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. This leaves time for another quick meeting, then it’s back to committee meetings from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. or so. If the committee session doesn't go too long, we'll squeeze in a quick staff meeting. Then it’s one more meeting in the office, then home for a quick dinner before heading out for a community meeting by 7:00 p.m. or so. And it’s still only Monday.
Tuesdays have a rhythm of their own, since it’s the day the Council meets as a full body. Once a month we begin at 8:00 or 8:30 a.m. with a breakfast meeting with the County Executive so we can swap notes about what's going on. The council then goes into session at 9:30 a.m. and the morning session usually concludes at about 12:30 p.m., at which time I meet with the council scheduler to review the schedule for the remainder of the week, as well as next week's agenda. We're then back in session at 1:30 p.m. for public hearings, and we resume full council session from about 2:00 until 4:30 p.m., depending upon what's on the agenda. This leaves a little time for some quick meetings until about 5:30 p.m., when I leave to take my daughter to swim team practice. I have to get back to the council for evening public hearings which begin at 7:30 p.m., and are usually on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Wednesdays have a high degree of variability, since there is usually nothing formally scheduled for the council on this day except during our budget deliberations. This is the day I try to get in some hours for my biotech consulting practice, but I find that often doesn’t happen because there are many other informal council activities that occur. The council staff meets at 9:00 a.m. and I try to attend those meetings at least a few times each month. The Council of Governments (that I chair this year) and the Transportation Planning Board also meet in DC that day. It can also be a good day to go to Annapolis to check in with our delegates and senators about legislation affecting our county. That makes Wednesday one of the craziest days of the week, but I still make every effort to have a quick dinner with my family, attend an evening meeting, and coach my daughter's third grade basketball team.
As for Thursday . . . well, see my description of Monday, just above. It's pretty much the same.
Friday is the catch all day -- it includes cleaning up what didn't get done earlier in the week, and attempting to get in those hours at my other job that I didn't get done on Wednesday. It’s also another good day to visit Annapolis, and there are usually a number of meetings that didn't fit in earlier in the week that I try to get to on Friday afternoons.
As for my weekends . . . well, they’ve actually been fairly quiet so far this year, with only a couple of events each on Saturdays and Sundays. For the most part, these are the best times for me to attend my daughters' swim meets, soccer games, and basketball games. I even get to do a little yard work.
I don't know if this is the type of peek I'm supposed to be providing, but as a novice blogger, I welcome your feedback and hope that at the end of the day this makes a part of your government and community a little more accessible.
Monday, March 17, 2008March MadnessI know: given the name of this blog, of course I would take the opportunity to write about the upcoming basketball tournament, right? Well, that is only part of the reason for today’s theme. There are many forms of madness taking place this March and I just wanted to note a few.
This week begins the public discussion of Montgomery County’s budget as we attempt to determine the appropriate balance of services to be provided with revenues required. It won’t be easy, and yet there are many challenges that exist for many during this month.
The General Assembly in Annapolis is in its final thirty days and the same economic challenges confronting us in the County are clearly in play throughout our State and so the final push is on. The elementary and middle school students in our state are all busily preparing for the Maryland State Assessments. We are all working on filing our taxes in April and hoping that rebate that we might be eligible for in May will be more than what we will owe in April. A number of our region’s student athletes are indeed in the midst of the trademarked March Madness – Coppin State, Mt. St. Mary’s, American University, Georgetown and George Mason on the men’s side of the ledger and we know Coppin State has also qualified for the women’s side and we’ll know the rest later this week. Finally, as the economy continues to struggle, many of us are working hard at just getting by.
The point is that the County Council will be working hard during the next couple of months to formulate the best balanced budget we can for the residents of our County and that will be important and time consuming, but there are many other important issues in each of our lives and we need to keep the right perspective.
Friday, February 29, 2008About BudgetsIn 2003, during my first six months after having just been elected to the County Council, the County was facing a budget shortfall not unlike what we are facing this year. I was still learning about all of the departments, and programs that the County administered for its residents and so it was difficult to get a good handle on the magnitude of the problem. Then County Executive, Doug Duncan, submitted his budget as required in March, and the Council went through all of the budget hearings and committee worksessions. As a new councilmember, I was looking for the "rules" and the "right numbers" (revenue projections and actual expenditures) that would clearly identify the problem as well as some of the potential solutions. Well, things came to a head as the "numbers" continued to show a gap that had to be closed in order for the Council to pass a balanced budget.
The Saturday before the budget needed to be passed, everyone was scrambling and I was attending a friend's wedding and talking on the phone in the vestibule of the church with then Council President, Mike Subin, and the leaders of unions as they discussed a four month delay in their employee's COLAs (cost of living increases). This, in addition to a series of program reductions and tax increases, helped bring everything together and a budget was passed that next week. About a month later, the County received the next income tax distribution from the State, which was higher than anticipated, and it turned out that the "right numbers" weren't that right at all -- and a lot of the issues that we were scrambling to fix in the closing minutes of the budget didn't necessarily need to be as contentious as they were.
I write this because there has been a lot of discussion about the budget difficulties that we will face this year. Make no mistake about it -- this will be a difficult budget year. I wanted to share my reflections from 2003 because it very clearly pointed out to me that there are many variables that need to be taken into account and that a search for the "right numbers" may not be as successful as some would hope. There are no "rules" that exist to be followed except broad guidance in the County Charter, and some policy guidelines that have evolved over time. Addressing this year's budget issues will require everyone (taxpayers, employees, stakeholders, elected officials, and many others) talking to each other and working together to get to a sustainable budget outcome. The quest for perfect information is elusive. The best we will ever be able to achieve is a snapshot in time. If we all recognize that we are working together and sharing whatever information is available to achieve the best possible outcome, then I have no doubt we will be successful on behalf of our residents.
Thursday, February 21, 2008Off to the RacesSorry to everyone for the recent hiatus. As you can probably imagine, the past few weeks have been pretty hectic for the Council, and it’s taken a bit of time to address a number of important issues. As you all surely know by now, Councilmember Marilyn Praisner passed away on February 1st and her Council colleagues (both Councilmembers and staff) have been struggling to deal with this tragic event. My colleagues and I have all made many public statements, and the Council held a tribute with her family and former Councilmembers last week. There’s not much more I can add here that would be new or more fitting, apart to tell you that everyone appreciates the kind words we’re hearing from those who knew or appreciated Marilyn, and everyone is still working to get through a difficult, sad time.
Change is difficult for most people and the Council is certainly no exception—and when you add the spice of politics to the mix, things can become interesting fast. While Councilmembers are coping with the loss of a colleague—and running the gamut of emotions that come with such a loss—there are still a number of administrative things that have to happen—and under county charter, have to happen quickly.
First, we had to figure out how to conduct a special election. That sounds fairly straightforward, and county law lays out some timelines on when such elections are permitted to occur. The problem is, we don’t usually have special elections, and things become even more difficult when one realizes that we as a county don’t actually own or control our voting machines—the State of Maryland does. Further, since we’re already in an election year, we can't really take advantage of other previously scheduled elections! Not only can we not schedule a special election the same day as a previously-scheduled election, but we have to give those same elections a fairly wide berth—as many as 30 days on either side of a previously-scheduled election.
That’s already a fairly inflexible calendar to work with. Now add to it the competing voices of those pushing for an election as quickly as possible—to fill the seat sooner rather than later—and those who would like to go slowly, to give candidates and voters more time to get to know each other. Then there’s the Council’s schedule—much of it defined by law—that requires us to continue working on county budgets and planning board appointments, with little regard to the timing of elections. As is often the case, logistics tend to prevail, and in spite of many of the issues I just identified, we usually end up with a solution that still works pretty well.
In this case, the special primary election will be held Tuesday, April 15, and the special general election will occur a month later, on Tuesday, May 13. More information can be found on the Council’s main page, or by clicking here.
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 Councilmember Mike Knapp
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