Montgomery County Council to Host Town Hall Meeting for Students

Montgomery County Council to Host Town Hall Meeting for Students

On Wednesday, Oct. 12, in Rockville

High School, Middle School and Elementary Students From

Across the County Will Be Able to Express Views,

Ask Questions of Councilmembers in Second Meeting of Its Kind

The Montgomery County Council, which for the past several years has held Town Hall Meetings throughout the County in its efforts to find out what issues most concern residents, will learn what is on the mind of younger residents when it hosts its second-ever Town Hall Meeting for Students on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at the Council Office Building in Rockville. The meeting, in the Council’s Third Floor Hearing Room, will start at 7 p.m. A pre-meeting reception will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the building’s second-floor cafeteria. 

The Council Office Building is located at 100 Maryland Ave. in downtown Rockville. It is about a three-block walk from the Rockville Metrorail station, which also is a main stopping point for many RideOn bus lines. For students traveling to the meeting by car, free parking will be available by entering the Council parking garage from the Fleet Street entrance.

 This will be the fourth Town Hall Meeting hosted by the Council in 2011. The Council hosted Town Hall Meetings for all residents of the East County area in Silver Spring in January; for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase area in March; and for the Derwood area in June. The Council is composed of President Valerie Ervin, Vice President Roger Berliner and Councilmembers Phil Andrews, Marc Elrich, Nancy Floreen, George Leventhal, Nancy Navarro, Craig Rice and Hans Riemer. 

The first Town Hall Meeting for Students, held in February 2010, was attended by more than 400 people.  

The October meeting is open to high school, middle school and elementary school public and private students from around the County. The meeting will allow the participants to let Councilmembers know how they feel about specific issues and also will provide the opportunity to ask questions of the Councilmembers in an organized, but informal, setting.

 “When it comes to decisions affecting young people—whether in regard to schools, libraries, recreation, parks or the community in general—the practice too often is to have one set of adults talk to another set adults,” said Council President Ervin, a former member of the County Board of Education and now chair of the Council’s Education Committee. “Recently, the young people of this County made their voices heard about the proposed Youth Curfew. On issues like that, and others, this Council will have many important decisions to make in the coming months—and many of these decisions could have significant impact on people 18 and under. We think the best way to find out what this generation of Montgomery County residents need and want is to hear directly from them.”

 Council President Ervin said that the Council would like to hear about issues relating to the community and how they affect younger residents.

 “Many school-specific issues come under the authority of the Board of Education,” she said. “The Council wants to know more about all of those other issues that affect their lives every day. I think there are many things on which they can offer perspectives that perhaps adults do not consider.”

 The meeting will be broadcast live on County Cable Montgomery (CCM—cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon) and rebroadcast at various times in the weeks following the meeting. Susan Kenedy, a producer for the County station, will moderate the meeting.

 Students who wish to attend the meeting are asked to RSVP by calling 240-777-7931.