May Update

The General Assembly has adjourned for 2016 but the work continues.  My office is busy with constituent case work, responding to other constituent inquiries, and planning our legislative agenda for next year.  I am also knocking on doors most weekends to provide District 16 residents with an update on state government.  
If you would like to hear about the 2016 legislative session, the District 16 Team is holding its annual townhall on Monday, May 16th starting at 7:30pm at the Davis Library (6400 Democracy Boulevard).

You can always keep up with all my activities by following me at @mkorman on Twitter or clicking "Like" on Delegate Marc Korman on Facebook.

I am also having an event to support my campaign on June 5th.  You can purchase a ticket here.

Legislative News

The implications of climate change cannot be understated, particularly in a state such as ours with significant coast line.  One issue brought to my attention by a constituent while going door to door is how our state pension investments could be affected by climate change and what can be done to make sure that the risk of climate change is calculated in how our important state funds are invested.  I was pleased to work with several colleagues (including Delegates Stein and Barnes and Senator Peters) on a letter from the Joint Committee on Pensions to the State Pension Board of Trustees Chair about the issue.  The letter is available here.
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The Department of Legislative Services annually compiles a summary of the legislative session known as the "90 Day Report."  Click here to read the 2016 90 Day Report.

Metro

Metro's troubles continue.  Since I last wrote, quite a bit has happened.  One point I often make is that Metro is a regional system and requires regional solutions.  For that reason, I was pleased that Delegate Erek Barron and I met with Metro Chairman and DC Councilmember Jack Evans recently to discuss system challenges.

The National Transportation Safety Board ("NTSB") has begun releasing its recommendations following its investigation of the terrible incident at L'Enfant Plaza in 2015.  More information is available here.

Metro has released a plan dubbed "SafeTrack" that is designed to try and address some of the system's most pressing maintenance issues.  The plan uses a "surge" approach to maintenance that will require stations and track segment closures for weeks at a time and some systematic changes such as shorter system hours.
Less than 24 hours after SafeTrack was released, the Federal Transit Administration issued a Safety Directive for Metro that could require even more drastic action.  Although I appreciate FTA asserting important safety oversight over Metro, I am disturbed that Metro and the federal government could not coordinate on a single approach for both Friday's announcement and the safety directive.  After all, the federal government is a partner in the system with Maryland, Virginia, and DC and has its own Metro board members.

Finally, if you are interested in getting in the weeds of Metro operations and necessary reforms, McKinsey recently released a detailed report on specific processes Metro must improve.  A lot of  time is dedicated to discussing dedicated funding, station closures, and other hot button issues, but for Metro to ever improve many of these types of detailed reforms will need to be implemented.

Community News

• Pepco is doing work on River Road between Little Falls Parkway and Western Avenue.  Lane closures are possible until July.
• Montgomery Parks is soliciting comment on its proposal to improve access and circulation at Rockwood Manor.  You can provide comments until June 6.
• A White Flint 2 Section Plan meeting will be held on May 16th at Luxmanor Elementary School (6201 Tilden Lane in Rockville) from 7pm to 9pm.  The meeting will focus on traffic modeling.

If you know of an upcoming community event, please email [email protected].

​District 16 Notes

• Congratulations to District 16 resident Rose Li on her nomination as board member at the Committee for Montgomery.
• Condolences to Vivian Bass, a District 16 resident, on the passing of her mother, Marian Jean Gould.
• Eric Guerci of District 16 was recently re-elected as the Student Member of the Board of Education.  Congratulations Eric!
• Francis Creighton and Elaine Binder of District 16 were recently confirmed as members of the County Taxicab Services Commission.
• Thank you to Fred Silverman, who completed a hard working term on the County's Board of License Commissioners.
• Sara Ducey was recently reappointed to the County's Solid Waste Advisory Committee.  Thanks to Sara for her service.
• The White Flint Downtown Advisory Committee has a recently reappointed District 16 resident, Bernard Myers.
• Congratulations to several District 16 residents who are serving on the County's Commission on Aging and were recently confirmed or reconfirmed: Hileia Seeger, Jerry Morenoff, and Isabelle Schoenfeld.
• In April, I spoke to the Greater Farmland Civic Association.  Thank you to outgoing board members Lisa Woll and Marta Vogel.  And congratulations and welcome to incoming board member Rick Gentry.
• Kevin Krasnow--a District 16 resident I have known since Kindergarten--and Shana Murik were recently married.  Mazel tov!
• I am extremely jealous of Mikah Meyer, who is going on a trip to visit every site in the National Park System.  You can read an article about the trip here.
• Every year, Council President Nancy Floreen awards "Golden Shovels" for those who help others during the winter weather.  This year, Tom Cheplo and Richard Hoye, both of Bethesda,were recognized for their efforts.

If you know of a District 16 resident who merits recognition or condolences, please email [email protected].