Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1950-06-01
BIZ Marjorie H. Garfield

Head of the large Montgomery
County household is the Council.
Chosen by the people at the gen.
eral election these seven citizens
are held to account for the orderly
conduct of the county government.
They have inherited all the respon-
sibilities of the former Commits
sioners, and in addition make most
of the local laws which used to be
enacted at Annapolis. They set
the tax rate, adopt the budget, and
must maintain the credit of the
county.
Concerning Council Members
Five members of the Council are
elected from geographic districts,
two at large. After this first two
year term, members will serve for
four years and may be reelected.
Each is paid $50 a meeting or no
more than $1,000 per year. There
are no extra stipends for special
duties since the Council does not
personally supervise county serv-
ices.
Three Are Lawyers
Three members of the first Coun-
Gil elected in December, 1913, are
lawyers. Frederic P. Lee, regist-
cred Democrat from Bethesda,
serves as President of the Council.
He prepares agenda, certifies all
bills passed in legislative session,
and presides at meetings and hear
ings. Thomas E. Kelley, Darnes-
town Republican, was made Presi-
dent Pro Tenn to preside in Mr..
Lees absence. j. Douglas Brad
shaw, Republican of Takoma Park
and Secretary of the Council, pre-
pares final copies of bills and signs
all bond issues. Other members are
Mrs. Dorothy Himstead, a Chevy
Chase housewife long interested in
civic affairs who Is Democrat;
p. G. Lyon, an engineering con-
tractor from Sandy Spring and a
Democrat; and Augustus r. Selby,
Republican flour miller of Germ
antown. DR.. Lewis Merriam, Demo-
crate of Kensington and Vice
Chairman of the Brookings Insti-
tuition of Washington, was a men,
Der Of the original Council. They
were nominated at a slate by the
non-partisan Charter Committee
and elected in a special election.
The Council chose Hall Hammond,
a Republican of Silver Spring and
an engineer who had been serving
as chairman of the Safety Board,
to succeed DR.. Merriam after his
resignation in April.
Legislative Sessions
The Council enacts laws in open
sessions during the month of May
in each year. The County Attorney
is their clerk, responsible for draft
ing legislation and keeping the
Journal. Rules of order for legis-
lative members, are multilithed,
distributed to the press and the
public, and set for public hearing.
Final acceptance of bill is by
aye and nay vote. The citizens of
the county may petition for a ref
erendum on any franchise, bond
issue, or other local law. Also, the
Council in executive session may
reconsider a bill and veto it by
affirmative vote of four members.
If not vetoed, bill become law on
August Is. The Council makes
public local laws for the county and
may repeal or amend local laws
previously enacted by the Assent
ly with few specific exceptions.
They may not enact laws for in
corporated towns and villages on
their local affairs
Budget Prepared in June
AS chief executives the Council
must act as a body in deciding
what services shall be offered to
the citizens and how they shall be
performed. They must weigh the
numerous and various desires ex-
pressed by citizens against their
ability and willingness to pay the
necessary taxes. Especially wise
we expect our Councilmen to be in
June when the budget is being pre-
pared for the following year. We
expect them to decide how our in
come shall be distributed among
the needs for school buildings, pub
lie health nurses, street cleaning,
and all the rest, so as to please the
most citizens, Mama of 81 remem-
Der Mama" fame had a simple job
compared with that of apportion-
ing $l4 million.
Serves In Many Capacities
The Council is the District Coun-
Gil for the suburban area, chiefly
concerned with coming; serves as
the County Board of Health; and
has a representative in the Welfare
Board. They appoint the members
of the Personnel Board, Tax APP
peal Court, Board Of Coming APP
peals, and the Welfare Board, as
well as the County Attorney; and
suggest nominees for state appoint