How to Observe Local Government Meetings 

LWVMC’s mission to promote good government and to hold elected officials accountable requires us to keep an eye on local government activity. Everyone is allowed to observe public meetings – in person, online, on TV, and over the phone. It’s critical that every member of LWVMC stays informed about our county government so that we can help voters understand what they are casting ballots for, and so we can take advantage of opportunities to advocate for our policy positions.

How to watch Montgomery County Council meetings

The County Council holds regular meetings every Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. and they usually have a recess at midday. The session resumes after the recess. Meeting times, agendas and associated staff reports are usually published online three business days in advance. Use the Council calendar website here to find upcoming and past meetings along with their agendas, staff reports and links to watch.

• To attend meetings in person, go to the Council Hearing Room at the County Government Building, 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20850.

• To watch meetings online, go to the Council’s YouTube page here or go to the Council’s Facebook page here.

• To watch meetings on TV, tune into Montgomery County Cable Channels 996 (HD) and 6 (SD) on Comcast; Channels 1056 (HD) and 6 (SD) on RCN; or Channel 30 on Verizon

• To listen to meetings over the phone, dial 240-773-3333 (3rd Floor Hearing Room), 240-773-3300 (3rd Floor Conference Room), 240-773-3377 (7th Floor Hearing Room) – check the meeting agenda for which room the meeting is held in.

Find a Council meeting and Agenda here

If you are unable to watch the meeting live, a recording will be posted to the meeting calendar page 24 hours later. Or you can watch the YouTube video at the same link it originally streamed.

Summaries and minutes of actions taken during the meeting, as well as any testimony provided during public hearings at the meeting are published online 1-2 days after the meetingVideos are time stamped by meeting agenda item – so if you do not want to watch the whole video you can skip ahead to the relevant agenda item(s)!

Council committee meetings, standalone public hearings, and town halls can also be found on the main Council calendar website. These meetings may publish minutes, testimony and videos at different times.

How to track Council legislation

Use the County’s Legislative Information Management System (LIMS) website to track bills (from 2010), resolutions and ZTAs/SRAs (from 2005). From the LIMS homepage you can search for bills by their number, keywords. Select a bill from the search results to find all available versions of the bill text as well as accompanying staff reports and status updates.

You can also sign up for email alerts about specific legislation as it develops. Go to the bill’s page, enter your email into the “Subscribe to notifications” box and click Subscribe - so that you don’t miss out on any important changes to the bill or can find out when a public hearing or vote is taking place!

If you’re trying to find older legislation not listed on LIMS, call the Council offices at 240-777-7910.

How to watch other County open meetings

Montgomery County has 91 boards, commissions and committees for members of the public and county employees to advise the County Executive and County Council on specific areas of government services or quality of life matters. You can watch these online live but recordings may not always be posted later.

Find meetings of these bodies on the calendar website here. Agendas for these meetings will be posted in advance, or to obtain a copy you can email/call the body’s point of contact. Note - these individuals may or may not be county employees. They may also be able to provide recordings or minutes from past meetings, otherwise you can file a request with the County Public Information Office.

How to watch Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education meetings

MCPS is a separate entity from the County Government but its Board of Education meetings are also open to the public. The Board meets at least twice a month, once for a day-long meeting to discuss issues or recommendations, and once for a Thursday evening “business” meeting where final votes are taken. Other meetings may be held throughout the month for Board committees, appeals, budget and facilities discussions, public hearings or community forums, etc.

Agendas for Board Business meetings are posted four days beforehand. Videos of the meetings are posted within a couple days later.

Find upcoming and past meetings on the MCPS BOE calendar website here.

• Watch meetings in person at the Carver Educational Services Center, 850 Hungerford Dr., Rockville, MD 20850.

• Watch meetings online here.

• Watch meetings on TV by tuning to Channel 34 on Comcast, Channel 36 on Verizon, and Channel 89 on RCN. Meetings are rebroadcast at 1 p.m. on the Saturday and Sunday following the meeting.

 

From the calendar list, select a meeting agenda or webcast at the right. Videos are time stamped by agenda item so you can fast forward to specific sections of the meeting if you do not wish to watch the entire recording. Once in the BoardDocs dashboard for the agenda, you can look at individual agenda item reports by clicking the file icon (see circled). And you can click the filmstrip icon (see circled) to watch the video.

Find archived meeting agendas, reports and minutes (from 1980) here.

*Finding follow-up Board documents: Sometimes during board meetings, members request further information than what was originally provided with the agenda and reports. These documents can be found later on the Follow-Up Documents webpage here.

Tell other LWVMC members what you’ve observed!

It’s not enough for us to observe local government individually—we need to share what we see with other members! And the public! Wondering how to do that? Consider:

• Chatting to fellow members when you can! Bring it up in relevant committee meetings or let committee chairs know directly. Attend Discussion Groups and tell other members what’s going on.

• Pitching (and hosting) a Trending Topics on the issue. We always need suggestions for future TTs and we want those to be of interest to our members. Reach out to the League president for guidance on holding a Trending Topic.

• Writing an article about it for the Voter so that everyone who subscribes to the newsletter can see it and follow the issue. Contact the Voter editor at news@lwvmocomd.org

• Alerting the Advocacy VPs in case it’s something you think we can testify about. We give testimony based on issues that align with our local, state, National Capital Area and national Policy Positions. Submitting public testimony is time-sensitive so please plan to give the Advocacy VPs as much notice and useful information about the topic as possible! Contact the Advocacy VPs at [advocacy email]