For Immediate Release: August 5, 2022 The Montgomery County Council invites residents to join the Thrive 2050 Racial Equity and Social Justice Community Forum on Tuesday, Aug. 16 at 6:30 p.m. The forum, to be conducted on Zoom and led by a team of consultants at Nspiregreen, will gather community input to better understand how past land use policies have impacted vulnerable and historically marginalized communities in Montgomery County and provide recommendations on how future policies and planning efforts can be more just and equitable. If you have not done so already, please also consider responding to the Thrive 2050 community survey. The survey, which will remain open for community feedback until Aug. 19, 2022, will be used to inform a racial equity and social justice review of Thrive 2050 and the development of a new racial equity and social justice chapter for the plan. Feedback from these engagement activities will assess the strengths and weaknesses of the current planning process and develop new recommendations on how to improve Thrive 2050, centering on issues of racial equity and social justice to influence future land use, transportation, social and economic decisions. More Details on Thrive Montgomery 2050 The Montgomery County Council is currently reviewing the Thrive Montgomery 2050 Draft Plan. Following the guidance of the Office of Legislative Oversight (OLO), the Council has begun a comprehensive racial equity and social justice review of the Plan. Thrive Montgomery 2050 is a framework to guide land use planning for housing, economic development, equity, transportation, environmental sustainability and more for the next three decades in Montgomery County. Please visit the Council’s Thrive 2050 website for a summary and copy of the draft Plan. Additional details and background on the Plan are available at the Montgomery Planning Department’s Thrive Montgomery 2050 website. The broader purpose of Thrive Montgomery 2050 is to guide the development of our communities in the face of change—it will help the County respond to the economic, social and environmental opportunities and challenges that we face today and issues that will emerge over the coming decades. The Council has engaged the support of Nspiregreen and Public Engagement Associates, a team of consultants, who bring extensive planning and public engagement experience, to develop a racial equity and social justice review of the policies and practices recommended in the Plan. The goal of this work is to ensure that historically disadvantaged and vulnerable social groups are accurately and carefully represented in the Plan recommendations. Nspiregreen is conducting the survey and community forum to connect with community leaders, individuals and groups for additional input in the development of the Plan. The survey includes an invitation to sign up for in-person focus groups. The work of the consultants is expected to continue into September 2022, after which a draft chapter on Racial Equity and Social Justice will be delivered for Council review. In addition, Council staff are also expected to provide draft text related to the Plan’s impact on the environment and economic development. # # # |
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