2015, 2016 MDDC News Organization of the Year! Celebrating 161 years of service! Vol. 163, No. 13 • 50¢ SINCE 1855 September 21 - September 27, 2017 TODAY’S GAS PRICE Spare Part Woes $2.67 per gallon Last Week FTA concerned with the latest in Metrorail’s budget problems $2.74 per gallon safety and on time service within the By Carolyn Komatsoulis @CKomatsoulis transit system.” A month ago According to that report, “the ex- $2.35 per gallon A problem with spare parts finds isting procurement methods used by A year ago The Washington Metropolitan Area Metro could not correct this deficien- $2.25 per gallon Transit Authority once again in trouble cy.” with the Federal Transportation Ad- According to the documents, a AVERAGE PRICE PER GALLON OF ministration. goal of the program is to - after the fact UNLEADED REGULAR GAS IN MARYLAND/D.C. METRO AREA Metro is now accused of dodging - request waivers for contracts that ACCORDING TO AAA FTA budget requirements. didn’t follow FTA regulations or be el- According to the proposed igible for reimbursements from the INSIDE FY2018 budget, WMATA Charged FTA from any given part in the pro- $23 million in railcars to the operating gram. budget because Metro managers were According to FTA spokesman having difficulty complying with FTA Steven Taubenkibel, the use of local requirements. Those funds apparently funds is a local decision. Editor’s should have been charged to the capi- Third in a series WMATA has been accused of Notebook tal budget. Broken Promises - Bad Dreams breaking FTA regulations before. According to the Approval of A Metro Investigation In 2014, a damning FTA audit re- by Brian J. Karem FY2018-2023 Capital Improvement vealed WMATA’s misuse of grant Program and CFA extension that $23 keep up with maintenance and the pro- curement Program. Last October, the money, which included WMATA in- million was spent on parts “necessary curement process was accelerated,” he enrollment deadline was extended un- curring unallowable expenditures and for railcar safety and reliability.” said. til December 31 of this year and the underreporting $42 million in federal According to that same report, When asked why Metro was run- initial contract end date was extended expenditures. According to the report, At the U.N. the money was moved not only be- ning out of parts, Bulger assigned until June 30, 2023. According to that WMATA also offered a contract with- cause some parts were not procured in blame to the suppliers. report, the program was started after a out soliciting the three bids necessary Trump threatens North compliance with federal regulations “Supply. Logistics. The suppliers board resolution imposed “heightened to make that contract competitive. Ac- Korea with total destruction but also “a lack of available non-feder- were behind. We weren’t able to ob- standards on parts procurement.” cording to the 2014 audit, Metro did- while at the U.N. al capital funding.” tain the parts on a schedule that would However, according to that same n’t have the internal controls to prop- Tom Bulger, a member of the meet Metro’s requirements.” report, Metro was also running out of erly manage their grant money, al- Page 4 Metro board of directors, said he was- Those alterations to the procure- parts. The report states that “In the though the final report of the audit n’t aware of this specific move of ment process are part of The Parts 2015 Annual Vital Signs Report, the included documents that acknowl- money, but he was aware of alterations Bridging Program, a program started Office of Performance (CPO) noted its edged Metro’s progress on improving to the procurement process to ensure by WMATA to “temporarily purchase findings that the high non availability its internal controls. that Metro had parts to repair things. parts using non-Federal funds and pro- rates of revenue service vehicles were Carol Kissal, the CFO of the “I’m aware of the fact that we curement rules until December 2017,” attributable in part to inventory part Metro at the time and the person to were running out of spare parts at a according to the Approval of One- shortages throughout the warehouse fast clip since 2016 and they {Metro} Year Extension of Parts Bridging Pro- system. This shortage of inventory See “Metro” needed to get more supplies in order to gram (PMP) and Update on Parts Pro- parts was having an adverse effect on page 8 MoCo makes bid for Amazon Prosecutors consider additional According to the Seattle Times, charges in Wallen murder probe By Vic Simon Marty’s Up! more than 100 cities/counties and @vtime492 Montgomery County Police states/provinces in the U.S. and By Glynis Kazanjian charged Tessier Sept. 13 with the Marty cheers Captain Just two weeks since Amazon Canada are putting together propos- @glyniskazanjian Kirk on as The Hawgs pick asked states and counties to bid for als. Amazon spokesperson Drew first-degree murder of Wallen. If up their first victory this sea- its second headquarters—a project Herdener said at this early stage in Prosecutors in the Montgomery Tessier is found guilty, he could be son. that could mean 50,000 jobs and $5 the process, “Every city is on an County State’s Attorney’s Office are sentenced to life in prison without billion in investment to the winning equal playing field.” He indicated the determining whether a 33-year-old the possibility of parole. However, Page 23 locality—Montgomery County and company will choose finalists from Damascus man charged with killing the Montgomery County state prose- competitors all around the country the initial applicants, and will select a his girlfriend Labor Day weekend cutor's office has not ruled out re- were busy putting their proposals to- winner next year. can also be charged with killing the questing a sentence that would allow gether. Even within the state of Mary- woman’s unborn child. for consideration of parole. Seattle-based Amazon asked for land and the D.C. area, Montgomery Olney resident Laura Elizabeth "We have not made that decision bids on Sept. 7, and gave just six County faces substantial competi- Wallen, 31, was four months preg- yet," spokesperson Ramon Korionoff weeks for initial proposals due Oct. tion. On Sept. 13, Gov. Larry Hogan nant when she was killed, family said. 19. From those, Amazon will select members said. The Damascus man finalists to compete for the prize with See “Amazon”. accused of her murder, Tyler Tessier, See “Wallen”. fully-specified bids. page 8 33, is believed to be the father. page 8 2THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 EFLECTIONS The Montgomery County Sentinel, R published weekly by Berlyn Inc. Publish- ing, is a community newspaper covering Montgomery County, Maryland. Our of- September 10, 1987 fices are located at 22 W. Jefferson Street, Suite 309, Rockville, MD 20850. Founded in 1855 by Matthew Fields. All mail to: P.O. Box 1272, Rockville, MD Police officers surprised at simplicity of coke bust 20849-1272. Subscription Rates for The Montgomery County Sentinel – Weekly by mail: $40.00 per year & $26.50 for Se- Each week The Sentinel visits a Another man, who police ter. searches of a Chevy Chase apart- nior Citizens. (USPS) 361-100. memorable story from its archives. said acted as Martinez’s lookout, The undercover officer who ment and Martinez’s home in “We were flabbergasted it also was arrested. He was identi- posed as a drug buyer in last Bowie. Bernard Kapiloff PUBLISHER E MERITUS went off so easy.” fies as James Fletcher Greene Jr., week’s bust said Martinez de- The federal drug Enforce- That’s how the undercover 36, of 4116 Denfeld Ave. in scribed as a major dealer, boasted ment Administration, which sup- Lynn G. Kapiloff narcotics officer who engineered Kensington. that he could deliver 10 kilos of plied county police with $40,000 CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER/ the cocaine deal describes last “This is the second-largest cocaine a week. in cash for the phony drug pur- PUBLISHER [email protected] week’s $400,000 drug bust. hand-to-hand purchase by an un- After martines provided the chase, is investigating Martinez The officer, a 10 year old dercover officer (in the county),” narcotics officer with a sample in in an attempt to uncover his Mark Kapiloff veteran of the county force who said Lt. Ronald A. Ricucci, head the parking lot of O’Donnell’s Florida connections. Police said. ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER asked not to be identified, said of the special investigations Divi- Restaurant in Bethesda earlier in Ricucci said the deal was [email protected] police arrested Domingo Mar- sion. the evening Sept. 1, police said, unique because it was put togeth- EDITORIAL tinez, 31, of Bowie, shortly after An undercover operation in the two set up a transaction be- er “in about an hour.” Martinez met him for the first early May netted county and fed- hind the nearby Radio Shack at “It points out the easy avail- Brian J. Karem EXECUTIVE EDITOR time and allegedly sold the offi- eral officers the first installment Maple and Wisconsin avenues, ability of large amounts of co- [email protected] cer two kilograms of cocaine with on a $1.3 million purchase of 50 where the arrests were made. caine coming into the county. an estimated street value of kilos of cocaine in the parking lot Police said cocaine and drug That obviously upsets us,” he Brandy L. Simms $403,200. of the White Oak Shopping Cen- paraphernalia were seized in said. SPORTS EDITOR [email protected] MARK ROBINSON [email protected] NEWS CITY EDITOR KATHLEEN STUBBS Write us COPY EDITOR Old Anglers angling for zoning changes NEAL EARLEY The Montgomery County [email protected] ning stages for two-and-a-half residential neighborhood.