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Rockville public forum: ranked-choice voting advocates and a Crab Avenue resident press city on parking rules
Summary
At the Jan. 5 meeting, a ranked-choice voting advocate reviewed outreach and recent wins, and a Crab Avenue resident urged the council to revisit a parking-permit denial and the Transportation Commission——methodology used in the case.
Two public commenters highlighted issues the council may take up in coming weeks.
Michelle Whitaker, executive director of Ranked Choice Voting Maryland, reviewed 2025 activity and outreach: bills were introduced in Annapolis and Hyattsville, Greenbelt voters approved a local RCV ballot measure by 67% and are moving to implementation for 2027, and 36 jurisdictions used RCV in 2025. She said her group has provided Rockville with an implementation recommendation addressing equipment, procedural changes and voter education and offered to help local voter outreach.
Resident Vince Wong, who lives on Crab Avenue, told the council he and neighbors gathered 17 signatures of 19 households for a parking-permit petition after years of nonresident parking. He said the Transportation Commission recommended denial and that staff used vacancy-count metrics in this review that were not used for a prior Lewis Avenue approval; he called the application of the code arbitrary and sought further follow-up. City staff acknowledged the concern and said they would process paperwork and follow up through the city clerk. The council did not take immediate action on the petition during the meeting.
The council referred the Crab Avenue paperwork to the clerk and encouraged staff follow-up; staff also noted broader outreach and recommended next steps for any ordinance or administrative adjustment would be brought back through normal processes.
