Community media organizations that contract with Montgomery County will soon be required to have political appointees — but not elected officials — on their boards of directors.
The Montgomery County Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to pass Bill 33-26, which will currently only impact Montgomery Community Media (MCM) — the Rockville-based news organization that also has a contract to manage the county’s public access television channels.
Under the bill, community media organizations that contract with the county would be required to have a board of directors with up to seven members — including one member appointed by the county executive and another appointed by the council.
Under an earlier version of the bill, those appointees could have been other elected officials. But after representatives of MCM raised concerns about officials the news outlet covers making decisions about its future, the bill was amended to clarify that the council and county executive appointees cannot be elected officials.
The final version of the bill no longer includes a requirement for community media organizations to comply with the Maryland Public Information Act but will still require the organizations’ boards to comply with the Open Meetings Act. Community media organizations will also need to adopt statements committing to editorial independence and racial equity and social justice.
In a statement Tuesday to Bethesda Today, Montgomery Community Media CEO Jasmine White said she respected the legislative process and the council’s decision.
“Our focus now is on moving forward and working constructively with the Council, County government, and our partners to build a stronger community media system that serves the residents of Montgomery County,” White said.
Councilmember Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4), who sponsored the bill, previously told Bethesda Today the changes are intended to improve the governance structure of an organization that gets the majority of its funding from the county government as available funds dwindle.
County budget documents show that Montgomery Community Media is allocated about $2.3 million in fiscal 2027, down from about $2.5 million in fiscal 2026. That money comes from a special revenue fund supplied by cable franchise agreements and fees — a source that is no longer as reliable in the age of streaming.
Though he did not propose any amendments during the council’s meeting in Rockville on Tuesday, Councilmember Evan Glass (D-At-large) said he would support further changes to community media organizations in the county if their special revenue stream ever needs to be supplemented with general operating funds.
“If it were up to me … I think the county executive and the council should nominate the entire board, just as we have done with the Arts and Humanities Council,” Glass, a former journalist who worked for CNN, said during Tuesday’s meeting.
Currently, all members of the Montgomery Community Media Board of Directors are selected by a nominating committee and confirmed by a vote of the board, according to the organization’s bylaws. The board can have between three and 15 members.
Council President Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6) also signaled Tuesday that more changes to community media organizations in the county could be coming.
“It’s food for thought for the next council,” she said of Glass’ suggestion to convert all board members to political appointees.
During his virtual media briefing Wednesday, County Executive Marc Elrich (D) — who previously told reporters he had “some misgivings” about having political appointees on the board of a media outlet — said he intends to sign the bill.
“Bill 33-26 is not about taking away the freedom of the press from Montgomery Community Media, nor its newsroom,” Elrich said. “Neither the council nor I have any interest in controlling editorial decisions.”
At the same time, Elrich said, “it’s reasonable to expect the same standards of transparency, accountability and good governance that we expect of other county-funded organizations.”