Streetfight shaping up between MoCo councilman, firefighters Montgomery County Councilman Phil Andrews wants to discuss banning roadside solicitation following county firefighters taking to the streets last weekend to raise money in support of people with muscular dystrophy.
The “Fill the Boot” campaign came up in June, when Andrews was one of three council members who sponsored a bill that would have prevented solicitation in the street, on a median or at an intersection.
The council members claimed firefighters participating in the campaign in the past have stood in the middle of roadways, which is not only illegal but also unsafe to both the firefighters and passing vehicles. The bill never came up for a vote because it lacked enough backers for it to pass.
After seeing firefighters stand in roadways last weekend, Andrews said he is going to discuss putting the bill back on the council’s agenda.
“There’s no reason why a ‘Fill the Boot’ campaign can’t be done in a manner that is safe,” he said, adding that the firefighters are setting a bad example for pedestrians.
After some council members expressed concerns in June, Fire Chief Richard Bowers issued a general order explaining that it is against the law for any firefighter to stand in a roadway while soliciting funds. Because of that order, the amount of money collected for the cause dropped from about $250,000 last year to about $100,000 this year, he said, which will affect “the most vulnerable [people] in the Montgomery County area.”
Councilman George Leventhal, D-at large, who was against the bill in June, suggested that the council has more important issues it should be focusing on.
“It is not the County Council’s job to micromanage the fire and rescue services,” he said. “Do we really think that raising money for muscular dystrophy is such a vital threat that we have to legislate it out of existence?”
Leventhal said he would be in favor of a bill County Executive Ike Leggett had suggested that would require someone to get a permit before soliciting for money on the side of the road.
