Tag Archives: achievement in office

George Leventhal, Montgomery County Executive

In Their Own Words, Part IV: George Leventhal

We continue with our County Executive questionnaires with Councilmember George Leventhal (D-At Large).

What was your most important achievement in your current or past office? How do you think it demonstrates your leadership ability?

My most important achievement is that I have consistently been a champion for those who most need a government on their side. My leadership in public office has been to utilize innovative methods of helping and serving those who, but for the involvement of government, could not achieve a high quality of life on their own.

  • I established the Montgomery Cares program, a network of community clinics that this year will provide 70,000 visits to patients without health insurance. The program includes medical check-ups; sick visits; medications; lab tests; X-Rays; flu shots; access to specialty care; access to behavioral health care; oral health care; and more.
  • In 2015, because of my leadership, Montgomery County housed every identified homeless veteran in the county. We are one of three states and 51 communities that have achieved functional zero for veteran homelessness.
  • In 2017, I provided funding to ensure the county can house every chronically homeless individual by the end of 2018, through the “Inside Not Outside” campaign.
  • I have been the champion every year since 2003 for supplementing the wages paid to caretakers for people with developmental differences.
  • I passed the Design for Living legislation, which provides property tax credits for investments that make housing accessible for elderly and disabled residents.
  • I created the county’s Interagency Commission on Homelessness.

I have consistently championed funding for the Maternity Partnership Program, to ensure prenatal care for expectant mothers without health insurance, and Care for Kids, to ensure health insurance for all Montgomery County children.

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Bill Frick, Montgomery County Executive

In Their Own Words, Part III: Bill Frick

We continue with our County Executive questionnaires today with Del. Bill Frick (D-16).

What was your most important achievement in your current or past office? How do you think it demonstrates your leadership ability?

During my career in Annapolis there have been many legislative successes that I am proud of, and each highlight different approaches to leadership.  For many, I have been a negotiator and dealmaker. I was the lead legislator in creating a state-sponsored retirement plan to help low-income workers save for a secure retirement. When I started on this path, the bill was seen as a fringe liberal proposal, but I worked with colleagues in the House and Senate of both parties and carried the bill to a bipartisan success that has been held out by AARP as a national model.

There have also been times when I have served as an unapologetic warrior for our values.  I was the lead house sponsor on legislation to increase the state’s reliance on clean renewable energy, an issue that enjoys little Republican support.  For two years, I championed this legislation until it passed the House and Senate in 2016, only to have Larry Hogan veto the bill.  As a part of the leadership team, I led the override vote that finally allowed the Clean Energy Jobs Act to become law, despite the united objection of the Republicans.

Different circumstances call for different leadership styles, and I am proud that I’ve been able to adapt my role and style to promote and protect Maryland’s values.

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Marc Elrich, Montgomery County Executive

In Their Own Words, Part II: Marc Elrich

We continue with our County Executive questionnaires today with Councilmember Marc Elrich (D-At Large).

What was your most important achievement in your current or past office? How do you think it demonstrates your leadership ability?

My most important achievement has been increasing the minimum wage in Montgomery County, and helping to increase it in Prince George’s County and Washington, DC as well.  Opponents of minimum wage increases often try to pit neighboring cities and counties against each other, inaccurately arguing that raising wages in one area will cause employers to flee to surrounding lower-wage localities.  I helped convince lawmakers in these three jurisdictions that joining forces and pushing for higher minimum wages together would defeat this erroneous argument while delivering a real economic win for hundreds of thousands of people.

While I pushed hard for Montgomery County’s minimum wage to increase automatically with inflation, I ultimately accepted a bill without that provision, and with a slower phase-in than I had wanted, to secure the votes necessary for it to pass the Council.  I didn’t give up, however, and have continued to fight for a living wage for county residents, sponsoring a $15 minimum wage bill that earned the support of a majority of my colleagues last year.  Though that bill was vetoed, I am confident that we will soon succeed in passing a version of the legislation I reintroduced.

I believe this achievement demonstrates both my recognition that our residents’ needs demand urgent action and my ability to produce tangible changes through the political process.  I begin by listening to and working with affected communities.  Whether you’re a full-time worker living in poverty or a resident who loves your community and wants to be certain that, as we grow, the county provides the schools, transportation, and other infrastructure necessary to handle that growth without harming the environment, I am committed to getting results for you.  Master planning must include residents; transportation solutions must be affordable and appropriate; and protecting green spaces and water quality, preserving existing affordable housing, and encouraging the use of alternative energy must be priorities.

As County Executive, I know how to build the coalitions with our residents, businesses, and organizations to continue to help this county work for all of us.

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Montgomery County Executive

In Their Own Words, Part I: Roger Berliner

Together, Adam Pagnucco and I put a short list of seven questions to the candidates for county executive. We’re grateful that all four have taken the time to respond thoughtfully and in detail.

Unlike interest groups that ask candidates to fill out questionnaires in the hope of garnering an endorsement, our purpose here is a combination of allowing each candidate to better introduce himself and his priorities to you along with questions regarding a selection of issues facing the county we regard as important.

We found their answers illuminating and hope you do too. Today, we start with Councilmember Roger Berliner’s (D-1) response to our first question:

What was your most important achievement in your current or past office? How do you think it demonstrates your leadership ability?

I think my single most important achievement in office has been keeping your lights on.

Pepco was one of the most unreliable utilities in the country.  Our power would go out for days at a time – during storms and even on “sunny days”.  Lives were at risk.  Those who could afford it bought back-up generators so they could keep their lights on.  Most of us simply suffered. It was totally unacceptable.

I led our county in asking for a state investigation of Pepco.  The state regulators at the Maryland Public Service Commission have 100% control over Pepco.  The state granted our request.  During the course of that investigation, we learned for the first time that in terms of reliability, Pepco had been in the lowest quartile nationally for five years in a row.  When I asked whether Pepco would be held responsible, the regulators said that Maryland didn’t have reliability standards so how could Pepco be punished?

I was not satisfied with that answer. I researched laws in other states, drafted state legislation and shared it with the Governor and legislative leaders. Under the leadership of now-Senator Feldman, the legislature passed a law that has made Pepco financially accountable for its reliability.  And guess what?  Pepco has gotten better.  Our power does not go out nearly as much. That makes your lives so much better.

I think what this demonstrates about my leadership is that I fight for consumers; that I am not afraid to take on powerful interests; that I roll up my sleeves and do the nitty gritty work necessary to be effective; that I am able to work collaboratively with our state officials to get things done when they are beyond our county’s ability to do so on our own; and that I have a track record of improving the day-to-day quality of life of Montgomery County residents, which is what a County Executive should do.

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