Why we need a new county executive in MoCo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only rational choice is Blair. Elrich is in over his head, and Riemer lies so much that it makes him look malevolent.

I have to agree that Elrich is in over his head, but to be specific, he’s showing himself to be a more competent manager than I expected but is just a piss-poor leader. Elrich’s biggest problem is that he lets the council jerk him around, which demonstrates a lack of leadership. The main reason that this happens is that he shares the same base with most of the council, which makes him susceptible to political pressure.

I don’t think there is anyone who would argue that Hans Riemer would be a competent manager and in fact he’s well known for being flatly incompetent. That means that it is guaranteed that Riemer as CE would lead to a serious deterioration of public services. Do you like poor garbage collection, un-maintained and deteriorating parks, even higher crime, slow 911 response, potholes, broken sidewalks, etc well Hans Riemer will certainly bring that to Moco. And while he fancies himself a “leader” there are few, if any, people who actually respect him.

Having a CE who has a political base not beholden to the same old tired people who have led this county into the ditch would be a huge relief. While Blair seems to have qualities of a competent manager and a leader, the only thing that worries me is that he is too close with Silverman who represents the old power center that led us into the last ditch.

So I cannot decide between Blair or Elrich right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only rational choice is Blair. Elrich is in over his head, and Riemer lies so much that it makes him look malevolent.

I have to agree that Elrich is in over his head, but to be specific, he’s showing himself to be a more competent manager than I expected but is just a piss-poor leader. Elrich’s biggest problem is that he lets the council jerk him around, which demonstrates a lack of leadership. The main reason that this happens is that he shares the same base with most of the council, which makes him susceptible to political pressure.

I don’t think there is anyone who would argue that Hans Riemer would be a competent manager and in fact he’s well known for being flatly incompetent. That means that it is guaranteed that Riemer as CE would lead to a serious deterioration of public services. Do you like poor garbage collection, un-maintained and deteriorating parks, even higher crime, slow 911 response, potholes, broken sidewalks, etc well Hans Riemer will certainly bring that to Moco. And while he fancies himself a “leader” there are few, if any, people who actually respect him.

Having a CE who has a political base not beholden to the same old tired people who have led this county into the ditch would be a huge relief. While Blair seems to have qualities of a competent manager and a leader, the only thing that worries me is that he is too close with Silverman who represents the old power center that led us into the last ditch.

So I cannot decide between Blair or Elrich right now.

Can you give some examples of how he's a good manager? Many, MANY county workers are so over his micromanaging his pet projects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It's really funny how every couple of months, the same poster tries to start a thread bashing Elrich, and perhaps gets a couple of responses from like-minded posters (or maybe OP sock-puppets), but that Elrich was re-elected comfortably by residents, in one of the most educated and wealthy counties in the nation, home of the National Institutes of Health, and other scientists, lawyers and doctors.

Sorry you can't understand the most basic science and economics.

winning by only 77 votes in a county over 1 million is winning "comfortably" apparently

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only rational choice is Blair. Elrich is in over his head, and Riemer lies so much that it makes him look malevolent.

I have to agree that Elrich is in over his head, but to be specific, he’s showing himself to be a more competent manager than I expected but is just a piss-poor leader. Elrich’s biggest problem is that he lets the council jerk him around, which demonstrates a lack of leadership. The main reason that this happens is that he shares the same base with most of the council, which makes him susceptible to political pressure.

I don’t think there is anyone who would argue that Hans Riemer would be a competent manager and in fact he’s well known for being flatly incompetent. That means that it is guaranteed that Riemer as CE would lead to a serious deterioration of public services. Do you like poor garbage collection, un-maintained and deteriorating parks, even higher crime, slow 911 response, potholes, broken sidewalks, etc well Hans Riemer will certainly bring that to Moco. And while he fancies himself a “leader” there are few, if any, people who actually respect him.

Having a CE who has a political base not beholden to the same old tired people who have led this county into the ditch would be a huge relief. While Blair seems to have qualities of a competent manager and a leader, the only thing that worries me is that he is too close with Silverman who represents the old power center that led us into the last ditch.

So I cannot decide between Blair or Elrich right now.

Can you give some examples of how he's a good manager? Many, MANY county workers are so over his micromanaging his pet projects.

The answer is in the counterfactual. Is there a specific public service in this county that runs poorly right now? And while it would be easier to say that he’s just riding the momentum from Leggett, in actual fact there are several things better now than when Leggett was CE. First off, there was the shady trash collection contract with Potomac which led to my house and others not having regular garbage collection for months. Second and indisputably ABS is actually not screwing up and seems to be running fine now. We could use more capital budget for roads, but that’s more on the Council. The only serious governance problem that I know of in Moco right now is MCPS and that’s not the CE’s responsibility. Notably the Council, including Riemer, has oversight over MCPS so that should give a lot of pause for concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only rational choice is Blair. Elrich is in over his head, and Riemer lies so much that it makes him look malevolent.

I have to agree that Elrich is in over his head, but to be specific, he’s showing himself to be a more competent manager than I expected but is just a piss-poor leader. Elrich’s biggest problem is that he lets the council jerk him around, which demonstrates a lack of leadership. The main reason that this happens is that he shares the same base with most of the council, which makes him susceptible to political pressure.

I don’t think there is anyone who would argue that Hans Riemer would be a competent manager and in fact he’s well known for being flatly incompetent. That means that it is guaranteed that Riemer as CE would lead to a serious deterioration of public services. Do you like poor garbage collection, un-maintained and deteriorating parks, even higher crime, slow 911 response, potholes, broken sidewalks, etc well Hans Riemer will certainly bring that to Moco. And while he fancies himself a “leader” there are few, if any, people who actually respect him.

Having a CE who has a political base not beholden to the same old tired people who have led this county into the ditch would be a huge relief. While Blair seems to have qualities of a competent manager and a leader, the only thing that worries me is that he is too close with Silverman who represents the old power center that led us into the last ditch.

So I cannot decide between Blair or Elrich right now.

Can you give some examples of how he's a good manager? Many, MANY county workers are so over his micromanaging his pet projects.

The answer is in the counterfactual. Is there a specific public service in this county that runs poorly right now? And while it would be easier to say that he’s just riding the momentum from Leggett, in actual fact there are several things better now than when Leggett was CE. First off, there was the shady trash collection contract with Potomac which led to my house and others not having regular garbage collection for months. Second and indisputably ABS is actually not screwing up and seems to be running fine now. We could use more capital budget for roads, but that’s more on the Council. The only serious governance problem that I know of in Moco right now is MCPS and that’s not the CE’s responsibility. Notably the Council, including Riemer, has oversight over MCPS so that should give a lot of pause for concern.

Elrich has added tons of staff to his office, who get paid a LOT of money but don't really do much.

Public safety and Human Resources are falling apart. Without HR working well, you can't hire who you need. Berke left.

ABS isn't inspecting all the hookah lounges in Silver Spring that are selling alcohol under the table. And that's where the gun violence is situated.

The jail director is about to leave. That will be the second since Elrich started.

Everyone in OMB is leaving -- so tired of all his "special projects."

The director of DEP left.

The CAO was fired because of ethical violations.

HHS director left. The Health Officer left and they can't replace him.

Watch what happens if Elrich wins in July. A mass exodus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only rational choice is Blair. Elrich is in over his head, and Riemer lies so much that it makes him look malevolent.

He’s got a big following among independents. They need to change their registration to democrat.

I agree. As a Democrat, I support Blair, and will be voting for him in primary. Not sure what I will do in general.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only rational choice is Blair. Elrich is in over his head, and Riemer lies so much that it makes him look malevolent.

He’s got a big following among independents. They need to change their registration to democrat.

I switched to Democrat so I can vote for Blair in the primary. I know two other friends who did also.

[Anonymous]

Elrich wants to spend $1mln to change the color of police uniforms, because the current black color is "intimidating".

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2022/05/montgomery-co-looks-into-a-change-in-uniform-for-its-police/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elrich wants to spend $1mln to change the color of police uniforms, because the current black color is "intimidating".

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2022/05/montgomery-co-looks-into-a-change-in-uniform-for-its-police/

I mean, police uniforms are changed all the time in many jurisdictions. It’s not like some bizarre leftish thing. The most interesting example is in the late 60s Menlo Park, CA experimented by changing their police uniforms to blazers.
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-blazer-experiment/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only rational choice is Blair. Elrich is in over his head, and Riemer lies so much that it makes him look malevolent.

I have to agree that Elrich is in over his head, but to be specific, he’s showing himself to be a more competent manager than I expected but is just a piss-poor leader. Elrich’s biggest problem is that he lets the council jerk him around, which demonstrates a lack of leadership. The main reason that this happens is that he shares the same base with most of the council, which makes him susceptible to political pressure.

I don’t think there is anyone who would argue that Hans Riemer would be a competent manager and in fact he’s well known for being flatly incompetent. That means that it is guaranteed that Riemer as CE would lead to a serious deterioration of public services. Do you like poor garbage collection, un-maintained and deteriorating parks, even higher crime, slow 911 response, potholes, broken sidewalks, etc well Hans Riemer will certainly bring that to Moco. And while he fancies himself a “leader” there are few, if any, people who actually respect him.

Having a CE who has a political base not beholden to the same old tired people who have led this county into the ditch would be a huge relief. While Blair seems to have qualities of a competent manager and a leader, the only thing that worries me is that he is too close with Silverman who represents the old power center that led us into the last ditch.

So I cannot decide between Blair or Elrich right now.

Can you give some examples of how he's a good manager? Many, MANY county workers are so over his micromanaging his pet projects.

The answer is in the counterfactual. Is there a specific public service in this county that runs poorly right now? And while it would be easier to say that he’s just riding the momentum from Leggett, in actual fact there are several things better now than when Leggett was CE. First off, there was the shady trash collection contract with Potomac which led to my house and others not having regular garbage collection for months. Second and indisputably ABS is actually not screwing up and seems to be running fine now. We could use more capital budget for roads, but that’s more on the Council. The only serious governance problem that I know of in Moco right now is MCPS and that’s not the CE’s responsibility. Notably the Council, including Riemer, has oversight over MCPS so that should give a lot of pause for concern.

Elrich has added tons of staff to his office, who get paid a LOT of money but don't really do much.

Public safety and Human Resources are falling apart. Without HR working well, you can't hire who you need. Berke left.

ABS isn't inspecting all the hookah lounges in Silver Spring that are selling alcohol under the table. And that's where the gun violence is situated.

The jail director is about to leave. That will be the second since Elrich started.

Everyone in OMB is leaving -- so tired of all his "special projects."

The director of DEP left.

The CAO was fired because of ethical violations.

HHS director left. The Health Officer left and they can't replace him.

Watch what happens if Elrich wins in July. A mass exodus.

The internal bureaucratic drama means nothing to me so long as the services are delivered and are high quality. There is also always turnover at the executive positions. Gayles was a disaster and it was for the better that he left (it was reported that he sent his resignation from vacation in a country that he was not authorized to travel for COVID restrictions). Whatever ethic lapses CAO made were dwarfed by the EDC under Leggett.

If this drama is true and spills over into quality of services then that’s another matter. However at present, its just meaningless to me as an ordinary citizen. Like I really don’t care and it’s completely unimportant to me if the HR director likes the CE or not.

I think you need to get out of your bubble.