No, but they stood up and ran. She chickened out and now wants to play. Too late. She should join Blair’s campaign instead. |
I believe your concern is misplaced. Businesses are started where people LIVE. It’s a fact. No one wants a long commute, particularly not a CEO. Marriott was started in Bethesda because the Marriotts lived in Bethesda. Same with Honest Tea and others. People from Bethesda are ALREADY fleeing Bethesda for the District, or telling friends NOT to move here. This would just worsen under Floreen, who wants to spread MoCo’s traffic congestion and overcrowded schools to every nook and cranny of the County. She is openly contemptuous of long-time residents. If you want higher taxes, vote for her and her platform of bringing the worst of Germantown to Chevy Chase. |
You know, I was on the fence about who I would vote for (or none of the above), but thanks, now I’m voting for Elrich. This comparison of whatever candidate you don’t like to Donald Trump is ridiculous. Roger lost me when he did that. I actually ended up supporting Blair in the primary because he was being positive and on the issues. I was disinclined to back elrich in the general because he seems too beholden to unions, which also ran negative ads, but the Floreen camp is indeed being hypocritical. Elrich is not my first choice by any stretch, but he seems at least willing to negotiate. Some of the things his supporters have said are obnoxious, but Marc himself has seemed gracious since the primary, and Floreen’s supporters are being a whole lot worse. Elrich is far left but he is not a left-wing Trump. He does not call everything he disagrees with Fake News, he doesn’t speak in verbal diarrhea, he does not seem to want to gaslight the county or the country. I disagree with his interpretation of free-market economics but I do think he is smart and has at least somewhat intellectually cohesive arguments. Add to this the fact that it looks like we have a pretty moderate and reasonable council. So I don’t think Elrich could do that much damage from the left. And what is it with attacking Elrich for his appearance? You KNOW if anyone attacked Nancy Floreen’s appearance they’d be called sexist and misogynist. |
DP. This seems like a different issue than term limits, but I agree it is a little unseemly for her to go this route rather than the primary. But I'll get over that. I'd rather have a candidate with views closer to my own. It's similar to the Presidential level. If we wind find ourselves with a Warren v Trump race, I will be praying for a viable third candidate and won't really care how they got there. |
| 13:10 is right on the money - agree 100% |
Elrich was pretty much sidelined by the other council members for years. I’m not too worried. |
Elrich doesn’t give a damn about upcounty. |
But the best way not to worry about Elrich is if he is not elected, no? |
Elrich's policies of limiting new housing, development, and generally being anti-business in MoCo would cause the upper-middle class to flee the County or discourage millennials from moving in. The only people whom support Elrich are baby boomer NIMBYs who are resistant and afraid to any sort of change. Also, Arlington, Alexandria, Howard, Fairfax, and Loudoun have far more development going on then MoCo, are developing walkable communities, attracting employers and have a growing upper-middle class and millennial populations. Elrich's policies would only create more of stagnant economy and further erode our tax base. |
| I am neither a baby boomer nor a NIMBY, and I support Marc Elrich 100%. |
What's fiscally conservative about Floreen? She's in favor of every wildly-expensive road project in the county. |
I agree with you but the loon already has a lot of name recognition, and a lot of money which buys more name recognition. |
|
This is an article the Washington Post ran about how Elrich responded to rent controls at Hampshire Tower Apartments in Takoma Park:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/theyre-putting-us-out-rent-hikes-in-md-spotlight-need-for-affordable-housing/2015/09/05/14eaf0b0-50cd-11e5-9812-92d5948a40f8_story.html?utm_term=.79c5e21e7972 Personally, reading this article, I think Elrich isn't so much "anti-developer/business" as much as he is "pro-human being." Another article in the Washington Post links to that article in the phrasing, "top business leaders in the county said they are wary of Elrich, citing his backing from unions and his past support for rent control. Floreen, they say, would be best positioned to foster good development in the county." I cannot understand how being able to arbitrarily raise monthly rent costs by over $500, from over $1000/month to $1600/month, for no immediately discernable reason other than the owner's raw greed, could fit under the umbrella of "fostering good development." By "good development," do these top business leaders mean create an exodus of lower income folks, in favor of those with more disposable income? Whatever the reason, it seems like largely corporate-backed Democrats and Republicans are intent to allow as many people as possible to become commodities. Elrich was the only one in the County Executive race with a consistent record of pushing back against that behavior, whereas Floreen has a record of being more of a business opportunist. If you ask me, Elrich got pushed over the edge towards the win due to the Teacher's Apple ballot choices. I saw it on election day- voters going to the polls generally viewed it more favorably than others, and were attracted by the warm reception of teachers who volunteered to hand them out. Since those involved teachers are so connected with the surrounding community, many people trust their choices much more readily than some random person passing out flyers for any individual candidate, who the voter may have no inherent reason to trust. Robin Ficker has a supremely low chance of winning even with the split vote, due to him being historically unpopular even within his own party. Yet, in highlighting Floreen's past comments railing against third parties splitting the 2016 vote, she's going to have a difficult time getting around the perception that she's a hypocrite for circumventing the primary process to run as a third party at the last possible moment. The more that is revealed about her past hypocrisy, the more she will become unpalatable. |
|
On another note, for those who have commented about Floreen's past involvement in developing Bethesda:
http://bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2015/As-County-Council-President-Nancy-Floreen-Wants-to-Connect-With-a-Broader-Audience/ _Approving major master plans that could influence development in Bethesda for the next two decades_ "Floreen said the council will hold its public hearing on the Westbard Sector Plan in late January. The Montgomery County Planning Department is set to approve and send its recommendations to the council Dec. 17. The plan, which could provide zoning to allow for redevelopment of a suburban-style shopping center near River Road and Westbard Avenue in Bethesda, has attracted plenty of opposition from neighbors against significant development. Floreen, who served two terms on the Planning Board before running for council and who chairs the council’s Planning Committee, will have a prime role in ironing out the final version of the plan." http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2015/Westbard-Sector-Plan-Puts-Role-of-Planners-Planning-Board-and-Council-Members-Under-the-Microscope/ "Many residents opposed to development in the Westbard area of Bethesda say Montgomery County planners have so far produced a Westbard Sector Plan that’s not reflective of the traditional suburban setting they’ve become accustomed to. To some of those residents, creating a plan that allows for development of six-story buildings on what’s now a surface parking lot for the Westwood Shopping Center isn’t just misguided, it’s undemocratic." This is Floreen's true face. If Elrich wins, he will listen to the community and heed their needs. If Floreen wins, she will charge forward with her so-called "business-friendly" plans, the community's concerns be damned. |
I’m not a fan of Elrich, but you know he voted to approve the Westbard Plan, right? So much for listening to the people. |