Montgomery County, please give Elrich a chance. Don't let Floreen fool you.

[Anonymous]

Ficker, purely out of spite.

F this county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ficker, purely out of spite.

F this county.

Lol and I’m with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ficker, purely out of spite.

F this county.

Lol and I’m with you.

I’m in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blair only endorsed Elrich because he wants to be team player. His policies would have been completely different than what we will see with Elrich. Our county is so stupid to get the opportunity to have new blood that we desperately need (in Blair but honestly Frick would have been great), and instead vote for a socialist who has done a terrible job.

You got that right - what is wrong with us??
We don’t notice anything that is going in our county truly, we just vote for the first guy that promises us a pony.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am still waiting for a statement from someone about an actual Elrich policy that he has stated he intends to implement as County Executive that they find problematic and the reasons why it is problematic, and what Nancy Floreen or Robin Ficker offer as an alternative.

And no, "Marc Elrich is an anti-business Communist" or "We just need someone not from the Council" does not a substantial argument make.

-OP

Let's start with Elrich's flawed thinking that economic development is not a zero sum game. This lead to his infamous comments about creating jobs in Frederick as a solution for people working in MoCo or other jurisdictions, and living in Frederick due to housing costs. This was a foolish comment to make as it implies that he wants less people living and working in the County and going to other areas. If a company decides to set up shop in Frederick, that means that they chosen to bypass MoCo, and leads to an overall economic loss for MoCo, since you will have people living and working in Frederick. Moreover, the reality is that in the DC region, economic activity IS a zero sum game. The is evidenced by employers moving ship from MoCo to NoVA and the sheer volume of new jobs that exist in NoVA. Even DC has experience a higher number of job growth as employers are willing to pay a premium to have a DC address.

We can't rest on our laurels and think that people or employers will come to our county simply because it's Montgomery County. Other jurisdictions have surpassed us in quality of life, and all of those jurisdictions are welcoming to new jobs and residents. Just look at the development that is occurring in Fairfax and Arlington vs MoCo. In order to maintain our current level of services and remain competitive with other counties, we need to embrace economic growth, which includes new development.

I actually dislike Floreen and loathe Ficker. However, neither of them have ever promotion the idea of job creation or development in other counties as Elrich has done. I could go on, but that is a huge reason why I'll never vote for Elrich.

The only thing created in MoCo is housing. Nonstop high rise developments going in in Bethesda without infrastructure to support the new residents. No new roads, no new schools, no community center or ball fields . This short sighted county council just sees dollar signs in these new residents but it’s not sustainable because of a lack of quality of life. Enrich was and is of that council . No thanks!

So, I voted Blair in the primary because I agree with you that new blood would be a good thing - HOWEVER - I intend to vote for Elrich in the general. Yes, he was of the council that was responsible for uncontrolled development without infrastructure - HE WAS THE LONE DISSENTING VOTE on these very Council decisions! There's a reason why he was never elected Council president, because he didn't jive well with the others who were for this kind of irresponsible development.
I am also encouraged to hear what he has said about Amazon in agreeing to keep Ike's proposal plus viewing it as a mutually beneficial thing in which revenue could help pay for infrastructure. This is the kind of thinking I like to hear.

Please post some facts/links to support this.

[Anonymous]

I'm with OP on team Elrich. He is NOT against development, he is against development without improving infrastructure to keep up! Building more housing and paving over the little remaining green space we have in down county will not create jobs. This is what Floreen is for: yes to building anything (it's the developers who are funding her and have funded her for over a decade).

Marc Elrich is for responsible growth. Want to add thousands of houses/apartments/condos? Sure, but make sure there is room in the schools for all those kids or build new ones. Adding thousands more people, make sure there is transit for them, because our roads are already a disaster. And make sure police and firefighters and even the postal service can keep up!

Want businesses to move here? Property values to remain high? The schools have to remain top notch, and they are currently sliding from severe overcrowding and other reasons (lousy curriculum, bad policies from central office re: code of conduct for students [no consequences] and teachers [no discipline allowed], more students with many socio-economic needs, central office gutting our once amazing programs for those with special needs, etc.). More housing/students without the infrastructure will continue to destroy our already overwhelmed schools, which in turn means no businesses coming here.

Ficker is a disaster. Can't believe anyone would even consider him, and those of you who say you are fed up and are going to vote for him should reconsider, because if there are enough of you, you may just get that wish, and then our county will be seriously f*cked.

[Anonymous]

Ficker will run your property values into the ground.

[Anonymous]

Nope. Not voting for Elrich. Besides, I think he’s unfit to serve. He’s almost 70 years old, he’s grossly overweight, and temperamental. He’s a socialist version of Donald Trump. Two wrong extremes don’t meet in the center, vote for the center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not voting for Elrich. Besides, I think he’s unfit to serve. He’s almost 70 years old, he’s grossly overweight, and temperamental. He’s a socialist version of Donald Trump. Two wrong extremes don’t meet in the center, vote for the center.

You could make the Trump comparison with Leventhal. Temperament wise. Not Elrich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not voting for Elrich. Besides, I think he’s unfit to serve. He’s almost 70 years old, he’s grossly overweight, and temperamental. He’s a socialist version of Donald Trump. Two wrong extremes don’t meet in the center, vote for the center.

Wrong candidate, hon. George Leventhal lost the primary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ficker will run your property values into the ground.

Well, then at least my property taxes will finally stop rising.

[Anonymous]

Your property taxes went up one time, in 9 years, to help schools. Stop whining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your property taxes went up one time, in 9 years, to help schools. Stop whining.

+ 1

[Anonymous]

It's amazing what I see on here, you'd thing Montgomery County was as red as Alabama.

Trickle down economics doesn't work, and we learned that 30 years ago. You don't grow your tax base by cutting taxes. You just don't. Elrich has the right approach - restructure County government (and frankly getting the public Unions on board is a genius move), make developers pay for the infrastructure they require, attract businesses with improved infrastructure and quality of life, maximize their tax revenue so the burden isn't shifted onto yours.

Development requires infrastructure, there is no way around it. Someone is going to have to pay for it, and if it's not developers, it's going to be you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your property taxes went up one time, in 9 years, to help schools. Stop whining.

Yes, there was only one (monstrous) property tax hike- a full 9%, announced quietly on a holiday weekend.

But you better believe assessments go up every yr, so taxes DO go up every year, even if the rate doesnt change.