We are NEVER going back until covid is 100% gone - MCPS has no leadership

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I agree. But lets also be real. Put up the most moderate republican, somebody would be crucified as a RINO, outside of MD. And most folks down here would see the 'R' next to the name and not vote for them. No matter what. Nobody should do that.

Nobody should vote straight party lines without understanding the candidate. People in this county have blind faith in their party and their leader.

and in the words of the greatest musician of our time, Bruce Springsteen, "Blind faith in your leaders, or in anything, will get you killed."

Realistic solution: open primaries. For local offices like Council, everyone gets to vote for all candidates across the ballot, doesn't matter your party or their party. It'll end up being 2 D's on the general ballot, but at least one of them is likely to be moderate.

How to justify it: 1/3 of registered voters in MoCo are independent. Also, we have taxpayer-funded campaign financing, but currently an independent can't even vote (in the primaries) for or against someone whose campaign is being funded by their tax dollars.

Of course they can. All they have to do is register as a Democrat, a Republican, or anyone else who's having a party primary. I have very little patience for people who register as an independent and then complain that they can't vote in a party primary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is all so completely true. The county leadership is horrendous.

But watch on Election Day. Voters will continue voting for the SAME nonsense. It truly makes no sense in such a reportedly ‘educated’ county.

The Council and CoExec aren't on the ballot, but I'm voting out the Board of Ed incumbents (Evans and Smondrowski) for sure.

Have you looked at their challengers? They're worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New post on Seventh State. Elrich responded to the county not using the money they were given by being "surprised" the Council was mad about this:

http://www.theseventhstate.com/?p=13986

Following the meeting, which Elrich did not attend, he told Montgomery Community Media he was surprised at the council’s reaction. “There is no way the money goes out the door the next day.” Elrich explained that applications for funds must be gone through to make sure they meet the requirements. “This is the whole thing about allocating money,” he said, adding, “We are not holding money back.”

Is he talking in circles? It's the job of his branch to apply for the money and spend it. They haven't been doing so.

Also, his standard response is getting more ridiculous by the day.

Hogan takes an action. Elrich is "stunned"

Salmon announces a school measure. Elrich is "shocked and disappointed"

County council is upset that the executive branch is failing to meet its obligations. Elrich is "surprised by their reaction."

At some point, you have to look at the common denominator. and that's our county exectuvie.

I got to say, I'm completely "disheartened" by his complete lack of competence or awareness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The Republicans would have to be extraordinarily differentiated because people typically vote straight tickets. It’s just improbable.

No, they'd just have to campaign effectively. Door-knocking, talking to the voters, etc. Not a novel concept.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I agree. But lets also be real. Put up the most moderate republican, somebody would be crucified as a RINO, outside of MD. And most folks down here would see the 'R' next to the name and not vote for them. No matter what. Nobody should do that.

Nobody should vote straight party lines without understanding the candidate. People in this county have blind faith in their party and their leader.

and in the words of the greatest musician of our time, Bruce Springsteen, "Blind faith in your leaders, or in anything, will get you killed."

Realistic solution: open primaries. For local offices like Council, everyone gets to vote for all candidates across the ballot, doesn't matter your party or their party. It'll end up being 2 D's on the general ballot, but at least one of them is likely to be moderate.

How to justify it: 1/3 of registered voters in MoCo are independent. Also, we have taxpayer-funded campaign financing, but currently an independent can't even vote (in the primaries) for or against someone whose campaign is being funded by their tax dollars.

Of course they can. All they have to do is register as a Democrat, a Republican, or anyone else who's having a party primary. I have very little patience for people who register as an independent and then complain that they can't vote in a party primary.

Taxpayer funding went to both Republicans and Democrats last time around. I can't vote for or against both of them at once, since I'd need to register for one party or the other.

If they were not taxpayer-funded, possibly a different issue, but they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New post on Seventh State. Elrich responded to the county not using the money they were given by being "surprised" the Council was mad about this:

http://www.theseventhstate.com/?p=13986

Following the meeting, which Elrich did not attend, he told Montgomery Community Media he was surprised at the council’s reaction. “There is no way the money goes out the door the next day.” Elrich explained that applications for funds must be gone through to make sure they meet the requirements. “This is the whole thing about allocating money,” he said, adding, “We are not holding money back.”

Is he talking in circles? It's the job of his branch to apply for the money and spend it. They haven't been doing so.

Also, his standard response is getting more ridiculous by the day.

Hogan takes an action. Elrich is "stunned"

Salmon announces a school measure. Elrich is "shocked and disappointed"

County council is upset that the executive branch is failing to meet its obligations. Elrich is "surprised by their reaction."

At some point, you have to look at the common denominator. and that's our county exectuvie.

I got to say, I'm completely "disheartened" by his complete lack of competence or awareness.

The guy sent his subordinate (Stoddard) to take the beating instead of taking it himself If thats not a lack of leadership, I honestly don't know what is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New post on Seventh State. Elrich responded to the county not using the money they were given by being "surprised" the Council was mad about this:

http://www.theseventhstate.com/?p=13986

Following the meeting, which Elrich did not attend, he told Montgomery Community Media he was surprised at the council’s reaction. “There is no way the money goes out the door the next day.” Elrich explained that applications for funds must be gone through to make sure they meet the requirements. “This is the whole thing about allocating money,” he said, adding, “We are not holding money back.”

Is he talking in circles? It's the job of his branch to apply for the money and spend it. They haven't been doing so.

Also, his standard response is getting more ridiculous by the day.

Hogan takes an action. Elrich is "stunned"

Salmon announces a school measure. Elrich is "shocked and disappointed"

County council is upset that the executive branch is failing to meet its obligations. Elrich is "surprised by their reaction."

At some point, you have to look at the common denominator. and that's our county exectuvie.

I got to say, I'm completely "disheartened" by his complete lack of competence or awareness.

The guy sent his subordinate (Stoddard) to take the beating instead of taking it himself If thats not a lack of leadership, I honestly don't know what is.

And they called him out for it. MCPS has no hope as long as he's in the picture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The guy sent his subordinate (Stoddard) to take the beating instead of taking it himself If thats not a lack of leadership, I honestly don't know what is.

The "subordinate" is Director at Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security.

It's like complaining that he sent the Director of Transportation to answer questions about transportation instead of answering them himself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The guy sent his subordinate (Stoddard) to take the beating instead of taking it himself If thats not a lack of leadership, I honestly don't know what is.

The "subordinate" is Director at Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security.

It's like complaining that he sent the Director of Transportation to answer questions about transportation instead of answering them himself.

It's a question of leadership. Stoddard is high on the org chart, but still his subordinate.

It's why the CEOs of the banks get called before congress, not their deputies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I agree. But lets also be real. Put up the most moderate republican, somebody would be crucified as a RINO, outside of MD. And most folks down here would see the 'R' next to the name and not vote for them. No matter what. Nobody should do that.

Nobody should vote straight party lines without understanding the candidate. People in this county have blind faith in their party and their leader.

and in the words of the greatest musician of our time, Bruce Springsteen, "Blind faith in your leaders, or in anything, will get you killed."

Realistic solution: open primaries. For local offices like Council, everyone gets to vote for all candidates across the ballot, doesn't matter your party or their party. It'll end up being 2 D's on the general ballot, but at least one of them is likely to be moderate.

How to justify it: 1/3 of registered voters in MoCo are independent. Also, we have taxpayer-funded campaign financing, but currently an independent can't even vote (in the primaries) for or against someone whose campaign is being funded by their tax dollars.

Of course they can. All they have to do is register as a Democrat, a Republican, or anyone else who's having a party primary. I have very little patience for people who register as an independent and then complain that they can't vote in a party primary.

Taxpayer funding went to both Republicans and Democrats last time around. I can't vote for or against both of them at once, since I'd need to register for one party or the other.

If they were not taxpayer-funded, possibly a different issue, but they are.

There are lots of things that are taxpayer-funded that a given person can't access. Schools, for example. If you don't have school-aged children, you can't access the services that half of county revenue pays for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And they called him out for it. MCPS has no hope as long as he's in the picture.

Now tell us what the current status of the other area school districts is. You know, the school districts in localities where Elrich is not county executive. Is it also Elrich's fault that the students in those school districts are doing distance learning?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The bold is extraordinarily poor leadership. He spent money he didn’t have but expected to have. FEMA reimbursement has ALWAYS been difficult. Why didn’t he know that or plan contingencies around? MCPS has no chance of going back because of complete abdication of leadership responsibility (which gets cheered on here incredibly).

I mean, its a COMPLETE failure of leadership.

One on hand, he gets 183 million in CARES ACT money, but can't get his act together fast enough to figure out to disburse it, and now we run the risk of having to return it to the federal government. Meanwhile, while he figures out the right application process, business closes, families go hungry, and tenants get further behind on rent. But he's "shocked that people would be upset"

And on the other hand, he approves 50 million in hazard pay assuming we would be reimbursed; he was wrong.

He's burning the candle of incompetence from both ends. If it wasn't causing so much damage, it would be an amazing sight to see.

I need to get off the boards. I’ve never been so discouraged about a path forward than now. The above is just so depressing and maddening. How are people defending this?

It's just the Russians stirring up trouble!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And they called him out for it. MCPS has no hope as long as he's in the picture.

Now tell us what the current status of the other area school districts is. You know, the school districts in localities where Elrich is not county executive. Is it also Elrich's fault that the students in those school districts are doing distance learning?

They're all creating viable pathways forward. They're all continuing to test the waters at each board meeting on next steps. Did you see the mountain of PPE that FCPS (Fairfax) has accumulated, including plexiglass, millions of masks, tens of thousands of face shields, 14K classrooms with gallon-sized sanitizer installed, custodian overtime hours, HVAC fixes, one-way hallways marked, etc? They're all in the same spot now, but that won't continue. What hope does MCPS have to do any of this? Or do you think none of this is necessary and just a waste?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The bold is extraordinarily poor leadership. He spent money he didn’t have but expected to have. FEMA reimbursement has ALWAYS been difficult. Why didn’t he know that or plan contingencies around? MCPS has no chance of going back because of complete abdication of leadership responsibility (which gets cheered on here incredibly).

I mean, its a COMPLETE failure of leadership.

One on hand, he gets 183 million in CARES ACT money, but can't get his act together fast enough to figure out to disburse it, and now we run the risk of having to return it to the federal government. Meanwhile, while he figures out the right application process, business closes, families go hungry, and tenants get further behind on rent. But he's "shocked that people would be upset"

And on the other hand, he approves 50 million in hazard pay assuming we would be reimbursed; he was wrong.

He's burning the candle of incompetence from both ends. If it wasn't causing so much damage, it would be an amazing sight to see.

I need to get off the boards. I’ve never been so discouraged about a path forward than now. The above is just so depressing and maddening. How are people defending this?

It's just the Russians stirring up trouble!

the fact that I get called a Russian troll on these board, simply for posting facts about Marc Elrich is astounding. I've lived in this county for 13 years. And don't have a drop of russian blood him.

These are facts, we are at risk of forfeiting hundreds of millions in aid due to his leadership. We are also not on the hook for tens of millions of dollars in hazard pay, because he assumed FEMA would reimburse.

Lets be honest, Elrich doesnt need any russian trolls to make him look bad; he does a good enough job himself

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And they called him out for it. MCPS has no hope as long as he's in the picture.

Now tell us what the current status of the other area school districts is. You know, the school districts in localities where Elrich is not county executive. Is it also Elrich's fault that the students in those school districts are doing distance learning?

Fair. This thread has pivoted to be about his general incompetence, not just about schools. He's not solely to blame on that.

But his willingness to relinquish his responsibilities to Gayles is concerning. We have a doctor making public health policy; that makes sense. But he's basically empowered the doctor to also make economic and education policy; that makes no sense.