If I believe as follows - who should I vote for between Floreen/Elrich/Ficker

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's what I don't understand about any of the MoCo Exec threads:

If Marc Elrich is a NIMBY who wants to protect segregation/exclusionary white homeowners,

Then why is the bulk of his support from Silver Spring and high-density urban downcounty areas, whereas (at least in the primary) he did worst in Potomac, which has ... exclusionary white homeowners?

It's because Elrich is not at all a NIMBY or trying to protect white homeowners. That's a campaign spin designed to make him more palatable to moderates. I'm actually shocked at how successful it has been.

Elrich is a social justice warrior with a dislike of "big business." He is not anti-development, but he favors residential development (especially affordable housing) over business development. He is opposed to providing any sort of incentives for big businesses to set up shop here. His is also laser-focused on certain areas of the County (such as Silver Spring) and has a fair amount of disdain for other areas such as Potomac, Upcounty, and to the west). He is a big supporter of social welfare programs and grants. He is a huge supporter of the public unions and intends to seek their input in how to restructure and run the government.

I think people should remember that Elrich and Floreen are running for County Exec. That is a significantly different role than Councilmember. The CE cannot create or abolish regulations. Of course, the CE's public support for or against a law, regulation, or project has a lot.of impact, but there are a lot of other players invovled with any development decision.

What the CE unquestionably has is the power to run the government and it's 10,000+ employees (police officers, teachers, bus drivers, office workers, inspectors, etc). The County government is the largest employer in MoCo, and it . Elrich is quite beholden to the unions and has stated his intent to allow the unions a say in the way the government operates, including how vacancies are handled and implementing a gainsharing agreement. Reasonable minds may differ on whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Look, I think all 3 choices are crap. I voted for Floreen but it was kind of a toss up and I'm ok if Elrich wins (well, as fine as I can be fovsm the lousy choices). A lot of his policies are good in theory and designed to fight socioeconomic inequality. He would probably be a great Directoe of Health and Human Services. I just don't think he has the scope to be an effective County Exec. The person in that role needs to think broadly and consider the needs of the entire county, which is not easy in a county as large and diverse as MoCo. I think Floreen has shown a better ability to do that. And I am opposed to giving the unions any say in how the government operates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elrich. Definitely Elrich.

I am a Dem and do not plan to vote for Elrich. Too knee jerkish liberal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's what I don't understand about any of the MoCo Exec threads:

If Marc Elrich is a NIMBY who wants to protect segregation/exclusionary white homeowners,

Then why is the bulk of his support from Silver Spring and high-density urban downcounty areas, whereas (at least in the primary) he did worst in Potomac, which has ... exclusionary white homeowners?

There's plenty of white baby-boomers in Silver Spring that are anti-development with the mindset that the County should remain a suburban place with single-family houses and strip malls. Look at the opposition that many of the Elrich supporters had to townhomes being built on the former Chelsea School site in Silver Spring. Ditto for Takoma Park, where Elrich supporters also objected to re-development of the Takoma Junction site. NIMBY, white baby boomers who tend to be strong Elrich supporters aren't exclusive to just Potomac.

[Anonymous]

Agree with the PP.

We live in Silver Spring and are not white. I despise the urbanization of Montgomery County. There are plenty of non-White people who don’t want to see MoCo become urbanized.

Overdevelopment is a big issue for me this election. Affects schools. Affects safety, affects my standard of living. On a daily basis.

[Anonymous]

Elrich is a social justice warrior with a dislike of "big business." He is not anti-development, but he favors residential development (especially affordable housing) over business development. He is opposed to providing any sort of incentives for big businesses to set up shop here. His is also laser-focused on certain areas of the County (such as Silver Spring) and has a fair amount of disdain for other areas such as Potomac, Upcounty, and to the west). He is a big supporter of social welfare programs and grants. He is a huge supporter of the public unions and intends to seek their input in how to restructure and run the government.

This X100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Elrich is a social justice warrior with a dislike of "big business." He is not anti-development, but he favors residential development (especially affordable housing) over business development. He is opposed to providing any sort of incentives for big businesses to set up shop here. His is also laser-focused on certain areas of the County (such as Silver Spring) and has a fair amount of disdain for other areas such as Potomac, Upcounty, and to the west). He is a big supporter of social welfare programs and grants. He is a huge supporter of the public unions and intends to seek their input in how to restructure and run the government.

This X100

And this is why Elrich will not get my vote.

[Anonymous]

Not at all against development just don't think we can do anything without thought or planning for its impact. Floreen's awful pro-development policies will get us more crowded schools and roads without the financial means to address it. That's why I'm voting for Elrich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Theoretically Elrich. However, Elrich has no love for Bethesda. His priorities are Silver Spring and Takoma Park. He pretty much hates Bethesda and Potomac. Considers them to be the "takers" of the County.

So, . . . I guess I'm saying it doesn't really matter who you vote for. You're screwed either way.

(Don't vote for Ficker. He's an absolute nut - bigger ego and attention seeker than Trump).

You are wrong about Elrich. He has been very helpful to neighbors in Bethesda, unlike Floreen - she’s the one who hates us!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I said Ficker because Floreen wants MORE development. I don’t live in Bethesda, but the overdevelopment is affecting all parts of the county, and MCPS.

And Elrich is waaaay too far left for me.

You sound like you fell for Flireen’s false advertising. Did you know they voted the same on 90% of issues? Elrich just won’t roll over and kowtow to developers. He believes you need to take care of infrastructure - esp schools and roads. This is one reason he is so popular in Bethesda and Chevy Chase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Floreen because even though she is tied to developers, if she wins this race it will be because of areas like Bethesda that finally turned over the Silver Spring monopoly on county politics, power and policies. If enough people in Bethesda believe as you do she'll have to align with the base that put her in office. She'll direct developers toward other areas to retain power.

I agree with other posters that Ehrlich only has contempt for Bethesda and will only work toward improving TP and Silver Spring. He wont stop the over development of Bethesda because its his piggy bank for the projects he wants to do in the east. If Ehrlich wins, Bethesda is screwed.

Agree with others that Ficker is too unstable and no idea what he would do.

You must not live in Bethesda. We love him in my neighborhood!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Bethesda and feel that way too many big buildings are going up in the Bethesda row / Wisconsin Ave area. I'm worried about traffic congestion, school capacity, etc.

Let's just say it's my pref that development takes a big pause for a while. I understand many may disagree with me! That said, which of the three listed above best aligns with my preferences. Guess Elrich, but not really sure.

I"m voting for Floreen. I live in DTSS and I also hate the new big buildings going up. I'm afraid any cute stores will evidentially be gone and we will end up looking like Bethesda...Boo

Floreen is the better of the three choices,

OMG, this is the polar opposite of reality. Nancy wants to pave over everything. Elrich is the voice of reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Bethesda and feel that way too many big buildings are going up in the Bethesda row / Wisconsin Ave area. I'm worried about traffic congestion, school capacity, etc.

Let's just say it's my pref that development takes a big pause for a while. I understand many may disagree with me! That said, which of the three listed above best aligns with my preferences. Guess Elrich, but not really sure.

Vote for Elrich.

The vast majority of this forum is going to tell you to vote for Floreen because its target audience is also her target audience: Upper-middle class married white women over 40. (This will probably be followed with anonymous posters claiming not to be of that demographic, but I have much reason to believe that this IS the demographic that posts here.) This is a completely neutral hypothesis. Gauging by all the posts about the local elections here, the political slant on this site runs surface-level socially liberal, mainstream liberal on federal issues, and fiscally conservative.

To be completely honest, none of the candidates are going to put development to a halt. This is simply impossible. We live in a bustling and expanding metro area, for better or for worse.
Elrich is very explicit, but wonky, on the nuts-and-bolts of things, which in this election cycle is more of a curse on him than a blessing because people tend not to follow and to simplify things into him being anti-housing. He isn't. He wants housing to keep pace with infrastructure. The valid counter-argument will be that the costs and restrictions on developers will be instead pushed onto new residents, in the form of higher costs and/or lower supply, but I see this as the problem with developers, not Elrich. Ultimately, development will still happen, but hopefully at a more sustainable pace (and likely along with a lot of whining over lower profits for Nulsen and Lee).

[i]Floreen will let developers build basically anywhere, anyplace, anytime.

Ficker, honestly, is a complete wildcard. To call him a far-right Trumper is incorrect. He's said quite lefty things like pushing to a $15 minimum wage faster than everyone else, and then he's said the solution to homelessness is Amazon. He makes things up as he goes along. On development, he'll listen to the last person in the room, and then return to his talking point on property taxes. To his credit, he might not be ideological. Who knows if he means well; he is not qualified.

Ficker would be better than Floreen. As this isn't the White House, four years of complete buffoonery and incompetence might be the right level of embarrassment we need to get our priorities and our electoral system in place while we let the council be the adults in the room and handle what they can. His damage could be fixed or controlled. Floreen's could not.

Elrich would be the top choice for your values, or for someone who values environmental issues, labor, racial equity, limiting the influence of corporate money in politics, developing small and local businesses, and alleviating income inequality He is not the top choice for someone who prioritizes rapid urbanization, subsidizing large corporations, enabling corporate influence in elections, encouraging highways and roads, emulating Tysons Corner, etc. Again, please read this assessment with a neutral tone. There are some people who do prioritize the latter and that's fine. Floreen is the choice for them. We'll see by November 6th which choice wins.

Yup. And those rich middle class white Women can go relax at their country club while their kids are snugly nestled in their private schools but the rest of us need good uncrowded public schools, parks, community centers, roads that aren’t clogged and to see the sun.

I hate Floreen for this.

You hate her? So weird.

I hate her too. The pp probably lives in my Bethesda neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not at all against development just don't think we can do anything without thought or planning for its impact. Floreen's awful pro-development policies will get us more crowded schools and roads without the financial means to address it. That's why I'm voting for Elrich.

That’s why I voted for Elrich. I don’t mind development but if schools and infrastructure won’t keep up, then it will ruin the county. We don’t need overcrowding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ultra-high-density is the wave of the future for Bethesda. Single family homes with lawns and driveways are dinosaurs, and will be the slums of the future. Millennials don't want to mess with lucky lawn chemicals or cut grass, or have a big inefficient house. Small efficiency condos on top of mixed retail is the future. Embrace change or get left on the garbage dump of history.

Are you on the Planning Board? Seriously, things progress in shades of grey, not black and white. Land will always be valuable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's what I don't understand about any of the MoCo Exec threads:

If Marc Elrich is a NIMBY who wants to protect segregation/exclusionary white homeowners,

Then why is the bulk of his support from Silver Spring and high-density urban downcounty areas, whereas (at least in the primary) he did worst in Potomac, which has ... exclusionary white homeowners?

Because he is NOT a NIMBY protecting white homeowners. He just happens to believe that residents have the right to be listened to by their council members. Woe unto you if you need Floreen’s help with anything that doesn’t match the developer agenda.