The Montgomery County Council unanimously elected George Leventhal as president and Nancy Floreen as vice president Tuesday.
The election marks Leventhal’s second term as president. He previously served in the leadership role in 2006. Both Floreen and Leventhal will serve one-year terms as officers. Leventhal is beginning his 13th year on the council as an at-large member, while Floreen has been serving since she was elected to an at-large seat in 2002. Leventhal replaces outgoing president Craig Rice.
In a statement, Leventhal continued the focus on business and the economy that County Executive Ike Leggett detailed during his inauguration speech Monday. Leventhal’s slogan for his tenure is “The County That Works,” a word play on former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s “The City That Works” slogan.
“We are ready to work with Maryland’s new governor,” Leventhal said in remarks upon taking office. “We want a state government that works, and we want a county government that works. We are not Congress, and we are not going to engage in petty partisanship at the expense of our efficiency or our productivity. We want results, and we want a county government focused on customer service.”
Leventhal will lead a council that remains all Democrats, although members differ on some issues, particularly development. Earlier this year, Leventhal and Councilmember Marc Elrich, a Takoma Park resident who frequently criticizes the county’s development policies, had a “testy exchange” during a council session in October over that centered on increasing development in the county, according to The Washington Post.
Leventhal later removed Elrich from the council’s influential planning, housing and economic development committee, which reviews master plans and development proposals before they come to the full council, and gave him the chairmanship of the public safety committee.
Leventhal said in his speech Tuesday that he would like to see the county market itself better and improve its transportation infrastructure.
“Our message to the new governor must be that building new transit and improving our road network creates jobs and strengthens local entrepreneurship,” said Leventhal, a longtime supporter of the proposed light-rail Purple Line, a project whose future is now in question with the election of Republican Larry Hogan to the governor’s office. “There will only be new business startups in Lyttonsville, Long Branch and Takoma-Langley if the Purple Line is built.”
Leventhal also announced the formation of an ad hoc committee on liquor control, which he will serve on that will be chaired by Councilmember Hans Riemer and include Marc Elrich. “We are going to act right away to ensure accountability and results… [and the Office of Legislative Oversight] will assist us in developing a report with recommendations for how to proceed in this complex policy arena.”
Leventhal said he’ll adopt an open-door policy regarding fellow councilmembers and he plans to work with them to achieve the county’s goals.