In their second debate this month, the three candidates running to be Montgomery County’s next county executive illuminated their differences over Gov. Larry Hogan’s plan to add toll lanes to Interstate 270 and the Beltway to alleviate traffic congestion.
About 100 people attended the Monday night session hosted by the Montgomery County Sentinel at the Montgomery County Council office building in Rockville.
Democrat Marc Elrich and Independent candidate Nancy Floreen, both outgoing members of the County Council, as well as Republican candidate Robin Ficker said they would instead favor reversible lanes on I-270. Floreen said the lanes should be extended all the way to the interstate’s terminus in Frederick.
Elrich said the biggest issue was the traffic backup on I-495’s American Legion Bridge, spanning the Potomac River, during rush hour. But taxpayer dollars would be better spent on other transit solutions than on fixing the Beltway’s traffic problems, he said.
“It’s the kind of project that ought to give you pause and say, ‘Why can’t we do better with transit?’” he said.
Floreen countered that the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., have a high demand for road improvements that has created immediate needs on the two roads.
“It’s fun to talk about induced travel, but the fact of the matter is that most people in this room live in a vehicle-dependent location,” she said.
Ficker noted that he was in the best position to comment on I-270’s traffic problems, claiming that he was the “only one that drives down 270” of the three, and that his opponents spent too much in the “Takoma Park trapezoid.” Ficker was born in Takoma Park but now lives in Boyds. Elrich lives in Takoma Park while Floreen is a resident of Garrett Park.
Later in the debate, Elrich responded to a question from moderator Brian Karem, the Sentinel’s executive editor, about whether he was concerned about the slow progress of Metro’s maintenance. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which operates Metro, has been working on improving service and track maintenance in recent years.
“I think it’s taken a while to get back to good,” he said, poking fun at Metro’s recent public relations campaign, which asserts that the system will soon be functioning with fewer delays.
Elrich said he worries that Metro is underfunded, and that the underfunding could affect opportunities for future economic development in the county.
“If we can’t even fund the Metro system … why on earth would Amazon come here?” he said, referring to the fact that the company chose Montgomery County as one of 20 finalists for its new HQ2 headquarters. Amazon is expected to announce its selection of a site by the end of the year.
Floreen said she thought the county had a decent chance of attracting Amazon, and credited the partnership between Hogan and outgoing County Executive Ike Leggett, a Democrat.
“What this county’s gonna need going forward is someone who can work with whoever’s in the gubernatorial seat,” she said.
Later in the evening, Karem asked the candidates what could be done to reduce officer-involved shootings in the county, particularly in light of the June 11 Silver Spring shooting, in which Robert Lawrence White, who was unarmed, was killed by officer Anand Badgujar. Howard County prosecutors, who investigated the shooting per an agreement with Montgomery County police, determined the shooting was legally justified.
The candidates largely skirted the issue, with Floreen and Elrich pivoting to the county economy by saying more needed to be done to grow jobs. When pressed by Karem, Floreen said she thought the county had done “a pretty good job, but can do better,” when it comes to improving officer training. Elrich then addressed the Silver Spring incident specifically, noting that had Badgujar been armed with a Taser, a fatality could have been prevented.
Ficker suggested replacing police Chief Thomas Manger with Jae Hwang, who is currently running for county sheriff against incumbent Darren Popkin.
“We need a new police chief, and in my term in office we are not going to shoot any people that are unarmed,” he said.
Ficker’s response was met with chuckles and murmurs from the crowd.
Floreen has been criticized for shedding her Democratic Party affiliation and entering the race late as an independent. At an earlier debate this month, according to The Washington Post, she said the only reason she did so was because Elrich won the June primary among six Democratic candidates, narrowly beating Potomac businessman David Blair. When asked by Karem whether she thought her candidacy could potentially split the Democratic vote and give Ficker a better chance of winning the race, she brushed the notion off.
“I would not have done this for an instant if I thought that were possible,” she said.
Floreen questioned the Republican attorney’s stability as a candidate during the debate.
“I’m looking forward to Mr. Ficker explaining how when you’ve been suspended from the practice of law twice … how do you expect to bring any skill to running a $5.5 billion budget?” she said.
Ficker responded by saying he had championed the idea of term limits for county council members in 2016, which about 70 percent of voters approved that year. The Republican said that Floreen and Elrich, who have served on the council for 16 and 12 years respectively, hadn’t made any significant changes in that time.
“They’ve done nothing. We need a new approach,” he said.
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@moco360.media
