Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services Director Uma Ahluwalia will resign her position Dec. 1, just a few days before Marc Elrich is sworn in as the next county executive.
Ahluwalia confirmed the date of her departure in an email to Bethesda Beat Friday afternoon.
“I am leaving so that the new [county executive] has the choice to hire the Director of this key department,” she wrote, referring to Elrich. “Not sure where I am going yet. Focused on wrapping up my work here. I will look towards what is next after December 1.”
Ahluwalia has been the director of the department since February 2007, according to her LinkedIn profile. Previously she had served as the interim director of the Child and Family Services Agency in Washington, D.C., from 2005 to 2007, and held several health and social service jobs prior to that. She received a master’s degree in social work from Delhi University in India in 1989 and a master’s in health administration from George Washington University in 1994.
Elrich has often discussed plans to restructure government, but declined to say during a previous interview whether Ahluwalia would remain in her position.
Ahluwalia was the highest paid female county employee in 2017, earning $237,500. The highest paid county employee that year was Chief Administrative Officer Tim Firestine, who earned $315,216. Firestine, who has served in his position for 12 years, has announced he plans to leave office at the end of the year. Andrew Kleine, who was formerly the budget director for the city of Baltimore, will succeed Firestine.
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@moco360.media
