Montgomery County Council candidates running for the newly created District 4 mostly agreed on issues related to affordable housing, policing and sustainability during a virtual forum Wednesday night hosted by Bethesda Magazine and Bethesda Beat.
District 4, nicknamed the “bowtie district” due to its shape, includes North Bethesda, Kensington, Silver Spring and Takoma Park. The district also includes a small portion of Chevy Chase. County Council districts were redrawn last year due to the expansion of the council from five district seats to seven and the results of the 2020 Census.
The Democrats running in the July 19 primary for District 4 are:
- Kate Stewart, the mayor of Takoma Park
- Al Carr, a state delegate from Kensington
- Amy Ginsburg, executive director of Friends of White Flint
- John Zittrauer, an employee at Denizens Brewing Co. in Silver Spring
- Troy Murtha, a law student at The George Washington University
Murtha was the only Democratic candidate who did not participate in Wednesday’s forum. Cheryl Riley is the only Republican who has filed for District 4.
When the candidates were asked about police accountability and concerns over a recent spike in crime in the county, Zittrauer criticized the county’s recent initiative to create a police accountability board, which would handle complaints about possible police misconduct. Zittrauer argued there isn’t enough civilian oversight.
“The prerequisite for being part of the police accountability board was to have previously managed law enforcement, so it’s basically cops policing cops,” he said.
Zittrauer said there should be a focus on alleviating poverty, and then crime will likely decrease.
Stewart said that in Takoma Park, police have reduced traffic stops by 80% — noting such stops are often the source of racial profiling by officers. She thinks there should be a similar reduction of traffic stops at the county level.
“We can target where we do our traffic enforcement, reducing our actions with the police department and create safer communities that treat everyone with dignity and respect,” she said.
Ginsburg said she agreed on minimizing the number of traffic stops and said there needs to be more mental health responses to police calls.
Carr touted his experience in the state legislature working with House Speaker Adrienne Jones to enact “one of the toughest police reform measures in the United States.” Carr, who is Black, said he also has had personal experience with being stopped by police because of his skin color.
“I bring that perspective to the job, and I can relate to what those communities feel like both as crime victims, and also people who are concerned about how they’re treated by police,” he said.
When discussing affordable housing, the candidates agreed on the need for more housing and expressed support for Thrive 2050 — the proposed update to the county’s general master plan.
Stewart said the county needs to increase the supply of housing particularly for people who live near the future light-rail Purple Line that will run from New Carrollton to Bethesda. She said 47% of people who live along the line are “house burdened,” meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing.
Stewart added that the county must examine its zoning laws and eliminate exclusionary zoning that was used to separate communities after World War II.
“That was put in place hundreds of years ago for public safety reasons, quite frankly, to make sure that factories weren’t next to where people lived,” she said. “But unfortunately after World War II, that was used to segregate our communities, and had real impact on Black and Brown residents that we continue to live with today.”
Ginsburg said there hasn’t been enough housing built in the county for 30 years, and one-third of households in the county are “rent-burdened.”
“We need to build more affordable, attainable and market rate housing. We need to build it all,” she said.
Zittrauer, a renter, said he would have “no chance of living in the county” without the Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) program, which offers units at affordable rents for lower income residents.
“We need more housing, especially near transit, especially affordable housing,” he said.
Zittrauer also said he thinks more measures are needed to fight poverty and homelessness.
“I’ve seen the same people outside of Metro stations and sleeping underneath overpasses who have been in that spot longer than I’ve been in this county,” he said.
In discussing environmental sustainability, Stewart said the county should focus on creating more “walkable communities” in which people can connect easily with public transportation. She and other candidates also agreed that the county needs to invest more in composting.
Ginsburg concurred with Stewart that more walkable communities are needed in the county. She also said the county can do more when it comes to implementing solar and wind energy in the upcounty agricultural reserve.
Carr said he wants to see more investment in the county’s Ride On bus service, as well as all-day, two-way MARC train service. Carr also said he thinks more can be done when it comes to converting county vehicle fleets to electric fleets and adding more electric charging stations.
“I think we need to do everything we can do, but it has to be practical. And I would focus on that if elected to the County Council,” he said.
Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@moco360.media
