Montgomery County Council District 1

 

Republican

 

Richard Banach

Where you live: Chevy Chase

Date of birth: February 1998

Current occupation and employer (may also list up to two other jobs you’ve held); if retired, list your last job and employer: College student

Political experience (public offices held and when, as well as unsuccessful campaigns for office and which years): None

Campaign information:

1 – What experience (work, political or other) has prepared you to hold this office? (100 words max)

I am a 20-year-old college student studying political science, yet I have a deeper understanding of how to reduce youth crime and provide equality of opportunity in our schools. Our council is mostly made up of people in their late 50s and 60s. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. We need someone on the council to think differently and find innovative solutions. Call me ageist for thinking another person in their late 50s or 60s is going to be any different from their peers.

2 – What is the most important issue in this race and what specific plans do you have to address it? (100 words max)

MCPS and Montgomery College are over 50% of our county’s budget, yet they are overshadowed by other issues. We need someone on the council to promote equality of opportunity by updating school curriculums, technology and incentive structure. 100 words is not enough for me to identify and explain all the problems within MCPS that are not being addressed. Our schools need to be ahead of the curve by providing classes on trade skills and computer science, all the while pushing the start time of schools back to reduce sleep deprivation and youth car crashes.

3 – What is one major issue the current County Council has handled poorly and what would you have done differently? (100 words max)

I am not running to nitpick mistakes by the Council for my own gain. I am here to promote a positive vision for Montgomery County, where our education is second to none, business flourishes and people have a great quality of life. However, we have not had a Republican in over a decade and a half, which has caused a monopoly of power for Democrats. I am no economist, but I know that monopolies reduce innovation and cost consumers more than if there was competition. So ask yourself, do you believe in business monopolies?

4 – What measures do you advocate to address what is often referred to as the “achievement gap” in Montgomery County Public Schools? (100 words max)

100 words is not enough to answer this question. I explain in detail how to solve this issue. https://www.facebook.com/Banach4CC/posts/1148507661972408?__tn__=K-R.

5 – Do you support Gov. Hogan’s plan to ease traffic congestion by widening I-495 and I-270, including the installation of toll lanes? (100 words max)

Yes, but I would also like to see increased funding for the Metro to complement his plan.

 

 

Democrat

 

Andrew Friedson

Where you live: Bethesda

Date of birth: Jan. 9, 1986

Current occupation and employer (may also list up to two other jobs you’ve held); if retired, list your last job and employer: Senior policy advisor, comptroller of Maryland; chair of the Montgomery County Collaboration Council for Children, Youth and Families

Political experience (public offices held and when, as well as unsuccessful campaigns for office and which years): No prior or unsuccessful campaigns for office

Campaign information:

1 – What experience (work, political or other) has prepared you to hold this office? (100 words max)

As senior policy advisor for Maryland’s Comptroller, I scrutinized agencies and reviewed billions in government contracts to ensure transparency and accountability, helped teachers secure a dignified retirement, and restructured Maryland’s 529 College Savings to help families save for college. With that, and my experience launching a statewide program to help Marylanders with disabilities achieve financial security, supplying direct financing to aid Maryland’s women and minority-owned small businesses, and providing programming to support Montgomery County’s at-risk youth as Chair of the Collaboration Council for Children, Youth & Families, I’m prepared to provide the new leadership we need for challenges we face.

2 – What is the most important issue in this race and what specific plans do you have to address it? (100 words max)

We have a wage and age challenge that threatens our ability to maintain our quality of life and level of services, and to keep up with our growing needs. With declining wages, an aging workforce, and a shrinking private sector, we have remained too reliant on a federal workforce that isn’t growing to sustain our local economy. Unless we are willing to sacrifice services, our quality of life, or taking care of people who need it most, or are comfortable with continual property tax increases, we need to grow a private sector economy with better jobs and higher wages.

3 – What is one major issue the current County Council has handled poorly and what would you have done differently? (100 words max)

Debt service is currently the third largest item in the budget, behind education and public safety. That isn’t sustainable, and reflects a lack of fiscal oversight and inability to grow the tax base (despite increasing taxes). I will utilize my skills scrutinizing billions in government contracts, holding agencies accountable, and supporting small businesses to provide better fiscal oversight and grow private investment by streamlining the permitting process, reforming the budget process to promote innovation, finding efficiencies through a top-to-bottom review of spending, and including small business effects of proposed polices in every fiscal impact statement, as the General Assembly does.

4 – What measures do you advocate to address what is often referred to as the “achievement gap” in Montgomery County Public Schools? (100 words max)

did not answer

5 – Do you support Gov. Hogan’s plan to ease traffic congestion by widening I-495 and I-270, including the installation of toll lanes? (100 words max)

did not answer