Neighbors for a Better Montgomery

 County Council Candidate Questionnaire

  Responses by Marc Elrich

 

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You can scroll through this document, or jump to the questions you are interested in by clicking on these links:

Education

Environment

Growth and Development

Government Accountability, Fair and Open Public Process

Public Health, Welfare, and Quality of Life

Land Use Policy

Transportation

Transportation/Transit/Transit-Oriented Development

Transportation/Regional Transportation Authority

 

The following questions represent issues of importance to Neighbors for a Better Montgomery. Candidates can answer most questions by simply indicating their responses by a check mark in the appropriate survey table. Other answers require short narrative responses.

However, Neighbors for a Better Montgomery has a full appreciation for the complexity of the issues detailed in this questionnaire. Therefore, in addition to responding to the specific questions in the candidate's survey, candidates may further explain their positions to any question in a narrative form on a separate sheet of paper.

Each candidate's completed survey will be posted in full in pdf format on our website for review by voters, the press and public.

 

Education                                                        Back to Top                                

1.       Which of the following best describes your view about magnitude of the problem of overcrowded schools in Montgomery County?

 

 

1.       If you answered C or D, to the previous question, how would you address the problem of overcrowding in Montgomery County Schools?

We need to slow down severely, or take a time out from additional residential development. I support much higher impact fees on new construction ($15,000 per house, $10 square foot on commercial) that would be used for schools and transportation, as opposed to the newly imposed impact fees which are too low and are used only to support roads (the current fee would pay for the Montrose Parkway only, over a period of 10 years).

I would focus the capital budget on the rehabilitation of older schools and on the construction of additional facilities to relieve over-crowding. I think it’s a mistake to foster new development that requires the addition of new infrastructure when we have pressing and unmet existing needs. I’ll support no new development unless the infrastructure exists.

2.       How would you rate the current county council's performance preserving and maintaining the quality of education in Montgomery County Public Schools?

	EXCELLENT
	GOOD
x	FAIR
	POOR
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

 

4.   Do you believe that the current "Annual Growth Policy" for our public schools is working?

	YES
x	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

1.       Would you make any changes to the Annual Growth Policy and if so, what would you change?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

I favor changing the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance in two ways. First, for schools, I would calculate school capacity on at 15-17 students for K-2, 20 students 3-5, and a max of 25 students above that (with lower numbers for remedial classes). I would allow no more than 100% capacity at these numbers and calculate on a school, not a cluster, basis.

For roads, I would lover the Critical Lane Volumes that are now considered acceptable to numbers that allow traffic to move at a reasonable pace. Currently the APFO is constantly revised upward so that the numbers reflect what’s adequate to permit new development and not what’s adequate for a public facility designed to serve the public.

1.       Would you introduce or sponsor legislation to require and "educational impact study" that would inform the council and residents as to the impact of proposed development on specific schools prior to the approval of any new residential development?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

1.       Many voters are concerned that the county's current education and growth & development policies have failed to protect our schools from overcrowding.

Would you introduce or sponsor new legislation that make certain that sufficient school capacity exist in each affected school prior to approving new residential development?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

 

1.       Do you feel that portable classrooms are an acceptable learning environment for children?

	YES
x	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

  

 

1.       Notwithstanding the recent increase in state funding for education, Montgomery County school system is still hundreds of millions of dollars short and decades behind schedule for critically needed renovations and improvements to existing schools.

Many voters are concerned not only about the decline in the quality of education in the county, but for students who must attend these schools which pose a threat to there health and safety.    How would you address these critical needs?

First, it’s a matter of prioritizing how and where you spend your money. As I said above, my capital budget would address the backlog of school repairs and expansions before building new schools for new developments.

Second, I support significantly higher impact fees in areas where we do permit development to move forward.

Third, I’d have maintained the tax rate at 60% and used the funds to meet the needs of the infrastructure starting with schools.

Fourth, I won’t be voting for tax give-aways to corporate giants that then make it impossible to meet our responsibilities to our own communities.

Fifth, I will support examining getting state authority to separate the property tax rate into residential and commercial components and to place a higher tax rate on commercial real estate. Commercial real estate is under assessed and it’s contribution to the tax rolls is insufficient. The last decade has seen a significant shifting of the tax burden to residential property from commercial property.

Sixth, I will work at the State level to increase funding for both operating and capital needs of local school systems.

Environment                                           Back to Top                                                  

1.       The Washington metropolitan region is currently in ‘serious non-attainment’ status under the guidelines of the Clean Air Act (CAA.) If we go into ‘severe non-attainment’ status and fail to meet the 2005 Clean Air Act standards, all federal funds for transportation are lost.

What steps will you take to reduce the growth in driving so that Montgomery County does its part to achieve CAA compliance?

Changing the APFO would be one effective means of reducing growth. I would supplement that by insuring, again, that capital projects address existing needs rather than providing new infrastructure that will further sprawl development.

Beyond that, based on what I learned on the TPR, I want to shift the priority of transit infrastructure to mass transit. I support expansion of Ride-On and Metro bus and believe that we should look at lowering their costs. I don’t view that as any more of a subsidy than building roads that the public uses without fees.

Third, I support the Balanced Land Use approach to zoning, with the one caveat, that I’m not prepared to simply transfer growth onto the more urbanized areas of the County at levels that would destroy their livability. It may well be that we can’t, and should not attempt to, achieve the growth projections for the County because achieving them would come at an enormous price to our communities and to the environment. We would be better served by efforts to revitalize and repopulate the District, than by efforts to pull jobs and people from there and into the suburbs.

I support the enhanced bus service that the TPR outlined, the Corridor Cities Transitway, the expansion of the Red Line beyond Shady Grove and the Inner Purple Line. I believe the Inner Purple Line should be extended to Rock Spring and Montgomery Mall, then taken down I270 to the Beltway and over to Tysons Corner.

I also think we need to look very hard at incentives and, if need be sticks, to foster more telecommuting and greater use of flex time and 4 day work weeks.

 

2.       How serious a threat do you think the current rate and type of development in Montgomery County is to local streams and rivers, as well as the health of the Chesapeake Bay?

x	SERIOUS THREAT
	SOMEWHAT SERIOUS THREAT
	NOT TOO SERIOUS A THREAT
	NOT A THREAT
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

1.       Would you curb sprawl development in order to protect our limited water resource?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

Growth and Development                               Back to Top                         

1.       If the current type and pace of growth continues in the county, do you think that the quality of life will improve, deteriorate or stay the same?

 

	IMPROVED
x	DETERIORATED
	SAME
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

1.       Generally, do you believe that developers should be required to pay impact fees that fully cover the cost of the infrastructure (roads, sewer, water and schools) needed for their development projects?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

1.       Generally, would you introduce or support legislation to limit water and sewer extension in order to curb sprawl?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

1.       In terms of the county's transportation policies, where would you place emphasis; on improving existing roads systems or building new roads?

x	IMPROVE EXISTING ROADS
	BUILD NEW ROADS
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

1.       Generally, do you believe that it is a sustainable strategy to continuously attract new businesses to undeveloped areas of the county that do not have the infrastructure?

	YES
x	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

1.       Generally, should new development be directed to our existing urban centers? Such as: Wheaton, Silver Spring, Langley Park, and downtown Rockville?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

Yes, with the recognition that even these areas have limits.

1.       What steps would you take to facilitate Smart Growth and Transit-Oriented Development?

 

As stated earlier: Support Balanced Land Use and reevaluate whether we should grow less than we are currently projected to grow.

Increase the use of impact fees and use them to fund expansion of the transit system (for the transportation component) rather than using them almost exclusively for roads.

Target road money on local improvements rather than on projects designed to facilitate long distance inter-county commutes.

Place parking restrictions on the envelope of our CBD’s so that the total number of cars coming into the CBD’s is limited to the number of vehicles that the road system can handle at a reasonable level of service.

Change the APFO so that adequacy is determined in the public interest, not the needs of the developers.

Use incentives to encourage use of transit and telecommuting. Consider tax policies that penalize businesses that don’t contribute to efforts to reduce Single Occupancy Vehicles.

 

Government Accountability, Fair & Open Public Process                  Back to Top                                                  

 

1.       A key concern of Neighbors for a Better Montgomery is the amount of money that special interests, particularly developers, have contributed to the various candidates for council, executive and state senate and delegate.

For the current election, to date, what percentage of your campaign contributions comes from developers and real-estate interests and industries? (If there is a question in the candidate's mind as to the classification of developer or real-estate interest, please contact our Candidate Interview Committee for guidance.)

 

1.       If you have run for county office previously, what percentage of your campaign contributions came from developers and real-estate interests and industries in your last election for county office? (Percentage should reflect combined total from primary and general election.)

1.       Many Montgomery County citizens feel that developers take precedent over the rights and interests of ordinary citizens because of the millions of dollars they contribute to the campaigns of county officials and candidates. These citizens feel that the quality of life in Montgomery County is being threatened by the influence of these special interests.

How much of a threat do you think special interests, like developers, pose to the quality of life in Montgomery County?

 

1.       How would you better balance the rights and interests of ordinary citizens versus those of special interests?

 

I’d make sure that citizen boards and advisory bodies have more citizens and fewer development and corporate representatives. They should not be anywhere near half the composition of these bodies.

I would look to provide more professional staff support to citizens who are challenging zoning and special exception applications.

I would take developer money out of campaigns. I’d look for State legislation that would permit this in several ways. One would be to ban or limit money coming from these interests. Another way would be require that Council members recuse themselves from voting on any development or zoning proposals that involve entities or individuals who have contributed to their campaigns in the last 5 years. I’d require full disclosure of contributors and their professions, full disclosure of who they’ve contributed to when matters involving them come before the council, full disclosure of the membership of all partnerships that give contributions as partnerships, count partnership contributions toward individual limits, reduce the amount that can be contributed in a campaign to $1000 during the primary and $1000 for the general (including contributions made through partnerships)

I will work for and support public financing of campaigns where the County would provide multiple mailing of candidate information and where the local cable TV stations would be required to provide free air time for all candidates.

2.       Some people feel that Montgomery County does not make a sufficient effort to involve citizens in important decision processes that affect them. How can the county more effectively encourage citizen participation in the decisions affecting their communities?

 

The County should change the way advisory boards are composed to increase citizen involvement. We might consider the creation of local neighborhood advisory councils that are solicited for local input and given small budgets that would permit them to mail and communicate with local residents. The County could also provide more professional support for citizens so that they can get information and help without going through the expense of retaining expensive lawyers.

And, the council could cut its ties to developer money so that people actually feel they might be listened to seriously. We need longer and more open public processes and fewer "emergencies" like the current attempt to transfer title of Montgomery Hills Junior High to a religious school under "emergency" legislation that short circuits public input when no emergency exists.

3.       Would you introduce or support legislation to require fiscal impact analysis be done on all major rezoning and special exception applications, and on all comprehensive Master Plan changes?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

1.       Would you introduce or support legislation to require all notices of public hearing on zoning, or special exception applications include the net fiscal impact of the application?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

1.       Would you introduce or sponsor a County Resolution calling for the state legislature to allow Montgomery County to enact its own campaign finance reforms aimed at reducing the influence of special interests and/or other entities that stand to fiscally gain from government decisions?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

                       

Public Health Welfare and Quality of Life                    Back to Top                                                                  

 

1.       How serious a health problem do you think pollutants, such as diesel truck fumes, truck and industrial noise, industrial emissions and other environmental impacts currently pose to Montgomery County Citizens?

 

1.       Do you think that there currently exist any major inequities in health status among racial and ethnic groups in Montgomery County?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

1.       Would you support the passage of a 'living wage' law that would help
working families by increasing the minimum wage in Montgomery County?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

1.       How would you address the health care issues for the underserved residents of Montgomery County, such as: low income residents, mentally ill residents, and elderly residents? 

I would increase funding of County clinics and services and expand their relationship to the school system. The privitization of these services has left too many people without care and was a mistake that we need to reverse. We need to be more pro-active in seeing to it that health care needs are met, regardless of where the "techinical" responsibility for funding them lies, so that while we should work for greater state funding, we should not allow anyone to go without health care. The closing of the mental health clinics ought to shame this County’s leaders, and we need to implement the recommendations of the Mental Health Task Force that recently reported to the Council. County leaders who quibbled over meeting a short fall of hundreds of thousands of dollars while lobbying Annapolis for $16 million in tax breaks for Discovery ought to be held responsible for their callous indifference to human suffering that they had within their ability to alleviate. Our treatment of the sick, the elderly and those with mental health needs is an embarrassment and symptomatic of whose interests the majority of this Council values.

 

Land Use Policy                           Back to Top                                                                                                         

1.       Currently 12% of the households and 40% of the jobs are located within a half mile of the metro. Some people suggest that a more balanced land use approach would place approximately 33% of the households and 60% of the jobs are near metro.

Do you think that the suggested percentages reflect a more balance approached to land use?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

1.       Do you think that this type of approach is realistic and achievable in Montgomery County"

 

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

1.       Would you introduce or support legislation to implement this approach to balancing land use in Montgomery County?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

1.       How important a role do you feel the general framework and policy of "wedges and corridors" is to protecting the quality of life in Montgomery County?

 

1.       Would you oppose legislation that would change, jeopardize or somehow undermine the general framework and policy of "wedges and corridors"?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

1.       Do you believe this framework is sufficient to protect the county’s green space, farms and farmland? If not, what additional measures should the county take?

	YES
x	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

It’s become too easy to put development in the wedges at levels that the local infrastructure can’t support, largely through APFO changes. This in turn creates more pressure to build roads to relieve congestion, but which, when built, simply permit still higher levels of development based on the additional capacity provided by the additional lanes. We need to change direction on the APFO and then consider further down-zoning in the wedge so that we can better use our planning tools to focus development where the infrastructure already exists and to insure that road investments provide traffic relief, not just more traffic.

1.       Generally, do you think the county’s green wedge is compromised by special exceptions?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

I think the entire planning process is compromised by special exceptions. There is virtually nothing "special" about what constitutes an exception the way this is often implemented.

1.       Would you introduce or sponsor legislation to fully fund and expand Legacy Open Space programs in Montgomery County?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

Transportation                                    Back to Top  

1.       What do you consider to be the most pressing transportation problems or needs in Montgomery County? What do you think is the cause of those problems?

 

We simply have too many cars on the roads for infrastructure to support. In the downcounty, from Rockville south, there’s no space for new roads and, in the north, new roads often bring both environmental impacts and spawn new development. Our public policies have not favored creating a Mass Transit system in the suburbs that matches housing and job locations. The greatest congestion is, and will remain, in the North-South corridors, for which no road project offers any relief. What we need are localized road and intersection improvements that enhance residents abilities to get to the store, go to soccer practice and run errands, even at rush hour. What we shouldn’t do with scarce dollars is pour them into a few projects, so that we insure that the more local needs will continue to go unmet.

The cause of the problem has been a love affair with excessive development that has been permitted to occur solely on the basis of the interests of the developers without regard for it’s impact on community, or it’s impact on our ability to service it with transit rather than relying on cars. Additionally, the County policy makers refuse to implement policies that would require a shift from single occupant vehicles to greater use of Mass Transit because the developers have simply said that to do that will jeopardize their funding and, consequently, they’ll take their projects to Northern Virginia. If Northern Virginia wants more of the same development that has them buried under the worst regional traffic conditions, I say, let them have, but we should not be in the business of "Fairfaxing" Montgomery county.

 

2.       Would you introduce or support legislation to implement traffic demand reduction strategies such as: transit-friendly mortgages, split-rate taxes, and economic incentives to encourage transit-friendly, walkable communities?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

1.       Do you believe that Montgomery County currently has an appropriate balance the allocation of resources between roads, transit, and traffic demand reduction strategies?

	YES
x	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

1.       If not, how what changes would you make to the current allocation scheme?

 

We spend too much on roads and are too focused on road projects that foster new development. We don’t build to relieve problems, we build so that we can have more development at the same or a greater level of negative impacts. I would focus my capital budget on major enhancements to bus service, look at using smaller busses to run neighborhood routes that can bring riders to major transit connections. I would enhance our bus shelters, link them electronically so that riders know when to expect busses, I would extend the hours and frequency of bus service and I would initiate road changes that provide advantages to busses - such as jumper lanes at signalized intersections. I would also focus on a major expansion of Mass Transit, both heavy and light rail. I would build the Inner Purple Line first and plan it’s extension to Tyson’s Corner. I would extend Metro past Shady Grove and build the CCT. My road building money would focus on intersections and local improvements that serve neighborhood and community needs for mobility. I believe that we can achieve Demand Management goals best by setting policies that require compliance rather than on trying to incentivize it. I’m more willing to provide incentives for telecommuting and for flex time that permits four day weeks.

2.       What percentage of the impact fee would you allocate to roads, public transit systems, and other alternative transportation solutions?

	Roads 0%				Public Transit 0%				Alternative transportation 0%
	1 - 10%				1 - 10%			x	1 - 10%
x	10 - 20%				10 - 20%				10 - 20%
	20 - 30%				20 - 30%				20 - 30%
	30 - 40%				30 - 40%				30 - 40%
	40 - 50%				40 - 50%				40 - 50%
	More than 50%		x		More than 50%				More than 50%
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED				DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED				DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

Transportation/ Transit and Transit-Oriented Development                                                                                        

1. Do you favor expanding the Metro transit system? If so, how?

Inner Purple Line and expanding it to Montgomery Mall , Rock Spring and Tysons.

Red line to Washington Grove and, in cooperation with Frederick, up to Frederick.

Corridor City Transitway as a light rail line.

Heavy rail over the Wilson Bridge to Metro stops in Prince Georges County.

Eventually rail up Rt 29 to Columbia

Enhanced bus service.

 

2. Do you support the inner Purple Line?

 

3. Would you introduce or support legislation to give transportation budget priority to development that provide pedestrian access to homes, schools, jobs, shops, transit and other public services?

 

4. Would you support the location of affordable housing near public transportation? If so, do you think this is:

 

5. If new roads were built, would you support legislation to restrict development along their routes or restrict the use of the "newly created lane capacity" from new development so as reduce current congestion and prevent additional gridlock and sprawl?

This is another false perception being spread by proponents of this. It would be extraordinarily difficult to do legislate this. Basically, if a developer has a right to build, they can only be constrained if there’s a lack of capacity. The moment you provide capacity , they have a "right" to use it. To prevent them to use this capacity, can be construed as a taking. Moreover, with only 4 or 5 interchanges,as proposed with the ICC, it’s not about development along the routes, it’s about major impact at the intersection of the ICC and, say, Georgia Ave. or Rte. 29. I’d support, sponsor, write the legislation but would not be confident in it’s enforceability, and , more importantly, not confident of it’s longevity. A council 5 or 10 years ago could wipe out such restrictions in a blink of an eye and all the so-called protection would be for naught and you could be sure that future councils would be under enormous pressure to do just that.

Transportation/ Regional Transportation Authority (RTA)            Back to Top  

 

1.       Generally, do you support the concept of a Regional Transit Authority?

 

	YES
x	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

Not in any way, shape or form that would be acceptable to the BOT and the Post.

1.       Montgomery County residents have expressed concern about the creation of a regional transportation authority. Many are concerned that members of the RTA, including those from Virginia and the District of Columbia, would be

·        granted the power of immanent domain,

·        granted the power to tax, and

·        granted the authority to override land-use, growth and environmental statutes and policies as decided by the voters elected representative, the County Council.

Would you oppose a regional transportation authority if it had the power of immanent domain, and/or the power to tax, and/or override the County's land-use, growth and environmental statutes and policies?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

 

If an RTA were established would you sponsor or support legislation to:

1.       Grant it a dedicated funding source?

	YES
x	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

The RTA scares me, as it should scare most people. The last thing I want is an unaccountable public body that can dictate land use, zoning, transit policy complete with dedicated funding or the ability to tax. This is the BOT dream and ought to be our nightmare.

1.       Require the repair and maintenance of existing roads, bridges, & transit before expanding road capacity?

x	YES
	NO
	DON'T KNOW/UNDECIDED

Sounds nice, but then they wouldn’t have the money for what they want.

 

1.       How would you prioritize balanced land use, community revitalization, transit-oriented development, and traffic demand reduction measures in the overall transportation policy guidelines for the RTA?

As I oppose it, it’s hard to say how I’d prioritize. The list above is not what the proponents want out of an RTA. Clearly, my view would be that the RTA should only foster development that does reflect balanced use, that supports revitalization rather than new growth, that is transit oriented, and that includes aggressive, enforceable traffic demand reduction. RTA proponents want it because they see it as providing a second bridge, the ICC and the Western and Eastern by-pass. I just think that a genuine public purpose to foster sound regional planning is not what the BOT hopes the RTA would be, and not something they’d support if it did do that. The last thing I want is County policy being dictated by Virginia developers and selling it to residents as the attendant compromises needed to achieve regional solutions. It’s just a fraud being put over on the public.