Rumored at-large County Council candidate Hans Riemer has a new website up, strongly suggesting that he will soon enter the race.
The picture above is an old one and was probably taken at the 2006 Kensington Labor Day Parade. (Disclosure: your author helped Riemer when he ran in District 5 that year.) The young lady gracing the center of the photograph is Hans’s wife Angela, a tremendous asset for his potential campaign. Angela is pretty, gregarious and smarter than you are, and is a former Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus PAC. If Angela ever decided to run for office, she would smoke everyone (including her husband).
Riemer does not make a campaign announcement on his website, but it does include this graphic:
The site’s authority line reveals his campaign officers, both of whom are former MCDCC members: Chairman Oscar Ramirez, who has worked in Congress, the U.S. Department of Labor and Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and chaired Nancy Navarro’s 2009 council run; and Treasurer Karen Czapanskiy, a University of Maryland law professor. Both are prominent county Democrats and are good catches.
Riemer makes the following statement on his site that we reprint below:
Montgomery County residents young and old are facing some of the most serious challenges we’ve ever witnessed: layoffs and furloughs, foreclosures and rising property taxes, overcrowded schools and education cuts, & spiraling health care costs amidst massive budget cuts.
If we are going to turn Montgomery County around, we need new voices at the table.
Throughout my life, I’ve fought for seniors, youths, progressive causes, and President Obama — and now I want to fight for you. My name is Hans Riemer and I am a Montgomery County Democrat. I live in Silver Spring with my wife, Angela, and we have chosen to raise our toddler, Henry, here in one of the best counties in the world.
I have dedicated myself to engaging people of all backgrounds in the challenges of making public policy:
In my work for the AARP, I help engage AARP members in local service opportunities to connect seniors to their communities.
As the National Youth Vote Director for the Obama campaign, I helped millions of young people raise their voice for change.
In my national advocacy on issues such as Social Security, Medicare, health care, education and voting reform, I have championed the concerns of people from every race and background.
In Montgomery County, I am best known for my advocacy on issues such as the Purple Line, Corridor Cities Transitway, Metro (WMATA), RideOn and other transit programs; as well as helping to build the Obama Montgomery County and Maryland grassroots campaigns.
I believe passionately that we have to find a more sustainable way to grow here in the county. We need new jobs, more housing, and a stronger tax base if we are going to maintain our quality of life and progress in our schools. But we have to make wise choices about land use and transportation in order to simultaneously preserve Montgomery County’s rural and surburban ways of life. It can be a challenging process, but if we do it right, together, there’s a great place to live for everyone here.
In order to get there though, I need you. Sign up now to join the movement, and stay tuned for an important announcement regarding my future.
Sincerely yours,
Hans Riemer
Montgomery County Democrat