By Adam Pagnucco.
Council Member Marc Elrich held his kickoff event for the County Executive race in Bethesda this past Sunday. One of his guests was Gino Renne, President of the Municipal and County Government Employees Organization (MCGEO), the largest of MoCo’s non-education county employee unions. The picture below says it all.
Photo by Kevin Gillogly. More pictures available on Kevin’s Flickr account.
Elrich is a beloved figure by many in the local labor movement. He has had support from almost all of the area’s major labor organizations in his recent runs for office. His lead sponsorship of two minimum wage bills has strengthened those relationships. Of specific importance to MCGEO, Elrich was the only Council Member to vote against cutting the union’s negotiated 8 percent raise in the last budget, which also included a 9 percent property tax hike. Additionally, Elrich is a strong defender of the county liquor monopoly, famously accusing anti-monopoly restaurant owners of stealing and whining and then getting banned by one of them. Protecting the monopoly is one of MCGEO’s highest priorities.
Gino’s thumbs-up is not an official endorsement. The union has to go through its process, including candidate interviews and questionnaires. But the symbolism of the picture above is hard to miss. Elrich could very well be labor’s pick for Executive.