By Adam Pagnucco.
Here is today’s question.
If you are elected, name three specific things you would do to make the county more affordable.
Mithun Banerjee (D)
On April 29, Banerjee requested more time to respond due to medical reasons. At that time, he told me, “I was sick & still I am sick. I will try my level best to send them to you at the earliest.”
Andrew Friedson (D)
- Hold the Line on Tax Increases: Focusing on economic growth to ease tax burden.
- Targeted Relief: Building on the Homeowner’s Tax Credit for low-income seniors on fixed incomes I co-authored and finding additional opportunities for targeted tax relief.
- Accelerating Housing & Jobs: Expanding the Accelerate MoCo initiative I authored, which reduces regulatory timelines by more than 75% for affordable housing and biohealth facilities so we increase units, job opportunities in good-paying industries, and reduce housing costs.
Evan Glass (D)
Three things I will do to make the county more affordable:
First, build more housing that people can afford. We need more subsidized housing for residents who need help with rent, and more housing for middle class families being priced out of the communities where they grew up. More than 26,000 middle class young people have already left because they couldn’t find affordable homes here. That is a crisis, and it requires building more housing faster.
Second, stop the cycle of tax increases. Property tax hikes combined with rising assessments create a double burden that squeezes families who are already stretched thin. Residents deserve a County Executive who treats affordability as a daily discipline, not an afterthought.
Third, grow the economy and raise wages. Attracting more high paying jobs improves affordability in two ways: it raises overall wages so more residents can afford to live here, and it grows our tax base so we can strengthen the social safety net for those who need it most without endlessly raising taxes on everyone else.
Peter James (D)
- Provide smart robots and AI at cost to build affordable housing, grow food and provide healthcare. Elon Musk is promising that his AI and robots will eliminate the need to work and to have money. Do you trust Elon Musk to provide this utopia for you? Rather, I will provide publicly and worker owned robots and AI. This guarantee everyone will reap the full benefits of these technologies as they replace nearly all jobs.
- I’ll issue food, housing and healthcare infrastructure bonds in low denomination so that they also circulate in the local economy as money. I will issue the bonds denominated in Greens, Square feet and medical visits. This will eliminate inflation as the value of money is directly tied to actual value food, housing and healthcare.
- Redirect the $160 million in housing bonds and subsides that current fund rental homes to fund renters to become home owners. A small 1 bedroom apartment cost a renter $270K over 30 years. That same unit costs a home owner $70K over 30 years. Home ownership makes home affordable and is the best way to generate generational wealth and eliminate poverty.
Will Jawando (D)
Did not answer the questionnaire.
Shelly Skolnick (R)
Did not answer the questionnaire.
Esther Wells (R)
To make Montgomery County affordable, I am proposing a bold Efficiency Plan focused on tax cuts, modernization and fiscal discipline:
Aggressive Tax Cuts: I will lower property, income, and fuel taxes to stop the exodus of taxpayers and keep capital in our local economy.
Automation & Innovation: We will go paperless to safeguard confidential PII and streamline repetitive processes. By automating high-volume services in MC311, DHHS, DOT, and HR, we will eliminate funded vacant positions and fund a smaller, more efficient government without impacting quality of service.
Budget Correction & Oversight: I will close the structural deficit by sun-setting COVID-era programs that were funded with one-time federal grants, which has been fully utilized. I will implement an online, on-demand, data dashboard for real-time transparency, self service capabilities, in excel, to benchmark the 488 DHHS non-profit contracts against industry standards and ensure every dollar reaches its purpose.
As a CPA and experience as President of the Montgomery County Taxpayers League, I will be laser focused on these efficiencies to lower tax rates and make this county a premier destination for investment.