By Adam Pagnucco.
The Fixer. Former county council and executive branch staffer Joy Nurmi had the best nickname in the county and she earned it. Tough, smart, fearless and loyal, Joy saw it all in roughly thirty years in and around county government. She was the chief of staff to four county council members (Betty Ann Krahnke, Marilyn Praisner, Don Praisner and Gabe Albornoz) and she was East County’s regional services director and a special assistant under County Executive Ike Leggett. She also once worked at the Gazette. If it happened, Joy knew about it.
Joy was one of the top people in a generation who are now mostly gone from county government. In Joy’s day, hard work and substantive policy discussion ruled. Politics were present but not always predominant as they seem to be today. Folks would vote no on some things and collaborate on others. Facts mattered. Embodying all of this was Joy’s feared boss, the indomitable Marilyn Praisner, who lugged around giant briefing books, always knew what she was talking about and whipped bureaucrats who were not up to their jobs. Curiously, while the county’s leadership back then was less racially diverse than now, they were more politically diverse. Disagreements over land use, taxes, budget, labor issues and more arose among Democrats (and occasional Republicans) who occupied various spots in the political spectrum. Today, they are all progressives.
The differences between the old regime and the new regime came up in a lot of my discussion with Joy, who recently retired from county service. We have had some great interviews on this site, but trust me, THIS is the one you are going to want to read.
Let’s get to our questions and Joy Nurmi’s answers!
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You have had so many jobs. Which job was your favorite and why?
Adam always likes to refer to me as “the fixer.” I think it’s a true assessment and it’s why my passion is working in the executive branch. As special assistant to County Executive Ike Leggett, I was able to tackle challenges head on and accomplish projects working with our executive branch departments. We got real, tangible results that you could see and feel.
The Wheaton Redevelopment, the Purple Line, the Bus Rapid Transit. The executive branch brings these visions to reality. Granted, they rely on a partnership and the purse strings of the Council, but without the leadership of a strong executive and his team, these projects might have floundered. Each one faced major challenges and setbacks, but in the end, Mr. Leggett and the team delivered.
Department heads under Mr. Leggett were strong, talented managers who shared his vision. He is a man of few words who commands deep respect. His few words delivered wisely were able to change hearts and minds. Those of us in the County Executive’s Office, sometimes known as “the second floor,” forged a cohesive team that worked closely with his departments to deliver his vision.
Crazy fast paced, one day was never like another. Together we accomplished a lot and rarely failed but when we did, it could be spectacular. The transit authority comes to mind. For those of you who remember it, I’m sure you’re chuckling now. If you don’t, find a seasoned veteran to ask. But when these things happened, it just brought the team closer together for the next fight.
With all the forceful players involved and so much at stake in any given project on any given day, life was unpredictable but wildly exciting. I remember having a second-floor intern sit in on a weekly staff meeting where we updated our Chief Administrative Officer on the hot issues. As the meeting finishes the intern walks up to me says, “I want to do what you do.” I had to laugh because it had just been one of those weeks from Hell. I said, “Do you watch Game of Thrones?” She nodded. I continued. “Then know this: when I get up each morning, I check to see what army is invading my borders and on which flank, who is plotting to poison me or what dragon might I have to tame or slay. If you can hack that, then this is the job for you.”
Your experience with the council goes back to the 1990s. Contrast the council members in those days to the council members who are there now.
Oak vs. willow. The Councilmembers of the past were more solid in their principles. They were less swayed by the wind of opinion like the newer Councilmembers – and by newer, I mean ones elected in the past eight years or so. This new breed is much more tuned into the daily chatter of special interest advocacy groups, from those with small followings of maybe 20 people to those with a wide reach across the County with hundreds of members. Why? Social media.
Is this tendency to be swayed good or bad? Albert Schweizer, the Nobel winning philosopher said that “the willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it…” And I think in this day of social media, where a tempest can originate from a single tweet, the ability to appear responsive is a tactical necessity, especially the closer to an election one gets.
But does it serve our County well? To some degree it is useful for our elected leaders to be more connected with residents. But recently, certain interest groups with an uncommon passion have wielded power disproportionate to their membership. Because the Council often imagines these groups as wildly influential, they tend to capitulate, sometimes to the tune of millions of dollars. This irresponsible spending has sorely damaged the Council’s ability to respond to priorities that serve the County’s wider population.
As Adam pointed out, using supplementals (which is outside of the normal budget process) to fund pet projects at Council is taking the County down a dangerous path. He reported that in 2022, there were 38 special appropriations approved, totaling $122.5 million. This spending comes from the reserves and just like your savings account, when you draw it down you will need to replenish it. In the County’s case, reserves must be replenished every year.
Just to put this in perspective, you could build a new elementary school for $122 million. PTAs, are you listening?
Using supplementals as a common practice as opposed to rarity got kick-started during the pandemic when there were justifiable emergencies needing to be addressed. The $331 million in supplementals approved in 2020 was largely backfilled by the two federal pandemic funding programs targeted to state and local governments. But the lid to Pandora’s box was thrown open and what the Councilmembers learned was that if you put forward a proposal that would get the progressive advocacy groups energized, Councilmembers were loath to vote against it – see above: oak vs. willow.
This is not responsible budgeting. Taken alone, many of these proposals are worthy. Stacked up against other priorities in the budget, they would likely either fail to pass or be scaled back. That’s why Councilmember Evan Glass’s proposal to require three sponsors for introduction is so crucial. Again: oak vs. willow.
Tell us something you learned from Ike Leggett.
Treat everyone with respect. Don’t burn bridges (you will need these to survive). Spend taxpayer money responsibly. Listen more than you talk.
Ike Leggett commanded a room simply by his very presence. One of the quietest people there he will also unquestioningly be the most knowledgeable. He will certainly be the best dressed. You may not realize how important this is, but he knew and understood this.
Being associated with Mr. Leggett was an honor. In a County where the person in a community meeting might be an FDA scientist, a Pentagon general or Cokie Roberts, Mr. Leggett, always the law professor, usually brought people around to his point of view but if not, at the very least, he would leave them feeling heard.
Just to remind you: this is a man raised in small-town Louisiana, where he grew up as the seventh of 12 children in a four-room house without in-door plumbing. His father worked at the local sawmill. His mother always focused on education as the way to get ahead and build a better life.
He served as a professor of law and the associate dean at the Howard University Law School. He also served as a captain in the Army, during which he did a tour in Vietnam. He holds four higher education degrees: Bachelor of Arts from Southern University, a Master of Arts degree and a Juris Doctorate degree from Howard University, and a Master of Law from George Washington University. He graduated from Southern University in 1967 as a Distinguished Military Graduate. In 1981 he was selected as the Southern University Outstanding Alumni. He finished first in his class from Howard University Law School, graduating Magna Cum Laude. At the time of his Howard Law School graduation, he held the third highest academic average in the law school’s history. In 1985 Leggett received the Outstanding Alumni Award from Howard University Law School.
You are not going to get the better of this man. A life and experience like this prepares you for anything.
Give some advice to civic activists who need an issue addressed by the county government. How can they be most effective?
Councilmembers are most willing to hear you out. Be persistent but polite (especially on social media), know your facts, do not exaggerate and send an email but NOT hundreds of form emails. There are advocacy groups (you know who you are) that bombard Councilmembers with these emails. The subject lines are the same, the content is the same and they are just irritating. A petition would be more effective.
The most glaring example of a group of advocates breaking all three rules was the opposition to the 5G small cell antennas. The advocates had their facts wrong, they barraged the Councilmembers with hundreds of form emails to their personal Council email address and sent texts to their phones at all hours of the day and night. They stalked Councilmembers, planted creepy posters near their homes, knocked on neighbors’ doors and spread out-of-bounds misinformation about the Councilmembers.
I honestly don’t know how they thought this abuse would win a vote. In fact, not only did it not win any votes, but these actions also convinced the lone Councilmember holdout against the bill to vote for it. The 5G small cell bill passed unanimously.
Six new council members are coming in. What does a new council member need to do to have a great first term?
From the outside, the Council’s day-to-day work looks straightforward. From the inside, it is anything but. There are so many moving parts. The complexity level is extraordinary. Then add this: each Councilmember has a deep passion for a cause, most are extraordinarily ambitious, and they possess varying levels of talent and shrewdness. As it is in the executive branch, so it also is in the legislative branch – eerily like Game of Thrones. There are winners, losers and those who end up in purgatory.
Five rules to live by:
1. Be trustworthy and live by your word. Councilmembers who break this rule pay a high price; most never recover. If you say one thing and do another, or tell people different things, you will lose respect, you will fail to win leadership roles and you will ultimately become so isolated you will become irrelevant.
2. Form alliances. Form alliances with those who you are politically aligned with, but also reach out to colleagues who do not share your views. You will almost always learn something. And you will create bonds that pay dividends. These people will reach out to you in similar circumstances. The most important reason to follow this rule? You can reach a compromise that you never thought possible and achieve your goal when you might not have otherwise.
3. Hire experienced staff. You do not know what you don’t know and that can be dangerous in an environment like the Council. You will either be left behind or eaten alive.
4. Do your work. That means read and prepare. As a new Councilmember almost everyone at Council, including your staff (if you hired smartly and you managed to snag experienced staff), knows more than you. If you go into Council meetings without having read your packets, people know. You will not know that they know, but believe me, they know. Part two of Rule 4: learn the rules. Your more experienced colleagues know them and will use them to outflank you. You will go down for the simple fact you didn’t know that you needed 7 votes or that a motion to table is not debatable. Game over.
5. And speaking of votes needed. Learn to count. You must master the basic math for how many votes you will need to get your legislation through. Part two of Rule 5: Be a counting Ninja. Count your votes over and over and over again and again right before you walk into the Council chambers. Things change and then they change again. Never think that what you heard Friday will hold until Tuesday. Or what you heard Tuesday at 9 a.m. will hold until 2 p.m. Believe me on this.
And how about their chiefs of staff? What do they have to do to ensure that their bosses succeed?
See Rules 1-5 above. A good chief will also be out in the community as another set of eyes and ears. They must cast a wide net, collect intelligence, and offer good advice based on that intelligence. A good chief is like a force multiplier – they are a tool to help amplify the impact of their Councilmember.
Last question. If you could change one thing to improve Montgomery County, what would it be?
Instill a deep sense of fiscal responsibility in the Council. The County is at its absolute limit of taxing authority for all intents and purposes. It is at the limit on its income tax. The energy tax is extraordinarily high, and Councilmembers have been loath to reduce it even in the face of fierce advocacy by the Chambers and other businesses. It would erase millions of dollars and most taxpayers wouldn’t even notice the cut because Pepco rates keep escalating faster than Twitter stock keeps falling.
Raising the property tax is the third rail as evidenced by the successful passing of the ballot question on term limits in the 2016 election. (In case you’ve been in outer Mongolia for the last six years, the Council raised the property tax by almost nine percent in 2016 and the fallout resulted in limiting Councilmembers to no more than three terms in office.)
No one in their right mind would revisit the bottle tax. Although, that said, early in the last Council, a soda tax was floated but that is rife with its own problems and gained zero traction. Bottom line: the Council really has nowhere to go to get more money. County budgets cannot defy gravity and grow at a pace faster than revenues.
As they say in Game of Thrones, winter is coming.