By Adam Pagnucco.
Here is today’s question.
Should the county government use AI (artificial intelligence) to support the work of county employees? If so, how?
District 1
Drew Morrison (D)
Like all new technologies, AI needs to be marshaled and deployed to serve the public interest. Our first consideration in its use in the public sector must be data privacy. We have seen a number of companies that have offered AI services to public sector entities, with seemingly attractive terms, that have proven to raise serious considerations about the safety and security of the data collected. There have been substantial efforts at the state level to support data privacy. Any application of AI in Montgomery County must align with such principles.
That said, I am open to AI applications, leveraging closed-source models, that can help County government be more efficient and responsive in its work to address quality of life issues. One example where AI can make the job of our employees and the outcome for residents better is in assisting with standard questions or requests of our 3-1-1 system. A smart application of these tools there, expanding on some of the work that has already been done, could in turn give our 3-1-1 operators and responding departments more time and more ability to deal with more complex and multi-layered issues.
Debbie Spielberg (D)
Yes, the county should use AI carefully and responsibly to improve government services. AI can help streamline administrative tasks, improve data analysis, and make it easier for residents to access information and services.
However, it must be implemented with strong safeguards around privacy, transparency, and accountability. AI should support workers, not replace them, and any use of AI must be guided by clear ethical standards and community input. Additionally, AI also has environmental considerations, which is why siting of data centers need strict environmental standards. For data centers, we do not need to negotiate from a position of weakness; we can be a national model that requires clean energy and provides clear guidelines regarding water, energy use, noise and siting.
Reardon “Sully” Sullivan (R)
Yes, the County should explore the use of AI to improve efficiency and modernize government operations.
AI can be used to streamline regulatory processes, reduce redundancy, and improve service delivery. Other states, such as Virginia, have demonstrated that technology can significantly reduce regulatory burdens while improving responsiveness and lowering costs. It is reported that Virginia achieved 26.8% streamlining of their regulatory requirements, reducing overhead, improving operations, and reducing spending.
Used responsibly, AI can help make government more efficient, transparent, and cost-effective.
Julie Yang (D)
If we do it right, AI can help us build a smarter, more responsive government. All of us already use it in daily life, from generating meeting transcripts to planning vacations.
AI should support the work of county employees, but not replace human judgment. Governments across the country are already using AI to automate paperwork, improve customer service, and to detect fraud.
But AI can go beyond clerical work. We can use adaptive signal systems (ATSAC) to adjust traffic signals in real time to ease congestion; AI can help predict where crashes are likely to occur, which will help achieve Vision Zero; it can help route first-responders faster to emergency sites; when it is designed properly, it can give us the real-time snow plowing status (how nice that would be); and many more.
But we must do it responsibly, safeguard against bias, and with human oversight. The goal is not to replace people, but to make government more efficient, more responsive, and more accountable.
District 2
Marilyn Balcombe (D-Incumbent)
Did not answer the questionnaire.
Arian Borghei (R-Write-in)
Yes, responsibly. AI can improve efficiency in areas like processing permits, handling routine customer service inquiries, and analyzing data for better decision-making.
However, it must be implemented with strong safeguards for privacy, transparency, and accountability. AI should support employees—not replace critical human judgment in areas like public safety or social services.
District 3
Jud Ashman (D)
Absolutely. I can think of a few examples:
- AI can streamline permitting and plan review by flagging incomplete applications and routing them more efficiently.
- It can enhance customer service through 24/7 virtual assistants that help residents navigate services and get answers quickly.
- It can support data analysis to identify trends in public safety, housing, and transportation so we can make more informed decisions.
- And it can reduce routine paperwork, freeing up staff time for direct service.
At the same time, we need clear guardrails – strong data privacy protections, transparency in how AI is used, and human oversight for any decisions that affect residents. If implemented responsibly, AI can make government more effective without losing the human touch that residents expect.
Allison Eriksen (D)
Did not answer the questionnaire.
Ricky Fai Mui (R)
Artificial Intelligence can be an important tool to expedite the county’s work, to include financial tracking, growth predictions, cost predictions, and limiting administrative overhead.
We must dispel the misconception that a function of the County Government is to maintain the maximum amount of government employees; but rather, we should attenuate the size of bureaucracy. In fact, making government more efficient, streamlined, lean, and faster has been my role for the past 6 years as a federal contractor. From my community outreach, the business owners see bureaucracy as an impediment to their business growth and speed to enter the market.
By utilizing AI, we can reduce permitting delays, data entry errors, predictions toward issues, and a formalized process of certifications
Izola Shaw (D)
Yes, Montgomery County government should use artificial intelligence to support county employees, but it should be done carefully through pilot programs that allow for study and evaluation. AI can handle routine tasks like sorting and categorizing documents, freeing staff to focus on more complex work. For example, AI-powered document management systems can quickly review applications and permits, flagging important details and reducing human errors. This speeds up processing and improves service quality for residents.
By starting with pilots, the county can monitor AI’s impact, address any issues, and ensure transparency and fairness before wider adoption. This cautious approach allows employees to concentrate on work requiring human judgment, while AI manages repetitive tasks. With proper oversight, AI can help make county government more efficient and responsive without compromising trust.
District 4
Paula Bienenfeld (D)
When people hear “AI” they think: ChatGPT. But there’s much more. AI can predict where service demand is headed, catch errors in financial reports, and route resident questions to the right people.
County employees deal with massive amounts of paperwork, resident inquiries, and administrative processes daily. AI can: summarize reports, flag budget inconsistencies, handle routine questions so staff spend time on work requiring human judgment. This isn’t about cutting jobs. It’s about letting people spend more time doing the parts of their jobs that matter.
Biggest opportunity: for residents with little time for tracking what government is doing. We can weigh in on zoning decisions or budgets, but the current system doesn’t meet us where we are. It asks us to read lengthy budget documents, go to evening hearings, and find reports buried behind layers of links. People who can do that are the ones getting paid: lobbyists, insiders. AI tools can put budget proposals in plain language; make hearing testimony searchable; show what changed between policy drafts, opening the process up.
Pros: human reviews before anything goes out, transparency about AI use; human accuracy checks regularly; use these tools to make processes more accessible and systems more secure.
Kate Stewart (D-Incumbent)
In reality, the use of artificial intelligence has become a regular part of our work days, so it is already being used in a number of ways. With that being said, it is not a question of should we use AI, but how we use AI and making sure we create appropriate guardrails and policies. As Chair of the Government Operations Committee, our Technology Department reports to my committee and over the last few years, I have been impressed with their efforts to establish protocols, trainings, and a framework for how we use AI in County government.
Peter “Rocky” Whitesell (D)
I think there can be appropriate uses of AI, and there can be places where it is very inappropriate. In my view, it mostly comes down to whether or not the AI is being used as a tool to assist, or a substitute for thinking and actually responsive services. No critical sources of information should rely on AI, nor should AI supplant critical thinking or artistic expression.
I do not support, nor want AI anywhere near the work of county law enforcement, however. I think that is a disturbing trend which flies in the face of our basic ideas about justice and trust. Human systems of course have their own flaws, but the great risks with using AI are that it is entirely opaque in its reasoning, and while it is just as prejudiced in its judgements, it creates an impression of being impartial. Law enforcement at its base cannot be perfect, but it must be improvable by the citizens who rely on it.
District 5
Charles Kirchman (D)
AI might be useful to assist county employees to improve efficiency. I would base any decision on implementation with input from subject matter experts.
Kristin Mink (D-Incumbent)
Did not answer the questionnaire.
Josephine Salazar (R)
I do not support AI to support the work of county employees.
District 6
Natali Fani-González (D-Incumbent)
Did not answer the questionnaire.
Sonia Garcia (D)
AI is here to stay, and used responsibly, it can be a genuine tool for improving how county government serves residents. As a scientist and program analyst at NIH, I have experience working with data-driven systems and understand both their promise and their limitations.
I would support deploying AI to improve efficiency in document processing, translation services, data analysis, and identifying residents who may qualify for assistance programs they are not currently accessing. These applications can help county employees do more without replacing the human judgment that government decisions require.
However, I am clear that AI should never replace human beings in decisions affecting people’s lives – housing, benefits, services, public safety. One of the most pressing and underacknowledged challenges with AI today is that many algorithms are not yet programmed to be fully inclusive or equitable. Existing biases in data and design can produce outcomes that are discriminatory – often in ways that are invisible until real harm has already been done. This is not a hypothetical concern; it is a documented gap that disproportionately affects communities of color, immigrants, and low-income residents – the very people county government is meant to serve. This is precisely why human context, judgment, and oversight remain essential and irreplaceable.
Any AI tools used in county operations must be subject to regular equity audits to ensure outputs are fair, inclusive, and non-discriminatory before any action is taken. The human touch is not optional – it is a safeguard.
Louella Tham (R)
Did not answer the questionnaire.
District 7
Van Free (D)
Yes, the county should responsibly use AI to improve efficiency and service delivery. AI can help streamline administrative tasks, reduce paperwork backlogs, and improve response times for residents seeking services.
For example, AI tools could assist with processing permits, analyzing data to identify trends in emergency calls, or improving customer service through faster responses to common inquiries. This allows county employees to focus more on complex, high-value work.
However, implementation must be thoughtful. We need strong safeguards around privacy, transparency, and accountability. AI should support—not replace—human decision-making, especially in sensitive areas.
Used correctly, AI can make government more responsive and cost-effective while improving the experience for residents.
Sharif Hidayat (D)
Did not answer the questionnaire.
Dawn Luedtke (D-Incumbent)
I support responsible and measured uses of AI to increase efficiencies, for example expediting permitting and regulatory review, responding to common constituent needs and assisting with funneling questions and concerns to the right departments for speedy resolution. I also believe it can be used to enhance the effectiveness of technology that we already have in use. Because technology always evolves faster than the law, I know it is important to address technology that may implicate constitutional rights with a critical legal eye – and I have always brought that to bear in my analysis at Council and will continue to do so. And I am proud of the technologies and solutions we have in place already that have been significant force multipliers across our public safety ecosystem.
Harold Maldonado (R)
MoCo should use AI to support government operations, but it must be done responsibly in a way that improves efficiency without replacing human judgment in critical decisions.
AI should first be deployed in back-office and administrative functions where it can reduce waste and improve service delivery. This includes automating routine document processing, streamlining permitting and licensing workflows, improving scheduling and case management, and helping departments analyze large datasets more quickly. These are areas where the County currently has significant administrative layering and inefficiency, and AI can help reduce delays and overhead costs.
Second, AI should be used to improve resident-facing services, such as faster response times in 311 systems, better routing of constituent requests, and more accessible digital tools for residents seeking permits, benefits, or information. However, AI should not replace human accountability in high-stakes decisions, such as public safety, budgeting decisions, or legal determinations. Every AI system should be auditable, transparent, and subject to oversight to prevent misuse or bias. Ultimately, AI should be treated as a force multiplier for efficiency, not a justification for expanding bureaucracy. If implemented correctly, it can help the County deliver better services at lower cost while improving transparency and performance.