WASHINGTON 鈥� Montgomery County鈥檚 next county executive is already getting to work on shaping his administration.
County Council member Marc Elrich,聽a Democrat who won the three-way race for county executive on Tuesday, said his transition team will start things rolling with four 鈥溾�� at locations across the county over the course of the next month. Elrich said the idea is 鈥渇or people to come out and give us their ideas, their suggestions, their hopes, their fears, whatever.鈥�
Elrich will also start to put together a cabinet. There could be some changes, he said. He鈥檒l begin by interviewing current department heads. 鈥淭here are some positions we know we want to change and there are others where we鈥檙e going to wait and see,鈥� he said. Asked which positions he wants to change, he declined to say.
During the campaign for county executive, Elrich was painted as anti-business, and he鈥檚 aware that鈥檚 a concern. He said of the business community, 鈥淭hey鈥檙e just going to have to look at what I do, and at some point they鈥檒l realize I don鈥檛 actually have an anti-business agenda. They can judge me by the work I do.鈥�
Montgomery County also has a reputation for being regulation-heavy, something that scares off businesses. Elrich said his plan is to 鈥渂enchmark鈥� the county鈥檚 regulatory environment against neighboring jurisdictions: 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to look at code issues and see where we can be better and smarter.鈥�
Some restructuring of the county government should be expected, said Elrich, who again, didn鈥檛 elaborate, saying he鈥檚 just getting started with a close look at the county鈥檚 finances. In Montgomery County, the county executive outlines the capital budget priorities by Jan. 15 and operating budget priorities by March 15.
鈥淲e do have serious financial challenges,鈥� Elrich said, but added he鈥檒l continue to focus on early childhood education as a priority.
Asked about the passage of Question 1 on the November ballot 鈥� the constitutional amendment that creates a 鈥渓ockbox鈥� on casino money and dedicates it to education spending 鈥� Elrich said, 鈥淚 think it helps the schools,鈥� but 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to pose challenges for the legislature.鈥� He said that鈥檚 because in the past, money that would have gone to schools was often shifted to other areas to shore up budget shortfalls.
Meetings with new, outgoing executives
Elrich will be meeting with outgoing County Executive Ike Leggett early next week. The two each served on the council before moving on to the executive鈥檚 office. Erlich said he鈥檚 not yet had contact with the administration of Gov. Larry Hogan, the Republican who was reelected to a second term Tuesday, but Elrich said he鈥檚 worked with some of the governor鈥檚 staff in the past.
鈥淚鈥檓 already familiar with some of his people; I have a good working relationship with them. I anticipate that going forward we鈥檙e going to work with each other.鈥�
Finally, Elrich said, 鈥淚 want the residents of Montgomery County to know how much I appreciate their support. I really do appreciate their faith and trust.鈥�
Elrich hopes to work with the recently elected county executives in other jurisdictions, such as Councilman Calvin Ball, just elected executive in Howard County, and Johnny Olzewski, the next executive in Baltimore County. 鈥淚 think as county executives we face pretty similar issues and problems, and I hope we learn from each other.鈥�
