BIRDS OF A FEATHER
By Lori Jaffe
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich seems to be in a little hot water. He thinks that referendum on term limits for his position will be on the ballot in November, and he expects to bear the brunt of the voters’ unhappiness. So, he has asked the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC) for help. It makes perfect sense for him to call on his fellow politicians – after all, they have so much in common. Last October, Moderately MoCo reported that Somerset Mayor Jeffrey Slavin criticized the MCDCC for incompetence and financial mismanagement. As the saying goes, “Birds of a feather flock together.”
On incompetence, Mayor Slavin said, “Like all organizations that handle hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, MCDCC is subject to governing rules and regulations. Its own regulation handbook clearly states there must be a “Spring Ball” (Chapter 66.1, page 176 of the MCDCC Rules Handbook). Instead, MCDCC hurriedly rushed to reschedule its annual fundraiser for the autumn because of the gross incompetence of the current chair to do the one thing a political committee exists to do: raise money to support fellow Democrats. According to Montgomery Perspective, the party barely raised $16,000 in the first six months of the year.”
Similarly, Elrich lacks the skills to lead our county toward prosperity. According to the MoCo government’s own website, “The County Executive oversees the enforcement of the laws of Montgomery County and provides Executive direction to all departments and offices of the County government. The County Executive also develops policies; proposes plans, programs, budgets, and legislation to the County Council…” However, during a County Executive Candidate Forum in 2022 (0:29), Marc Elrich said, “In Montgomery County we have absolutely no idea when anything in the master plan will be built because we have no idea what the cashflow needs to be or how we are going to get the cashflow to make those projects possible.” Yes, he doesn’t know where the money is coming from or where it’s going. But isn’t it his job to find out?
On financial mismanagement, Slavin said: “I have never heard of a Democratic Party entity that has been threatened by the IRS with a tax lien. That is, until now. The Baltimore Sun, MoCo360.com and Moderately MoCo have extensive and embarrassing coverage of the failure by MCDCC to pay outstanding taxes in a timely manner. They have also written about the mind-boggling (and ultimately unsuccessful) attempts by Chair Ahmad to lie to and mislead the press and the public over how and when the tax issues were discovered.”
Just like the MCDCC, Elrich doesn’t always follow the financial rules. In 2022, Reardon Sullivan, former candidate for County Executive, criticized Elrich for several unexplained items in the budget: “We have uncovered prior spending excesses including $160 million to undisclosed vendors. There are almost 2,000 unnamed vendors in the prior County budget. The total disbursed to those vendors total over $168 million.”
In 2024 Montgomery Perspective reported on “Elrich’s Structural Deficit.” County council staff noted their concerns, including “The Executive’s proposed budget is not consistent with the Council’s adopted fiscal policies on use of one-time reserves.” Elrich figures he can always increase our taxes to help pay for his social welfare programs. As Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Marc Elrich wants to run for a third 4-year term as County Executive in 2026. Do you want a County Executive that continues to fall short? Stay tuned. In November, you may get your chance to hold him to two terms.
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Lori Jaffe is the Party Secretary for the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee, volunteer coordinator and Member of the Executive Board. She can be reached at [email protected]