MARC ELRICH'S CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST
By Lori Jaffe
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich gave his State of the County (SOTC) address on May 2nd, 2024. He lamented that our Police Department is understaffed, and it has a recruitment problem. But what he did not say was that his own policy helped make that happen. You can help the Committee for Better Government limit him to two terms, but you must act soon. Ten thousand valid signatures must be gathered by August 2024. (See below).
So why is the Montgomery County Police Department “almost 170 officers short?” According to Elrich, “We can’t even field the people we need to cover the county right now.” It will “at best take 2 to 3 years to get it back on track to staff this department.” “We cannot operate with these few police officers.”
Montgomery Perspective quotes the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 35. “The low morale is driven by laws, enacted or proposed, that have had negative effects on the way law enforcement officers do their job.”
In 2019, Elrich declared through an Executive Order that Montgomery County would be a “sanctuary county.” In his SOTC address Elrich explained how his administration makes decisions, (19:39) “Every policy decision that we make is evaluated through the lens of racial equity and social justice. Budgets are analyzed for their equity impact. Departments are rated on how they explain their projects in terms of equity. And it helps us make decisions.” This decision-making process has disastrous consequences.
(57:47) Elrich said that because of our inclusive community, Vietnamese and Indian MoCo residents told businesses that MoCo is the place to bring their business, “not Texas.” Why did he mention Texas? What did Texas Governor Abbot do to earn Elrich’s scorn? He bussed illegal immigrants out of Texas to sanctuary states and the District of Columbia, which borders on Montgomery County. Guy Benson (1:58) gives credit to Gov Abbott of Texas for “forcing these places to live with the consequences of their preening and their policies.” Elrich’s chickens had come home to roost.
In February 2024, Fox News reported that despite Montgomery County’s claim that it is not a sanctuary county, “ICE says no detainers have been honored in the county in either the last fiscal year or this one. Director Reeves told Fox News Digital this week that in FY 2023, ICE issued 198 detainers, none of which were honored. So far in FY 2024, the agency has issued 119 detainers, and none have been honored by the county.”
It wasn’t until March 11 that the Montgomery County Detention Center handed over its first two offenders to ICE. They had to because of bad publicity: “…(t)he Montgomery County Detention Center was criticized for releasing Nilson Granados-Trejo from custody, despite Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) filing a detainer to hold him. Trejo, who was illegally in the United States from El Salvador, would later become one of three suspects charged in the murder of 2-year-old Jeremy Poou-Caceres in Prince George's County.
ICE said Montgomery County twice refused to cooperate with detainers for Trejo last year, even though he'd been ordered to be deported back in 2022.”
In his SOTC address, our County Executive didn’t mention the increase in crime for the third year in a row. New York Mayor Eric Adams, a former police officer, gets it. He reversed himself due to a serious uptick in crime. Elrich needs to do the same thing. But will he?
Marc Elrich wants to run for a third 4-year term as County Executive in 2026. Do you think he has the best policies for your family’s safety? Had enough? Please volunteer 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]