Basic Information
Democratic Party – running for Montgomery County Council District 5
Email info@fatmatabarrie.com
Website www.fatmatabarrie.com
Facebook @fatmatabarrie4council
Twitter @barrie4council
Other IG: @fatmatabarrie4countycouncil
Questions & Responses (All Candidates)
1 – What lessons learned do you have since the start of the pandemic?
Every one of us experienced challenging times since the start of the pandemic. However, those most negatively impacted are our school children, teachers, first responders and healthcare workers, and low-income and hourly workers. The one area that is the most concerning is the poor response by MCPS to keep our most vulnerable school age children from falling in the cracks. These children will never catch up unless they receive dedicated and personalized attention, including wrap-around services both during school and out in the community.
2 – If you could go back and do one thing differently from what was done in the last two years in Montgomery County what would you change?
The County and MCPS handled the response to the pandemic in the schools poorly. If the County Executive, County Council, and MCPS had less of an arm’s length relationship perhaps the response plan would have been less disjointed, resulting in a unified, collaborative effort. Agencies that don’t communicate cannot collaborate. I would have removed the organizational silos and brought all the stakeholders to the table, including the teachers, parents, and older students. Regular communication with the parents or caregivers, particularly of high-risk students; perhaps through regular surveys sent home for students and parents to fill out together and return.
3 – What do you think are the 3 biggest and most pressing issues facing our county in the next 4 years? Why?
Affordable Housing: Affordable housing is a serious problem in Montgomery County and one of my priorities. District 5 is particularly hard hit due to the very high concentration of multi-family rental dwellings. Evictions, particularly those without just cause, have a devastating impact on residents throughout Montgomery County. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem. These evictions can lead to homelessness, job loss, income insecurity, food insecurity, and increased student transiency, among other serious impacts that reverberate throughout the community. Related to affordable housing is accessible public transportation. Residents should be able to live near where they work without having to endure a costly, and lengthy commute. Also, our public-school teachers deserve to live in the communities where they work.
Economic Growth and Poverty: The biggest challenge in Montgomery County is keeping pace with its rapid growth and the burden it is placing on the existing infrastructure and social safety net. The most important thing we need to address as our community grows is the perpetuation of poverty. Will this population growth mean that more children and families will be living in poverty, or will our growth plan include lifting existing and future residents out of poverty?
Environmental Justice: Climate change is an environmental justice issue because certain groups of people are disproportionately affected by climate change and are less able than others to adapt to or recover from climate change impacts. These groups include people of color, low-income communities, immigrants, and people who are not fluent in English.
4 – What specifically do you plan to do in the 3 most pressing areas from Question 3?
Affordable Housing: I believe safe housing is a human right. District 5, which encompasses the east side of Montgomery County, saw a decline in real income between 2009-2014 of 12-16%. In order to provide good quality housing options for low and moderate income earners, the county should create programs that not only provide rental assistance to tenants, but also incentives for landlords to offer a percentage of available units to low-moderate income applicants. Also, home ownership opportunity programs should be available where new homeowners can purchase into the program at a predetermined percentage of the market value of the property. I also support House Bill 927 that looks at repurposing the current inventory of state-owned real property that may be suitable for affordable housing. We can also add more value to refresh projects such as public library renovations by adding affordable rental units to the new design. The council can create legislation that directly addresses the need for more affordable housing and hold developers accountable when they build to ensure current residents can remain in their homes with the same or better quality of life. Additionally, the council should have the ability to push for different types of taxing of existing homes when new properties are built in any community to stave off the possibility of pricing people out of their home.
Economic Growth and Poverty: Achieving economic equity through growth in the county involves a three-pronged approach: (1) smart development with close oversight of development projects to provide affordable housing with minimum impact to the surrounding community, (2) infrastructure enhancement in close alignment with building development, (utilities, transportation, etc.), this includes building schools and bringing them into the 21st century and (3) establishing a social network of services to support the growing population based on demographics and needs (i.e. schools, community centers, etc.). As we develop East County, we must ensure that current homeowners and renters are not priced out of their homes. The central tenet of economic development should be about people, not just about attracting investment.
Environmental Justice: One of my top priorities for combating climate change is to ensure that enacted climate legislation is implemented in an equitable way. I support Maryland State Senate Bill 135 – Climate Crisis and Environmental Justice Act (CCEJ). The bill will establish greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals and assess GHG pollution fees and would distribute those benefits to households and employers in the State to mitigate the impact of fees under the initiative. In essence, the CCEJ provides funds for low- and moderate-income families as well as local governments to create and implement climate action plans to reduce GHG emissions. Also, I agree with the CE that it is a climate emergency. As the County is doing work on the development of a Climate Action Plan, it needs to drastically increase the staffing and resources to accelerate the effort. The County also must work to make all aspects of the implementation equitable. This is critical for a county that has a majority-minority population.
Would you consider supporting changes to electoral process such as open primaries or non-partisan elections in Montgomery County to allow 155,000+ registered Unaffiliated/Independents in Montgomery County to vote locally when it counts?
I do support open primaries that will allow unaffiliated voters to declare a party and vote during a primary election. I’m also in favor of alternative voting methods, such as ranked choice voting. Data show that, in Ranked Choice Voting elections, more women run and more women win, especially Black women.
Questions & Responses (County Council)
1 – What is your plan to attract and KEEP businesses in Montgomery County? How can we get more businesses across the county and especially where its lacking in the Up County and East County and compete with Northern Virginia?
- Provide tax and other incentives for large and small businesses to locate in the area.
- Create job training programs at local community colleges, like the East County Montgomery College campus and community centers so that community residents can acquire skills that will qualify them to work at high wage jobs. Having a source of qualified employees will attract company investment into the area.
- Offer a streamlined application process and access to low-cost or interest-free loan programs for entrepreneurs.
- We must ensure that Thrive 2050 is in alignment with the goals of the small business community and our local residents – a people first model.
2 – How will you hold developers accountable for past, present, and future infrastructure commitments (schools, transit, roads, etc.)?
We see the harm in developers having free reign in the development of the county, especially in East County. Accountability is the key to ensuring that developers comply with contractual obligations and maintain the integrity of our communities. A great example is the Burtonsville Shopping Center. Each contract must have a clause that requires forfeiture of their property and/or taxation or penalties if developers do not fulfill their contractual obligations or leaves properties empty causing an eye-sore or negative impact on the area.
3 – What do you plan to do about the increase in incidents of carjackings and homicides in the county and decline of applicants and morale in the police force?
The crime rate has been climbing nationwide, and it has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Studies have shown us that the rise of crime correlates with poor economic status for community members. No, I am not saying that poverty makes a person violent. However, there are usually underlying conditions for most behaviors. I want to go deep to find out the root causes that are causing these carjackings. Additionally, I believe that the pandemic has negatively impacted many of our communities and I would like to look into providing more educational and mental health services.
I grew up in Florida and I remember that our community college included a police academy or some sort of a training program. Either way, we all attended the community college together. I believe that we can do the same here with Montgomery College. We can target Montgomery County residents for this program. Currently, many of our police officers do not live in the county.
I believe that providing police officers with a platform to talk about their issues could help morale. Providing them with mental health assistance could help. Despite what we may all think, I believe that only the officers themselves can tell us what they need. As such, I would love to bring the officers to the table to get their feedback as to what is happening and what they need.
4 – What do you see as your biggest advantage or positive that you bring to the table over your competitors?
This race is personal for me but for many others, it’s just politics. They want a seat in government, whether it is the council or somewhere else. I am about serving my community. You will hear all of us say that we are running because the East County has been ignored for too long. You will hear that we have not been represented well for decades. Despite all this, none of them entered the race until they saw there would be no incumbent and so the race would be easier. Some entered when it looked like the incumbent was not going to run, others waited until the lines were drawn and moved from a “tougher” race to a perceived “easier” race and others were very clear that if the incumbent was in the race, they would definitely not run because “it will be political suicide” or because it would be an “uphill battle.”
I entered the race in June 2021, long before the lines were drawn or before the incumbent decided to move on. I entered because I believed in my gut that we could be better represented, we could and should have stronger representation. I wasn’t waiting for it to be “easy.” I knew it was going to be a fight and I was ready and willing to fight for this community I love so much.
I have the experience as an attorney who has spent the last 20 years working in law, reviewing legislation and laws, interpreting them, and applying them. I have the experience of working on the Montgomery County Council as a Sr. Legislative Aide and led in the drafting and passage of police reform bills including the Use of Force Bill, Ban the Box Bill, Sexual Harassment Bill, the CROWN Act and more. Prior to working in the council, I volunteered my services in helping to craft legislation to present to the general assembly as it relates to immigration policies. I helped craft responses to the state about the viability of an immigration reform bill. I have spent the last 20 years working with the community; providing free immigration and special education legal clinics. I am running to bring equity and inclusion to District 5. I am running to ensure that everyone’s voice is amplified regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, economic or citizenship status. I am running because I want us to truly have the Montgomery County, we think we have. I am running to fight for all of us.