Rocky Whitesell – Candidate for Montgomery County Council, District 4 (Moderately MOCO Candidate Introduction Series)

This post is part of the Moderately MOCO Candidate Introduction Series. Are you a candidate who did not receive the questionnaire via email or need more information? Please visit our contact form The information below is based on responses submitted directly by the candidate and does not represent the views of Moderately MOCO.

Basic Information

Political Party: Democratic Party
Campaign Website: https://rockywhitesell.com/
Social Media Links: n/a

Why Are You Running For Office?

I am running because I have watched homelessness, particularly among children, rapidly rise in our community and in my own neighborhood, and I have not seen the level of urgency or honesty from the county that this crisis demands.

What Is The Biggest Issue Facing Voters In This Race?

The housing affordability crisis has reached such proportions that it affects nearly every other public issue in our county. The fact that about half our workforce no longer lives in our county because it’s too expensive is a tremendous drain on public finances and drives our exceptionally bad traffic congestion. Both young and old residents are being squeezed out, and of course the lack of affordable housing is causing a rise in homelessness far higher than any other county in the region.

This crisis is first and foremost driven by a lack of affordable multifamily housing production anywhere in the county. Last year, the number of multifamily housing units permitted collapsed, and again this was not a situation experienced by any other counties in our region. So far from addressing the crisis, we have now accelerated it.

On the council, my chief goal will be to immediately work to reverse this trend. We need to allow more density, particularly near major transit hubs, we need to rearrange the order of permitting to put veto points up front, and we need to provide the HOC with greater gap financing support immediately.

What Experience Best Prepares You For This Role?

I worked most recently in policy at NIH, which was a stronger primer for the work required of a councilmember. I personally wrangled with cost accounting of massive multimillion dollar budgets, and I learned firsthand the difference between line items on a spreadsheet and the reality of people working on the ground day to day. Along with my prior experience in laboratory science, it taught me to focus on evidence and to question my own assumptions. A common pitfall is letting how we collect data shape what we think is happening. Often the most important mechanisms are the hardest to measure.

What Would You Like Voters To Know About You Personally?

Most people who know me know that I’m actually incredibly shy, but I felt so strongly that we needed more urgent action on homelessness in particular that I forced myself to run and to go out every day to meet people. If elected, I won’t stop. I will continue going out into the streets and hearing people’s perspectives every spare moment because I know how few people can make it out to council meetings scheduled in the middle of the work week, and how unrepresentative they can be of our incredibly diverse and vibrant county.

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