Basic Information
Democratic Party – running for Montgomery County Council District 7
Email jacqueline@mangerformontgomery.com
Website www.mangerformontgomery.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/manger4montgomery
Questions & Responses (All Candidates)
1 – What lessons learned do you have since the start of the pandemic?
Direct, transparent and accurate communication from leadership is essential.
Partnerships between private and public entities to solve problems faced by society can be hugely successful with winners all around if collaboration is executed correctly.
We must do more to make quality healthcare accessible to everyone.
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 sudden and immediate removal of School Resource Officers (SRO’s) from MCPS schools was a mistake. The policy was not well planned, researched or executed. This is evidenced by the fact that many in the community are currently advocating to have those SRO’s returned to schools. When properly hired, assigned, trained and resourced, SRO’s can be a huge deterrent to violence in schools and a positive addition to the school staff. The counselors and crisis response professionals who were supposed to fill the gap left by the withdrawal of SROs never materialized. The national rhetoric and the national data for the schools to prison pipeline should not have dictated our county policy. Our data and our lived experiences as a county should be driving how we protect our community. The front lines of community policing – building trust and inspiring the next generation of public safety officers – should be occurring in our schools. If we are committed to reform, then we should not be shying away from officers in the schools, but rather we should be committed to creating the better world we want to see with our youth trusting of and supported and protected by the men and women of public safety.
3 – What do you think are the 3 biggest and most pressing issues facing our county in the next 4 years? Why?
My top priorities relate specifically to our most pressing issues.
(1) Jobs and inclusive economic growth
We need a better environment for sustaining and creating businesses with a focus on job creation vital to providing revenue to address county needs. Not just more jobs, but better paying jobs as well.
(2) School excellence and school safety
We need an accessible and comprehensive public education system – early childhood to post-secondary including workforce training and reskilling in order to succeed.
(3) Affordable Housing and Transportation
Our ability to create more affordable housing and improve our transit infrastructure impacts our ability to grow our economy. And we must do this while improving how we protect our environment and maintain our quality of life. I want to build forward a Montgomery County, that is sustainable. This is possible, but we need to change the way the county delivers services and how it engages with and supports business.
4 – What specifically do you plan to do in the 3 most pressing areas from Question 3?
(1) Jobs and inclusive economic growth
Economic development goals must be measurable and we need accountability. County services must improve; streamlining permitting and inspection and increased investment in small business navigators are a start. Leverage county buying power to stimulate inclusive economic growth. Invest in innovation and microbusiness development.
(2) School excellence and school safety
As our Council Member, I will work to fully fund our schools, and protect our students’ health and safety by continued investment in wellness centers, counselors, and support for school resource officers. Training dollars for administrators, counselors and SROs to create a multipronged approach to students safe and secure learning environment.
(3) Affordable housing and transportation
We must examine zoning that limits rehabilitation or reuse of properties, incentivize property owners to designate units for affordable housing, use county land for smart growth development and support master planning and building with an emphasis on zoning that favors multifamily and density. We should leverage the Affordable Housing Opportunities Fund. Our investment in transportation should be balanced and sustainable. Highest priority should be smart growth development that mitigates traffic and investment in reliable, accessible options (BRT, buses, investment in Metro and MARC) that get people out of cars. I am pragmatic though, we will continue to use cars, so incentives and infrastructure dollars to get people to use greener cars will be a priority as well as projects along existing roadways that relieve congestion.
5 – 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 am open to nonpartisan elections and open primaries. It is my hope that our county continues to work to make the ballot box an accessible place. It stands to reason that voters may not feel candidates coming out of the primary represent them, considering a significant portion of the electorate does not participate and our political parties have chosen polarization as a means to get people engaged. Several more representative models are worth considering. I also like rank choice voting and every time I see 7 or more people running for a single office in a primary, I wish we had it. For now, I am thrilled that additional districts and at large members have been added to the County Council. As a County Councilmember I will represent all of the people in my district, regardless of their political affiliations.
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?
We need a real economic development plan with a handful of measurable goals and we must hold ourselves accountable. Elections offer accountability for Councilmembers. As a county Councilmember I am committed to collaboration with the Montgomery County Economic Development Commission, but we must hold them accountable for performance. I want to see county procurement leveraged to grow the local economy with a higher local preference. I will support investment in programs that streamline how businesses interact with and get services from the government, whether that is small business navigators, incubator programs or lending. We must improve permitting and we have to incorporate the final fire occupancy permit inspection with the existing inspection process. We can use a variety of incentives to grow businesses and jobs in up and east county and we should have a true dedicated economic development fund to do so. We need to signal with our actions that we are open for business. This has not been the case lately.
2 – How will you hold developers accountable for past, present, and future infrastructure commitments (schools, transit, roads, etc.)?
Developers to my knowledge are good about their commitments. Our own county government often takes funds from those doing redevelopment projects and rather than the developer building the sidewalk or road improvement the county banks it to do it later. Trouble is, we as a county don’t always follow through.
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?
We must support law enforcement with elected leadership that values their contributions to a safe and civil society;elected leadership that values their role in keep the community safe from the schools to our streets. We have to increase pay to be more competitive in our region and we should explore incentives that will bring more of them into living in the communities that they serve. Yes, we must hold law enforcement accountable for misconduct or abuse of the public trust. By doing so the public trust will increase and this will be a positive factor for morale. Police must be a respected, visible and trusted part of the community to keep us safe. We have to change the narrative fast.
4 – What do you see as your biggest advantage or positive that you bring to the table over your competitors?
I have lived in this county for close to 20 years, raised my children here, grown businesses here, and served my community in many ways. I have a unique combination of private sector and public sector expertise and experience. We are missing the voice of business as an engine for good in our community, as a driver of jobs and growth and as a means to solve problems for our community. I currently teach entrepreneurship at UMD and I have been a small business owner, business executive in the financial services industry, and startup CEO. I am a pragmatic progressive, and with my extensive experience in finance and accounting, I am much better equipped to prioritize and make difficult decisions about funding and budgets than my competitors. I have been a member of the extended public safety family in this community for decades and will be a leader that is supportive of the positive role of police in a civil and just society, balancing strong support for the men and women of law enforcement with criminal justice reform.