Basic Information
Democratic Party – running for Montgomery County Council District 7
Email Paul@votegeller.com
Website www.votegeller.com
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Questions & Responses (All Candidates)
1 – What lessons learned do you have since the start of the pandemic?
Nonprofits and the community are great at responding to crises; county government, not so much. In very short order, the Montgomery County Food Council not only had a plan but mobilized people and resources to help feed the community. We needed face-to-face, or in this case mask-to-mask interaction to help answer important questions people in the community had. This interaction in many cases was necessary because people could not fill out government required forms that were only available online to get the services they needed. Business and rental assistance applications online were a nightmare. With county offices and libraries closed, the only choice was a voice on the end of a phone line. Online applications were hardest for those that needed the assistance the most. Communication is NOT a county government strong suit. Just because information is available online does not mean it is readily accessible to everyone.
Finally, for the most part, people are exceptionally kind, helping, and generous.
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?
A same services budget in the second year of the pandemic was the wrong way to go in my opinion. To freeze Community Grants to only pre-existing organizations and programs—saying, “Nothing new”—left organizations and creative solutions unfunded and unable to carry out programs that were helping those in need. We know the county government is not equipped nor was able to handle the myriad responses needed. Yet, money and processes were frozen in outdated and inflexible systems. Since no one around had real world experience in handling the shifting needs of a pandemic situation, we were in uncharted territory. Everything being done to address the pandemic was new. An opportunity to do things better was missed by passing over those nimble organizations, faith communities, and
neighborhoods that banded together.
3 – What do you think are the 3 biggest and most pressing issues facing our county in the next 4 years? Why?
Revitalizing and supercharging our business community
We have more than 10,000,000 square feet of vacant office space in the county. I want this space filled with existing Montgomery County companies who want to grow here, entrepreneurs who want to establish new businesses, and with world class companies who will open new offices here. The economic viability of the county is paramount to everything else we do. We must maintain sufficient revenue to fund responsible budgets. Montgomery County has weathered the pandemic thanks to our 10% revenue reserve and huge infusions from the federal and state governments. (The American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA] money will be
spent by and end December 2024. We need to be careful that add-ons to existing programs or new programs were not created that would require ongoing funding.) However, the county is in a precarious position of funding so many social programs as to tip the scales from providing for our own most vulnerable to attracting others to move here, a concern then County Executive Isiah Leggett shared with me in 2016. We need strategic, coordinated, and truly innovative efforts to grow and attract businesses offering high paying, professional jobs in order to get our economy moving in the right direction. Doing so will maintain and
improve the county jewels of schools, parks, and amenities.
Education
At over half the county budget, MCPS is a huge investment but one that reflects how much we value education and see it as a path to a better life. Because of the state Maintenance of Effort (MOE) requirement, any increase over MOE in a given Operating Budget is a commitment that resets the minimum amount of funding for MCPS in the fiscal year(s) to come. As with ARPA money for the county, I hope that ESSER money for schools that expires September 2024 has not grown programs or initiated new programs or staffing that will need continued funding once that one-time pot of money is gone. Overall, it’s not so much the amount of money anymore as to how that money is being spent. Recognizing that 90% of the MCPS operating budget is for personnel, we have to see whether funds are being used to optimal benefit. This is especially true in the MCPS Capital Budget. What are we building and why? We don’t need grand architectural masterpieces, we need functional, technologically modern, energy efficient schools that are built to work for their inhabitants (students) not merely to fit in with the surrounding neighborhood. We have to take the long view and make small additional investments up front in space to grow and energy savings measures to reap
rewards in just a few years. Which leads me to….
Environment
We need to turn our attention to major contributors of greenhouse gas emissions OTHER than passenger cars: diesel powered vehicles, building construction, and electricity generation. This can be done in the county and should be pursued at the state level.
4 – What specifically do you plan to do in the 3 most pressing areas from Question 3?
Economic Viability. See Question #3 above and County Council question #1.
Education and Environment overlap: Small investments in solar at as many MCPS schools as possible would decrease operating expenses on electricity which could then be used to fund more teachers, school psychologists, more extracurricular programs, etc…
For many years now, I have been the leading advocate for solar panels to be placed on every Montgomery County Public Schools building wherever practical. As a Councilmember, I will see to it that this is accomplished in a timely manner. I will also pursue MCPS upgrading their buildings to similar energy efficiency standards that we are asking of all non-governmental property owners. Net Zero Energy schools are highly efficient and generate all their own electricity. The cost to build these technological wonders is now commensurate with traditional construction, saves money, AND helps the environment.
Environment:
There is no one way out of a problem: electric vehicles and mass transit are not the only solutions to greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing embodied carbon and moving toward carbon neutral construction also must happen.
Fortunately, on the county level, we now have the Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) and the adoption of the International Building Code; on the state level, the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022 as the motivators to build better. We need to mandate that MCPS provide BEPS data, including those times when systems aren’t functioning perfectly so we know actual use. “Anomalies” have a tendency to disappear off reports.
Electric transit and school buses are extremely expensive and it will take more than 10 years to replace these fleets completely. There’s also the cost of charging infrastructure. What about conversions rather than wholesale purchase of new vehicles? Sounds like a win/win for creating jobs and helping the environment.
An innovative concept could be a surcharge on commercial diesel vehicles or energy offset sales used to fund green initiatives in the county, such as converting combustion engines or making older buildings more energy efficient, perhaps through the Green Bank.
We can also do more in food reclamation and composting, although these areas have already grown, largely independently of county government. Recycling material into other uses such as plastic into roads, and other innovations are common around the world. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but it would help to look beyond our own boundaries for ideas. Let’s work on a real circular economy in the county.
5 – Would you consider supporting changes to electoral process such as open primaries or nonpartisan elections in Montgomery County to allow 155,000+registered Unaffiliated/Independents in Montgomery County to vote locally when it counts?
Yes, I would consider these changes. The current restrictions partly disenfranchise roughly 15% of county residents. The results of the primary should not dictate who will win the general election. Unfortunately, we’ve seen that independent or other third party candidates are largely overlooked as a result. Everyone should be free to choose whomever they find to be the best candidate, regardless of party. It may even spur our Democrat and Republican parties to field better/different/fewer candidates, especially for state level offices.
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?
The County needs to supercharge itself economically. That should be one of our main goals. As a Councilmember, one of my main focuses will be on making sure Montgomery County is a better place to live, work and learn in. Work is one of the keys. We have millions of square feet of vacant office space. My goal is to work closely with our business community to grow existing businesses here in Montgomery County, encourage world-class companies to open offices here/move their headquarters here, and encourage entrepreneurs to start up businesses here. The goal is to create significantly more high-paying jobs right here in our
county. Period. We cannot continue down this road of unlimited spending without respecting the fact that our tax base is hurting because the number of new, high-paying jobs being created is stagnant compared to neighboring jurisdictions. Getting businesses the tools they need to succeed is of paramount importance.
One way I certainly plan on helping make the environment better is to work closely with my County Council colleagues, the County Executive, the Chambers of Commerce and the business community in making the Department of Permitting Services significantly more user friendly and customer service focused. I have heard numerous horror stories over the years about businesses being told to make substantial and costly changes to their physical spaces, only to be told six months later by a different inspector that some of the originally mandated changes were unnecessary or incorrect, and need to be modified again. This is inane. I will work with all interested parties to make sure DPS runs a consistent operation in which any and all of their requests/recommendations are documented online and any further changes are rare, if not unallowable.
It also must be mentioned some businesses have gone through a tortuously long process in trying to secure building permits. One, Cadence of Olney, a senior living facility about to open, tells of a seven year process to secure all the needed permits. This is beyond ridiculous. This is ludicrous. If I ever hear of something like this happening to one of my District businesses, my office will step in and get involved.
Regarding Upcounty, we need to make sure the “average” individual can get around the County, not just use mass transit for commuting only. For example, there’s no bus from Damascus to Germantown.
The most important thing I will do as District 7 Councilmember for our businesses is listen to them. I was the fourth generation in my family to own a small business. Small businesses have always played a role in my life. I know how challenging it is to meet expenses and wear many hats at once. My office will be omnipresent in the community, and always available to hear your questions, comments and concerns. We will be here to serve you.
2 – How will you hold developers accountable for past, present, and future infrastructure commitments (schools, transit, roads, etc.)?
I played a leading role in a group from the Montgomery County Council of PTAs
(MCCPTA), The Next Steps Reps, that worked for two years and had accomplished just that with the 2016 revision of the Subdivision Staging Policy (SSP).
Staging of new development was required to keep pace with infrastructure necessitated by the new residential growth of projects/plans. We followed that up with adjustments to the impact taxes and recordation fees to ensure developers paid their fair share (from 90% of the cost of a school seat for residential construction to 120% by also rolling in a rarely collected, paltry school facility fee.) I had the unenviable task of making this request to arguably the most fiscally conservative president of the County Council at the time, Councilmember Nancy
Floreen. She agreed. Moreover, she was one of the first to endorse my campaign for District 7.
We have to reverse the damage done by the passage of the 2020 Growth and Infrastructure Policy. This massive gutting of the 2016 Subdivision Staging Policy effectively eliminated the much needed Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, especially as it pertains to schools and roads. Eliminating this will cause more overcrowded schools and further frustrate drivers with more congestion. The streamlined impact tax and fee schedules are now indecipherable, overly complicated, and business unfriendly, AND reduces revenue received by the County. It should not have been passed during the pandemic when all historical data informing the changes became irrelevant and the public lacked the full ability to engage on this important issue.
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?
For carjacking, it’s more a matter of finding deterrents that influence human behavior. We should be investing in street lighting, lighting in retail parking lots, and at multi-family housing units. We can also install more security cameras, or help housing properties afford them. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of cameras monitoring a rental complex in Gaithersburg. Signage alerting all to the security surveillance and many visible cameras made a single mom feel much more secure to live there.
Most assailants committing homicide are known by their victim. This is especially true in cases of domestic violence. We need to make sure that criminal and civil offenses that require firearms to be relinquished, are actually surrendered. Mental health is also an issue and we should be using the Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets (CAHOOTS) model of response in situations that could escalate to a homicide being committed, again particularly in domestic violence cases.
Police officers needed to be paid better, an issue the county has since taken care of. We need more positive community interactions with our law enforcement officers. More than National Night Out or Coffee with a Cop for our individuals with disabilities. There had been a great event at MCPD headquarters a few years back inviting the public to see the labs, the crime scene mockups,… More regular occurrences like the high school basketball or baseball/softball teams take on their district or city police. Re-start a Police Athletic League. Police Chief or District Commander for a day as an essay contest for kids and adults. Also expansion of the Public Safety Training Academy which has only a very limited number of slots per year.
We also need greater coverage of good police officer stories. That is more a challenge for the media, however the Public Affairs Office can certainly be sure to put out stories of this kind.
As a 2022 Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate, I advocate for gun violence prevention and will govern with gun safety in mind, if elected.
4 – What do you see as your biggest advantage or positive that you bring to the table
over your competitors?
Education knowledge and experience with MCPS. I am THE education candidate.
This December we will be losing the two Councilmembers with the most experience working with MCPS: Craig Rice and Nancy Navarro. No one else running for re-election, or running in any At-Large or District race, has near the experience I bring to the table with MCPS. This is vitally important because more than half the Montgomery County budget, about $2,900,000,000 (yes that is $2.9 billion), goes to MCPS. And I am one of the few that understands their budgetary process inside and out.
As MCCPTA President and VP of Programs, I helped MCPS craft their Operating Budget, work on their Capital Improvements Program budget, and everything in between. When the Board of Education (BOE) knew they needed $100,000,000 more in Operating Budget funds in 2016, an unprecedented ask in MCPS history, BOE member Phil Kauffman turned to me to do it. And I did. I too knew this funding was needed to hire 600+ more teachers (thus reducing class sizes), to help level the achievement/opportunity gap for so many of our students, and to provide clearly defined on-ramps to become teachers for our school support personnel like paraeducators.
Between January and May 2016, I worked tirelessly to get the required unanimous vote of all nine Councilmembers to get this major investment in our schools approved. And it was. What
County Executive Isiah Leggett told me in January 2016 was impossible, came to pass. At the
end of the day, the Council invested $89,100,000 more annually in MCPS – a total of more than $531,000,000 so far…and that is just a fraction of the work I have done for MCPS.
I also bring an extensive knowledge of the county with me. Having lived here since 1991, I am familiar with leaders, community members, businesses, and how things get done. I know how to work with our state delegation to Annapolis, our County Council, and our federal partners to get things done. My track record of success in major advocacy initiatives surpasses that of all my competitors combined.
Because of my education leadership and advocacy, a number of well-known Montgomery County leaders have endorsed my campaign. Former County Councilmembers Nancy Floreen
and Roger Berliner, both of whom I worked with as an advocate, have given me glowing endorsements. So too have former BOE members Mike Durso and Dr. Alan Cheung. As a matter of fact, eight recipients of the prestigious Distinguished Service Award from the MCPS BOE have endorsed me. Community leaders Byron Johns, Seth Morgan, M.D., Vernon Ricks,
Susan Horst, Oscar Alvarenga, Fred Evans, Marla Caplon, and Beryl L. Feinberg have also backed me.