Basic Information

Democratic Party – running for Montgomery County Council District 6

Email vickivergagni@gmail.com

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Questions & Responses (All Candidates)

1 – What lessons learned do you have since the start of the pandemic?

Isolation kills. 

Most of us saw the deterioration of civility as the pandemic wore on.  Frustration levels increased, and patience wore thin.  Greed and self-interest also reared their ugly heads.  However, the greatest damage done fell to isolation.

This experience has driven home the point that socialization and connectivity are paramount to the mental health of each and every one of us.  Scholars agree that anxiety, depression and post traumatic stress disorder are on the rise per COVID.  Specifically, children, some of whom were to start school while others already had friends they could not see, suffered from the lost opportunities.  Seniors and those with pre-existing mental diseases such as dementia deteriorated intellectually and emotionally more rapidly than normal.  People were ill – by themselves.  People died – by themselves. 

We did not end up with a brave new world.  Instead, we now live with a “new normal”.

Therefore, I am committed to finding ways that we as a community can identify those who are isolated, neglected or lonely — those most frequently left out (e.g., the lower socio-economic classes, the elderly, the disabled) — and then develop mechanisms to reach out to and involve them in regular intellectual and social exchanges. 

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? 

Since communication is such a basic component of socialization and connectivity, I would establish a program to secure technology for individuals without access to it and teach them how to ZOOM, Facetime, etc.  Grandparents were deprived of greeting new arrivals to the family; grandchildren were deprived of the source of all spoiling; those unable to return home due to job responsibilities or COVID outbreaks were deprived of family and friends, and vice versa.

I also would work with our elected and career leadership within the executive, legislative and judicial branches to assure that they understand the significance of implementing solutions to fight isolation.  As the guardian of a friend of 40 years who has dementia, I witnessed the exacerbation of that disease due to a judge’s unwillingness to require my friend to relocate from her beautiful home that she loved where she had 24/7 assistance from caring strangers into a setting near friends with a history with her who could interact with her on a daily basis.

3 – What do you think are the three biggest and most pressing issues facing our county in the next four years?

Economic Development:  Surrounding jurisdictions are outpacing the County’s performance with regard to attracting and retaining employers, which also means that the County does not have enough jobs – and certainly not enough quality jobs – to create a thriving economy.

Affordable Owned Housing:  The County continues to focus almost solely on affordable rental housing instead of finding ways so that those with lower and middle incomes can secure affordable owned housing to build legacy wealth – and not end up as seniors whose housing costs continue to increase as their income precipitously decreases.

Schools:  It is critical that the County offer quality education for all learning levels so that every student has the opportunity to make his/her way in the world.

4 – What specifically do you plan to do in the three most pressing areas from Question 3?

Economic Development:  The County should focus on its subject matter stronghold by recruiting/starting businesses based on subject matter associated with existing for-profits/non-profits.  They also should fund programs to incubate small businesses that capitalize on unique trades and professions of the County’s diverse population.  Eliminating unnecessarily burdensome regulations would create a more level playing field with surrounding jurisdictions.  And the County should conduct ongoing assessments of workplace needs so that it can create training pipelines for existing and anticipated job opportunities.

Affordable Owned Housing:  The County must find reasonably priced, out-of-the-box solutions to give low- and middle-income residents the opportunity to become homeowners, particularly first-time homebuyers.  “Out-of-the-box” solutions are one of my favorite things.  As a condominium community manager, I have focused on minimizing our Association’s loss of condominium fees.  In a foreclosure, the only debtors who typically get paid are the lenders, as all other liens (except government agencies) fall behind them in priority.  This means that unpaid condominium fees are erased when the condominium is sold at foreclosure.  In that it takes a year or more for a foreclosure to move to final sale, the Association that is master-metered for utilities loses at least $600 per month with all expenses having to be paid by the “paying” owners.  If the Association does not buy the property at foreclosure, it usually receives nothing for its lien.  If the Association does buy the property, it has the opportunity to recover in two ways:  renovate and rent, or renovate and sell.  In either case, the Association should choose the fastest path to recover its “lost” condominium fees, renovation costs, and sales/purchase costs to be made whole.  I have done this multiple times for the property that I manage, and we have recovered every penny.  The County could make this happen by creating two loan funds:  a short-term, low-interest loan fund for condominium communities that wish to renovate and rent or sell, and a long-term, low-interest loan fund for first-time homebuyers.

Schools:  Unfortunately, Americans tend to look to government to solve too many of our problems.  As a former teacher and now as a community manager with 99 children in our 214 homes, I have observed both successful and unsuccessful educational practices.  The County has exceptional physical plants and teachers, successful parents, and students with unlimited potential.  To capitalize on this trifecta of educational opportunity, I would encourage mentoring programs so that students have not only a successful role model who looks like them, but also has opportunities to interact with those individuals on a regular basis.  This means reaching out into the community to involve not only parents, but individuals who are successful in the larger community.  Mentoring also allows the students to learn from “real life” individuals and to extend their boundaries beyond their immediate environs, exposing them to new and different perspectives.  In addition to building their self-confidence and increasing self-awareness, students develop leadership and communication skills (e.g., receiving and providing feedback, asking questions, becoming active listeners).  They also build a network that supports themselves and others while increasing the probability for job satisfaction and promotions.

5 – Would you consider supporting changes to the 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?

Absolutely.

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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 lacking in the Up County and East County and compete with Northern Virginia?

The three major types of employers in metropolitan Washington are:  Federal government, travel and tourism, and national trade associations and professional societies.  I would support a program through which the County would identify its subject matter strongholds and then aggressively pursue entities in those subject matter areas.  For example, health care is one of the County’s subject matter strongholds.  The County should seek Federal agencies with that mission, as well as trade associations and professional societies in that area.  We should be particularly competitive by enticing them to hold their annual meetings in the County, and then offer radical hospitality.  Give attendees opportunities to see Montgomery County by identifying local features that would be of interest to an organization that would be interested in relocating.  Support that approach with laws and regulations that encourage a high quality of life via reasonable costs of doing business (e.g., minimized regulations; lower taxes; reasonably priced energy; accessible, sought-after locations; leasing options with high value), affordable housing, quality schools, qualified employees, ample shopping, cultural activities, as well as a clean environment and the availability of medical services.  It also would be helpful to conduct research that evaluates existing business and identifies opportunities for new or expanded business in the Up County and East County that could inform the goal of attracting and keeping businesses in the County.  When Montgomery County does what it does best, it can compete with other jurisdictions.

2 – How will you hold developers accountable for past, present and future infrastructure commitments (e.g., schools, transit, roads, etc.)?

The Montgomery County Planning Board (of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission) is the body responsible for the initial review and approval of development plans.  Unfortunately, they have a track record of failing to consider a range of mandatory requirements of common ownership communities (their most frequent type of housing development today), and jump at the opportunity to have homebuyers take responsibility for services that are routinely provided by the County to traditional single-family homes.  Without an attendant analysis of future costs that must be borne by the homebuyers, this has created a range of financial sustainability issues that now has brought many of those communities to the brink of insolvency – and is costing the County millions in financial support to preserve these affordable owned homes.

The Council acts as the District Council in all County development matters and has the final say with regard to all things associated with a particular development.  Again, the Council has a dismal track record with regard to common ownership communities in particular.  With absolutely no idea of the actual amount of tax dollars they are giving up to developers, they unanimously vote to eliminate impact taxes paid by developers (that of course are passed along in the price of the new homes).  The Council also fails to advise the general public who will pick up the cost of the gift to the new development – and precisely how much that will cost each of the “paying” folks.

I would support every proposed bill including the costs borne by those who must comply (with costs determined in conjunction with them) and cost-benefit analyses for involved parties.  I also would support the policy that existing laws and regulations should be re-visited at sunset and upon request via a “Reasonableness Task Force”.

3 – What do you plan to do about the increase in incidents of carjackings and homicides in the County and the decline of applicants and morale in the police force?

I think the first step to address carjackings and homicides is to determine why they are occurring, and then to address the root causes of these activities.  I suspect that there is a whole range of social and economic issues that are driving this trend; thus, I would anticipate creating a comprehensive preventive (and remedial) approach that addresses every one of the drivers.  The form that takes with regard to policies, procedures, and programming remains to be seen.  What we are doing now certainly is not working. 

What the County has done to address policing issues is contrary to known “best practices” to assure employee morale.  Morale is paramount to employee engagement, motivation and performance.  Morale supports communication, collaboration, and teamwork.  Morale is critical to employee productivity.  Morale is essential to employee retention.  Clearly most of the County’s police force is composed of decent, hard-working individuals who are trying to do the right thing.  However, it is difficult for them to maintain morale when those whose lives are not on the line are taking potshots at them on a regular basis.  Policing is a dangerous profession; we should invest heavily in training officers, and then we should demand excellence.  When an officer fails to live up to the standard, he/she must be dealt with accordingly.  One bad apple hurts the reputation of the entire force.  We must have transparent disciplinary measures so that the public has respect for those who are risking their lives every day for our safety as they routinely attend to domestic violence, car stops, etc.

4 – What do you see as your biggest advantage or positive that you bring to the table over your competitors?

I can do what needs to be done, and I have the political will to do it.

My background is both broad and deep (as described below).  However, I believe that what sets me apart is my

• track record of success and innovation in community management, residential construction, storm water management, turnaround management;
• unwavering commitment to create real solutions to real problems;
• willingness to stand tall, unwillingness to be intimidated;
• visionary approach that incorporates the bottom line;
• frank, collaborative, approachable personality;
• critical thinking; and
• work ethic.

Formal and Informal Education

• 6 years of undergraduate and graduate work in the physical sciences and teaching; and
• 45 years of work experience in national non-profits, my own professional services firm, and condominium community management.

Knowledge of County Agencies, Their Leadership and Their Operations

Knowledge of Leading Employers in the Local Economy:  Federal government; travel and tourism; national trade associations and professional societies.

Management Expertise

• Founded and managed a professional services firm that served more than 100 Federal agencies, 80 national trade associations and professional societies, and numerous private firms (e.g., Lockheed-Martin) and educational institutions.
• Customer service, employee retention and bottom line.

Public Policy Experience

• Commissioner and Vice Chair of the Montgomery County Commission on Common Ownership Communities (COCs);
• Member and Co-Chair of the Montgomery County Distressed COCs Task Force; and
• Multiple experiences testifying before the County Council and two State legislatures (with two bills passing that I initiated).

Communications

• Contributing editor to The Washington Post.
• Authority on common ownership communities with multiple interviews in The Washington Post.