After nearly 8 years of saddling MoCo residents with increased taxes and higher costs of living, a pending announcement to run for County Executive has Andrew Friedson pivoting to “care about the financial burden of living in Montgomery County.”
Marc Elrich released his proposed budget this year, once again asking taxpayers to agree to have their property taxes raised to fund “MCPS”. Why is MCPS in quotes? Well, that is because the only way the county can approve a property tax increase is if the funding goes to schools. So, any 2-bit politician can work some budget voo-doo to make sure that is the case.
Back to Andrew. In his letter and X thread, Andrew tried to position himself as a champion of fiscal restraint, caring deeply about that burden local government places on tax payers. But has this been his record? No.
- Andrew quickly voted to raise the bag tax to .10 cents and make the use of plastic bags illegal.
- Andrew quickly voted to outlaw gas leaf blowers, forcing families and businesses to invest more money to be in compliance.
- Andrew never advocated to not allow rate raises by Washington gas and Pepco.
- Andrew not once dissented on the closures of local businesses during COVID, ruining many livelihoods.
- Andrew co-authored the LARGEST ever climate investment through the Montgomery County Green Buildings Now Act
- Andrew supported the Make Office Vacancy Extinct Grant Program, giving developers huge tax abatements
- Andrew has supported 100s of millions of dollars in grant programs that have failed to deliver.
- Andrew supported continual funding of CASA despite their antisemite statements and posture
- Andrew supported the county not working with ICE and pursuing restorative justice policing measures, creating a public safety climate that has costing the county 10s to 100s of millions of dollars in lost opportunities.
- Andrew not once used his position to advocate at the state level for less fees or taxes.
The list could go on and on. But in short, Andrew is not a champion for creating a county government that is fiscally responsible or advocating for you to pay less to live here.
The political winds are blowing, and Andrew needs votes.
