What's Happening at MACo 2024 Pt. 1? - State and County Reps Share Insights, Resources - What's Happening MoCo?

Episode Transcript
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Intro (00:02):
Good day and welcome to what's Happening MoCo, an
authentic unscripted podcastfrom your Montgomery County
government.
Now here's your host, derekKenney.

Derrick Kenny (00:14):
Good day and welcome to what's Happening,
moco.
We are still at the MAKOConference.
Ocean City, maryland, is hotoutside, but it's even hotter in
here because we have theAttorney General, anthony Brown.

Anthony Brown (00:25):
Welcome to the show.
Hey, derek, thanks for havingme and what's happening in MoCo.
It's great to be back.
I was here I think a few yearsago, but it's great to be here.

Wonderful, Wonderful.
Thank you for the job that youdo.
It's so important in protectingthe residents of Maryland, much
less Montgomery CountyMaryland's residents, but for
many people that don't totallyunderstand government and the
different positions ingovernment, let's tell them
right now what does the attorneygeneral do for residents.

Sure, in a nutshell, as the chief legal
officer I've got a number ofresponsibilities.
Consumer protection that's mybiggest division.
When Maryland consumers,montgomery County or anywhere
else, feel like in themarketplace, as a consumer, they
got a bad deal and they thinkit was unfair, they should call
my office, call the ConsumerProtection Division.
We will help consumers with thevendor, try to mediate the

(01:16):
dispute and if we see patternsof abuse by vendors we may bring
in enforcement action.
So Consumer Protection isnumber one.
I shouldn't say number one, butit's a big one.
We have a civil rights division.
We now have the authority, asof last year, to enforce federal
and state civil rights laws.
We have a criminal division, anantitrust division, a

(01:36):
securities division.
We are the protectors really inmany ways statewide protectors
of Marylanders.

Wow, and do you find that people find it easy to
seek your help?
And if people want your help,how do they reach?

out to your office, sure, so I'd like to
think it's easy, but and we makeourselves available you can go
to MarylandAttorneyGeneralgov,and that's our website, and
you'll see the portal to whetherit's the Consumed Protection
Division, the Civil RightsDivision, our Hate Crimes
Commission.
We've got a lot of informationabout landlord-tenant, about

(02:12):
identity theft, so there's a lotof good information on that
website Wonderful wonderful.

Now, over the last year or so, you've been
serving quite well the public.
What are some of the thingsthat you want to identify as the
highlights of what you'veaccomplished thus far?

You know, I think our North Star in the Office of
Attorney General is equity andfairness.
I mentioned that we establisheda new civil rights division, so
we're going to protectMarylanders who are the victims
or subject of discriminatoryconduct.
I also joined with the Officeof the Public Defender and we
created the Maryland EquitableJustice Collaborative.

(02:51):
We are looking at the problemof over-incarceration, mass
incarceration in.
Maryland, particularly youngblack men, and what are the
issues that contribute to thatproblem and how can we get after
them to start addressing theproblem reducing the
incarceration rate, reducing theracial disparities in
incarceration while at the sametime, maintaining a high level

(03:11):
of public safety.

Wow, that's very interesting.
How did you come up with ifthere's something you came up
with, how did that come aboutthe introduction of that program
?

There was one data set that I looked at that
was just appalling.
In Maryland, 71% of ourincarcerated population are
black men, but black men onlyrepresent 13% of Maryland's
population.
That is, by definition, aproblem.
Maryland incarcerates black menas a percentage of the
incarcerated population morethan any other state in the

(03:44):
nation.
So as a black man, as the firstAfrican-American attorney
general in the state of Maryland, I felt it an obligation to,
among many things that I do toaddress that problem.
I can't do it alone, so I'veenlisted the community,
different nonprofitorganizations who are active in
this space.
Again, I mentioned the publicdefender.

(04:05):
So together we're going to getafter this problem Wonderful.

Now you're here at the MAKO conference and
that's your first time.
How many times have you been tothe conference thus far?

Oh my goodness.
I started coming to MAKO backin 2004 or 2005.
I missed it one year when I wasin Iraq.
Good reason to miss it, and Ithink I've probably come every
year since.

What do you hope to achieve this year and what
are some of the things that youhope to achieve in the coming
year as Attorney General?

Right.
So, first of all, being at MAKOis great.
You get to do the networkingwith county officials Montgomery
, Prince George's, BaltimoreCity, you name it Talk about a
lot of important issues with alot of people in a short period
of time, in a short space, so itmakes it really efficient and
effective.
What do I want to accomplishover the next year?
We're going to.

(04:53):
We're going to continue thework that we're doing to protect
bone vulnerable Marylanders.
I've got a Medicaid fraud andvulnerable victims unit.
We're active in nursing homesand assisted living facilities,
making sure that some of ourmost vulnerable citizens and
neighbors are treated well inthose facilities and if they're
not, I've got a unit that willinvestigate and hold people

(05:15):
accountable.

Well, that's great to know.
That's great to know how do youfeel the advancements in
technologies like AI andcomputer learning and all those
other things out there haveimpacted the vulnerability of
our residents, like seniors orthe average person in Maryland?

You know AI like any other technology, right,
there are opportunities, butthere are also pitfalls that we
have to avoid.
Identity theft againstvulnerable Marylanders becomes
even that much more challengingwith the tool of AI.
But on the flip side, I can useAI in my work to enhance my
investigations right to betterprotect Marylanders.

(05:57):
So you know AI and othertechnological advancements
they're important.
They can be used to harm, butthey can also be used to help.

Okay, well, thank you so much for being here
today.
I know your time is short.
Was there anything else thatyou would like to share with
residents of the county that areinterested in what you're doing
, maybe even ways that they canhelp?
I think a few people mentionedtoday that residents are part of
the muscle that can helpovercome some of today's
challenges.
What would you like to say toresidents in that regard?

Yeah, first of all, I thank residents, I thank
voters for having faith andconfidence in me to serve as the
chief legal officer, as theirattorney general, as we
mentioned at the outset of this.
You know it's important thatI'm accessible, that my office
is accessible.
I invite people to go toMarylandAttorneyGeneralgov to
access us and I want them youknow, the people that voted for

(06:48):
me and County Executive Elrichand the delegation from
Montgomery County that's workingin Annapolis that we do this in
partnership and we do it betterwhen we do it together and when
we do it together with thecommunity.
That's what the expectation isand that's where we can be most
effective, right.

And doing it together.
That's what the expectation isand that's where we can be most
affected.
Right and doing it together.
That's what's happening in MoCo.
We're here with the attorneygeneral the first black attorney
general, anthony Brown, lookingforward to great things from
you.
Sir, thanks for protecting ourcounty and our state.

Good, what's happening in MoCo Okay?

Derek, thank you, all right, okay, what Good day.
What's happening in MoCo?
We are still at the MAKOConference, ocean City, maryland
, and we are with none otherthan the Andrew Friedson Council
Member.
Andrew Friedson, how are youtoday, sir, I'm doing great.

(07:41):
Thanks.
How are you?
Pretty good, pretty good.
This is my second MAKOConference.
How about for you?
Have you been here before?
How many times?
I think this is my 15th MAKOconference, oh wow, 15th MAKO
conference and why is itimportant for you to be here at
the MAKO conference and why hasit been important in the past to
be here?

Andrew Friedson (07:57):
Yeah, this is one of the single most important
convening of state leaders,county leaders, outside
stakeholders, who all cometogether one time a year in the
summer to talk about the issuesthat impact our communities
across the state.
It really is an amazing chanceto get together, and for me it's
not only helpful for me as acurrent county leader, as the

(08:19):
president of the MontgomeryCounty Council, it's also really
fun on a personal level.
Having been someone who workedat the state level previously
for many years in a number ofdifferent capacities.
It's almost like a personalreunion, of sorts for me to see
some of my former colleagues andmany friends as well.

And you just mentioned that you're a
president of the county council.
What's been different aspresident serving as president
of the county council and whatare the some some of the things
you're proud of accomplishingover your tenure as president?

well.
What's different is I'mresponsible for the body as
opposed to just beingresponsible to my constituents,
who I am honored and privilegedto be able to represent each and
every day.
That requires certain changesin perspective and it requires
quite a bit more work and morethings to think about and to do,

(09:12):
to convene over meetings, toset the agenda and to be at the
center of bringing colleaguestogether to make sure that we're
moving forward as a body.
In terms of things that I'mproud of over the last year,
there's a lot of things that I'mproud of, but I'll highlight a
few.
One is the NonprofitPreservation Fund, a $50 million

(09:32):
housing preservation fund wherewe are partnering with our
nonprofit organizations inMontgomery County to preserve up
to a half of our naturallyoccurring affordable housing.
This has been something thatI've been working on for several
years.
It's on the heels of and in theaftermath of the highly

(09:53):
successful and highly celebratedand nationally recognized
Housing Production Fund, andit's a collaboration between our
Department of Housing,community Affairs and our
Housing Opportunities Commissionand our nonprofit partners.
So really proud of that.
On the economic developmentside, I was pleased this past

(10:16):
year to shepherd through thelargest economic development
package in county history $20million new jobs initiative
package in county history $20million new jobs initiative.
There's three funds within thatinitiative one for job creation
, one for innovation and one forfounders equity, to make sure
that we're doing this in anintentional way and investing in

(10:36):
those businesses and thoseentrepreneurs who have
historically been under-investedand underrepresented.

Wow, and Montgomery County is known for
the biotech industry and you'respeaking to investing in
innovation.
What types of innovations doyou find that might benefit from
the additional resources thatyou've allocated?

Yeah well, we are a leader in research
internationally.
We are a global leader in manyways.
We have built on the success ofsome of the federal labs.
we have the NIH, the FDA, nist,the National Institute of
Standards and Technology, noaaand a number of others National
Cancer Institute I could go onand on and talk about some of

(11:18):
those incredible federal assets,but what we always haven't done
as well as we could and shouldis turning research into
development and development intojobs, into improving
livelihoods for residents, andthe goal of this fund is to
target strategic growthindustries in innovation and

(11:39):
help them to expand, helpstartup companies to become
midsize companies and helpmidsize companies to become much
larger companies.
So there is just unmatchedpotential in Montgomery County.
I'm really excited of what wecan do.
There are proven modelselsewhere in the region and
other parts of the country, andwhat we've done is we've put
together the largest innovationfund of any of our regional

(12:02):
counterparts and we want to senda clear message that if you are
willing to invest in MontgomeryCounty, we want to invest, as
Montgomery County, in you, andthat's really what the $20
million new jobs initiative isfocused on.
We want to show that we're openfor business, we're open to

(12:22):
business and we want to workwith our businesses to improve
our quality of life and to makesure that Montgomery County
stays at the forefront ofinnovation, moving forward, and
we do it in an inclusive way ohgreat.

Now, it's been said a lot about
government-private partnershipsand different types of
partnerships, and that's one waythe government can invest in
the local private industry.
What are some other ways thatyou're connecting with other
groups?
I think you mentioned somethingabout funds for community
organizations as well.

(12:55):
How does that play into thepicture as well, and why is that
important?

We partner at county government with a lot of
organizations.
It's one of the main ways we'reable to deliver services to our
residents.
There was no greater example ofthis, frankly, than during
COVID, where Montgomery County'sresponse to the global pandemic
was largely done in partnership, in coordination and in
collaboration with manycommunity-based organizations
with many community-basedorganizations.

(13:23):
That's an infrastructure thatwas created many years ago, long
before I ever joined thecouncil.
It has been grown and built andit reached new heights during
COVID, where our food recoveryefforts, our food hub efforts,
our ethnic health initiativeswere all done in lockstep with

(13:46):
partnerships that we have hadand that we grew and built upon.
And really, the way I think ofit is like a mesh, and county
government has mesh in terms ofour social safety net that has
holes that are too big, wheretoo many people get through it,

(14:06):
and the key is to layer onadditional layers of mesh so
that fewer and fewer people slipbetween the cracks.
And that's really what thosenonprofit partnerships, those
community-based partnerships,are all about.
We have community grants.
As part of that, we have anumber of other opportunities.
We created an office of grantsmanagement to try to help us to

(14:28):
move that forward.
On the food side of things.
We created an office of foodresilience in order to try to
address those issues and figureout how do we take the lessons
learned from the pandemic andmove them forward.
And I actually serve in theCouncil of Governments.
I'm a co-chair of the FarmCommittee.
And so we're looking at this notonly on a county standpoint,

(14:50):
but really at a regionalstandpoint as well, and
Montgomery County has anopportunity, both at a
conference like this at thestate level and regionally in
the Washington DC metropolitanarea, to bea regional, a
statewide and a national leaderon these issues.

That's amazing because I think I just left the
Agricultural Fair this year.
Of course it's still happening.
Nine Best Days of Summer inGaithersburg, Maryland, Shout
out to the MoCo Fair, of course.

I was there two days.
I was there two days, and if Iweren't here, I'd be there more
days.
It's a great time.

Same here, same here.
So let's take a lighter side ofthings.
What is your favorite food whenyou go to the fair?
Are you able to?
Now, I do want to tell.
I'm going to talk to Dr Keishapretty soon to get an update on
how to live fitter and how to bemore fit but when you go to the
Ag Fair, you have a little bitof fun, a little bit of license

(15:44):
to have the foods you normallywouldn't have.
What are your favorite fairfoods?
Not necessarily this year, butin the past or any time.
Guilty pleasures.

Yeah.
So I think the ice cream isprobably the best thing.
Local ice cream, it's hard tobeat that.
It's one of my absolutefavorites.
I've been watching myselfrecently, but that one's worth
the splurge, I will say.
Every year also there's an AgLeaders lunch and they serve
fried chicken, which issomething that I happen to

(16:14):
personally love, and also localtomatoes and local cucumbers and
local corn, and that issponsored by the local farmers
that we have, as well as thelocal markets.
So there is so many greatoptions of great fair food and

(16:35):
to me, I'm looking for local.

Speaker 4 (16:37):
So when.

I'm at the fair .
There's plenty of things thatyou can eat at the fair that
were made somewhere else, butthe Ag fair is about local
agriculture.
It's about supporting ouramazing local farmers, and I
want the food that they'veproduced.
I joke around that, uh, youknow there are uh producers.

I'm the consumer and I'm happy to be an ag
consumer in montgomery countyand we're in one of the areas
where you actually could havefarm to table.
That's realistic.
The supply chain is there, theydon't have to transport.
You don't have to transport thefood too far from within the
county.

So it's kind of cool we are unique in the
country in the intentional landuse decisions that we made,
starting in 1980 with thecreation of the Agricultural
Reserve have urban, suburban andrural in such close proximity
to a major city in our case thenation's capital and to have

(17:36):
urban areas even of the county,like in silver spring and
bethesda and north bethesda andwheat.
So we should take advantage ofthat, residents should take
advantage of that, because itdoesn't happen in most places.
You'd normally have to drivehours to do what we can do in
minutes and that is a realblessing and it's one of the
reasons why I am so proud to bea lifelong Montgomery County

(18:00):
resident.

Wow.
Lifelong resident and youappreciate not only the economy
and the economics of the countybut also the innovation and the
sector of businesses thatbenefit from innovation.
But then the agribusiness youappreciate as well, and then as
a consumer, you're a customer tothe agribusinesses as well, so
you have a bit of insight andpersonal interest in that as

(18:22):
well.
As we kind of close things out,I'll ask you a couple more
questions.
You'll be council president fora few more months.
What are your goals for thoseadditional months as council
president?
And then earlier we talked withthe climate change officer
about her vision for the future,for future Montgomery County

(18:45):
when it comes to the environment.
Why don't you share your visionof a future Montgomery County
as you see it, as you continueto work to improve the county?

Well the next few months.
We have a lot on our plate.
We have the quadrennial growthand infrastructure policy, which
is really the policy standardsof how we grow in the
communities that we build inMontgomery County from a public
amenities, public infrastructurestandpoint.
That's something that we'll betaking up on the county council.

(19:19):
We have the building energyperformance standards that are
before the committee thetransportation, environment
committee that are going to cometo the full council.
That are a major undertaking aswe figure out how to move
forward on those issues andbalance the competing needs for
housing and for office and othercommercial uses for buildings

(19:39):
and the major challenge inclimate and in environmental
sustainability.
We have a number of otherissues that we'll be taking up,
including housing targets, whichis an effort that I have worked
with colleagues on the Planning, housing and Parks Committee to
address as well.
So it'll be a busy fall.

(20:00):
We've got a lot going on.
It's going to be an excitingtime at the county council,
which is really great, and interms of my vision for the
future, I am as bullish as youcould possibly be on the future
of Montgomery County.
The challenge that we have inMontgomery County is whether or

(20:21):
not we are as strong as the sumof our parts.
I would put our parts, ourassets, our strategic blessings
that we have in MontgomeryCounty and I would put them up
against any jurisdictionanywhere in the world and I
would pick Montgomery Countyfirst, foremost and always.
The question is are we bringingit all together?

(20:43):
Have we done the type ofmanagement and leadership where
we have a county government thatis as good as the strength of
the people who work for it andwork with it, that we have a
county and a community that hasan economy that is working, as
well as the strength of thetalent that we have here in
Montgomery County, the federalassets that we have here in
Montgomery County, theeducational resources that we
have in Montgomery County andthe national resources that we

(21:03):
have here in Montgomery County,the federal assets that we have
here in Montgomery County, theeducational resources that we
have in Montgomery County andthe natural resources that we
have in Montgomery County?
I think we can do more.
I think we can do better, but Ithink everything that we need
we have in Montgomery County,that there isn't a problem that
exists in Montgomery County thatcan't be solved with all the
assets that we have inMontgomery County and I'm

(21:26):
excited for what that means forthe future of Montgomery County.

Oh, wow.
Well, there you have it.
That's what's happening.
Moco is doing better, growing,reaching our potential as a
county, and the bold statementthat he put us up against any
other county or jurisdiction inthe world.
Did you say the world or didyou say the?

nation.
I'll take Montgomery Countyover anywhere.

There you have it .
Do you have anything else you'dlike to share with residents or
anyone that may have interestin Montgomery County?
Mayor.

We're here to work for you.
I'm here as council presidentto work for you.
The county council is here towork for you and to work with
you.
Reach out to us, share yourfeedback, feedback.
We're trying to include andinvolve more people in the
process than we ever have beforeand have the type of government
that our residents can be proudof right.

And if people want to reach you or your office
, how do they do that?

Andrew Fr (22:15):
councilmemberfreidson at montgomerycountymdgov or
montgomerycountymdgov freidsonexcellent.
Thank you for being here thankyou, appreciate you having me
okay.

What Good day.
What's happening, MoCo?
We are here with John Munger,the director of the Department
of Environmental Protection forMontgomery County, Maryland, and
we are live in Ocean City.
We're at the MAKO conferenceand he's here to learn the best
practices, I guess, from acrossthe state, but also to share
some of the great knowledge wehave in Montgomery County,
Maryland.

(22:51):
How are you today, John?

Speaker 5 (22:53):
Good, good.
It's so great to be back withyou here at MAKO, Derek.

It's great to have you back, and last year you
were a newbie.
You were brand new to theposition.
That's right.
You have a full year in now.
What has it been like over thelast year for you as the
incoming director and now as aseasoned director for Montgomery
County's DEP department?

Speaker 5 (23:16):
It director and now as a seasoned director for
Montgomery County's DEPdepartment.
It's been terrific, derek, andyou know the reason it's been
terrific is there's a fewreasons.
Number one the people who live,work and play in Montgomery
County are so committed toenvironmental progress and that
is really.
That is really our, that is oursuperpower Everyone listening
I'm looking at you because it'sreally that we have residents
and community members andpartners that are so focused and

(23:42):
energetic about progress andthat's really what allows us to
get things done that help ourenvironment.
So it's been a great year.
So many highlights andaccomplishments.
So it's been a great year, somany highlights and
accomplishments.
But you know, I think, when Ihad the chance, derek, to go
with the county executive toTaiwan in March, there was a

(24:04):
Sustainable Cities Conferencethere and you know there's so
much interest in learning fromMontgomery County abroad as well
, not just here in Maryland.
You know we're used to beingnumber one in Maryland.
But you know what we have, theprograms we have, are also
really models around the world.
But you know, one of the thingsthat I said a lot when we were
talking with folks abroad isthat having an environment where

(24:25):
people want to live, wherepeople want to raise their
families, an environment wherepeople want to live, where
people want to raise theirfamilies, yeah, that makes us,
that's what makes us a terrificcounty all around is that having
an environment that is safe,that is clean, is really one of
the core things that makes ourcounty such a desirable place as

(24:46):
a job market, as a place thatpeople want to live.
So it's been a great year, withso much great more work to come
.

You mentioned quite a bit about people and we
really pride ourselves on beingpeople first and helping to
break down the government sopeople understand how they can
help or how things work or howthings are working for them,
what resources are available.
You mentioned a little bitearlier, before we got on the
podcast, that people are thesuperpower when it comes to the

(25:17):
environmental change that we'relooking for.
Let's talk about that a bit.
What can people residents do tohelp meet our climate goals or
environmental goals?

Speaker 5 (25:26):
Yeah, absolutely.
So.
The short answer is dosomething.
Do something different tonight,today, today, than you did
yesterday, and I'll give you afew examples.
Do something different tomorrow.
So I think sometimes, when wethink about our environment,
it's hard to know where to startright.
So let's break it down forfolks.

(25:47):
One place you can start rightnow is in your own kitchen.
So reducing food waste has hugeenvironmental benefits.
You might say to yourself Idon't waste that much food.
I guarantee you you are wastingmore food than you think.
The data really shows that.
So one thing everyone can do isonly buy food at the store you

(26:10):
know you're going to eat is onlybuy food at the store you know
you're going to eat.
Do not overbuy.
Um, when you're cooking at home, only put as much food on your
plate as you're going to eat,you know you.

Speaker 8 (26:20):
Probably you can think of your family, your own
family members.

Speaker 5 (26:23):
Eric, you're like you're not going to eat all that
, no, and you know what theywere, right, yeah yeah, so so
all the so.

A lot of us are ambitious and we have these
things.
We're trying to food prep, butdeep in our hearts we know we're
not going to eat 10 bags ofsalad, right, right, and salad
goes bad and becomes waste.
So instead of buying 10 bags,buy something more reasonable,
like two bags.
Absolutely, instead of buying20 apples, you could buy five
apples.

Speaker 5 (26:47):
It saves you money.
It saves you money number one.
It's good for the environment.
Number two, so it saves youmoney.
It saves you money number one.
It's good for the environment.
Number two, so it is a win-win.
So start in your own kitchen,start in your own home.
You know there's other thingspeople can do.
So we're really trying to movetowards electrification across
all sectors buildings, transit.
We were talking about cars.

(27:07):
This morning I saw you in theparking lot.
This morning I saw you in theparking lot.
Yeah, so we have an EV.
We have an electric vehicleco-op in Montgomery County,
where the county actually helpsmake sure residents are aware of
all the deals they can get onelectric vehicles so that your
next car is electric so someonewants a electric Mustang or a
Tesla?

the you can reach out to the county or visit the
DP website.

Speaker 5 (27:29):
Our website has all of the local automate dealers
and so we help that we have apartnership with, so we help
publicize those deals to makesure people on the market can
know about the best pricesavailable to shop right in
Montgomery County for their nextEV Let me play the bad cop a
little bit.

Sometimes people see EVs as inconvenient.
Bad cop a little bit.
Sometimes people see EVs asinconvenient.
What makes owning an EVbeneficial in Montgomery County,
other than the cost savings I?
Guess from the incentives thatthe county has.

Speaker 5 (28:01):
Yeah, so there's so much I could say on this topic.
I love my EV, but I'll start bysaying you know, it actually
makes your life a lot easier.
Number one you save money.
Think about it.
Think about how much money youspend pumping gas every year.
It's a lot, it's a lot of money.

(28:23):
So there are federal incentivesright now that reduce the price
of EVs.
You know, get those whilethey're hot, but we're talking
real money.
I mean it's thousands andthousands and thousands of
dollars off Federals.
You know, get those whilethey're hot, but we're talking
real money.
I mean it's thousands andthousands and thousands of
dollars off.
Yes, $7,500, but it's not justoff the front, because then you
think about you're not doing oilchanges, you're not stopping at

(28:45):
the gas pump every couple days,I mean.
So the cost of ownership overthe long run is actually much,
much lower and you save yourselftime Every time you get in your
car.
If you're charging at home andwe can talk about ways that
that's becoming easier Everytime you get in your car, you're
starting with a full tank,you're starting with a full

(29:07):
charge.
That's great, and you don'thave to be like, oh, I got to
stop for gas, even when I'mrunning late already.

And we did a podcast a while ago talking
about the increase in the numberof charging stations across the
county.

Speaker 4 (29:21):
Yeah, and the initiatives for that.

So it's not a charging station desert in
Montgomery County.
There are places where peoplecan charge their cars other than
their homes.

Speaker 5 (29:31):
Absolutely.
We're adding EV chargingchargers around the county all
the time.
We just actually received agrant to add even more chargers.
We're adding them on countyproperty.
We're adding them in parks.
We just recently we added morechargers in Wheaton Regional
Park recently.
So and there's apps that tellyou where all of these are.
So you know, I think people aregoing to say, oh my gosh, what

(29:54):
if I run out?
You are far more likely to runout of gas than you are to run
out of an electric charge,because your car tells you, when
you have an EV, what your rangeis and how to get to the
closest chargers.

That's great, that's great.
Now let's shift gears.
Here we are at the MAKOConference, ocean City, maryland
, and you're here for a reason.
What are some of the things youhope to accomplish while you're
here at the MAKO Conference?

Speaker 5 (30:20):
Sure.
So I mean, one of the excitingthings about being in the same
room with so many other counties, county leaders and state
leaders is learning from oneanother.
So I've met with colleagues whoare state delegates.
We met with Delegate Charcutianyesterday, who's one of
Montgomery County's many rockstar delegates.
We met with our colleagues inPrince George's County this

(30:40):
morning.
So, talking about how we cansolve issues together, I mean
none of environmental issuesdon't respect borders Air
quality, water quality these arethings that don't end at the
county line.
So thinking about how we canwork on these with our partners
across the state is just isexciting.
It allows us to get all themore bang for the buck when

(31:02):
we're working on these problemstogether, whether it's going
after grants, whether it'sregional partnerships around a
specific issue.
So the most exciting part ofthis is is the conversations we
have, you know, in the sessionsin the hallways about ways we're
working together with ourcounty partners across the state
.

Incredible, incredible.
Well, thank you for yourservice and trying to help the
county achieve its ambitiousecological and climate goals.
Is there anything else thatyou'd like to add before we wrap
things up?

Speaker 5 (31:31):
You know, I just say to everyone, listening like back
, what we said earlier dosomething different.
Tonight you can do something inyour own kitchen that will help
us protect the environment.
So the answer really lies inthe hands of all of our
residents, our businesses, ouryoung people are super focused
on environmental progress, soit's really about individual

(31:54):
action that's going to allow usto get there.
So I'm so grateful to everyonelistening, so grateful to you,
derrick, for getting help andgetting the word out, and we've
got so much to be proud of inmontgomery county and looking
forward to more progress aheadall right, all right now.

Okay, put you in the spot.
Yeah, all right.
So we were just at the Ag Fairand a gentleman walks up and he
has and one of the things we dowe say ask the question, we'll
get you the answers and thisgentleman had a question for us
and he said he would like to seean episode of the what's
Happening with MoCo podcastwhere we visit a recycling
facility Love it.
Is that possible?

Speaker 5 (32:26):
Oh my gosh absolutely .

All right, absolutely All right we have.

Speaker 5 (32:29):
we have a terrific recycling facility.
It's open to county residents.
It's the transfer station inDurwood, centrally located in
the county.
It's world class already.
We're making it even betterwith upgrades to the recycling
facility that are underway.
So we'd love to have, we'd loveto have you do a show at the at
the recycling facility.

All right.
Well, that's what's happening.
Moco, you heard it here firstLooking forward to meeting again
and partnering again with JohnMonger, the director of ZEP, as
we seek to do more and more toimprove and improve more the
quality of life here at thecounty through improving the
environment, the ecology andhopefully helping people like me
get a nice new electronicvehicle.
Electric vehicle, that's right.

(33:09):
Thanks so much, derek.
What new?

Speaker 5 (33:10):
electronic vehicle electric vehicle, that's right.

Thank you.
Thanks so much, derek Right,what Good day.
And we are back at the MAKOConference, ocean City, maryland
, and we are here with okay,we're here live at the MAKO
Conference in Ocean City,maryland, and we're here with
Sarah Kogel-Smucker and she isthe climate change officer for

(33:34):
Montgomery County, maryland, andwe're going to get into that in
just a moment because that's anew position for me and it may
be a new position for you, butwhat has it been like so far for
you at the MAKO conference?
How have you liked it so far?

Speaker 8 (33:50):
It's great, it's amazing to have so many people
in one place where you can haveconversations and try to move
issues forward and makeconnections with people that you
can follow up on.
So happy to be here.

All right, all right.
Speaking of happy to be here,when did you start with the
county as climate change officer?
Just late last September, soit's been about 10 months 10
months, all right, and let'stalk a little bit about what a
climate change officer is andwhat does it do.

Speaker 8 (34:20):
So it's a position in the county executive's office
to lead the whole of governmentapproach to meeting our climate
change goals.
And Montgomery County has someof the most ambitious climate
change goals in the nation, sowe need all aspects of the
county working together to meetthese goals.

Oh, wow, wow.
So it's a 3000, like a higher,higher level.
Look at holistically, trying tohelp make change.
And what are some of the goalsthat you have as climate change
officer that the executive has,uh, for the future of the county
?

Speaker 8 (34:56):
so the county adopted climate change goals of
reducing climate changepollution, greenhouse gas
emissions 80 by 2027 and 100 by2035 oh.
Oh wow, which is soon.

Intro (35:10):
Okay.

Speaker 8 (35:11):
Yeah, but we have the solutions in place.
So what that looks like istransforming our fleet of buses
to be electric buses and to havethem powered by solar power,
and we're on our way to do that.

Whoa, whoa.
Okay, say that again.

Speaker 8 (35:28):
So if you've ever you've ridden a bus around the
county um and if you ever stoodat a bus stop and you feel that
exhaust coming out of the bus,yep, that is pollution and it's
not great to breathe in and it'snot good for the climate.
So the electric buses don'tmake that pollution.
You get to stand there, breatheclean air, get on the on the

(35:51):
bus, ride the bus and they'requieter.
So, they're actually a muchnicer ride too.
So we're transforming our fleetbus by bus, as we need to buy
new buses into electric buses.
We have 14 right now, I believe, but we have a contract to buy
hundreds more over the next fewyears.

And then you're using solar to charge the
batteries in some way.

Speaker 8 (36:13):
Yes, so the Department of General Services
has already transformed one ofthe bus depots in Brookville to
be solar powered to power thebuses, and they're working to
transform the next bus depot,called MTOK, to do the same
thing.

Oh, wow, that's amazing.
So you're usingelectric-powered buses pure
emissions, of course so youdon't get that big puff of smog
in your face when they driveaway, and then less noise when
it's driving down the street.
You don't hear all the noisepollution that you normally get
with buses.
And then on top of that, youhave the solar-powered stations,

(36:51):
depots that can charge thesebuses.
That's, that's.
That's amazing.
What does it take to puttogether some this type of
comprehensive plan?
That seems very thoughtful interms of the approach and
benefit for solutions likeelectronic electric buses.

Speaker 8 (37:07):
So I'm lucky I came in when the county already had a
plan.
So I'm lucky I came in when thecounty already had a plan.
They adopted it in 2021, whichwas a huge undertaking of county
staff leaders, electedofficials and community members,
with a lot of input.
But that means we do have aroadmap.
So that's one solution.
The electric buses.
Another important solution ismaking our buildings more

(37:32):
efficient, so make sure that newbuildings, and even existing
buildings, use less electricity.

Oh, wow.
And what are some of the waysthat you're finding to reduce
electricity within buildings?

Speaker 8 (37:48):
So part of it can be making sure a building's well
insulated, which also makes itmore comfortable.
There's an awesome newtechnology called heat pumps.
Okay, and so instead of having,like, a gas boiler and a
traditional HVAC system, thisheat pump takes heat out of the

(38:11):
cold air in the winter andbrings it into your home.
It takes cold out of the hotair in the summer and brings it
into your home.
Okay, so it's much moreefficient, but it's also very
comfortable because it's notthat same Fly.

Intro (38:27):
Yes.

Speaker 8 (38:28):
Well, it's a little less humid in the summer, but
it's also more consistent thetemperatures.

That's great, great.
Now what are some of your goals?
I know you have county goals,but what are some of the
objectives that you'll be takingon this year as climate change
officer, some of the tactics youmay be using, some of the
things you want to do meetingwith residents, meeting with
groups, different types ofpolicies.
What are some of the thingsthat you want to work towards?

Speaker 8 (38:55):
So we definitely want to do even more outreach and,
you know, input from residents,discussion with residents and
empowering residents to takeclimate solutions in their own
lives and, you know, make littlebehavior changes.
That is going to make thecounty more climate smart.
So we're going to be working todo that.

(39:16):
And then a big important thingfor me is making sure that we
are building these public healthconnections, because climate
solutions are public healthsolutions.
When you get rid of climatechange pollution you know from
the bus, for example, you areless likely to trigger an asthma
attack in children who arewaiting there.

(39:37):
So we need to make sure that weare putting these solutions in
place that prioritize the healthof our residents in the county
and make sure that peopleunderstand actions that they can
take that are climate smart butalso good for them and their
family's health.

Wonderful.
So you're here at the countynow.
You're 10 months in as climatechange officer.
What was your journey likeprofessionally from just a few
years ago to the point where nowyou're serving as the focus for
the climate change officer?

Speaker 8 (40:11):
So I've been working on climate change issues since I
graduated college.
I got really interested inenvironmental issues in college
and I just thought let me see ifI can make a career of it, and
I feel incredibly grateful that.

Speaker 4 (40:24):
I've been able to.

Speaker 8 (40:26):
So I worked for a couple of different
environmental nonprofits andthen I went to law school to
continue environmental work andI worked for New York City
government for nearly 10 yearsand DC government for nearly for
a little over five years.
So I'm new to Montgomery Countybut I'm not new to local
government, and I love localgovernment because this is where

(40:50):
things really affect people,where change can be made, where
it's you know, your owncommunity where you live Awesome
.

Awesome.
So so, speaking of localgovernment, we're at the MAKO
Conference.
The MAKO Conference has localgovernment officials and
employees and leaders from allover Maryland.
What beneficial about the MECOconference each year for you as
a, even though you're new toMaryland?
What do you see as the benefitsof attending the MECO

(41:22):
conference?

Speaker 8 (41:25):
I think, getting to have those conversations.
One thing that we are lookingat is what solutions we need as
data centers come to the state,so you know when you Google,
search or use your phone thatdata runs through a data center
and that data center uses a lotof energy.

(41:47):
And we want to make sure it'sefficient and it uses clean
energy, and so starting to havethose conversations how best can
we do that in Maryland is anincredibly useful part of being
here.

And so you find that so does it all through
formal sessions or do you haveconversations?
Do you network?
What are some of the differentthings that you find are being
valuable in terms of like thesessions or the networking, or
sometimes the social events?

Speaker 8 (42:16):
I think setting up some meetings and being able to
talk to people who you knownormally you'd all have the
meeting but you'd be on teamsand you're a little face in the
screen and being able to just bein person and talk through
things but you know, getting toknow people is always great.
I think.
You know work depends on peopleworking together to get things
done, and so the more you canget to know people, I think

(42:38):
that's really valuable.

Excellent, excellent.
Now another question here justas you're moving forward into
the next year, what are some ofthe things that you'd like to
see?
Like this will shape the futureof the world.
You know, if you ideallyMontgomery County is able to,
it's 2035,.
We've achieved our goals.
Can you describe some of thecharacteristics of that county

(43:03):
that has met its ecologicalambitions?

Speaker 8 (43:06):
That is an amazing question.
So, first of all, we'd havemore trees in communities that
don't have trees now, and weneed that for clean air, we need
that for shade, we need thatbecause they suck in climate
change pollution, but also it'llbe nicer.
You know, every community inMontgomery County should have

(43:27):
access to green space.
So that's one thing.
Then you know, we would seeless asthma attacks, less heart
attacks, less heart disease allof these things that are made
worse by air pollution or madeby worse by extreme heat, the
things that really take people'shealth conditions and
exacerbate them.

(43:47):
Having that gone and having amuch healthier Montgomery County
.
Having that gone and having amuch healthier Montgomery County
and then you know we'reexpanding mass transit and
that's an important climatesolution because that is a very
climate friendly way to getaround.
And so, you know, I would loveto be able to get around the
county without having to driveall the time, and that is

(44:12):
something that the countyexecutive has a vision of how to
do with bus rapid transit,which is, you know, dedicated
bus lanes that will move muchfaster than the current bus can
and have amenities like Wi-Fi onboard.

Will they be able to skip the Beltway traffic
board?
Would they be able to skip thebeltway traffic?

Speaker 8 (44:31):
So they will not the beltway, but they get traffic
signal prioritization.
Oh, nice so as the busapproaches the red light, the
light changes.
So you'll just be sitting on abus and not even at red lights.

So you sit on the bus and you have free Wi-Fi
bonus and then you're not.
You don't have to deal with thetraffic yourself.
You may be in traffic, butyou're not in traffic.

Speaker 8 (44:58):
Exactly, and, you know, maybe you're whizzing by
people stuck in traffic becausethe bus has the dedicated lane
and it's getting the signalprioritization.
So I look forward to that.
I'm not I don't love to love todrive, but I have to do it
right now.

Driving can be a bear, especially in the DC area.
I think the average commute isclose to an hour maybe, which
can be a little daunting.
So that's great that you'reable to look at a feature of the
county and the way that you'reable to help to affect the
changes that will bring thatfuture to light.
What else, if you have a chancenow to just speak to residents

(45:40):
and encourage them to do theirpart, if there is a part for
residents in helping to improvethe county's environment?

Speaker 8 (45:49):
So there's a huge part for residents.
We all can do our part.
Very simple things like turningout the lights when you leave a
room.
Add up and make a difference,trying the bus if you haven't
taken it a while, see if itworks for you for one or two
trips and, you know, maybe eventhink about some bigger changes,

(46:10):
like putting solar panels onyour roof, if you own your own
home and you can do that.
If you're going to buy a car,you know, think about making
your next car an electric car.
I drive one.
It's really fun to drive.
Even though I hate driving, Ilike the electric car, so you
know just as you're going aboutyour life, ways that you can use

(46:31):
less energy and use cleanerenergy can really add up to a
big difference.

And the big difference is what's happening
in MoCo, and we are here withSarah Kogel-Schmucker.

Speaker 8 (46:45):
Yes.

The Climate Change Officer of Montgomery
County, maryland, here at theMAKO Conference.
Look forward to great thingsfrom you and your office and
your continued service to theresidents of Montgomery County,
maryland.
Thanks for being here.

Speaker 8 (46:55):
Well, thanks for having me.

Good day, welcome back to the MAKO Conference.
I'm Derrick Kinney, your host,and I'm here with Patrick Sawyer
.
We're gonna talk a little bitabout what I think some
residents especially if you'reyounger you're looking for maybe
a little bit of job assistance.
You're looking for a little bitof a jumpstart in your career.
His organization might be ableto help you with that.

(47:21):
Patrick, welcome to the show.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for having me Allright Now tell me the name of
your organization again.

Speaker 7 (47:28):
So we are the Department of Service and Civic
Innovation.
We are the newest statedepartment in the state of
Maryland, and what does thisdepartment do?
So the Department of Serviceand Civic Innovation is really
the realization of GovernorWestmore's and Lieutenant
Governor Miller's dream to makeMaryland a state that serves, a
state that leaves no one behind.

(47:48):
And what our departmentspecifically does?
We run a program called theMaryland Core Service Year
Option that engages Marylanders18 years old and older, but
really with a focus on folks whofinished high school in the
last three years.
In nine and a half months offull-time, paid service, you
work in a job full-time maybe inthe nonprofit sector,
for-profit, state localgovernment and you get great

(48:11):
work experience, but also you'regetting paid to do it.
Oh, wow.

So what are the qualifications?
So if you graduate high schoolthat's one qualification you
have to live in Maryland for thequalification.
What other criteria were youlooking for from young people or
younger people because I'molder to participate in the
program?

Speaker 7 (48:32):
Sure, and before I even go a step farther, I just
want to say I say finished highschool intentionally because it
does not need to be graduatingwith a diploma, which is
important Because, you know, alot of our members finish the
GED or Certificate of Completion.
You know, I like to say wedon't care how you got there, we
just care that you did.
That matters a lot to us.

If you're across the finish line and you're done
with high school and you'relooking to improve your
prospects for your career, getsome experience in the forest.
While you're getting someexperience earning some money,
then you can look at yourprogram.
That's exactly right.

Speaker 7 (49:04):
And you know.
Beyond that, what we're lookingfor is just a demonstrated
commitment to service.
In our application we askopen-ended questions that ask
candidates.
You know, how do you see thisprogram maybe benefiting you and
, through the benefit that youget from the program, how are
you going to use it to benefityour community?

That's really what we look for in all of our
members.
What type of criteria?
What's the application processlike?
When someone hears about yourprogram, they are interested.
They are finished with highschool, they are Maryland
residents.
What would you like them?
Where do they go next?

Speaker 7 (49:36):
The first place to go is our website,
servemarylandgov.
Servemarylandgov All spelledout, and once you're on our
website, the very first thingthat you'll see is a button that
just says member application.
They can click on that.
They'll create a quickapplication account and then
really the application takesusually somewhere between 25 to

(49:58):
30 minutes.
It's very quick.
We don't require a resume,although you can upload one if
you'd like.
We don't require any references, it is just a little bit of
demographic information, somegeographic information that lets
us know where you are in thestate and then why you're
interested in the program andwhat you can offer.

Is there any requirement in terms of what the
interests are?

Speaker 7 (50:22):
We are very expansive in terms of the number of jobs
and the types of jobs that weoffer our members.
We have folks working inclimate and the environment.
We have folks working inhistoric trades and
apprenticeships IT, publicservice, education, community
health you name it, we've got it.
So, no matter what you'reinterested in, if you come to us
, we are very good at findingorganizations and placements at

(50:44):
organizations that are going tobe aligned with your interests
and so they're not workingdirectly for the state of
Maryland.

You'll you'll match them with an organization
that needs the type of help thatbest fits the situation.
The best person.
That's exactly right, yes,awesome.
What are?
The situation best fits theperson.
That's exactly right, yes,awesome.
What are examples of some ofthe partners that you guys have,
private or public partners thathost these young people?

Speaker 7 (51:11):
Sure, so I'll talk about Montgomery County
specifically if that's best foryour audience.

Of course, that's what's happening in MoCo.

Speaker 7 (51:17):
Four shining star examples that come to my mind
are montgomery college uh.
A wider circle is anotherorganization.
We have potomac conservancy andthen also sunflower bakery um,
all of these are uhorganizations with different
missions.
I'm happy to dive into them ifyou'd like, but we've had
members serving there throughoutour entire first cohort and
have had great experiences withpartnering with them and

(51:39):
actually all four of those are,I think, returning for our
second cohort.
It's that return customershipthat really to us is a strong
indicator that folks have had agood experience not only on the
member side but also on the hostsite partner, the business side
, and want to come back for more.

This is another great example of public-private
partnerships, exactly.

Speaker 4 (51:59):
Where you're.

Also education.
You mentioned MontgomeryCollege, and I think just
recently Maryland has been namedone of the best states for
community colleges in thecountry, so that's good to have
Montgomery College mentioned, ofcourse, in the same breath as
those type of things as well.
So if you had to give a spielI'm a young person that

(52:21):
completed high school and I wason the fence about participating
in your program what would yousay to me?

Speaker 7 (52:29):
What I would say to you is you know it's a nine and
a half month program and whenyou finish high school, you know
you might have a good sense ofwhat it is you want to do next.
Maybe it's you want to go tocollege.
You might have a good sense ofwhat it is you want to do next.
Maybe you want to go to college, maybe you want to join the
military, maybe you want to gointo the workforce in a certain
field.
But at the end of the dayyou're 17 or 18 years old.
You probably don't really knowyet.
I certainly didn't.

(52:49):
And what this program allowsyou to do is use those nine and
a half months to gain experience, make some money and also take
some time to figure out in avery concrete, tangible way what
it is that gets you excited,that makes your heartbeat a
little bit faster, that gets youout of bed in the morning,
excited to go to work and so youknow, maybe you have this nine

(53:12):
and a half month experience andyou love what you did and you
can then go forward on your pathconfident that that is, in fact
, what you want to do.
On the other hand, maybe youknow, you try something out for
nine and a half months, you havea good experience, but you say
this wasn't the thing for me,the thing that I want to do the
rest of my life.
And that's okay too.
That's also a lesson learned,and so I think this is just a
great opportunity for youngfolks specifically to you know

(53:35):
figure out in a very productivesense what comes next in their
lives.

All right, all right, we heard it directly from
Patrick Sawyer.
He's passionate, he is earnestand he's here for you as
Maryland residents, of course,montgomery County residents,
please look forward to helpingthese young people get a good

(54:00):
first step into their careersand to the next years of their
lives.

Speaker 7 (54:03):
And what's that URL?

again, it's servemarylandgov.
Very easy to get,servemarylandgov.
Thank you so much for beinghere today.
Patrick.
Really appreciate your presenceand your program, the benefit
it gives to young people thatare not necessarily interested,
at least initially in college,and don't necessarily have plans
, but they want to get out there, get experience and, of course,
get paid.
Yes, and that's what'shappening at MoCo.
Thanks for being here.

(54:24):
Thank you so much.
Appreciate it Today at what washappening at MoCo.
We are still at the NACOConference in Ocean City,
maryland, and we have a specialtreat.
Over the years we've talked todifferent leaders and council
members and the executive andthey've always mentioned their

(54:44):
team, how important their teamis, how many things their team
is doing for residents, for thecommunity.
But we've never talked to theteam, and so now we have a
chance to talk to the chief ofstaff, will Jawando.
She's the head of the team forWill Jawando, one of the most
productive council members thatthe county has had in quite some
time.
Welcome, welcome to the program.

Speaker 4 (55:06):
Thank you for having me.

Should I call you Ms Whitaker or Michelle?
You can just call me Michelle,I can call her Michelle.
So now I have made inroads here, let's start with what I always
ask what do people ingovernment do?
So what does a chief of staffor council member do?

Speaker 4 (55:23):
Well, I love that question.
My family has asked thatquestion of me as well, because
they are also residents of thecounty and they want to know,
like what do you all do?
You know what can I talk to youabout and you know how can you
help me with like a questionthat I have and particularly the
role that I play and our team,which shout out to Christina and

(55:47):
Dave and Marisa and Michelle,who make up the rest of our team
, so it's just we.
You know, we serve the entirecounty and help Councilmember
Juando specifically with hislegislative priorities, but also
handling events and making surethat we're promoting different

(56:07):
activities.
He chairs the Education andCulture Committee, so we do a
lot of work around botheducation, arts, libraries,
youth, mentorship.
So what we do is really thebasics of how do we serve the
residents in the county.
How do we make sure that theyhave access to programs that the

(56:28):
county is offering, how do wemake sure that they get
assistance when they need that,how do we connect them with the
people and the agencies that canhelp them with whatever needs
that they have, and how do welisten to them when they have
ideas, proposals or an issue tomake sure that we're listening
to everyone and making suretheir voices are part of the
conversation Awesome.

And so, as Chief of Staff, you see a lot of the
questions or requests that comein from residents or the council
member that come in fromresidents.
For the council member whattypes of concerns do you prefer
residents come to the councilmember for?
Everything's not, for instance,for the police department,

(57:10):
everything's not 911.
Some things are non-emergencyEverything.
Some things may not be for thecouncil member directly, maybe
for the department.
What things would you preferpeople contact this office
directly for?

Speaker 4 (57:22):
Well, I mean, I think what Council Member Jawando
would say is that we are here toserve the residents.
So if they have a question, andeven if it's outside of our
work, we're going to help do thenext best thing, which is to
connect them to the people, intothe people.
So you know, sometimes we doget questions or a resident

(57:42):
raises a concern about maybethere's a public safety issue, a
noise ordinance issue, there'san issue with their sidewalk,
right, we're not DOT, we're notthe police department, but what
we would do is make sure that wehave their information and then
pass it on to the rightdepartment.
So you know, really there's noquestion or there's no question
that's going to be inappropriateor not, that you can't ask us,

(58:04):
because we do a lot of work withconnecting to local agencies
but also to municipalities.
So sometimes questions thatcome to us relate to their
particular city that they livein, so we connect them there.
And even sometimes they'rerelated to state or federal.
So we work closely with ourstate, our delegation, as well
as our federal partners.
So if there's a constituentissue, we will try to get it

(58:27):
into the right person's hands.
And I'll give one example therewas a woman who called me called
our office a year ago and itwas near her anniversary and she
needed to get her passport.
Was near her anniversary andshe needed to get her passport
and she knew CouncilmemberJuando and had his number for
his office, called and said Ineed help with a passport.
We don't do passports at thecounty level, but what I did was

(58:50):
I made sure that she wasconnected to her congressional
office and I not only sent overinformation, but I provided her
a contact name if she needed tofollow up.
And then I followed up a coupledays after to see how things
went and she was able to connect, get her passport and then she

(59:11):
and her husband could go fortheir 50th anniversary.
Wow, that's wonderful.
So those were the great stories.
Success story yeah, be part ofthe solutions, be part of
helping people live their livesin the county and do the things
that they want to do, and that'swhat we do.
So it may not be something thatwe always are the direct like
we're going to do a response andwe're going to fix or change

(59:32):
this, but we're hopefully doingthe things to connect you with
the right people.
The primary responsibility ofthe county council is
legislative, so we dolegislation, we pass the budget,
we approve appropriationsthroughout the year.
So obviously if we getquestions or comments about that
, that is totally within ourwheelhouse of things that we

(59:54):
need to respond to and includein that information.
So that's always valuable.
So if you have a policyproposal, send it our way.
If you have comments on apolicy proposal, send them our
way.
What we do is that all of thatinformation Council Member
Juando gets that our teamreviews it.

Derrick Kenny (01:00:10):
So for lay people like myself, what's a policy
proposal?

Speaker 4 (01:00:17):
So it would be like a to change the speed limit.
That may not be the well,that's more of a state example,
but like to change what's a.
I'm trying to think of a locallaw that we recently did Rent
regulations are one example ofthat.
So you know, people would callin and give their thoughts on

(01:00:37):
the rent regulations, on theoverall law, how to get
assistance once the law isenacted.
So that's one piece.
We also do a lot of work on thebudget, as I said.
So anytime there's anappropriation of money
throughout the year, the councillooks at that and decides
whether or not to approve thatadditional appropriation into

(01:00:58):
the budget and then annually,we're reviewing and approving
the budget for the next fiscalyear.
Wow, wow.

You've taught us so much, not only about your
position and what the team does,but also what council does.
What would you like to leavefor residents that are out there
that have heard your call, butyou always maybe wanted to say
something to residents ingeneral as chief of staff.

Speaker 4 (01:01:23):
Well, I'm really proud to be a resident in the
county and when I talk to peopleI can tell that they're
passionate and care about thecounty.

Speaker 8 (01:01:33):
And so.

Speaker 4 (01:01:34):
I hope everyone approaches the conversations
that they have with not onlyCouncil Member Jawando's staff
but staff of other councilmembers or our central staff who
also do a lot of work on thepolicy, to recognize that
they're coming from a place ofreally caring and wanting to
move forward and that anyconversation we have let's make

(01:01:54):
sure that it's helping to findcommon ground and move in that
direction and really, like I'malways impressed with the
different ideas, the differentwork, the amazing ideas that
people have across the countyand I want to find more ways to
share that.
So you know, please share yourideas, please share what's going
on in your community.

(01:02:14):
We want to be out there and beable to celebrate that and then
you know, recognize that we'reall here together and how we can
have more conversations.

Right, and we're all here together.
That's what's happening, moco.
Thank you so much, michelle,for coming and sharing so much
about what you do and what thecouncil does and what teams do.
We've now seen behind thescenes, the teams made up of
people Gaza.
It's not like they exist.
They exist and they're verythoughtful, conscientious,

(01:02:45):
ineffective.
So thank you so much for beinghere today, Michelle.
I appreciate you.

Speaker 4 (01:02:48):
Thank you, I'm so glad to be here.
All right.

Intro (01:02:52):
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What's Happening at MACo 2024 Pt. 1? - State and County Reps Share Insights, Resources

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}What's Happening at MACo 2024 Pt. 1? - State and County Reps Share Insights, Resources