February 10, 2025 • 23 mins
Join us for an inspiring conversation with Montgomery County Council President Kate Stewart, as we discover her political journey from resident to County Council President. She shares her favorite things about the County and her priorities in 2025 as Council president. This include support and guidance for federal government workers, LGBTQ community and resources for mental health.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Good day and welcome to what's Happening, moco, an
authentic unscripted podcastfrom your Montgomery County
government.
Now here's your host DerekKennedy.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Good day.
Welcome to what's HappeningMoCo.
Today's episode we have aspecial treat we're talking to
the Montgomery County CouncilPresident.
Madam President, kate Stewart,hello, madam President, how are
you?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
today.
Good morning, I'm very good,thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Thank you for being here today.
I think it's quite importantthat we learn so much about the
county government, but alsoabout our leaders, and one thing
we love to do in this program.
If this is OK, let's talk aboutyour journey from being a
resident of Montgomery County tobeing a county council
president.
Madam president, what was itlike, what was your journey like
(00:51):
and what inspired you to takeup public service?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Great Well, thanks for the question.
So my background actually isI've been in Montgomery County
for a number of decades, got mymaster's degree from the
University of Maryland in surveymethodology and was working
doing public opinion, research,communications for a lot of
nonprofits and other groups suchas, like the ACLU, planned
(01:18):
Parenthood, environmental groups.
And then one day when I was athome with my family I got a
knock on the door and it was aneighbor of mine, a friend who
was on the Tacoma Park CityCouncil, and he said to me he's
like you know, did you hear thatour, your council member passed
(01:38):
away and I had?
She had had cancer andunfortunately passed away.
And he said well, we need tofind somebody to replace her and
the special elections in 45days.
And he said I'm here to ask youto do it.
And I was like what you know, Ihad not thought about running
(01:58):
for local office myself.
You know, thought about it andone of the things that I, over
the next couple of days, I keptcoming back to and friends of
mine kept asking me to do it isbecause our city council has
seven people on it and they wereall men and the two people
running for the empty seat weretwo men and, you know, my
(02:22):
friends and residents in thecity were like we can't have an
all-male council in the city ofTacoma Park.
And they said so, would you run?
And I did.
It was a very close election,but I won that election and then
, as I was filling the term outfor the next year and a half,
(02:44):
the mayor decided to retire andI remember clearly him saying to
me at a council meeting can youstop by my house after the
council meeting?
I want to talk to you aboutsomething, but it's not
appropriate to talk about in thechamber, and I thought I was in
trouble.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
I was like oh, what did I do?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
I was still fairly new and everything.
What did I do?
I, I was still fairly new andeverything.
Um and then, uh, when we talked, he said I'm gonna retire and I
really think you should thinkabout running for mayor oh wow.
And so uh again.
I was like what um?
And I thought about it andthought about um, the work I had
been doing on the council, onuh, working on uh with our
(03:22):
police department, on somepolice reform issues, housing,
that were really citywide issues.
So then I ran and I got to bemayor of the city.
I won that election and then,you know, was mayor for a number
of years, lived through thefirst Trump administration, was
(03:42):
mayor during COVID, and then wasthinking I would step down and
give someone else an opportunityto be mayor of the city when we
did redistricting here inMontgomery County and we had the
new districts and I decided torun for the county council.
(04:02):
And so now I'm in my third yearon the county council and my
colleagues have, very graciously, you know, elected me to be
president of the council thisyear.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
That's fantastic.
What a what an amazing journey.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
It's tiring.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
As I, as I.
What I heard was that each timeyou ran, you won.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Is that correct?
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Yes, so you're batting a thousand, which is
unreal for any sport or any typeof office, but it speaks a lot
to who you are as a person andthe value that you bring to each
municipality that you work with, and now for the county council
.
But it seems like you have atremendous heart for the county
(04:44):
and I've seen you in so manydifferent places.
I wonder if you maybe have atwin or something.
But before I ask you all thethings about what you have, what
you've accomplished, what youwant to accomplish as council
president, what are some of thethings you love about Montgomery
County, maryland?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Oh gosh, what I love about Montgomery County.
You know I've been here forover three decades and I really
could not imagine another placeto have raised my family and to
live.
The one thing I love is thecommunity and again we have been
through some really rough timesover the last few years with
(05:22):
COVID and other issues coming up, and it's this community
Montgomery County always stepsup for each other and it's
really remarkable to me and alsoI just I love our public
schools.
My kids had a great educationand also just loved the families
(05:44):
we got to meet and the um, justthe community that mcps creates
, uh was wonderful.
And then you know, in additionto the people itself, um, we
have some of the best recreation.
Um, I mean, you can doeverything in montgomery county,
you can go out to the agreserve um visit farms, go apple
(06:05):
picking, go on a hike, applepicking.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Oh yeah, okay, that sounds great, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
And then you can go to downtown Silver Spring and go
to the Fillmore and go to aconcert, or go to the Strathmore
and go to a completelydifferent type of concert.
And don't even get me startedabout the food that we have here
in Montgomery County, and so Ireally think our county really
does offer everything.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yeah, that's a great point you make.
I recently spoke with VisitMontgomery and we talked about
staycations.
In addition, the people shouldcome and visit and have a great
time here, but you don't need toleave here to have good food
and great experiences and toreceive a great education,
whether that's traditionallythrough one of our colleges or
schools, but then also justvisiting places that are have
(06:54):
rich, expressed the richheritage of Montgomery County,
maryland and the country.
But, of course, again, greatfood, great food, and I love the
ag reserve, but I didn't knowabout apple picking.
Oh yeah, so you can pick theapples, take them home and eat
them.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Oh, absolutely, they're good to eat.
You can make applesauce, youcan make apple pie, you can make
applesauce.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
I don't know about you, I mean.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
I don't make applesauce but you can make
applesauce.
All right.
I learn something new each timeI have an episode of this, and
that's one thing that I thinkwould be a great outing as we
get warmer.
Yes, we're just getting out ofthat very cold period.
But government doesn't stopwhen it's cold, it doesn't stop
(07:33):
when it's hot.
Right now it's kind of moderate.
So what are some of the thingsand I like to ask this question
of people that have come in andserved the county, question of
people that have come in andserved the county what are some
of the things that you considera feather in your cap that you
are proud of accomplishing inthe first three years as a
council member?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Yeah, gosh.
So I think there are a coupleof things.
One was really working withmembers of our LGBTQ plus
community.
One of the first things that wedid when we came into office
was ask the Office ofLegislative Oversight to do a
(08:15):
report looking at access tospecifically health care for
transgender members of ourcommunity, and from my own
personal experience in my familyand hearing from other
residents, I knew many familieswent to DC or other counties to
access care, and this reportvalidated that.
(08:36):
I think one of the quotes fromthe report is that Montgomery
County is like a desert when itcomes to access to care for
transgender community, andthat's really important.
It was important then, but soimportant right now, given
what's going on in our countryand the actions that Governor
Moore has taken to make surethat the state of Maryland is a
(08:57):
welcoming place for families andindividuals who are transgender
and we need to make sure thatwe have the health care they
need, and so that report thenled to helping to fund CCI,
which is a health clinic here,and they're opening a clinic
soon to provide some serviceshere in Montgomery County.
(09:22):
We also were able in the budgetlast year to provide funding for
MoCo Pride, and so that wasreally helped be the
underpinnings of pushing usfurther on this, and I can tell
you that our HHS department, ourHealth and Human Services
actually Dr Nina Ashford is justamazing, and all the people who
(09:45):
work on these issues, so Ithink that's one of the things
that I'm probably most proud of.
And then we've worked on anumber of issues around housing.
Last year we had a zoning textamendment called the Faith ZTA
and that was working with housesof worship across the county
(10:08):
who have land that they're notusing because their
congregations have shrunk.
Or some of our houses ofworship have a great deal of
land from hundreds of years andthey need some money to help
them.
Some of them need to makerepairs to their buildings or
since their congregations haveshrunk and they also have a
(10:28):
mission of helping people in ourcommunity and they see the
housing crisis we're in and theywant to build affordable
housing.
Oh, wow.
But our zoning laws restrictthe type of housing that many of
them could build.
And so we worked with councilmember Friedson to change our
zoning laws restrict the type ofhousing that many of them could
build, and so we worked withCouncil Member Friedson to
change our zoning laws to makeit easier for houses of worship
(10:48):
to build affordable housing.
And there's a project with achurch on Georgia Avenue that I
was just at, united Methodistand Silver Spring that I was
just at this past weekend to seehow they're progressing on it,
and it's very exciting to seeall of this come together.
So I think there's a lot ofother things we've worked on,
but those are probably the twothat I'm most proud of.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
That's pretty innovative, bringing a church
partnership with the county,being able to empower the church
to be able to help people in adifferent way than some people I
suppose at houses of worship do.
That's very good.
And also we talked to Phillipfrom MoCoPrize and he talked
about all the exciting thingsgoing on with his organization,
(11:31):
and we also talked to Mia fromTrans Maryland.
She talked about a lot of thechallenges that trans people
face, but also the resourcesavailable to them in Maryland
and in Montgomery County andspecifically, so that's
wonderful that you have a handin empowering that underserved
community.
Oh wow, so we talked about yourjourney which is very
impressive, which I'm not sureI've been really caught up in
(11:52):
football lately.
And I don't know any team.
Teams are happy to have fivelosses in a season or you're
undefeated.
What now?
Now you're council president.
So, you're bringing that winning.
Now you're council president,so you're bringing that winning
streak onto the councilpresidency.
Madam President, what are someof your priorities this year as
council president and what canwe look forward to from you?
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Great.
So I think you know, top of thelist is making sure that our
community residents who are inour community are supported,
that we are protecting theirrights and maintaining our local
authority, given the newadministration in the White
House as I mentioned before, Iwas a mayor the last time we had
(12:35):
this person in the White Houseand you know we just need to
make sure that, uh, we'reupholding our residents rights
and our local authority, and youknow what does that mean.
Um, if somebody is an immigrantor immigrant family, uh, make
sure that they have all thedocumentation they need, all the
information they need.
(12:56):
Um, our school system, mcps,under the direction of of
Superintendent Taylor, is doingan amazing job.
There are a lot of resourcesavailable for people through our
school system and we have thatup on the council website.
We were just talking aboutLGBTQ+ and particularly the
trans community, making surethey are supported now and they
(13:19):
have information about, you know, their documents.
We're already seeing the WhiteHouse change policies regarding
passports and everything, andit's so confusing right now.
The most important thing ismaking sure people have access
to information.
Pregnant people we know.
Reproductive health careabortion has been under attack.
Reproductive health careabortion has been under attack
(13:40):
and this county has made a standfor making sure that pregnant
people can get access to goodquality care here in Montgomery
County, and that meanssupporting our clinics.
And then we have federalworkers.
We have over 70,000 federalemployees who live in Montgomery
County and that doesn't eveninclude contractors or people
who have government contractorsCounty, and that doesn't even
(14:01):
include contractors or peoplewho have government contractors.
And we are already seeing inthe last couple of days it's
only been a little over a weekmany people who don't have work
anymore because of certainthings that have been frozen,
(14:22):
people concerned about havingjobs in the future and so making
sure that we have resources forthem to help them connect to
job opportunities and otherthings.
So that's really the toppriority.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Yeah, certainly.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
And then one of the things that each year a council
president's office usually doesis uplift a specific issue, and
this year we're looking atmental health, and we've begun
by talking to our governmentagencies, like our wonderful
health and human servicesdepartment, as well as talking
(14:50):
to the number of the nonprofitgroups that provide services and
advocacy on this issue in the,in the County, and we're going
to bring people together, allthose folks together, on
February 21st to kind of look atwhat are we doing well, right
now in the county.
what are the services we'reproviding?
And then, where are the gapsthat we need to fill?
(15:12):
And one of the things thatpeople will see already that
we've been doing in ournewsletter that we send out is
that we have a section of ournewsletter, each time it goes
out, that will highlightresources and information on
mental health.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Wow, and so that's one of the things I was going to
ask you later, but maybe we cantalk about it now.
How do people sign up for yournewsletter?
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Great, so you can just email my office.
It's councilmemberstuart atmontgomerycountymdgov.
And I also believe if you geton the county council website,
there's a way you can navigateto where you can sign up for
different alerts and informationthere.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Oh, wow, very good, very good.
It's very appropriate.
I'm not sure if it wasforesight that led you to adopt
mental health as one of the keyissues you're focusing on.
However, in light of theresponses to the current
administration, there may be anincreased need for those type of
(16:13):
services.
What do you want residents todo, whether they have issues
with leave collection or whetherthey have issues with health
care for trans individuals andtheir family?
How do you want them to respondin terms of looking to the
county for support?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Great.
Well, I was just at aneighborhood meeting the other
night and someone said this like3-1-1 is your friend All right
yes, 3-1-1.
3-1-1 is your friend.
So I think that's the firstplace and you can also go on the
website search for information.
But if you prefer you can gocall 311.
(16:51):
And if it's something, if youlive in an apartment and you
have some issues with yourapartment, ask for code
enforcement and that will getyou directed to the correct
department.
If it is on access tohealthcare, just say that and
they'll direct you to thecorrect department.
If, for some reason, thatdoesn't go as it's supposed to
(17:12):
because you know things don'talways do Right- yeah.
We like to say you know that'sthe first.
You know that's the first.
But if there is any hiccup withthat or you're not getting a
timely response, you knowreaching out to your district
council member, your councilmember's office.
Again, we are happy to takeInformation in our office at
(17:36):
councilmemberstuart atmontgomerycountymdgov and then
usually district council peoplelook out for their constituents
in their districts and so we'rehappy to address your concerns
or help connect you to yourdistrict council person.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Wonderful, wonderful.
And let's talk a little bitabout your social media.
I'm on social media quite a bit.
And I really enjoy Instagramand I look at the reels and I
look at the stories for the dayand your Instagram is very
active.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Were you impressed by my Lunar New Year pictures?
Yes, I was.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
I'm kind of impressed with those and I actually am
going to a Lunar New Year lunchwith Tebz today.
Technology Enterprise BusinessSolutions after this, so I'm
looking forward to learning moreabout the Chinese culture but,
then also celebrating, talkingabout Montgomery County's food,
the wonderful buffet, and thelast time we did it, it just had
octopus, so I didn't do it lastyear I'm going to look at it
(18:32):
again this year and see if I tryit.
We'll see.
So what's your Instagram handleand how you know what we will
share her Instagram handle.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
She'll share it In the video version on Facebook.
So check out our.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Facebook group what's Happening MoCo?
Or what's Happening MoCopodcast on.
Facebook, our business page.
We'll have her links to herInstagram.
I will say it's very up-to-dateand great pictures and great
information, so I'll make surethat we share that with you guys
.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Right, and we're also on Blue Sky.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Blue Sky.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
We are on Blue Sky now Trying to lean into that a
little more and I will say thatwe are moving away from X.
We still post there because weknow people.
There are some people there andwe usually post if there is
updates or vital information.
But just for folks to know thatwe'll probably be posting less
and less to that and leaningmore into Blue Sky, instagram
(19:25):
and Facebook in the future.
And also just on thinking aboutsocial media, if it is a
constituent issue, it is greatto email us or call our office.
Email is really helpful becausewe may miss something on social
(19:45):
media and sometimes it's a loteasier to get into the details
of something and get moreinformation from you than doing
it on social media.
So we do ask folks, if it's aconstituent issue or something
you're seeing that needsaddressing in the community, to
please email us.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
And no DMs, no DMs.
We just don't.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
It's hard to monitor all that, of course.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
And.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
I don't want to miss something and I can tell you.
We have folks who aremonitoring our email pretty much
all the time.
It's great, sometimes it's hardwith all the social media
channels and everything else tomiss a DM, and I don't want
somebody who is facing a crisis,whether it's eviction or food
(20:28):
insecurity or something else, toreach out to us that way and
for us to miss it.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Wonderful.
That's great that you're makingsure people understand.
Enjoy the Instagram, but if youhave an issue, contact her via
email at councilmembersstewartat montgomerycountymdgov.
And if you wanted to visit thecouncil website, which has a
host of information, includinglive council meetings, where you
can see her in action ascouncil president, and the other
(20:54):
council members and eachcommittee.
So nothing happens in the darkin Montgomery County, maryland.
You can see everything on, ofcourse, the cable channel, the
websites.
We want to make sure everythingand all the information is
available to our residents in afashion they can use it and
digest it whichever way they'dlike to.
Thank you, council MemberStewart.
Before you go, let's see if wecan give someone something they
(21:17):
may want to.
It's a little controversial,okay, can you answer a?
Speaker 2 (21:20):
controversial question.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Sure, absolutely commanders or ravens, oh, oh,
okay, no, so I that's.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
That is so uh, you know, I will admit, not a huge
football okay family, um, but Iwill say, in the last couple of
weeks we were following, uh, thecommanders because of the tight
end.
Ertz, who's married to Julie.
Ertz, the women's soccer player.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Because in our family .
Speaker 2 (21:48):
If you have a connection to women's sports,
we'll then follow the men.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
All right, there you go, so for us to follow men's
professional teams.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
You kind of have to have a link to women's sports.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
There you go so for us.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
We were kind of leaning towards the commanders
the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
So he's a winner even before he hits the football
field because he married theright woman.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
That's right.
He makes good choices.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Yeah, and that's what's happening.
Moco.
Montgomery County, made a goodchoice by electing Council
President Stewart as a councilmember and, of course, to come
apart to making great decisionsall along.
Thank you for all your serviceto the county and, as always, we
ask you out there to listen tothis podcast like share, and
please ask the question what'shappening in MoCo?
(22:31):
Because we provide the answers.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Thank you.
Thanks for listening to what'sHappening MoCo.
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This podcast is brought to youby County Cable Montgomery, your
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Government.
Connect with us via cable,facebook, instagram or YouTube
(22:58):
by searching for County CableMoCo.
Good day and welcome to what's Happening, moco, an
authentic unscripted podcastfrom your Montgomery County
government.
Now here's your host DerekKennedy.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Good day.
Welcome to what's HappeningMoCo.
Today's episode we have aspecial treat we're talking to
the Montgomery County CouncilPresident.
Madam President, kate Stewart,hello, madam President, how are
you?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
today.
Good morning, I'm very good,thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Thank you for being here today.
I think it's quite importantthat we learn so much about the
county government, but alsoabout our leaders, and one thing
we love to do in this program.
If this is OK, let's talk aboutyour journey from being a
resident of Montgomery County tobeing a county council
president.
Madam president, what was itlike, what was your journey like
(00:51):
and what inspired you to takeup public service?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Great Well, thanks for the question.
So my background actually isI've been in Montgomery County
for a number of decades, got mymaster's degree from the
University of Maryland in surveymethodology and was working
doing public opinion, research,communications for a lot of
nonprofits and other groups suchas, like the ACLU, planned
(01:18):
Parenthood, environmental groups.
And then one day when I was athome with my family I got a
knock on the door and it was aneighbor of mine, a friend who
was on the Tacoma Park CityCouncil, and he said to me he's
like you know, did you hear thatour, your council member passed
(01:38):
away and I had?
She had had cancer andunfortunately passed away.
And he said well, we need tofind somebody to replace her and
the special elections in 45days.
And he said I'm here to ask youto do it.
And I was like what you know, Ihad not thought about running
(01:58):
for local office myself.
You know, thought about it andone of the things that I, over
the next couple of days, I keptcoming back to and friends of
mine kept asking me to do it isbecause our city council has
seven people on it and they wereall men and the two people
running for the empty seat weretwo men and, you know, my
(02:22):
friends and residents in thecity were like we can't have an
all-male council in the city ofTacoma Park.
And they said so, would you run?
And I did.
It was a very close election,but I won that election and then
, as I was filling the term outfor the next year and a half,
(02:44):
the mayor decided to retire andI remember clearly him saying to
me at a council meeting can youstop by my house after the
council meeting?
I want to talk to you aboutsomething, but it's not
appropriate to talk about in thechamber, and I thought I was in
trouble.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
I was like oh, what did I do?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
I was still fairly new and everything.
What did I do?
I, I was still fairly new andeverything.
Um and then, uh, when we talked, he said I'm gonna retire and I
really think you should thinkabout running for mayor oh wow.
And so uh again.
I was like what um?
And I thought about it andthought about um, the work I had
been doing on the council, onuh, working on uh with our
(03:22):
police department, on somepolice reform issues, housing,
that were really citywide issues.
So then I ran and I got to bemayor of the city.
I won that election and then,you know, was mayor for a number
of years, lived through thefirst Trump administration, was
(03:42):
mayor during COVID, and then wasthinking I would step down and
give someone else an opportunityto be mayor of the city when we
did redistricting here inMontgomery County and we had the
new districts and I decided torun for the county council.
(04:02):
And so now I'm in my third yearon the county council and my
colleagues have, very graciously, you know, elected me to be
president of the council thisyear.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
That's fantastic.
What a what an amazing journey.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
It's tiring.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
As I, as I.
What I heard was that each timeyou ran, you won.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Is that correct?
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Yes, so you're batting a thousand, which is
unreal for any sport or any typeof office, but it speaks a lot
to who you are as a person andthe value that you bring to each
municipality that you work with, and now for the county council
.
But it seems like you have atremendous heart for the county
(04:44):
and I've seen you in so manydifferent places.
I wonder if you maybe have atwin or something.
But before I ask you all thethings about what you have, what
you've accomplished, what youwant to accomplish as council
president, what are some of thethings you love about Montgomery
County, maryland?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Oh gosh, what I love about Montgomery County.
You know I've been here forover three decades and I really
could not imagine another placeto have raised my family and to
live.
The one thing I love is thecommunity and again we have been
through some really rough timesover the last few years with
(05:22):
COVID and other issues coming up, and it's this community
Montgomery County always stepsup for each other and it's
really remarkable to me and alsoI just I love our public
schools.
My kids had a great educationand also just loved the families
(05:44):
we got to meet and the um, justthe community that mcps creates
, uh was wonderful.
And then you know, in additionto the people itself, um, we
have some of the best recreation.
Um, I mean, you can doeverything in montgomery county,
you can go out to the agreserve um visit farms, go apple
(06:05):
picking, go on a hike, applepicking.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Oh yeah, okay, that sounds great, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
And then you can go to downtown Silver Spring and go
to the Fillmore and go to aconcert, or go to the Strathmore
and go to a completelydifferent type of concert.
And don't even get me startedabout the food that we have here
in Montgomery County, and so Ireally think our county really
does offer everything.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yeah, that's a great point you make.
I recently spoke with VisitMontgomery and we talked about
staycations.
In addition, the people shouldcome and visit and have a great
time here, but you don't need toleave here to have good food
and great experiences and toreceive a great education,
whether that's traditionallythrough one of our colleges or
schools, but then also justvisiting places that are have
(06:54):
rich, expressed the richheritage of Montgomery County,
maryland and the country.
But, of course, again, greatfood, great food, and I love the
ag reserve, but I didn't knowabout apple picking.
Oh yeah, so you can pick theapples, take them home and eat
them.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Oh, absolutely, they're good to eat.
You can make applesauce, youcan make apple pie, you can make
applesauce.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
I don't know about you, I mean.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
I don't make applesauce but you can make
applesauce.
All right.
I learn something new each timeI have an episode of this, and
that's one thing that I thinkwould be a great outing as we
get warmer.
Yes, we're just getting out ofthat very cold period.
But government doesn't stopwhen it's cold, it doesn't stop
(07:33):
when it's hot.
Right now it's kind of moderate.
So what are some of the thingsand I like to ask this question
of people that have come in andserved the county, question of
people that have come in andserved the county what are some
of the things that you considera feather in your cap that you
are proud of accomplishing inthe first three years as a
council member?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Yeah, gosh.
So I think there are a coupleof things.
One was really working withmembers of our LGBTQ plus
community.
One of the first things that wedid when we came into office
was ask the Office ofLegislative Oversight to do a
(08:15):
report looking at access tospecifically health care for
transgender members of ourcommunity, and from my own
personal experience in my familyand hearing from other
residents, I knew many familieswent to DC or other counties to
access care, and this reportvalidated that.
(08:36):
I think one of the quotes fromthe report is that Montgomery
County is like a desert when itcomes to access to care for
transgender community, andthat's really important.
It was important then, but soimportant right now, given
what's going on in our countryand the actions that Governor
Moore has taken to make surethat the state of Maryland is a
(08:57):
welcoming place for families andindividuals who are transgender
and we need to make sure thatwe have the health care they
need, and so that report thenled to helping to fund CCI,
which is a health clinic here,and they're opening a clinic
soon to provide some serviceshere in Montgomery County.
(09:22):
We also were able in the budgetlast year to provide funding for
MoCo Pride, and so that wasreally helped be the
underpinnings of pushing usfurther on this, and I can tell
you that our HHS department, ourHealth and Human Services
actually Dr Nina Ashford is justamazing, and all the people who
(09:45):
work on these issues, so Ithink that's one of the things
that I'm probably most proud of.
And then we've worked on anumber of issues around housing.
Last year we had a zoning textamendment called the Faith ZTA
and that was working with housesof worship across the county
(10:08):
who have land that they're notusing because their
congregations have shrunk.
Or some of our houses ofworship have a great deal of
land from hundreds of years andthey need some money to help
them.
Some of them need to makerepairs to their buildings or
since their congregations haveshrunk and they also have a
(10:28):
mission of helping people in ourcommunity and they see the
housing crisis we're in and theywant to build affordable
housing.
Oh, wow.
But our zoning laws restrictthe type of housing that many of
them could build.
And so we worked with councilmember Friedson to change our
zoning laws restrict the type ofhousing that many of them could
build, and so we worked withCouncil Member Friedson to
change our zoning laws to makeit easier for houses of worship
(10:48):
to build affordable housing.
And there's a project with achurch on Georgia Avenue that I
was just at, united Methodistand Silver Spring that I was
just at this past weekend to seehow they're progressing on it,
and it's very exciting to seeall of this come together.
So I think there's a lot ofother things we've worked on,
but those are probably the twothat I'm most proud of.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
That's pretty innovative, bringing a church
partnership with the county,being able to empower the church
to be able to help people in adifferent way than some people I
suppose at houses of worship do.
That's very good.
And also we talked to Phillipfrom MoCoPrize and he talked
about all the exciting thingsgoing on with his organization,
(11:31):
and we also talked to Mia fromTrans Maryland.
She talked about a lot of thechallenges that trans people
face, but also the resourcesavailable to them in Maryland
and in Montgomery County andspecifically, so that's
wonderful that you have a handin empowering that underserved
community.
Oh wow, so we talked about yourjourney which is very
impressive, which I'm not sureI've been really caught up in
(11:52):
football lately.
And I don't know any team.
Teams are happy to have fivelosses in a season or you're
undefeated.
What now?
Now you're council president.
So, you're bringing that winning.
Now you're council president,so you're bringing that winning
streak onto the councilpresidency.
Madam President, what are someof your priorities this year as
council president and what canwe look forward to from you?
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Great.
So I think you know, top of thelist is making sure that our
community residents who are inour community are supported,
that we are protecting theirrights and maintaining our local
authority, given the newadministration in the White
House as I mentioned before, Iwas a mayor the last time we had
(12:35):
this person in the White Houseand you know we just need to
make sure that, uh, we'reupholding our residents rights
and our local authority, and youknow what does that mean.
Um, if somebody is an immigrantor immigrant family, uh, make
sure that they have all thedocumentation they need, all the
information they need.
(12:56):
Um, our school system, mcps,under the direction of of
Superintendent Taylor, is doingan amazing job.
There are a lot of resourcesavailable for people through our
school system and we have thatup on the council website.
We were just talking aboutLGBTQ+ and particularly the
trans community, making surethey are supported now and they
(13:19):
have information about, you know, their documents.
We're already seeing the WhiteHouse change policies regarding
passports and everything, andit's so confusing right now.
The most important thing ismaking sure people have access
to information.
Pregnant people we know.
Reproductive health careabortion has been under attack.
Reproductive health careabortion has been under attack
(13:40):
and this county has made a standfor making sure that pregnant
people can get access to goodquality care here in Montgomery
County, and that meanssupporting our clinics.
And then we have federalworkers.
We have over 70,000 federalemployees who live in Montgomery
County and that doesn't eveninclude contractors or people
who have government contractorsCounty, and that doesn't even
(14:01):
include contractors or peoplewho have government contractors.
And we are already seeing inthe last couple of days it's
only been a little over a weekmany people who don't have work
anymore because of certainthings that have been frozen,
(14:22):
people concerned about havingjobs in the future and so making
sure that we have resources forthem to help them connect to
job opportunities and otherthings.
So that's really the toppriority.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Yeah, certainly.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
And then one of the things that each year a council
president's office usually doesis uplift a specific issue, and
this year we're looking atmental health, and we've begun
by talking to our governmentagencies, like our wonderful
health and human servicesdepartment, as well as talking
(14:50):
to the number of the nonprofitgroups that provide services and
advocacy on this issue in the,in the County, and we're going
to bring people together, allthose folks together, on
February 21st to kind of look atwhat are we doing well, right
now in the county.
what are the services we'reproviding?
And then, where are the gapsthat we need to fill?
(15:12):
And one of the things thatpeople will see already that
we've been doing in ournewsletter that we send out is
that we have a section of ournewsletter, each time it goes
out, that will highlightresources and information on
mental health.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Wow, and so that's one of the things I was going to
ask you later, but maybe we cantalk about it now.
How do people sign up for yournewsletter?
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Great, so you can just email my office.
It's councilmemberstuart atmontgomerycountymdgov.
And I also believe if you geton the county council website,
there's a way you can navigateto where you can sign up for
different alerts and informationthere.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Oh, wow, very good, very good.
It's very appropriate.
I'm not sure if it wasforesight that led you to adopt
mental health as one of the keyissues you're focusing on.
However, in light of theresponses to the current
administration, there may be anincreased need for those type of
(16:13):
services.
What do you want residents todo, whether they have issues
with leave collection or whetherthey have issues with health
care for trans individuals andtheir family?
How do you want them to respondin terms of looking to the
county for support?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Great.
Well, I was just at aneighborhood meeting the other
night and someone said this like3-1-1 is your friend All right
yes, 3-1-1.
3-1-1 is your friend.
So I think that's the firstplace and you can also go on the
website search for information.
But if you prefer you can gocall 311.
(16:51):
And if it's something, if youlive in an apartment and you
have some issues with yourapartment, ask for code
enforcement and that will getyou directed to the correct
department.
If it is on access tohealthcare, just say that and
they'll direct you to thecorrect department.
If, for some reason, thatdoesn't go as it's supposed to
(17:12):
because you know things don'talways do Right- yeah.
We like to say you know that'sthe first.
You know that's the first.
But if there is any hiccup withthat or you're not getting a
timely response, you knowreaching out to your district
council member, your councilmember's office.
Again, we are happy to takeInformation in our office at
(17:36):
councilmemberstuart atmontgomerycountymdgov and then
usually district council peoplelook out for their constituents
in their districts and so we'rehappy to address your concerns
or help connect you to yourdistrict council person.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Wonderful, wonderful.
And let's talk a little bitabout your social media.
I'm on social media quite a bit.
And I really enjoy Instagramand I look at the reels and I
look at the stories for the dayand your Instagram is very
active.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Were you impressed by my Lunar New Year pictures?
Yes, I was.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
I'm kind of impressed with those and I actually am
going to a Lunar New Year lunchwith Tebz today.
Technology Enterprise BusinessSolutions after this, so I'm
looking forward to learning moreabout the Chinese culture but,
then also celebrating, talkingabout Montgomery County's food,
the wonderful buffet, and thelast time we did it, it just had
octopus, so I didn't do it lastyear I'm going to look at it
(18:32):
again this year and see if I tryit.
We'll see.
So what's your Instagram handleand how you know what we will
share her Instagram handle.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
She'll share it In the video version on Facebook.
So check out our.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Facebook group what's Happening MoCo?
Or what's Happening MoCopodcast on.
Facebook, our business page.
We'll have her links to herInstagram.
I will say it's very up-to-dateand great pictures and great
information, so I'll make surethat we share that with you guys
.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Right, and we're also on Blue Sky.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Blue Sky.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
We are on Blue Sky now Trying to lean into that a
little more and I will say thatwe are moving away from X.
We still post there because weknow people.
There are some people there andwe usually post if there is
updates or vital information.
But just for folks to know thatwe'll probably be posting less
and less to that and leaningmore into Blue Sky, instagram
(19:25):
and Facebook in the future.
And also just on thinking aboutsocial media, if it is a
constituent issue, it is greatto email us or call our office.
Email is really helpful becausewe may miss something on social
(19:45):
media and sometimes it's a loteasier to get into the details
of something and get moreinformation from you than doing
it on social media.
So we do ask folks, if it's aconstituent issue or something
you're seeing that needsaddressing in the community, to
please email us.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
And no DMs, no DMs.
We just don't.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
It's hard to monitor all that, of course.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
And.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
I don't want to miss something and I can tell you.
We have folks who aremonitoring our email pretty much
all the time.
It's great, sometimes it's hardwith all the social media
channels and everything else tomiss a DM, and I don't want
somebody who is facing a crisis,whether it's eviction or food
(20:28):
insecurity or something else, toreach out to us that way and
for us to miss it.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Wonderful.
That's great that you're makingsure people understand.
Enjoy the Instagram, but if youhave an issue, contact her via
email at councilmembersstewartat montgomerycountymdgov.
And if you wanted to visit thecouncil website, which has a
host of information, includinglive council meetings, where you
can see her in action ascouncil president, and the other
(20:54):
council members and eachcommittee.
So nothing happens in the darkin Montgomery County, maryland.
You can see everything on, ofcourse, the cable channel, the
websites.
We want to make sure everythingand all the information is
available to our residents in afashion they can use it and
digest it whichever way they'dlike to.
Thank you, council MemberStewart.
Before you go, let's see if wecan give someone something they
(21:17):
may want to.
It's a little controversial,okay, can you answer a?
Speaker 2 (21:20):
controversial question.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Sure, absolutely commanders or ravens, oh, oh,
okay, no, so I that's.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
That is so uh, you know, I will admit, not a huge
football okay family, um, but Iwill say, in the last couple of
weeks we were following, uh, thecommanders because of the tight
end.
Ertz, who's married to Julie.
Ertz, the women's soccer player.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Because in our family .
Speaker 2 (21:48):
If you have a connection to women's sports,
we'll then follow the men.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
All right, there you go, so for us to follow men's
professional teams.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
You kind of have to have a link to women's sports.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
There you go so for us.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
We were kind of leaning towards the commanders
the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
So he's a winner even before he hits the football
field because he married theright woman.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
That's right.
He makes good choices.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Yeah, and that's what's happening.
Moco.
Montgomery County, made a goodchoice by electing Council
President Stewart as a councilmember and, of course, to come
apart to making great decisionsall along.
Thank you for all your serviceto the county and, as always, we
ask you out there to listen tothis podcast like share, and
please ask the question what'shappening in MoCo?
(22:31):
Because we provide the answers.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Thank you.
Thanks for listening to what'sHappening MoCo.
Please subscribe via yourfavorite podcasting platform and
follow us on Facebook.
This podcast is brought to youby County Cable Montgomery, your
source for news and informationfrom the Montgomery County
Government.
Connect with us via cable,facebook, instagram or YouTube
(22:58):
by searching for County CableMoCo.
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