THE GAZETTE
Wednesday, June 11, 2014 d
Page A-5
Andrews hopes to use council Duncan looks to move back into county’s top slot record in bid for county executive County executive hopeful focuses on past accomplishments, future goals n
BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
general election. Duncan said it’s gratifying to see how many people are familiar with his time in office and what he accomplished during that time. Among his higher-profile achievements, he lists Montgomery’s establishment as a global biotechnology center, the revitalization of downtown Silver Spring and construction of the AFI Silver Theatre and the construction of the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda. But one of the accomplishments he’s proudest of was his ability to push through Montgomery government’s tendency to study and debate problems rather than act to solve them, with “paralysis by analysis” a recurring phrase at Duncan’s appearances at campaign events and candidate forums. It’s one of the areas in which he’s been most critical of Leggett, particularly on projects such as the Silver Spring Transit Center, the long-delayed transportation hub that has been the subject of construction flaws and cost overruns. The full rebirth of Silver Spring has been stalled by the transit center delays, and Leggett and the County Council have no credibility remaining on the project, he said. The county needs a handson executive to make economic development, transportation and streamlining the county’s permitting process priorities in
the next term, Duncan said. Despite his longtime presence in Montgomery politics, Duncan said he’s running as a challenger to the county’s current leadership. Leggett and Andrews have both been in office for a long time, Duncan said. Before serving two fouryear terms as county executive, Leggett was on the County Council from 1986 until 2002. Andrews has been on the council since 1998. “They are the status quo,” Duncan said. Duncan left the executive’s office in 2006 to challenge then-Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley in Maryland’s Democratic primary, before dropping out of the race to deal with depression. Depression is a horrible illness, but his illness made him more patient and understanding, Duncan said. His experience also opened his eyes to the needs of Montgomery’s special needs community, and what the county is doing to provide better access to mental health treatment. It’s also allowed him to serve as a model for some people by showing them that you can get better, he said, and he ends many of his appearances with a plea for others to get help for themselves or someone they know who is suffering from depression. He spends much of the rest of these events trying to persuade voters to make a change in the county’s leadership and give his leadership another try. “I’m running for county executive because the status quo isn’t good enough,” he said. rmarshall@gazette.net
Candidate bases campaign on personal outreach to voters
county, other people told him their children can’t afford to come back to MontAndrews gomery, and working families are being stretched thin, Andrews said. If he’s elected, Andrews said he would try to increase the county’s effectiveness in Annapolis and get back a higher percentage of the taxes that Montgomery residents and businesses pay to the state. “We can’t afford to not be more involved in Annapolis,” Andrews said. He also strongly supports increasing library hours, infrastructure repair and the number of school resource officers, police officers who are stationed in the county’s schools. Andrews would also like to increase the staff of the county Inspector General’s office, whose current staff he said isn’t big enough to sufficiently monitor the county’s government. As a member of the County Council for 16 years, Andrews has been a consistent critic of the labor contracts the county signs with unions representing its workers. He criticized Leggett and Duncan for labor decisions made when each was executive, and said that as executive, he would work to keep the contracts more reasonable. Andrews also does not take campaign contributions from unions and other interest groups.
n
BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
On tables in the back room of Philip M. Andrews’ Rockville campaign headquarters are thousands and thousands of letters, about 30,000 in all. They are each written by campaign volunteers to their friends, family and neighbors asking them to support Andrews in his run for county executive. The attempt to contact Montgomery County voters is an outgrowth of Andrews’ campaign, which has been partially based on personal contact with residents. Since January 2013, Andrews said he has knocked on about 20,000 doors around the county, talking with thousands of Montgomery residents about their concerns for the county. Andrews said he was very aware that he was on the voter’s time when he came to their home, that he might be interrupting dinner or some other part of the daily routine. But his experience has been overwhelmingly positive. “Almost everybody’s polite,” he said. Andrews will try to use the recognition his visits have generated in the June 24 Democratic primary against current County Executive Isiah Leggett and former executive Douglas M. Duncan. The primary winner will face Republican James Shalleck in the Nov. 4 general election. Early voting in the primary starts Thursday. Andrews said the most common concern he heard while talking to voters was that it’s too expensive to live in Montgomery County. Many retirees told him they’re thinking of leaving the
Andrews’ parents grew up during the Great Depression, and taught him the value of being careful with money. “Fiscal responsibility and progressive values go hand-inhand,” he said. Andrews grew up in Kensington, graduating from Einstein High School in 1977. Recruited to Bucknell University to play tennis, Andrews moved to Philadelphia after graduation to work for the League of Conservation Voters. He moved back to Maryland in 1988 and spent six years as the executive director of Common Cause Maryland. After a failed bid for the council in 1994, he worked as the county’s Americorps director until running again in 1998, when he was elected. Andrews said he’s accomplished much of what he set out to do on the council. He led the effort on a bill to ban smoking in restaurants in the county, as well as one to require county contractors to pay employees a living wage. The council is currently considering a bill by Andrews to allow public financing of future county executive and council candidates’ campaigns. His time on the council has given him good understanding of how the county’s government works, he said. It’s a trait he acknowledges that he shares with his two primary opponents, and hopes voters will compare their respective times in office. “We all have experience, we all have records that people can examine,” Andrews said. rmarshall@gazette.net
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Douglas M. Duncan has a long history in Montgomery County politics. The fifth of 13 children, Duncan, 58, grew up accompanying his mother as she got involved in Rockville politics and county Democratic politics. His mother always told him that religious service was the highest calling, followed by political service, he said. He worked on Charlie Gilchrist’s campaign for county executive in 1978, and four years later earned a spot on the Rockville City Council on a platform of getting more affordable housing in the city. He became mayor in 1987, and immediately found that people looked at him differently. They wanted to know what he had accomplished and what he planned to do, and held him ultimately responsible for getting things done, he said. Being an official in Rockville allowed him to give back to a community that had such an impact on him and his family, he said. And his time in office had an added benefit. “It was perfect training to be county executive,” he said. Duncan turned that training into three terms in the executive’s office, serving from 1994 until 2006. Now he’s trying to reclaim the executive’s office against current Executive Isiah Leggett and challenger Councilman Philip M. Andrews (Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg in the June 24 Democratic primary.
Duncan
Early voting in the primary b e g i n s Thursday. T h e winner will face Republican James Shalleck in the Nov. 4
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