Dear Friends,
This week thousands of federal workers lost their jobs and livelihoods. This round of cuts hit Montgomery County hard—on Monday, March 31, 2,220 HHS Jobs were eliminated as documented by the Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) log from the Maryland Department of Labor. That is more than all job losses recorded by WARN for all of 2023 and 2024 combined.
A documented 3,650 jobs have disappeared in Montgomery County so far in 2025. For context, 1,338 jobs were eliminated in all of 2024, and 716 jobs were eliminated in all of 2023. Nearly all of this year’s job losses are due to federal government actions and decisions. This is not “disruption.” This is chaos.
Our thoughts are with all the workers and their families who have lost their jobs. We will feel ripple effects throughout this County, and we will continue doing everything we can to support them.
These federal institutions are America's crown jewels. When I am overseas, I hear many people talk about the desire to be near the NIH because it lays the groundwork for medical innovation to grow and thrive.
Firing thousands of people will clearly impact the work's mission, which is to keep us healthy and safe. This is not just an assault on federal employees; it is an attack on the work they do. It is as if the prime goal is to erase the twentieth century and the first 25 years of this century, and as if the pandemic was just a mirage and the lives lost were of no concern.
Viruses are still a real threat that we could be ignoring. Gore Vidal once called this nation “The United States of Amnesia.” Never in my life have I seen such a change of course over the importance of science and research and I have to say Vidal got it right.
Here is another quote that got my attention, and it was from former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Just ahead of Wednesday’s announcement on tariffs, he was quoted in the Washington Post saying the president’s intention is to “create an environment where we’re back to where we were before World War I.”
Really? Is that where we want to go? Back to a time when women did not have the right to vote? Back to a time, when child labor was not regulated? Back to the days of segregation and lynchings where many Black Americans were held in debt peonage? Back to working conditions that facilitated the tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire? Back to the days before social security? I don’t think so.
This administration, led by Trump and Elon Musk, is inflicting random, unnecessary pain, and their supporters want to make it worse.
When you consider how many of the President's allies are taking a defensive posture and bracing the public for short-term pain, it shows how ill-conceived this approach is. Financial markets around the world responded with their worst drop since the start of the pandemic. There is no big payday at the end of all this, and the only thing tariffs and layoffs are certain to bring is uncertainty, which is not good for any economy.
Here in Montgomery County, we are not sitting idle while this is happening. This past Monday, Montgomery College hosted a job fair with bio and life science businesses for workers in the health and sciences sectors. Over 120 people registered to attend and another 200 were on the waiting list.
Last week, we launched Mobilize Montgomery. By visiting and registering on mobilize-montgomery.com, impacted workers and businesses can learn about the latest opportunities to connect with area employers and about webinars that could help during these trying times. So far, nearly 300 job seekers have registered with Mobilize Montgomery.
On Monday, we hosted our “Open for Business” procurement fair, which was packed with businesses looking for new procurement opportunities. I also visited restaurant and hospitality businesses at the Moco Eats Food and Beverage Showcase, which was hosted by Visit Montgomery. At both events, attendees were concerned about the impacts of these federal decisions—whether those concerns were the layoffs or the economic impact of widespread tariffs.
We know we can’t counter all the horrible things that are happening, but we are constantly trying to figure out ways to help.
During my media briefing this week, I welcomed the Montgomery College President, Dr. Jermaine Williams. Montgomery College is one of our County’s best assets and provides resources for students and workers of any age. He talked about what they are doing and how they help those looking for new opportunities. You can watch that conversation on our YouTube page.
Please Oppose a Bill that Would Unfairly Give Away County Revenues
The County Council is scheduled to vote on expedited Bill 2-25, Payment in Lieu of Taxes – Affordable Housing (PILOTs) on Tuesday, and I am very concerned about it. I sent a letter to the Council urging them to, at the very least, delay a final vote on this bill. If it were passed in its current form, it would lose a lot of revenue for the County for at least 20 years. You can read my letter on page 58 of the Council packet.
This bill would automatically eliminate all property taxes for eligible properties for 20 years. It would apply to buildings that are 50% vacant, and it would allow all developers to convert or demolish a commercial building to make room for residential units. The developer would not pay any property taxes for 20 years. That translates to hundreds of millions of dollars that the County would not collect. Here are the major problems with this legislation:
First, this legislation is not necessary. There is no evidence that every eligible property needs a 100% exemption from property taxes for 20 years. Conversions are already happening.
For example, the market worked for “The Guardian” apartment complex in Silver Spring. Five additional stories were added to a small office building and 178 new residential units were created—without any subsidy.
Second, this legislation is going to cost the County hundreds of millions of dollars in potential tax revenue. The County should not do by-right PILOTs that give an automatic exemption from 100% property taxes regardless. We have the authority to do PILOTs and we’ve done them to get more affordable housing. However, every project needs its own analysis of financing and the developers’ investment in the project. The analysis helps us address a simple question; what gap is the County filling? Any subsidy—and we do give subsidies—should be based on filling gaps.
Third, this legislation unfairly picks winners and losers among developers—who gets subsidies and who does not. Most developers currently building housing are paying property taxes. If you are not going to tax one group of developers for producing market-rate housing, why tax any of them? We already hear some developers claiming that the County now needs to subsidize market-rate housing; this is not helpful.
This is a slippery slope, and it is part of the County’s ongoing race to the bottom. For years now, Councils have been reducing impact taxes the County gets from developers. Impact taxes are supposed to fund the infrastructure needed to accompany development, and even when developers don’t have to pay the impact taxes, the infrastructure is still needed, and the cost is shifted to residents.
Additionally, we have the lowest tax rates, by far, on commercial property in the region, yet we lag in job growth. Developers have a history of moving into Northern Virginia and paying much more than they pay here. So, trying to be the cheapest date has proven to be a completely failed policy. We have already won the race to the bottom by having the lowest commercial taxes in the region, but that has not produced the jobs we need to drive housing growth. We do not want to create a new corporate welfare system in which every developer is either going to expect the same giveaways or only certain developers are going to get sweetheart deals.
Finally, we need more public input and discussion. The public hearings on the More Housing NOW package involved multiple and different pieces of legislation, including this bill. There continues to be confusion and questions around this bill and the zoning text amendments.
I am urging the Council to delay the vote and use that time to explore issues related to this bill. No bill should include an automatic elimination of property taxes for 20 years; discretion is needed to make sure that foregone revenue is done carefully and thoughtfully. This bill is expedited, which is not necessary. We usually expedite legislation because we’re dealing with something that needs immediate attention—there is no urgency for the hurried consideration of the bill, especially since this bill does not focus on affordable housing.
I want to be clear that I have no objection to the conversion of commercial to residential properties and no problem helping facilitate that within zoning and height regulations. I also have no problem with this type of conversion not having to get new approval. There is no issue with building within the approved zoning envelope. In principle, this is a reasonable option for expanding housing. The question is do we need to subsidize this?
The actual best outcome for commercial buildings is to be re-tenanted with businesses because we need to grow our tax base. It is not clear that we want to prioritize reducing the number of places businesses could locate. That may not be in the County’s best economic interest, which is why each potential conversion needs to be examined on a case-by-case basis.
I urge the Council to make next week’s anticipated calendar item a work session, consider important changes to the bill and delay a vote on expedited Bill 2-25. I and others have some important concerns that still need to be resolved before any legislation is finalized.
Protecting Tenants and Holding Bad Landlords Accountable
I want to thank the Council for taking an important step to hold bad landlords accountable. The Council also passed Bill 6-25, Consumer Protection for Renters. I want to thank the bill’s sponsors, Councilmember Kristin Mink, Council President Kate Stewart, Vice President Will Jawando and Councilmember Dawn Luedtke, and the entire Council for their support of this change.
This legislation improves the County’s ability to bring landlords who repeatedly violate tenant protections in the County Code into compliance. Unfortunately, a minority of landlords rely on delaying the fixing of housing code violations or engaging in deceptive trade practices as part of their business model. They rely on six-month-plus delays in our overburdened District Court and the practice of judges to reduce fines to negligible amounts. The results are tenants waiting long periods of time for housing code violations to be fixed and this minority of landlords having only minor consequences for not fixing the violations in a timely manner.
The Office of Consumer Protection and the Office of the County Attorney will now be able to sue landlords in Circuit Court who have a demonstrated history of property neglect, noncompliance with citations, and deceptive trade practices to seek injunctive relief and damages. Most landlords do not engage in these practices, but those who do will learn quickly that they must either change their business model or face the more serious consequences provided in this bill.
This bill is a major step forward, and I hope that those bad actors who have gotten away with mistreating their tenants for too long will change their behaviors moving forward.
I also want to thank the Council for reaffirming the County’s commitment to promoting equity and inclusion in housing. April is Fair Housing Month, and this measure is about making sure everyone—no matter their background—has a fair shot at living and working here. The picture above is from a rally for tenant rights we held at the Enclave in 2023.
Maryland Transportation Authority Board Appointment
Congratulations to Maricela Cordova following her appointment to the State board overseeing the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA).
The MDTA is responsible for constructing, managing, operating, and improving the State's toll facilities, and financing new revenue-producing transportation projects. The board is comprised of eight members who serve four-year terms and cannot serve more than three consecutive terms.
Maricela has over 30 years of experience in architectural, engineering and construction programs. Currently, she serves as the special assistant to the director for strategic projects at the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), where she has led large-scale, critical transportation and infrastructure projects. Since 2019, she has held various roles at MCDOT, including acting deputy director of transportation policy, acting division chief of transportation engineering and Purple Line implementation manager.
Maricela's appointment by Gov. Wes Moore is important for Montgomery County because she represents a link to the most populous County in Maryland. I believe she will be a key advocate for us and what we are looking to accomplish in easing congestion throughout Montgomery County by expanding our Bus Rapid Transit routes so residents and visitors can easily travel east-west through the County.
I want to thank her for her willingness to serve in this role.
Helping Ensure Safety at Institutions Throughout Montgomery County
I am proud to share that 110 organizations have received funding from the County's grant program aimed at helping faith-based organizations and nonprofits protect themselves from hate-based attacks or crimes. The $1.2 million dollars can be used to hire security, develop a security plan, conduct training or purchase new security cameras, to name just a few uses.
I want to thank the County Council for its collaboration on these grants. This is the second year in a row that the County has committed more than $1 million toward the security grant program and the fourth year of the program overall.
New this year, security grant funds can be used to purchase a fususCORE device to enable camera integration with the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD). Camera integration is a relatively new tool that gives officers as much information as possible to respond to and solve crimes.
At the press conference announcing this new funding (Security Grants Press Event) we heard from recipients who were thankful for this help, specifically because simply having an armed guard can be a deterrent to violence.
I wish this assistance were not necessary, but it is. We cannot change what happens outside of Montgomery County; we can only ensure that we are doing as much as possible to create a safe and welcoming home for everyone here.
Earth Month Begins
The County is once again excited to use Earth Month to advocate for environmental action. Last year, our Department of Environmental Protection urged you to Act Now, but this year, we got started early by encouraging residents to ‘take the pledge’ weeks ago and be Climate Smart. Being climate smart means making changes at home to be more sustainable. Small changes—like preparing meals to reduce food waste or taking public transportation when it's convenient—add up to make a big difference. There are many special activities this month to help get you started or continue your sustainability efforts, and they are detailed in this press release.
If the County continues to expand recycling operations and we minimize the volume of trash created, we will continue to make progress toward a zero-waste future. With everything working against us in terms of climate change and federal resistance to clean energy we must continue to lead by example and show real progress on how beneficial climate-smart policies can be for our community and others that follow suit.
Dream Prom Look Awaits at Montgomery County Recreation Giveaway Event
Prom season will be here soon, and Montgomery County high school students are invited to find their perfect prom outfit—free of charge.
The Prom Couture Closet Giveaway returns for its fourth year, helping students attend prom in style without financial barriers.
Join us on Saturday, April 5, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Marilyn J. Praisner Community Recreation Center in Burtonsville to browse a selection of free prom dresses, suits, shoes and accessories. The event is open to all Montgomery County high school students with valid student IDs. Items will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
I want to thank everyone who provided donations to this effort. Your generosity has helped hundreds of students find the right thing to wear so they can celebrate their milestone moments with confidence.
And I want to wish all students celebrating prom this year to have a safe and festive celebration.
Arab American Heritage Month Celebration
April is Arab American Heritage Month, and we continue to affirm our commitment to being a welcoming multicultural community.
We are in a time when this is not just a nice thing to do, it is a necessity. We need to lead by example and show those who want to harm someone because of their religion or where they are from will not be tolerated in Montgomery County.
Our County has a legacy of actions and policies that reinforce our belief that we must be inclusive of everybody. This is important when it comes to fair housing, across-the-board equity and many other day-to-day activities where people need to feel like they are not being ignored.
This marks the 25th year our County has honored our Arab American residents with a proclamation that will be presented on Tuesday, April 8.
On Monday, April 7, the community will come together for the Arab American Heritage Month celebration at the Bohrer Park Activity Center in Gaithersburg from 5–6:30 p.m. You can register ahead of the free event by contacting the Office of Community Partnership’s Middle Eastern American Advisory Group by email at meaagocpmc@gmail.com or by filling out this form.
As always, my appreciation for all of you,
Marc Elrich
County Executive
