Join us for Legislative Speaking, the JCRC's four-part 2021 Maryland advocacy webinar series, you will have the opportunity to hear Federal, State, and County elected officials discuss legislative priorities as the Jewish community prepares to advocate in the coming year. Part Four features Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, Montgomery Council President Tom Hucker, and Montgomery County Council Vice President Gabe Albornoz.
Date & Time
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Location
Online. A zoom link will be emailed upon registration.
In case you missed it, click here to watch recordings of Legislatively Speaking, the JCRC's four-part 2021 Maryland advocacy webinar series:
- Part One from December 2nd featuring Maryland Senators: The Honorable Ben Cardin and The Honorable Chris Van Hollen
- Part Two from December 16 featuring The Honorable Anthony Brown (MD-4), The Honorable Jamie Raskin (MD-8), The Honorable John Sarbanes (MD-3), and The Honorable David Trone (MD-6).
- Part Three Featuring Maryland State Elected Officials, Senator Susan Lee (District 16) and Delegate Al Carr (District 18)
Speakers
Marc Elrich Montgomery County Executive and Candidate for re-election
Marc Elrich was elected as Montgomery County Executive on Nov. 6, 2018. He had previously served three terms (12 years) on the Montgomery County Council as an at-large member, being first elected in 2006. He served as a Councilmember on the Takoma Park City Council from 1987-2006. For 17 years, he was a teacher at Rolling Terrace Elementary School in Takoma Park.
As a County Councilmember, he was the chief sponsor of several landmark pieces of legislation and programs. He led the successful effort to increase the Montgomery County minimum wage in coordination with surrounding jurisdictions to $11.50 an hour and subsequent legislation that will eventually increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour. He was the first elected official to propose building a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system throughout the County to address Montgomery's transportation and environmental problems. County Executive Elrich has provided exemplary leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Throughout his political career, he has been a champion of improving tenants' rights and for making developers pay for a greater share of the infrastructure cost to build schools and transportation solutions. He was a leader in the fight to preserve Ten Mile Creek in the Clarksburg area by limiting the proposed development that would have threatened the health of Montgomery County's last best stream which flows into the County's backup water reservoir.
Montgomery County Council President Tom Hucker
Councilmember Tom Hucker was elected to the Montgomery County Council in November of 2014. He is the Chair of the Council’s Transportation and Environment Committee and also serves on the Public Safety Committee.
Councilmember Hucker is one of two Montgomery County representatives on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. And he serves as the Vice Chair of the Washington Suburban Transit Commission, the State body that oversees transit service in our region, including the Washington Metro and MDOT.
Hucker's entire career has focused on helping people make government more responsive and effective, first as a community organizer and environmental advocate, later as a nonprofit executive and then an elected official. In 2006, Tom was elected to serve in the Maryland General Assembly from Silver Spring and Takoma Park. He was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2010 and represented Montgomery County in Annapolis for eight years.
As a state legislator, he successfully authored and passed over 40 laws, including groundbreaking living wage requirements, children’s health initiatives, employee discrimination protections, wind energy expansion and other environmental reforms. While serving on the County Council, he has championed initiatives that have removed lead from school drinking water fountains, improved public transit, expanded solar energy, increased attainable housing and homeownership options, and transformed policing.
Councilmember Hucker lives in Silver Spring with his wife Amy, a clinical social worker who works on behalf of at-risk children and families, and their two young children Sam and Will, who enjoy a language immersion program in the Montgomery County Public Schools.
Montgomery County Council Vice President Gabe Albornoz
Councilmember Albornoz is a lifelong resident of Montgomery County and is deeply committed to our County, its people, and, as the son of immigrant parents, its diversity. He grew up here, graduated from Montgomery County Public Schools and has dedicated his career to public service and advocating for just social policies.
Albornoz graduated from Walt Whitman High School, received his Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Maryland, and an MBA from The Johns Hopkins University.
He is truly “at-large,” having lived in Gaithersburg, Silver Spring, Bethesda; and now, Kensington, where he lives with his wife Catherine, also a Montgomery County native, and their four young children.
During the “great recession” of 2009, Councilmember Albornoz was able to maintain excellence in the Recreation Department despite the challenges of an austere fiscal environment.
Under his leadership, the department expanded programing to vulnerable populations, and with its dedicated staff and volunteers, has received dozens of awards for programming excellence from organizations such as the National Association of Counties (NACO). Just this past year, the Recreation Department received eight national awards, more than any other Department in the Country.
Highlights of his tenure as director include construction of four new senior centers, six new recreation centers, and major renovations to six others.
Councilmember Albornoz is respected for his ability to forge collaborations with a wide range of stakeholders and for building innovative programs such as Excel Beyond the Bell, TeenWorks, and TechConnect, which helped close the achievement and opportunity gaps for thousands of participants and ensuring vital living for senior citizens.