Chamber of Commerce Questionnaire Posted

Here is a link to my completed questionnaire from the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce.

They never sent me a copy of it, and so I was forced to go steal a completed version from Maryland Politics Watch. I edited it and herewith submit it for your approval or approbation.

Astute observers will notice that I manage to include elements from the local Urban Planning online community's wish-list, and hopefully I will provide some rays of hope to the Coalition for Smarter Growth observers.

Please read carefully! Please understand, as I do, that perhaps I was not sent the questionnaire due to an oversight. It may also be that the Chamber of Commerce knows that for them to ask me how I feel about future growth is sort of like a man asking his wife while she's in the depths of labor "does it hurt, honey, and when do you think you'll be ready to have sex again?" and then being silly enough to be within arms' reach at the time.

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Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce
The Voice of Montgomery County Business
Candidate Questionnaire - District 4 Special Election

Name: Thomas Hardman
Party Affiliation: Democrat

1) WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR THE ROLE THAT MONTGOMERY COUNTY WILL PLAY IN OUR FUTURE GLOBAL ECONOMY?

Montgomery is already a leader in biotechnology and medical research and this will continue into the future. We are part of a region that is a major driver of the global Information Technology industry. We can also become a global leader in population stabilization, preservation and restoration of natural ecologies integrated with created human facilities and systems, and as coming massive waves of technological change wash over the world with the introduction and ubiquitous deployment of nanotechnology, we shall have to harness the unparalleled intellectual resources and educational achievement of our community. There will be opportunities to harness and obstacles to surmount but we will have to press forward with all deliberate speed to provide sane and sensible leadership, even if at times that leadership has to say "let's slow the pace and not rush headlong into the unknown without pausing to think through the possible consequences of our policies and actions".

a. WHAT WOULD YOU DO AS A MEMBER OF THE COUNTY COUNCIL TO REACH THIS VISION?

I will promote the combined interests of both the Urban Planning and the Environmental Conservation communities. I will promote a willingness to listen to a wider and more diverse array of scientists, engineers, biologists, and researchers. I will try to pay more attention to education and reason than to political process and forces. I will promote conservation and restoration of natural resources and ecologies and will promote the concepts of "green and renewable" anyplace this can be applied. I will consider the life of the planet before I consider the profit of reckless expansionism.

2) DO YOU BELIEVE THAT PROVIDING INCENTIVES FOR COMPANIES TO LOCATE IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY?

We have so much business in Montgomery County that nearly half of the workforce has to reside outside of our jurisdiction and we thus have the country's second-worse commute. Until and unless this is resolved satisfactorily, we have no business offering incentives to attract companies to relocate here to add to our current woes.

3) ECONOMIC DOWNTURN HAS RESULTED IN DECREASED REVENUES FOR MONTGOMERY COUNTY. WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE ARE THE BEST METHODS FOR BOOSTING COUNTY REVENUES? WHAT SHOULD BE TRIMMED FROM THE COUNTYS BUDGET IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES?

Montgomery already has some of the highest tax rates in the nation, and Maryland ranks 45th of 50 in "positive business climate" and Montgomery is widely ranked as one of the worst places in Maryland for "business climate", mostly due to the levels of taxation and the regulatory compliance load. Thus, it's clear that the only thing that can be done is to reduce the level of expenditures for programs, and that could mean cutting or eliminating programs entirely, or it could mean streamlining programs and increasing levels of efficiency.

4) GIVEN THAT MARYLANDS INVESTMENT IN TRANSPORTATION CONTINUES TO DECLINE AND TRAFFIC CONGESTION REMAINS A HUGE CONCERN FOR VOTERS IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY, HOW DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE COUNTY COUNCIL SHOULD ADDRESS OUR TRAFFIC RELIEF?

First, we stop inviting in more companies and their employees than we can house. We must develop and deploy more effective mass-transit and public-transit systems to allow cost-effective alternatives to the private automobile. We should promote more transit-hub-oriented redevelopment. We have already mostly reached the limits of legal new development and we should not abandon our committment to the Agricultural Reserve. In general, there should be no growth which is not "Smarter Growth", and it's time to revision our aging suburbs and redevelop existing arterials and communities to be more "friendly" to mass-transit, keeping in mind at all times that we must promote both "walkability" and the survival and restoration of our Urban Forest and other elements of natural Maryland ecologies.

5) WHAT IS YOUR POSITION ON SOME OF OUR KEY TRAFFIC RELIEF PROJECTS INCLUDING THE PURPLE LINE, CORRIDOR CITIES TRANSIT WAY AND THE WIDENING OF I-270?

The Purple Line must be built, and we need to consider other east-west alignments for future mass-transit needs. The Corridor Cities transitway must eventually be built. Yet our greatest hurdle will always be restraining the growth of Montgomery's commuter population, until and unless we have provided sufficient mass-transit and public-transportation alternatives to encourage the majority of long-haul commuters to leave their cars at home rather than clogging up the freeways.

6) PLEASE DISCUSS YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE MASTER PLANS THAT WILL COME BEFORE THE COUNTY COUNCIL IN 2008 INCLUDING: GAITHERSBURG WEST, GERMANTOWN AND WHITE FLINT, AS THESE AREAS ARE ALL OPPORTUNITES FOR IMPORTANT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

Given the current economic conditions and the near total collapse of the housing market, any discussion at all of "economic development" is premature at best. Also, given that there is a massive dearth of housing in general and affordable housing in particular, here in Montgomery, and given also that there is a massive oversupply ratio of jobs to residences, if we're going to be building or developing anything, we must build and develop affordable housing much closer in towards the business campuses and research/industrial cores.

Thus, until and unless a very flexible vision emerges for Germantown and Gaithersburg master plans which addresses Limits to Growth and Ecosystem Preservation/Restoration, walkable high-density mixed-use transit-hub-oriented and well-transit-served development characterized by ample "affordable housing" and "moderately-priced dwelling units", we need to reconsider any thoughts of moving ahead with development up-county. Furthermore, there is no need to rush into anything, and I call for an extended period for public commentary that invites a much broader range of community activists and local community organization involvement in that public comment process. This would not be an effective moratorium on new development nor on moving forward with developments already approved.

White Flint's Master Plan includes significant transit-hub-oriented high-density mixed-use "walkable" development on and around corridors already very well served by both new roads, re-developed roads, and mass-transit in the form of both MetroRail/MetroBus and county-run Ride-On buses.

Germantown and West Gaithersburg would be, effectively, Expansionist and would tend to contribute to increased Suburban Sprawl. White Flint, quite to the contrary, is Consolidationist, and refines and concentrates development where massive public infrastructure for transportation already exists.

7) WHY WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A MEMBER OF THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY COUNCIL AND WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH?

I intend to bring strong advocacy for the constituents of Council District 4, which in past years has been almost overlooked as a vibrant and deserving part of Montgomery. We feel ignored and left to wither on the vine, as it were, and we want our share of consideration, maintenance, and revitalization.

Regards,
Thomas Hardman