County Executive Marc Elrich Receives Transition Team Recommendations; Praises their Work

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, March 27, 2019

At a ceremonial briefing at the Silver Spring Civic Building, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich formally received a transition report containing 21 recommendations from his 222 member Transition Team. The report is the result of work during the transition period between November 2018’s local election and the County Executive’s inauguration on December 3, 2018. These recommendations address the seven priority outcomes of his vision for a more sustainable, equitable, and inclusive Montgomery County:

1. Thriving Youth and Families;
2. A Growing Economy;
3. A Greener County;
4. Easier Commutes;
5. A More Affordable and Welcoming County;
6. Safe Neighborhoods; and
7. Effective, Sustainable Government.

The transition team gathered ideas from people across the County about how the County government can work to build a bright and prosperous future for everyone. Each team had roughly 30 members working on answering three critical questions for each priority outcome:

• How are we doing?
• What is the story behind the curve?
• What strategies do we recommend to turn the curve?

This report is full of ideas and strategies are drawn from the collective experience of the team members. The team worked diligently to craft recommendations using the Results-Based Accountability framework, an organized system of thinking and taking action that can be used to improve quality of life.

Elrich praised the team for their efforts. “I want to express my thanks to Chief Administrative Officer Andrew Kleine for his leadership and to all members of the team for their time, dedication and most of all, their recommendations,” said Elrich. “The recommendations are ambitious; but we aim to meet them, and I want to make significant progress in all areas. I also intend to stay engaged with them, to listen and to be held accountable.”

Elrich noted that his administration had already made progress toward many of these goals in his first 100 days in office. Among them: Elrich launched major initiatives in Early Care and Education and Racial Equity and Social Justice (Thriving Youth and Families); closed tens of millions of dollars in operating budget gaps and closed a 100+ million gap in the capital budget; increased the County reserve fund to 10% (Effective, Sustainable Government); he helped convince Governor Hogan about reducing the speed limit on parts of Georgia Avenue to 25 miles per hour in Wheaton and Silver Spring to enhance pedestrian safety (Safe Neighborhoods); getting the Corridor Cities Transitway back in the State budget and starting the I495/I270 improvements at the American Legion Bridge (Easier Commutes). The transition report addresses many of these topics.   

The report is designed to be a starting point – the “first drafts” of 21 focused and nimble strategic plans for making progress on key indicators of success.  These plans will continue to evolve as they are handed off to Outcome Leadership Teams, which will drive their implementation. 

Although the Transition Team worked in seven priority outcome groups, it became clear that each priority outcome is related with the others, and a variety of interwoven themes emerged. For example, safe neighborhoods allow the County’s youth and families to thrive; academic success contributes to a growing economy; the number of good-paying jobs makes living in the County more affordable; and so on. 

“We are grateful to have been asked to contribute our perspectives to a document that supports your vision for a more equitable and inclusive Montgomery County,” said Kleine, “we look forward to working together to make your vision a reality for the more than one million residents and thousands of businesses who call it home.”

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Media contact: Brian Roberts 240-777-6507