For Immediate Release: Tuesday, December 1, 2020
ROCKVILLE, Md., Dec. 1, 2020—Outgoing Montgomery County Council President Sidney Katz, who concluded his one-year term as Council president, today reflected on the Council's accomplishments in 2020. You can also view some highlights of the Council's work here. Outgoing Council President Sidney Katz's remarks from this morning’s Council meeting are below.
One year ago, I embarked upon a journey that I am completing today. Those who know me well know that I always joke that I have never actually figured out why anyone would want to leave Montgomery County, Maryland. The journey that I completed this last year was not something that I would have ever contemplated. Not only did I stay in Montgomery County, I barely left my house!
So, I say this with a sense of humor, although there is very little about the past 12 months that is humorous. My tenure as Council president has been everything that nobody expected.
As I reflect on this past year, I am both proud and grateful. I am proud that the Council was able to do so much for our residents during one of the most challenging times in our history. I am also grateful that I had the tremendous support of my colleagues, staff, family and friends.
The global pandemic affected each and every one of our residents - some much more than others. The challenges that COVID-19 presented were unprecedented. Our lives were, and continue to be, upended on every level - health and wellbeing, economic stability, technologically and in our ability to interact with each other.
It made most of us realize that we cannot take for granted so much of what happens to us. In some ways, it brought out the best in us, such as neighbors helping neighbors. It also reminded us of the disparities that we are constantly working to eliminate.
Recognizing that the pandemic is causing an unprecedented financial hardship for many of our residents, the Council acted decisively and quickly sprang into action. We worked together with County Executive Elrich to help our residents, businesses and nonprofits.
We enacted the COVID-19 rental assistance program to provide rent subsidy payments to those most in need. This 20-million-dollar fund is going a long way to prevent a surge in homelessness.
We provided aid to common ownership communities to make up for some of the losses they are experiencing and to help prevent the loss of housing in these communities.
Moreover, the Public Health Emergency Grant (PHEG) provided a big boost to small businesses, including restaurants and retail. This 25-million-dollar grant program was key in our immediate response to the urgent need to maintain the economic viability of the businesses in our county.
In addition, the grant assistance to help businesses and nonprofits with the costs incurred due to the need to telework was extraordinarily helpful in their ability to continue to keep the lights on. Councilmember Friedson spearheaded this effort with coordination from the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation.
We allocated $350,000 for the purchase and manufacturing of personal protective gear and approved a three-million-dollar special appropriation to support the needs of medical and dental practices which was essential to contribute to the healing of our community.
We were able to assist the business and nonprofit sectors once again with the 14-million-dollar Reopen Montgomery Business Assistance Program. The re-opening process is not an easy one, and these funds helped to lessen the burden for many.
Council Vice-President Hucker worked with the many stakeholders to set up Streetdine in Silver Spring. This outdoor seating arrangement taking place on closed streets allows customers to more easily and safely patronize our restaurants which is a win-win for all.
In September, we appropriated 7.7 million dollars to help families pay for school-age child care during distance learning and to support child care providers - many of whom had lost 100 percent of their income for many months. This was a real boost to families as they navigate virtual learning.
We did all of this while painstakingly passing a same services budget. This was not an easy task, and it was one that we did not take lightly. Although it was not the budget anyone had hoped for, it did allow us to avoid layoffs and furloughs which, of course, was a very important goal for the Council.
I also hosted more than two dozen business briefings to hear from local business owners and nonprofit leaders. This forum provided a platform for everyone tuning in to hear about the struggles and triumphs of this segment of our economy. Learning about the positivity and creativity of local businesses and nonprofits was a true highlight of the past year.
I have always been a person who seeks to solve problems by gathering everyone around the table (or the Zoom camera) to talk through an issue until a resolution is identified. I did just that when a divergence of opinions arose between the competitive swim community and the County public health officials about the COVID-19 lap lane policy. Everyone listened and learned, and a solution quickly followed.
I also believed that it was important to look at how the pandemic has impacted the changing dynamics of our economy, and it was with this in mind that I brought together County leaders to form a task force to take a good look at these issues. This task force, chaired by Senator Nancy King, has provided me with recommendations about how we can best help businesses maintain continuity during these uncertain times. They looked at topics such as access to resources, access to capital and innovative ways for entrepreneurs to revamp and retrain, with a particular focus on life sciences. I look forward to sharing these findings with you all, so that we can implement the recommendations where necessary, so that our County is well positioned to emerge from this crisis stronger and better.
Although the coronavirus was, and still is, the focal point of 2020, it is important to bring attention to some of the other very important arenas where the Council has acted.
I am pleased that the Council was able to establish the Local Business Preference Program. As a former small business owner, I know how important it is to keep local businesses here. This legislation is another tool in the toolbox to do just that.
In February, Councilmembers Friedson, and Albornoz and I hosted a faith-based town hall to facilitate a discussion about security for our faith communities. It was both well attended and productive.
And although both the racial and economic disparities we must address became even clearer, we did not let this hinder our efforts. In fact, we acted strategically to assist those with the greatest needs.
The 3.3 million dollars to implement the African American Health Program provides a targeted response to the disparate impact of the coronavirus on our African American and Black residents. I thank Councilmembers Rice and Jawando for their efforts to bring this to fruition.
The funding which established Por Nuestra Salud y Bienestar (For Our Health and Well Being) is providing wrap around services including COVID-19 testing targeted to our Latino residents. Thank you to Councilmembers Navarro and Albornoz for continually reminding us that culturally competent care for underserved communities is so very important.
We continued to focus on the racial equity and social justice efforts we began last year championed by then-Council President Navarro, and we re-doubled our efforts.
The Policing Advisory Commission is up and running. Councilmember Riemer spearheaded the legislation that created this group, and the Council appointed its members after an exhaustive process. There were so many qualified applicants that it made our jobs very difficult. I look forward to following their work and hearing their findings.
Thanks to Councilmember Glass, the Council passed the LGBTQ Bill of Rights. This legislation explicitly bans LGBTQ-plus discrimination in healthcare facilities, nursing homes and personal care facilities which are all necessary steps in the expansion of protections.
This was a year of reimagining many things including public safety, education, the needs of our students and the demands on our workforce. It is always difficult to challenge the status quo and even harder to change it; but change it we did. Some changes happened overnight, some took months and some have not yet been fully implemented. As we continue to adapt to our “new normal”, it is my hope and firm belief that we will once again flourish.
Facing the multitude and magnitude of challenges that we have had during the past year has brought out a strength in us that we may not have known was there. We dug deep, worked together tirelessly and approached each issue head on.We accomplished much and we did it with a lot of help.
My colleagues were with me every step of the way, and I mean every step of the way. There were many days when I spoke with each of you - sometimes more than once. And a shout out to your chiefs of staff who sometimes had to corral you for me.
Marlene Michelson, Craig Howard and Linda McMillan provided guidance and sage advice which was the glue that held everything together. I am indebted and grateful.
Michelle Parsons and Nic Berry were presented with more challenges than they probably thought were possible, but they kept their cool. I truly appreciate their patience and technological prowess. I also want to recognize Mark Matarese, Jim Graham and Lester Alcantara and Mike Cohen for broadcasting all our Council and committee meetings from the Council Office Building.
The Council’s “new” Clerk Selena Singleton keep up with the constant, and I mean constant, changes on a daily basis. Her tireless work is truly remarkable. She could be a gymnast since she is extraordinarily flexible. Her team including Mary Anne Paradise, Anne Brown and Nubia Medrano-Rivera kept the trains running. I can’t say running on time, but that was not their doing.
We have the finest public information team anywhere. I know that Sonya Healy spent many a late-night writing and rewriting and editing many press pieces. Thank you to Susan Kenedy, Mike Springirth, Juan Jovel, Lilian Mass, Mirchaye Sahlu and Nicholas Triolo for all your wonderful and creative ideas, and for always doing a great job.
Thank you to our outstanding legal team of Bob Drummer, Amanda Mihill, Christine Wellons and Jeff Zyontz for keeping us on the right side of the law.
I want to recognize Susan Farag for her ability to remind me that even though I am the Council president, I am also the chair of the Public Safety Committee and that we had lots of important work to do and needed to find time to do it. Her knowledge and expertise are invaluable.
Thanks also to Gene Smith, Vivian Yao and Carolyn Chen who got us through some tough topics and difficult pieces of legislation.
I want to recognize Glenn Orlin and Pam Dunn for doing such an incredible job leading us through the Subdivision Staging Policy. Thank goodness we will soon not have to utter the letters SSP, since it will now be called the Growth and Infrastructure Policy. Just think how much easier that will make it the next time around.
Thanks to the Office of Legislative Oversight team led by Chris Cihlar. I want to especially thank Elaine Bonner-Tompkins for her in depth analysis. Whether it be regarding the budget, racial equity and social justice or any other topic, this team is unmatched by anyone.
I want to recognize the work of the LIS team led by Sandra Marin. I am still amazed at the quantity of correspondence that we get, and by we, I mean you. Thank you for your diligence. Also, a special thanks goes to Delphine Harriston for her work on the public hearings and to Jill Gaebl for taking on this responsibility.
So, I’ve mentioned some people who assisted me every step of the way for the past 365 days (but who, other than Lisa is counting), but there are a few others who did more than assist me. They were my researchers, writers, conscience, informers, proponents and opponents (when necessary). I’m talking about my staff including Mary Gies, Laurie Edberg, Carmen Kaarid, Kevin Mack, Sam Hellerstein and Andrew Resnick.
And I especially appreciate all the work of my Chief of Staff Lisa Mandel-Trupp. She works 24 hours a day, seven days per week, only because it is impossible for her to work 25 hours per day, eight days per week. I cannot thank her enough for all her guidance and assistance. Thank you for going way above and beyond every minute of every day. Your talents are too numerous to list, and I just cannot thank you enough for all that you do.
And a great big thank you to my wife Sally, who I know many of you will be shocked to know put up with a whole lot of foolishness from me when I was president as well as before and afterward. I am so very fortunate to have her in my life as my partner and my best friend.
I also want to thank the rest of my entire family including our children, Stephanie and Heather and our son-in-law Cliff, as well as my brothers Allen and Terry and their families, for their thoughts and guidance.
I also deeply appreciate so many other residents, friends and acquaintances who take their time to give me their thoughts and suggested solutions.
You have heard me say many times that I believe a community is a family. That we are a community of people helping people, and we are a Council of people serving people.
I am proud to have led our efforts this last year, as we shined a light on the Montgomery County that we each treasure, and why Montgomery County is the place that I am proud to call home!
Thank you.
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Release ID: 20-467