After 12 years, Montgomery County Councilmember Nancy Navarro (Democrat, District 4) is stepping down.
Well, not voluntarily. In 2016, Montgomery County residents emphatically (69%) passed a ballot initiative that amended the Montgomery County Charter. Term Limits! No more dynastic, 24-year council “reigns” on a council body by career politicians. Hence forth, they’d be “limited” to just 12 years. A small step for the MoCo proletariat, but a solid one (this author would prefer a limit to just a single four year term).
Seeing this revolt of the hoi polloi coming, Councilmember Nancy Navarro (Democrat, District 4 including Wheaton and Glenmont, Aspen Hill and other areas) got a different ballot question included in 2016, allowing her to stand for election four times, not three, because she had won a short partial term in a special election.
This ballot question also passed in 2016, along with term limits.
Anyways, Councilmember Navarro is preparing to depart, and as such (and as most politicians love to do), she issued a lengthy e-mail noting, “These are some of my proudest achievements.”
Let’s take an objective look into the Councilmember’s noted achievements (all achievements are lifted directly from councilmember Navarro’s November 30 official ‘Farewell, Despedida’ e-mail sent November 30, 2022 at 11 AM).
“Revitalizing Wheaton;”
Wheaton, MD has undoubtedly undergone some positive changes. A Costco was opened at Wheaton Mall, after many years of negotiation. Is Wheaton “revitalized”? There are many empty storefronts and small business is struggling. Per Bloomberg News, one-third of US small businesses had trouble making rent (based on a survey in October, 2022). This surely extends to Wheaton. Wheaton, MD has certainly grown in population via some developer projects. In July, 2022, Max’s Kosher Cafe closed in the area, after 28 years. In 2019, the CVS next to Max’s announced its closure (there are other CVS Pharmacies in the area). There remain many empty commercial spaces in Wheaton.
“Ensuring fiscal accountability, transparency and responsibility, and maintaining the County’s coveted AAA bond rating;”
Montgomery County has maintained an ‘AAA’ bond rating by Wall Street’s rating agencies because they know that taxes, already high in the region, will be raised further. There is no immediate crisis on municipal / county debt but the debt can has been kicked so much, the county itself projects that $500 million will go to interest payments in a few short years (3-5 years). Interest rates are rising, and this debt service estimate by the County is likely low.
It is unclear what the councilmember means by ‘fiscal accountability’ or what she is proud of. The County has witnessed numerous frauds under Navarro’s tenure. In February, 2019 the former chief operating officer of Montgomery County’s Department of Economic Development was sentenced for embezzling over $6.7 million in taxpayer funds to enrich himself, not grow the County’s tax base.
“Adopting the landmark Racial Equity and Social Justice law that I authored in 2019 and is today helping to ensure equity in the way we conduct county business;”
The ramifications of this law are still very much to-be-determined. While mostly a response to national issues in 2020, the law seems to simply add more review and cost to Montgomery County budgets and proposed future spending. One small positive from this law, is that Councilmember Navarro requested a review for ‘racial equality’ on the proposed ham-fisted “vaccine mandate” in January 2022. This review led to delays and eventually, the proposed “vaccine mandate” was dropped from consideration by Council.
“Enhancing the Council’s multicultural communications and outreach;”
It is unclear what the Councilmember is referring to, specifically. Montgomery County has long had ‘multicultural communications’ and outreach, predating Navarro’s tenure.
“Revamping the County’s early care education;”
This is a fairly broad statement. Montgomery County’s early care education? Pre-K? What is the Councilmember referring to, specifically?
“Supporting our residents during the pandemic through the setup of innovative interventions that saved lives;”
It is hard to know what “innovative interventions” the Councilmember is referencing. Closure of schools? Businesses? Mask mandates? None of these were “innovative” — they simply followed what other counties were doing. In fact, innovation would have been doing the opposite, or at the least, giving real consideration to alternative ideas to both slow the spread of the virus but also empower individuals in making health and wellness decisions.
“Empowering and investing in the civic knowledge of our immigrant community;”
This is a platitude so broad, it cannot possibly be judged. What is the “civic knowledge of our immigrant community”?
“Advocating successfully to establish wellness centers in all high schools;”
In March of 2021, a communication went out: “Councilmember Nancy Navarro offers alternative approach to School Resource Officer Program”. The Councilmember, bowing to pressure, went along with others on council is requesting school resource officers (police officers, called SROs) be removed from school facilities.
In January, 2022, a school shooting occurred at Magruder High School. The first such in-school shooting in MCPS storied history. An SRO was not present at the campus.
Per WUSA-9: “Karen Thomas sued MCPS last week, saying the lack of school resource police officers was partially to blame for her son’s life-threatening injuries.
“It was 36 minutes before another officer arrived. A lot can happen in those 36 minutes and I hope they do bring SRO officers back,” said Thomas.”
“Authoring an economic development platform to guide our county through an economic renaissance.”
Montgomery County is likely in or staring at a recession (as is the greater region and country). This is despite being in the literal backyard of the Washington, DC money machine, a machine which has spent a staggering $4 Trillion in Covid “relief” to states, counties, cities and more. This is also despite the privileged status of Montgomery County, which hosts numerous federal agencies and has a built-in tax base that would be the envy of any major municipality.
Readers can judge for themselves whether the Councilmember’s accomplishments will stand the test of time in Montgomery County, Maryland.
