We asked local candidates in contested primary elections to write a sub-750 word essay describing why residents should vote for them on June 24.
Next up in the County Council at-large race is Hans Riemer, who is running for one of four nominations in the Democratic primary. Below is Riemer’s unedited response:
I’m Hans Riemer and I’m running for re-election to represent all of our residents as an At-large member of the County Council.
When I joined the County Council in 2010, our government was deeply impacted by the Great Recession. We were in a great fiscal crisis. But today, as a result of many strong choices that we made, this county is in a better place — our government is leaner, our policies are more prioritized, and our services are smarter.
I ask for your support to keep Montgomery County moving forward.
My wife Angela and I have two young boys, the older of whom just started kindergarten in MCPS. I am big believer in our public schools and I am totally dedicated to making sure that they continue to make progress by reducing class size and closing the achievement gap.
Being a parent and seeing my son’s classroom has fueled my passion for supporting families by enhancing public education and public transportation, and supporting anti-poverty programs such as the minimum wage, and community health care clinics.
I have successfully expanded several child care initiatives for the county, and I am looking forward to another term on the County Council so that we can make more progress on child care and universal pre-k. Specifically, we should place child care facilities in an as many public schools as possible, provide support to parents who need help affording child care and providers who need help expanding and maintaining their facilities, and reform the process of allocating public space to providers.
My signature accomplishments include passing a law to increase the county’s Earned Income Tax Credit, which reduces poverty; the Open Data Act of 2012, which improves transparency; a cybersecurity industry tax incentive to create good jobs; and my initiative to improve the county’s dining and nightlife, to improve all of our residents’ quality of life and to help the county retain its younger workers and empty nesters.
I’ve taken on Pepco, by exposing their unfair profits and demanding accountability for our state utility regulators. I’ve taken on county government when it allowed too many employees to receive take-home cars. And I’ve introduced a property tax credit for low-income seniors to help them stay in the county.
I am a strong supporter of public transportation, and I have worked successfully to help fund Metro to make it more reliable, the Purple Line (we expect to break ground in 2015), and the upcounty Corridor Cities Transitway, so that all of our communities can have access to high quality public transportation. This year, I created a new item in our capital budget that will fund bicycle and pedestrian improvements in our urban areas. I am also working to expand Ride On’s bus fleet. The Action Committee for Transit, the county’s premier advocacy organization for public transportation, gave me a perfect ranking on its scorecard.
Prior to serving on the County Council, I was the National Youth Vote Director for the Obama 2008 presidential campaign, and I was the political director for Rock the Vote, the youth voter engagement campaign. My experience spans the whole age spectrum, as I was also a senior advisor for AARP and I played a leading role in national campaigns to stop the Republican Party from privatizing Social Security.
Montgomery County has made great strides since I was elected in the difficult times of the Great Recession and I am working hard to make sure that it remains a great place to live, work, and raise a family.
Organizations who are supporting my reelection campaign include the Montgomery County Education Association, the Washington Post, the Service Employees International Union, Casa in Action, the volunteer fire fighters, NARAL, the African American and Hispanic Democratic Clubs, Coalition of Asian Pacific American Democrats, UFCW Local 400, One Montgomery and the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors. Planned Parenthood of Metro D.C. has given me a perfect rating.
I’m Hans Riemer, and I ask for your support in the June Democratic primary. Let’s keep moving Montgomery forward.
