Phil Andrews is widely viewed as the third candidate in the race for Montgomery County Executive, in which the lion’s share of the attention will go to the battle between incumbent Isiah Leggett and his predecessor, Doug Duncan.
But Andrews, the four-term councilmember from Gaithersburg, seems to relish the role.
On Tuesday, at the annual fall meeting of the Bradley Boulevard Citizens Association, Andrews spoke about lonely votes against Leggett-negotiated pay increases and his pledge not to take campaign contributions from special interest groups.
“The County Council is reluctant to reject labor agreements unless they are obviously unsustainable, like during the Recession,” Andrews said, referring to his vote earlier this year against the Leggett-negotiated pay raise for county employees. “We’ve gotten back into the same habit. The Council doesn’t want to be the bad guy.”
The Council voted 8-1 to approve the 13.5 to 19.5 percent pay raise over the next two years. Andrews, who says the raise was too large, cast the lone vote against it.
“I think employees are better off if you have these more modest, sustainable pay raises,” Andrews said. “Not these ups and downs, where when a recession hits, those pay raises are cancelled.”
Andrews also was the lone vote against a Council-approved pay raise for the next Council. Leggett came out against the 28 percent raise over four years after the vote and didn’t sign the measure. He said he didn’t veto it because it’s likely the Council would have overriden the veto.
Andrews attacked Leggett’s energy tax and spoke about his efforts to reduce the tax by 10 percent in each of the last two years.
The message of capping government pay increases and fiscal responsibility seemed to resonate with the Citizens Association. Andrews says it’s resonating with many who live behind the 15,000 doors he’s knocked throughout the county. His goal is to hit 30,000 doors before the June 24 primary.
But one association member wasn’t so sure his individual stands were a good indicator.
“You’re always on the losing end,” the association member said. “How can you lead?”
Andrews talked about his successful efforts — including against costly abuses of the county’s police pension program and the reduction of the energy tax — but admitted standing alone on issues of taxes and pay and benefits is not the easiest route to take.
“When you have to fight the county executive and your colleagues at the same time, you have to do it incrementally,” Andrews said. “It’s not easy, but you’ve go tot make the effort and you will surprise yourself often by the results.”
