Candidate Survey: Cary Lamari for Montgomery County Council, District 5
TheDuckpin.com Candidate Survey
Name *
Cary Lamari
Age *
65
Office Sought *
County Council
County *
Montgomery
District, if applicable *
5
Political Party *
Democrat
Education *
Our Lady of Good Counsel High School
Career/Occupation *
Electrical Contractor
Political Experience *
45 year civic Activist, Member of numerous boards and committees, Former President of the Montgomery County Civic Federation. Currently lead for Responsible Growth for Montgomery County
Social Media Accounts *
Cary Lamari and lead in Responsible Growth for Montgomery County Facebook, Personal Cary Lamari Facebook, Aspen Hill Past and Present, Aspen Hill Public Interest Group
Website *
Why are you running for office? *
As a Civic Activist for over 45 years I have seen our County change, It is a wonderful community yet faces significant challenges as we grow. I have run for office twice before and my reasons are similar. Our County leadership appears to not look at the big picture, they seem to facilitate the squeaky wheel rather then allow for genuine public interest. It is almost impossible today to reach County officials and to participate in Government. This is exemplified in the creation of our New General Plan but the problems are not exclusive to Planning. Today our county is seeking to increase density in almost the entire Urban and Suburban umbrella of our County yet the Plan Thrive Montgomery 2050 is deficient and does not reflect the potential unintended consequences which could result in approving this new Up Zoning Scheme. Currently the Office of Legislative Oversight on Racial Equity has written a negative analysis on Thrive 2050. The Plan seeks to allow Up Zoning "By-Right" yet does not take into account elements which are necessary for comprehensive growth, it will have the effect of increasing the cost of housing across Montgomery County, Increase Taxes in both of the area of Property tax assessments in My Opinion but the tax rate as well. Thrive will have an adverse impact on Naturally Occurring Affordable housing which will displace residents in need across our County. Thrive does not adequately address impacts to the environment as it promotes increased density, loss of tree canopy, the heat island effect and potentially exacerbate the flooding experienced in recent years across our suburban and urban areas primarily due to climate change. Also Thrive does not address the need for Affordable Housing, it relies on MPDU's rather then seeking new and more creative ways of addressing affordability of housing. Also Crime has increased significantly in recent years, especially in Urban areas, Violence with the use of guns has increased significantly, Car Jacking have doubled, we have seen a doubling of murders in our County from the years 2020-2022. I have attempted to stay informed with some of the dynamics exacerbating our ability to address this, According to a County Council Report Dated January 18th written by Susan Fang Legislated Analyst. The report indicates many things reflecting the rise in Crime in our community. Our Police Department has a compliment of 1,271 police officers for our County. This relates to 1.3 Officers per 1000 residents. This is significantly lower than the average for Counties, The National Average for Counties is 2.8 officers per capita and 2.5 officers for Suburban areas. Not to mention the lack of Mental Health awareness and action in our Schools, Jails and as they relate to the Homeless population. In my years of activism I have worked addressing many if not all of these issues and more. As President of the Civic Federation we sponsored the Federations first forum on Mental Health this resulting in Blair Ewing creating a blue ribbon commission and report. The finding of which were never acted upon after public interest was lost on these concerns, In 2006 and 2009 One issue of concern for me was how to create more affordable housing. I proposed the Community Land Trust initiative, no candidate acted on this proposal to date and it is only now CLT's are even being discusses. (https://maryland-politics.blogspot.com/2009/04/community-land-trusts-new-frontier-in.html?fbclid=IwAR3-SGLj8U_p6P9LUiNgyPf5fa10bdyEUmTeP7F07qHpUXPNQCw0ITUuu9I ) I believe my life experience, my volunteerism, the experience of being on numerous transportation committees, master plans, boards, and civic leadership has given me historical knowledge and allowed me to study the numerous reports from County Agencies which allows me to draw opinions and working with other residents propose changes which improve our life in Montgomery County. For all these reasons and more I seek the opportunity to represent the residents of District 5 and improve opportunities in the way of education, vocational training, pushing for commercial and housing opportunities and bring needed jobs to district 5 and to enhance the environment. Our Residents Deserve Better and I will fight to give them Better.
Who do you consider your political role model, and why? *
Marilyn Praisner, I had the opportunity to work with many good former public officials, Blair Ewing, Betty Ann Krahnke, and others. Marilyn Praisner was a role model and mentor, She never relied on hyperbole, she read everything, staff packets, studies, and reports from the council of government as well as lay civic research. She knew knowledge made the difference and was also highly responsive to the public, She believed in creating opportunity for residents to participate in the discussion and constituent service. These attributes and more made me realize I wanted to follow in her footsteps as I found similar attributes in me. Marilyn was not only a mentor, role model but also a friend and I would be honored to represent residents from the same district she represented.
What is your favorite book about politics and policy, and why? *
Personally I believe Politics in Montgomery County has historically been different from other jurisdictions. It has changed in recent years after the last Presidential election. I find the politics of personal attacks or projection to a large extent is harmful. I have seen some Elected and appointed officials using Social Media to the detriment of the overarching public in the way of participation and promoting special interest agendas as well as misinformation. Montgomery County politics in some ways used to reflect the book "Profile in Courage" as in the past we had numerous Council members and County Executives both Republicans and Democrats who sacrificed their personal lives to promote the pubic interest and "Honor" was the dominating ideal which dominated the actions of these people. Personally I hope to bring back that sense of public commitment and honor to our County Council and promise to look into the Ethics of Social media manipulation and look for ways for every resident in our County to have the opportunity to be informed and to participate in actions related to Government. I believe Council Members are servants to the public and I will work for our residents.
What will be your top priority in office? *
Creating opportunity in the way of Jobs, Vocational Training, Educational opportunities, affordable housing as well as Infrastructure. The immediate concern will be to address the many deficiencies of the new General Plan and to promote the identified concerns in the "Action Report" submitted with Thrive 2050 but creating these opportunities are part of the related actions within that report IMHO.
What is the biggest issue facing your area? *
Jobs
What are the three biggest issues facing Maryland? *
Jobs, Public Safety and affordable housing.
What is your position on life issues? (abortion, assisted suicide) *
I support women's rights, I can't imagine having to make such difficult decisions and believe government does not have the right to interject itself in a woman's right to choose or make those decisions. Where Government does have responsibility is to support the decisions of these women by making sure they have the best care and treatment and medication possible to facilitate their decisions. Government also has the responsibility to make residents, men and women alike to have the necessary education, knowledge funding and products available to make these decisions easier. With respect to assisted suicide, Personally as a Catholic I do not believe in Suicide, I have been taught to believe we all have a spiritual destiny and I think people need options as well as support. I do not necessarily believe a Doctor assisting someone to make it easier in their final decision is a criminal action if some people are committed in that decision as it is far more humane then to allow people to suffer. I believe we, all of us as a society have a responsibility and should look to create support systems in an effort to dissuade the suffering of people. We need far more mental health awareness and funding. Money should not be a concern for people when it comes to personal suffering. There should always be a helping hand and options, government has a responsibility to provide them.
What is your position on taxes and spending? *
Taxes are too high, this is something every candidate will say but let me explain, Take Thrive The office of Management and budget lays out how this one plan is unsustainable, to promote just the complete communities which there are 32 identified a small CC project has a cost of 897 million dollars, Larger ones may be much higher, this alone is over 30 billion dollars, just the Bicycle network identified county wide has a cost of 6.5 billion dollars and BRT as proposed has a cost of over 9.5 billion dollars. The new paradigm of growth allows more buildable rights so it is reasonable to assume and other jurisdictions have experienced higher values of appraisals with existing homes which will increase taxes and with all the new added proposals to be able to afford them I believe the "TAX RATE" will have to go up. Holistically I believe we may see a doubling of our current property taxes in the next 20 years if we elect people who have no limits in spending. Associate this with commercial growth. Today our residential housing growth for the last 10 years has been .66% and our Commercial Growth has lagged at .24%, Housing budgetary costs carry significantly more cost then Commercial Growth expenses and with all our closed office buildings, slow job growth recovery not mention new jobs, I see taxes as being a major concern in the near future. We as a Government MUST be cautious on how we increase spending in our budgets as well as CIP.
What is your position on gun rights? *
I believe people have a right to own a gun, however As Supreme Court Anthony Scalia says people do not have an absolute right to own weapons of war and the regulation of guns are relevant in protecting the health, safety and welfare of our residents. I support the 2nd amendment and also support Scalia's written decision on weapons of war. I have particular concern to these "Ghost Guns" as they are easily created, do not have identifiable labeling and are far to easy to get hold of. I leave it to the State and Federal Government to make these decisions however from my personal perspective, We must not allow the status quo that creates potential violence to impact our children to exist, and if means creating more legislation for these M-15s and other weapons I would support more regulation for these weapons. I will lead an effort to put a stop to Ghost Guns manufacturing and sale in our County.
What is your position on the legalization of marijuana? *
I believe it is a forgone conclusion that marijuana will be legalized. I do believe there needs to be regulation on the sale and use of any mind altering substance to protect the health safety and welfare of the public.
What is your position on the current three-tiered system for the sale and distribution of alcohol? *
Having discussed taxes and government I cannot see this changing, also currently our liquor control are able to buy alcohol cheaper with the bulk purchases then private sectors so the public does benefit. Should there be structural changes? I need more data to make that determination.
What is your position on land use, growth, and development? *
Growth will occur, this is a given, the Question is how to facilitate this growth in ways we do not impact society, How to not have deleterious impacts to the environment, to affordability, to taxes to education and to our Quality of life. We must use a Racial Equity Social Justice lens to facilitate this growth. Today we have 1,050,000 people in our County, our housing growth has exceeded commercial growth for over the last 10 years, in fact today we have lost many large employers and commercial building are empty, costs associated with housing is significantly higher then commercial growth, The Council of Government has determined we will see approximately 200,000 new residents to our County in the next 30 years. Today we have 43,800 housing units in our pipeline which equates to housing for approx. 130,000 people, these units are approved and either ongoing or waiting to be built. The staff of Montgomery Planning has identified an additional 85,000 more potential residential housing units should the property owners apply for development. (https://montgomeryplanning.org/planning/housing/residential-development-capacity-analysis/?fbclid=IwAR02WPAR2UokVMCQjaKeSuWlWCSZYKHMT-hHQOsg3jt1WiuIWhpno8wNc7U) Where we are lagging in, is providing affordable housing for current and future residents. This is a huge problem and one our elected officials are ill suited to respond to. Our Elected and appointed officials appear to rely on the MPDU program to address this problem but clearly not *resolve* this problem. The MPDU program while a good county policy and nationally recognized is only one potential tool to achieve the goals of affordability. The MPDU program only provides for 12% affordable houses when development are approved for 20 or more residential units. We need more options, I have advocated for community land trusts as a potential option, where government and non profits work together to build the housing and the units will be sold however the land will remain owned by non profit and government trusts. This way people have the ability to buy the bricks and sticks but do not pay for land. This provides for wealth building, pride in ownership and allows these housing units to remain affordable in perpetuity as the owners may only sell the bricks and sticks not the land. The predominant housing which will be built in the next 30 years will be in the way of infill development (less than 20 unit development) This dilutes the benefit of MPDU housing, We must be more creative . We also should look into how to increase funding for the Housing Initiative fund and opportunities for Government may provide for more affordable development projects as Marc Elrich has championed in the recent Twinbrook apartment buildings purchase and redevelopment. Also due to climate Change we are seeing historical storms exceeding impacts of the 10, 50 and 100 year storm. Our Infrastructure is old and deficient in many cases. we experience more significant lot to lot flooding which creates problem for existing home owners. Our Tree canopy in our urban and suburban areas provide significant relief from the heat island effect, air quality, CO2 emissions and absorption of ground water. We must make sure there is a no net loss of trees in our suburban areas. Naturally Occurring Affordable housing is a critical element in providing housing to people on the lowest economic rung of society. I do not support blanket up zoning as it WILL increase housing values artificially, increase taxes and provide incentives to *displace resident* in our County by landlords interested in increasing high end rental stock. What I do support is the use of Multiplex housing within the framework of Master Plans in overlay zones, so it may be used as a tool to increase flexibility of housing types, as options to create CLT housing and protect the diverse, cohesive and politically active neighborhoods in Montgomery County. Growth is not as easy as saying someone supports it or not, it is an exercise in building the essence of community with the participation of the public and we should welcome and encourage the participation, historical knowledge and lay expertise they provide. Bottom Line I support responsible, data driven comprehensive growth to meet the needs of future residents while addressing the public interests of our County.
What is your position on crime and public safety? *
Again through a public interest, racial equity and social justice lens I am happy the County Council and County Executive have developed a Police Advisory Commission. This may address concerns with respect to accountability and future police/public interaction. Today the County Council Report Dated January 18th written by Susan Fang Legislated Analyst. The report indicates many things reflecting the rise in Crime in our community. Our Police Department has a compliment of 1,271 police officers for our County. This relates to 1.3 Officers per 1000 residents. This is significantly lower than the average for Counties, The National Average for Counties is 2.8 officers per capita and 2.5 officers for Suburban areas. During the Pandemic crime especially in Urban Areas has significantly risen. Our Police are asked to do more with fewer officers and resources then most counties our size and Chief Jones in his own words has stated that the MCPD “adapts” given the support and budget MCPD receives and the public climate that exists. Homicides have increased 88% in 2021, Carjacking increased 72%. Chief Jones is working with County Executive Elrich, on the Police Task Force and the County Council effort to re-imagine our Police. He is pushing new initiatives such as a Multi-Stakeholder approach to violent crime as well as other new programs. I support his efforts. I would work with Chief Jones and our Police Department to bridge the gaps of service and complaints. I would be honored to work with Chief Jones to promote initiatives which improve relations with the public and create mentorship programs which encourage Police Officers to promote good community values as well as encouraging civic engagement. I am supportive of the ideals with respect to the Community Engagement Officer program. The details are still being flushed out with MCPS. I do however believe the environment for learning is not conducive for guns nor should students be in fear of police engagement unless a violent crime is reasonably suspected or underway. I have not given up on our society but would rather work to improve it so we all benefit. MCPD has a long history of good work with only a relatively few bad actors. I believe with support, establishing proper protocols and demanding accountability as well, working hand in hand with Police Chief Jones and including the public on our processes, we may as a County Thrive and promote values we all appreciate. It is important to note we must find ways to encourage new qualified recruits to add to our compliment of Police they should be supported and meet national ratios of residents to officers. We must also enhance Police with Professionals in the Mental Health field in order to address crisis situations such as domestic violence and victim crisis situations. The Answer is not to give up, it is to push for better interaction and a working relationship between county leadership, community and police and enhancing their efforts with Mental Health Care Professionals where needed. IMHO
What is your position on county tax caps? *
I take the wait and see approach.
Was Joe Biden legitimately elected President of the United States in the November 2020 Election? *
Yes
Do you pledge to accept the results of your election? *
Yes