Leggett looks to more than 100 for help

Montgomery County (Map, News) - About 120 people will help incoming Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett identify and address the issues most important to the county before he takes office Dec. 4.

“I’ve said, ‘Tell me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear,’” Leggett told The Examiner on Monday. “I want to be very transparent, get things out in the open.”

Leggett said he has a core executive committee of six people. A separate team of more than 100 others has been split into six groups to tackle topics such as housing and transportation.

“We want to look at how we potentially, maybe, slow the pace of growth a little bit,” Leggett said. “How we address affordable housing and how we deal with some of the transportation problems.”

Leggett became the county’s first black county executive when he won 67 percent of the vote in the Nov. 7 general election. He has served 16 years on the County Council, taught law at Howard University and headed up the Maryland Democratic Party. Leggett replaces Doug Duncan, who served 12 years as county executive.

On Monday, Leggett said one of the biggest challenges the county faces is fiscal sustainability. Past purchasing promises are coming due, Leggett said, and shortfalls in health pensions create a “sobering reality” for the county.

“I’m not interested in quick fix solutions,” Leggett said. “We may have to dampen some expectations in the foreseeable future.”

Members of Leggett’s executive team come from both private business and government. The group includes former County Council member Bruce Adams and Sol Graham, founder of Gaithersburg’s Quality Biological. Leggett said he will continue to call on these members even after he takes office but wasn’t ready to say which members might join his administration.

“I’m not sure, maybe some of them will,” Leggett said. “And I’m sure that some of them won’t.”

Town Hall Meetings

Incoming Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett will hold a series of town hall meetings next week at 7:30 p.m.

» Nov. 28: Leland Community Center, 4301 Willow Lane, Chevy Chase

» Nov. 29: Olney Elementary School, 3401 Queen Mary Drive, Olney

» Nov. 30: Black Rock Center for the Arts, 12901 Town Common Drive, Germantown

ejacobson@dcexaminer.com

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