Ficker Questionnaire To Candidates For Montgomery County Council

Questionnaire to Candidates for Montgomery County Council (District 4 – Special Election; 2009) Montgomery County Education Association Please return the completed questionnaire by March 2, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. to MCEA, 12 Taft Court; Rockville, Md. 20850, attention Jon A. Gerson or email your response to [email protected]. Name: Robin Ficker_____ County Council District: _4__ Occupation: Real Estate Broker ___ Children: Name Age School 1._Desiree 32 graduated Walt Whitman 2._Robin, Jr. 31, graduated Walt Whitman 3.__Flynn, 27, graduated Dematha High Education and Training: (list degrees, licenses, etc.) USMA at West Point U. of Pennsylvania Law School; J.D. University of Baltimore Law School Case Institute of Technology, B.S. Engineering M.A. Public Administration, American U. (simultaneous with J.D.) Employment: Employer _Robin Realty and Robin Ficker Law Offices___________________________________________________________________ Address_Both located at 8002 Wisconsin Ave. Bethesda, Md. 20814_____________________________________________________________________ General Responsibilities of Position__Owner, serve present and would-be homeowners. Defense Attorney. Union Membership: (past or present) Community Activity: Have placed many charter amendments on the Montgomery County ballot which have received well over 2,000,000 total votes. 1. As a member of the County Council, what would be your view of honoring negotiated agreements, especially in tight fiscal times? I would honor them. The problem is that some elected officials are signing agreements, they have no intention of honoring, simply to curry favor and gain endorsements from the other side. 2. If revenues prove to be insufficient for full funding of the MCPS budget, what would be your top three spending priorities?

Teachers in the classroom, teachers in the classroom and teachers in the classroom. 3. How would you allocate unanticipated education funding from the state? My focus would continue to be on the classroom, not on administration. I would expand athletic programs. 4. What is your view of the current local tax structure? What, if any, changes would you advocate? President Obama said he would give 95% of working Americans a tax break and would give homebuyers a $7500 tax credit. I prefer that approach to the one we have followed in Montgomery County of increases in property, energy, income, sales, and corporate taxes as well as increases in water, Metro, and electricity rates as well as new speed camera taxes. 5. Under what circumstances would you support a tax increase to fund the school budget and the negotiated agreements? In what way would you increase taxes? The taxes have all been increased in the past 18 months. I believe the school system needs to place more emphasis on the classroom and less on administration. 6. What is your position on the privatization or contracting out of public sector jobs and services? Why? Depends on cost-savings and quality of private services. Contracting out jail services might be a good idea. 7. What is your view of the role of the Montgomery County Education Association in education reform within MCPS? MCEA ensures robust discussion of education issues and that is a good thing. 8. What is working well in MCPS? What would you like to see changed? More emphasis on classroom, less on administration. I don't like the fact that 200 schools have 1400 MCPS credit cards. Should be more emphasis on English, math and physical education. While phones provide contact with parents, some kids are abusing the opportunity by spending time texting instead of studying. 9. What initiatives or programs do you propose to address the needs of Montgomery County’s low income population? Emphasis classroom over administration. Focus on English, math and physical education. As the twig is bent, so grows the tree. 10. What steps do you think the County Council should take to address the needs of an increasingly diverse population in Montgomery County? I don't believe there are innate differences between the parts of the diverse spectrum. Children live up to the expectations placed upon them. They would know my expectations are quite high. 11. What should Montgomery County do to improve the state’s chronic under-funding of the capital budget?

Our state legislators have to start doing their job. Just within the past year, we were given less capital funding than we were promised. 12. What ideas do you have for addressing the need for affordable housing for public employees in Montgomery County? As a real estate broker, I know that the prices of homes in the County have dropped considerably in the past three years. Thousands of homes have been made much more affordable as a result. County residents should be given priority for any public housing. 13. Do you support the current premium sharing formulas in the MCPS employee health insurance plans? I have an open mind on this subject. 14. Do you support significant reductions in class sizes? How would you fund that initiative? Yes. I would cut school administration. Much of the administrative overhead is a result of receiving federal funding. 15. What is your view of the current workload of teachers? Getting or delivering an education is hard work. I know our teachers work hard, but they are beset with too much administrative paper work. 16. Describe a political event that shaped your thinking about politics and/or your decision to run for public office. My Dad was a Rhodes Scholar who worked in the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress for 40 years. He used to bring me home 6 books every week to read. Many of those books were about our country's leaders and shaped my thinking. 17. What are three things you would like to accomplish, if you are elected to the Council? 1. Be the champion of homeowners. 2. Do a good job of representing the viewpoints of the people in District 4. 3. Ensure that Montgomery County, where I lived my entire life, remains an outstanding place to live. I understand the answers obtained from this questionnaire will be circulated among your members and may be used for publication. Date_3/2/09_ Signature_Robin Ficker