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Learn about YOUR candidates

EMCQ is proud to provide the following information on candidates running for local offices. As a non-profit organization, EMCQ does not endorse any candidate over another, but provides information the candidates have supplied. Click on the below links to review the responses to EMCQ's questionnaire. Responses are in  PDF formats. To download a free copy of Adobe Reader to read PDFs,  click here.  Summaries for all responses for each office are located on the end of each section as well as the bottom of this page.

 
Board of Education
 
Tommy Le Judy Docca Nancy Navarro  
Patricia O'Neill Phil Kauffman Shirley Brandman  
       
Summary of Board of Education Responses
 
County Council at Large Response
 
Bill Jacobs Duchy Trachtenberg x George Leventhal x  
Hugh Bailey x Marc Elrich x Micahel Subin x  
Nancy Floreen x Reggie Felton x Tufail Ahmad x  
Bette Petrides x      
Summary of County Council At Large Responses
 
County Council District
 
Bob Dorsey Hans Riemer Marilyn Praisner  
Mark Fennel Mike Knapp Sharon Dooley  
Valerie Ervin Phil Andrews Mike Jones  
Summary of County Council District Responses
 
County Executive
 
Chuck Floyd x Robin Ficker Ike Leggett x  
       
Summary of County Executive Responses
 

Responses by Board of Education Candidates to Equality Montgomery County’s Candidate Questionnaire -- 2006

(See www.emcq.org for copies of individual candidate completed questionnaires)

 

Question #

 

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

First Name

Last Name

District

Comprehensive Sex Ed Incl that GLBT Is Not a Choice

No Conversion Therapy

Stronger Enforcement of Safe Schools

Cultural Training on LGBT issues

Willing to Speak Out In Support

Desire More Information

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shirley

Brandman

At Large

Y

Y

Y*

*

Y

Y*

Tommy

Le

At Large

Y

Y

Y

Y

*

*

Judy

Docca

1

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Michael

Ibanez

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patricia

O'Neill

3

Y

Y

Y

N

Y

N

Philip

Kauffman

5

Y

Y

Y

N

Y

Y

Nancy

Navarro

5

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Response Key

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Y = yes

N = no

* = provided a written response

NA = no response

Blank = no questionnaire was returned

 
                       

 

 Complete Questions:

 1.   Do you support a comprehensive sex education curriculum in Montgomery County Schools that, while stressing the importance of abstinence for teens, provides students with information on sexually transmitted diseases based on established scientific evidence, and recognizes, again based on established scientific evidence and the conclusions of every mainstream medical and mental health professional association (including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychiatric Association), that sexual orientation is not a choice and homosexuality is not a medical or other disorder? 

2.             Do you agree that notions of so-called "conversion" or "reparative" therapy, which have been explicitly opposed by the American Medical Association (see  AMA Policy Number H-160.991 published at  http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/14754.html ), should not be part of the health education curriculum? 

3.                Recognizing that in Montgomery County Schools an environment of tolerance for students’ use of homophobic epithets still exists, do you support an allocation of funds to the Montgomery County Department of School Safety and Security dedicated specifically to stronger enforcement of the Safe Schools Policy? 

4.             Given that LGBT parents and their children as well as LGBT youth and educators are all part of the Montgomery County Schools community and bring unique experiences and needs to the schools, do you support a specific allocation of funds to cultural competency training on LGBT issues for Montgomery County teachers? 

5.             Would you speak out in support of measures that advance the cause of equality for LGBT people and their families? 

6.             Do you feel that you could benefit from additional education on LGBT issues to help you discuss these issues with constituents and/or the media?
 

Responses by County Council At Large Candidates to Equality Montgomery County’s Candidate Questionnaire -- 2006

Question #

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

First Name

Last Name

Party

Add Gender Identity To Anti-discrim-ination

Enact Equal Benefits in County Con-tracts

Oppose Consti-tutional Amend-ment

Establish Office LGBT Affairs

Establish LGBT Liaison Unit in MCPD

Stronger Enforce-ment of Safe Schools

Compre-hensive Sex Ed Incl that GLBT Is Not a Choice

No Conver-sion Therapy in Cur-riculum

Cultural Training on LGBT issues for Teachers

Speak Out In Sup-port

Desire More Infor-mation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amber

Gnemi

Rep

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adol

Owen-Williams

Rep

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tom

Reinheimer

Rep

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shelly

Skolnick

Rep

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tufail

Ahmad

Dem

Y

Y

Y

*

*

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Hugh

Bailey

Dem

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Marc

Elrich

Dem

Y

Y

Y

*

*

Y*

Y*

Y

Y*

Y

Y

Reggie

Felton

Dem

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

NA

Y

Y

Nancy

Floreen

Dem

*

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Bill

Jacobs

Dem

*

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Cary

Lamari

Dem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

George

Leventhal

Dem

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Robert

Newsome

Dem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Donell

Peterman

Dem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bette

Petrides

Dem

Y

Y

Y

*

Y

Y

Y

Y

*

Y

Y

Michael

Subin

Dem

Y

Y

Y

N*

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Duchy

Trachtenberg

Dem

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Joseph

Horgan

Unaffil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Janice

Norman

Unaffil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Response Key

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Y = yes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

N = no

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* = provided a written response

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NA = no response

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blank = no questionnaire was returned

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
                             

 Complete Questions: 

1.                    Montgomery County and the State of Maryland prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, and public accommodations.  Do you support adding protection for gender identity and expression* to Montgomery County’s antidiscrimination code? 

2.             Several jurisdictions across the country have enacted an Equal Benefits Ordinance (“EBO”), which prohibits a jurisdiction from conducting business with companies that discriminate against families headed by same-sex couples.  An EBO states that companies that conduct business with a particular city, county, or state cannot offer spousal benefits to employees without also offering same-sex domestic partner benefits to employees.  Do you support enacting an “Equal Benefits in County Contracts” ordinance in Montgomery County? 

3.             During Maryland’s 2006 Legislative Session, certain lawmakers introduced an amendment to the Maryland Constitution to prohibit marriage, civil unions, or the recognition of a “relationship between parties of the same sex, by whatever name or title” that confers any of the benefits of marriage.  This proposed constitutional amendment could nullify the right of local governments to offer domestic partner benefits.  Do you oppose this amendment and any similar attempts to amend the Maryland Constitution to deny rights to same-sex couples? 

4.             This year, the District of Columbia joined several jurisdictions across the country in establishing an Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Affairs as a cabinet-level office within the Executive Office of the Mayor to define issues of concern to the LGBT community and find ways to employ government resources to address those issues.  Do you support establishing an Office of LGBT Affairs in the Office of the Montgomery County Executive? 

5.             In 2000, the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department established the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit to act as a link between the LGBT community and the Police Department in law enforcement, education, business, community events, government functions, recruiting, and other areas.  Do you support the establishment of a Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit in the Montgomery County Police Department? 

6.             Recognizing that in Montgomery County Schools an environment of tolerance for students’ use of homophobic epithets still exists, do you support an allocation of funds to the Montgomery County Department of School Safety and Security dedicated specifically to stronger enforcement of the Safe Schools Policy? 

7.             Do you support a comprehensive sex education curriculum in Montgomery County Schools that, while stressing the importance of abstinence for teens, provides students with information on sexually transmitted diseases based on established scientific evidence, and recognizes, again based on established scientific evidence and the conclusions of every mainstream medical and mental health professional association (including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychiatric Association), that sexual orientation is not a choice and homosexuality is not a medical or other disorder? 

8.             Do you agree that notions of so-called "conversion" or "reparative" therapy, which have been explicitly opposed by the American Medical Association (see  AMA Policy Number H-160.991 published at  http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/14754.html ), should not be part of the health education curriculum? 

9.             Given that LGBT parents and their children as well as LGBT youth and educators are all part of the Montgomery County Schools community and bring unique experiences and needs to the schools, do you support a specific allocation of funds to cultural competency training on LGBT issues for Montgomery County teachers? 

10.           Would you speak out in support of measures that advance the cause of equality for LGBT people and their families? 

11.                 Do you feel that you could benefit from additional education on LGBT issues to help you discuss these issues with constituents and/or the media? 

*  The terms “gender identity and expression” refer to all those who are gender variant, i.e., those persons whose sexual identity or gender expression varies from the common social forms.  This group includes transsexual women and men, cross-dressers, drag queens and kings, androgynous persons, gender queer youth and some members of the intersexed community.
 

Responses by County Candidates to Equality Montgomery County’s Candidate Questionnaire -- 2006

(See www.emcq.org for copies of individual candidate completed questionnaires)

 

Question #

 

 

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

First Name

Last Name

Party

Dist.

Add Gender Identity To Anti-discrim-ination

Enact Equal Benefits in County Contracts

Oppose Consti-tutional Amend-ment

Establish Office LGBT Affairs

Establish LGBT Liaison Unit in MCPD

Stronger Enforcement of Safe Schools

Compre-hensive Sex Ed Incl that GLBT Is Not a Choice

No Conver-sion Therapy in Cur-riculum

Cultural Training on LGBT issues

Speak Out In Support

Desire More Infor-mation

County

Council

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Howard

Denis

Rep

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roger

Berliner

Dem

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scott R.

Dyer

Rep

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

Knapp

Dem

2

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Henry

Marraffa

Rep

3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phil

Andrews

Dem

3

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Y*

Y

Mark

Fennel

Rep

4

Y

N*

Y*

N*

N

Y*

Y

N*

Y*

Y

Y

Marilyn

Praisner

Dem

4

*

*

Y*

*

*

Y*

*

*

*

Y*

Y

Dennis

Walsh

Rep

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Valerie

Ervin

Dem

5

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Amber

Gnemi

Rep

AL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adol

Owen-Willia

Rep

AL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tom

Reinheimer

Rep

AL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shelly

Skolnick

Rep

AL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marc

Elrich

Dem

AL

Y

Y

Y

*

*

Y*

Y*

Y

Y*

Y

Y

Nancy

Floreen

Dem

AL

*

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

George

Leventhal

Dem

AL

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Duchy

Trachtenberg

Dem

AL

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

County

Executive

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chuck

Floyd

Rep

 

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Ike

Leggett

Dem

 

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Robin

Ficker

Ind

 

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

*

*

*

*

Y

Y

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Response Key

Y = yes

N = no

* = provided a written response

NA = no response

Blank = no questionnaire was returned

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

  Complete Questions: 

1.                    Montgomery County and the State of Maryland prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, and public accommodations.  Do you support adding protection for gender identity and expression* to Montgomery County’s antidiscrimination code? 

2.             Several jurisdictions across the country have enacted an Equal Benefits Ordinance (“EBO”), which prohibits a jurisdiction from conducting business with companies that discriminate against families headed by same-sex couples.  An EBO states that companies that conduct business with a particular city, county, or state cannot offer spousal benefits to employees without also offering same-sex domestic partner benefits to employees.  Do you support enacting an “Equal Benefits in County Contracts” ordinance in Montgomery County? 

3.             During Maryland’s 2006 Legislative Session, certain lawmakers introduced an amendment to the Maryland Constitution to prohibit marriage, civil unions, or the recognition of a “relationship between parties of the same sex, by whatever name or title” that confers any of the benefits of marriage.  This proposed constitutional amendment could nullify the right of local governments to offer domestic partner benefits.  Do you oppose this amendment and any similar attempts to amend the Maryland Constitution to deny rights to same-sex couples? 

4.             This year, the District of Columbia joined several jurisdictions across the country in establishing an Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Affairs as a cabinet-level office within the Executive Office of the Mayor to define issues of concern to the LGBT community and find ways to employ government resources to address those issues.  Do you support establishing an Office of LGBT Affairs in the Office of the Montgomery County Executive? 

5.             In 2000, the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department established the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit to act as a link between the LGBT community and the Police Department in law enforcement, education, business, community events, government functions, recruiting, and other areas.  Do you support the establishment of a Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit in the Montgomery County Police Department? 

6.                Recognizing that in Montgomery County Schools an environment of tolerance for students’ use of homophobic epithets still exists, do you support an allocation of funds to the Montgomery County Department of School Safety and Security dedicated specifically to stronger enforcement of the Safe Schools Policy? 

7.             Do you support a comprehensive sex education curriculum in Montgomery County Schools that, while stressing the importance of abstinence for teens, provides students with information on sexually transmitted diseases based on established scientific evidence, and recognizes, again based on established scientific evidence and the conclusions of every mainstream medical and mental health professional association (including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychiatric Association), that sexual orientation is not a choice and homosexuality is not a medical or other disorder? 

8.             Do you agree that notions of so-called "conversion" or "reparative" therapy, which have been explicitly opposed by the American Medical Association (see  AMA Policy Number H-160.991 published at  http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/14754.html ), should not be part of the health education curriculum? 

9.             Given that LGBT parents and their children as well as LGBT youth and educators are all part of the Montgomery County Schools community and bring unique experiences and needs to the schools, do you support a specific allocation of funds to cultural competency training on LGBT issues for Montgomery County teachers? 

10.           Would you speak out in support of measures that advance the cause of equality for LGBT people and their families? 

11.                 Do you feel that you could benefit from additional education on LGBT issues to help you discuss these issues with constituents and/or the media? 

*  The terms “gender identity and expression” refer to all those who are gender variant, i.e., those persons whose sexual identity or gender expression varies from the common social forms.  This group includes transsexual women and men, cross-dressers, drag queens and kings, androgynous persons, gender queer youth and some members of the intersexed community.