Meet County Executive Candidate: Robin Ficker

“Muhammad Ali helped me realize that being outspoken can be a good thing.” – Robin Ficker

He’s definitely outspoken. Robin Ficker’s name is synonymous with local elections. He hasn’t won since 1978, when he was elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican (he has run as a Democrat, Republican, and as an independent candidate), but he is confident that he will get this one.

I spent about an hour at Mr. Ficker’s Boyds home on Sunday morning. We discussed everything from his friendship with Muhammad Ali to Charles Barkley flying him out to the NBA Finals so he can heckle Michael Jordan to why he thinks he will be the next Montgomery County Executive. Check out this Deadspin article for more on Ali and Jordan: https://deadspin.com/what-the-most-infamous-nba-heckler-learned-from-his-fri-1652413080

Here are some of the main points Mr. Ficker made during our discussion:

On Business
– He thinks MoCo has a realistic shot at landing Amazon. He says he put ads out about it well before the county council started putting their bid together.

– He says helping get term limits passed shows that the county wants change. He believes he is that change.

On Traffic
– He put up “Widen I-270” signs back in 2015 well before it was on Hogan’s radar. He’s not against transit, but he feels as though “drivers in MoCo are being Takoma Parked.” He agrees with Hogan’s plan and supports doing something to “fix the problem some candidates have been unable to fix for 12-16 years.”

On Education
– He wants to get “MoCo moving” by having every student run, jog, or walk a mile at school daily. “A healthy way to start the day.”

– He thinks schools are getting too top heavy (administration). More good teachers are needed, he’d like to let the teachers teach.

On $15 Minimum Wage
– He thinks it was a wimpy move because it wasn’t put into effect immediately. He views it as a feel-good PR move by council members for the democratic primary. “We don’t know what’s gonna happen. By the time it goes into effect, none of them will be around for the consequences.”

– At the rate they’re raising taxes (property, energy, etc.), tripling parking rates in Bethesda, and hinting at soft drink taxes…$15 an hour won’t be nearly enough.

On Why He’ll Win/What He’ll Do When He Does
– He’s in touch with voters. He plans on visiting every neighborhood in MoCo by November of 2018.

– He’s a debater. He wins jury cases all the time. He’s right on the issues.

– If he wins he will move the office to the ground floor. Every Monday morning he will give MoCo residents the opportunity to come talk to him about the issues for an hour or two (5 minutes a piece).

– He noticed that all of the candidates were sitting during the Democratic candidate debate. He says if he was debating, he would not be sitting because he is standing up for Montgomery County.

On Who He’d Vote For (if he had to choose one of the current candidates other than himself)
– Rose Krasnow. If elected, he would fill at least half of his positions with women. He thinks Rose is “very smart.” He also likes that she’s from Rockville, which is different than “The Beltway Boys.”