Q&A: Six Questions for Raj Narayanan

Leading up to the September 14th primary in Montgomery County, Patch will ask local candidates in contested races questions about their positions and their priorities.

First up: County Council At-Large Candidate Raj Narayanan. He is one of nine candidates for four spots on the council.

Patch: What are the two issues you think are most pressing in Montgomery County?

Raj Narayanan: Fiscal responsibility and tax-base growth management are the two most pressing issues in my opinion.  Fiscal responsibility during times of falling revenue can be achieved by reducing cost of government through process re-engineering that does not reduce services -- getting more value with less resources.

While politicians are selling growth of tax-base as a way to increase revenue, they are talking about increasing the population in the county adding to congestion and further stress on the services from the needs of new population.  I don't think that is the right approach.

Patch: What are the two top transportation priorities for the county?

RN: Obviously the two priorities are to reduce congestion and not damage the environment.  In this current fiscal environment, it is not clear that all proposed projects would be funded.  The greatest likelihood of funding is with the CCT [Corridor Cities Transitway] because of the low investment and the private partnership.

Patch: What is your assessment of education in Montgomery County? What needs to be changed?

RN: From everything I have heard, the school system is suffering with teachers treated badly by the administration, and the administration being too top heavy with unwanted people who create trouble.  It would appear that the school board is not being effective in controlling the school administration.

Either the school board needs to be voted out and changed in this election to bring in people who understand management, or the school board needs to find the gumption to fire top administrative staff and find better people.  The county council is really not in a position to do much here, since the council has no effective control over the school system.

Patch: What are your thoughts on addressing the budget crisis in Montgomery County? How does it affect your constituents?

RN: The only answer is doing more with less resources through what is called process re-engineering and management restructuring. The way it would affect some of our constituents would be those who are county employees. Some of the current county employees will not have a job, if we learn to keep all services with fewer resources.  I feel sorry about it, but it is the right thing to do for all tax-payers, to avoid tax increases.

Further, the source of this problem squarely falls on the incumbents who should have returned the excess revenue during times of windfall growth of revenues over the six years from 2001, instead of hiring more employees and permanently increasing overheads, to use up the extra revenue during those times.

Patch: How would you assess the job done by current at-large and district council members?

RN: Most of them are incompetent.  They have background mostly in activism, political science and law.  None of them have a background in Economics and Management (like me).  Further they make matters worse by taking money from special interests and are mostly promoting positions to benefit those interests while not caring for everyone equally.

Patch: Any parting words to voters in Montgomery County?

RN: It is time for a change.  I am the only person who can bring skills to reduce costs and bring honesty to government.  I will encourage voters to see my profile at www.rajnarayanan.org, and cast their votes in my favor.

It is important to remember one person in the council cannot do much unless a majority of the council members are willing to work together. Incumbents bring deep knowledge of the mistakes they have committed in the past.  Having half of the team as incumbents will be helpful. The best value for voters of the county will come from a mix of incumbents who know about the inside follies and challengers who will bring fresh thinking.

It is best to avoid candidates who have accumulate high levels of campaign funds -- they have already sold their souls.