Q&A with Your Newest Councilmember, Hans Riemer: Part 1 of 2

Hans Riemer, the newest at-large member of the County Council sat down with Wheaton Patch immediately following his meeting, along with Councilmember Valerie Ervin, . This Q&A will continue tomorrow with part two of our discussion. Some answers have been condensed for length.

Wheaton Patch: What were you hearing from people in the [Chamber of Commerce] meeting today?

Hans Riemer: What was I hearing? I think it was a diversity of opinion.  This is a group of people who are committed to making a better future for Wheaton and a lot of them, frankly, are frustrated that they've been talking for 20, 25 years about making something big happen and it still hasn't happened yet.  So I think there's great interest in a new development, .

I think there is just generally a sense of we've got to put together the whole vision for Wheaton and make that happen now.

WP: What are your top three priorities for the next council year?

HR: The first priority is working on the fiscal and budget challenge, that could be one, two, and three to be honest. The tax revenue situation is continues to be weak. There was some hope we were going to get a rebound, that the new projections from the state were going to show more revenue than we thought. Instead it's showing less revenue.

We're going to be continuing to figure out what's the best way to save money in the county while delivering on the most important priorities that residents have for government services. That's not the question you answer one day and then you move on, that's going to be ongoing challenge.

I'm going to be , so I'll be working hard on that and working to figure out what our residents' higher priorities,  i.e. what priorities do they want to sustain as some things get left behind, how can we hear from people more directly that gives everyone a chance to have their say, how do the agencies spend their money, and how does the county spend its money more effectively?

What are we getting for the dollar? I think we have to be more rigorous in what we're getting for the tax money that we spend than we've ever been.

WP: What else, aside from the budget, are you going to focus on?

HR: I think the challenge for the long-term is rebuilding our tax base. We've never had a strong enough commercial tax base in this county, and that is an area where we can really make a change.

Figuring out how to bring in more jobs and housing but doing it in a way that doesn't flood the roads with cars, that's really the key challenge for the economic development of the county. Working hard on walkablity in downtowns, on public transportation so we can put jobs and housing in the right place, and make sure everybody here today can have a great quality of life and we can continue to bring people in. That's the challenge.

WP: I know you're a big proponent of the Purple line. What can be done further north of the Purple line to improve public transportation?

HR: Well the Purple line will be a big improvement, because at least in this immediate area you're on the Red line but not connected to the western part of the county. So if you at least want to go to the lower part, you'll be able to ride the Red line down and the Purple line over.

But I think the first priority has to be getting Metro back on track. In Glenmont, if you don't get a train every 30, 45 minutes on the weekends or at night, then that's just a real reduction in the quality of life for people around here.  , that's a big problem. So we've got to get Metro back on track.

Continuing to improve the buses, making sure we don't cut bus service. Ri. And ultimately I'd like to see more bus service that has dedicated lanes, that don't get stuck in traffic so there's a real alternative to driving. If the bus they were going to get on is stuck in the same traffic, you might as well be in your car. 

WP: Can you talk about the possible BRT [Bus Rapid Transit]?

HR: The Veirs Mill busway was actually proposed in the last council, 2005-2006.  That's definitely something that's going to stay on the agenda, as well as the Georgia Avenue busway: rapid, dedicated transit lines on the street network, not a train, but a bus-like vehicle. It's not going to be a bus, something better than a bus, but it will be on the street. That's definitely something the council has been looking at and will be looking forward.

Check back tomorrow for the continuation of our Q&A with Riemer.