On the campaign trail every day, many people ask me: Why are you running for the Montgomery County Council? Well, I’m running because there are urgent issues that our current Council is not addressing.

You know, in many ways this election is about priorities and values.
Here in Montgomery County, we pay a premium for a higher quality of life for our communities. We expect our schools to perform above average, we expect our citizens to be protected, and we expect to have a quality transportation system so that we can spend more time with our friends and families and less time on the road.

However, our current council memb ers are not addressing some of the most critical quality of life issues facing our District and our County.

My top prioritiy is brining fiscal responsibility back to the Montgomery County council, and creating a family-friendly district, which is safe, prosperous and gives our children a world-class education. When you elect me as your Council member, my focus will be on:

• eliminating wasteful spending

• improving education

• Reducing the crime rate

• solving our traffic congestion problems

• coming up with creative solutions to control our skyrocketing energy prices

• and FINALLY creating a business-friendly district

First, education is the bedrock of our future and my top priority. We need a leader in this District who understands that parental involvement and accountability is just as important as teacher accountability. That’s why integrating programs such as SKIP (Successful Kids with Involved Parents) is critical to the future of our District. We must involve parents earlier in the educational process. My wife Faith is a teacher in the Montgomery County public school system and I am so proud of the work that she has done for our schools. She’s a great teacher, and we need more great teachers like her in this District. In order to this we need more programs to recruit, retain and incentivize quality teachers to stay in our system.

Another quality of life issue that is so important for the future of our District is reducing the crime rate. The crime rate in our District is now unacceptable. There has been a notable increase in gang violence, rape, and theft in our communities. Our current Delegates have not even focused on this crisis plaguing our communities and appear to be asleep at the wheel. Our District deserves better.

Third, soaring energy costs are negatively impacting our quality of life. The skyrocketing cost of energy must be addressed in the next Legislative session and when elected as your Delegate, I will lead the charge to reduce our energy bills. The current Delegates for our District have had ample opportunities to effectively control the costs of energy, but have failed to take the initiative to solve our energy crisis.

Finally, reducing traffic congestion is a major quality of life issue for our District. Let’s spend more time reading to our children at night, and less time reading the license plate of the person sitting in front of us in traffic.

I believe that it’s time for new leadership, and a new vision for our District. Please vote for John McKinnis on the primary on April 15th and in the Special Election General on May 13th.