District 1 council candidates debate housing, fiscal policy at Bethesda forum
Three Democrats, one Republican running for seat to be vacated by Councilmember Andrew Friedson
By
Ceoli JacobyApril 20, 2026 5:50 p.m.
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Make a ContributionWith Montgomery County Councilmember Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1) vacating his seat later this year, three Democrats and one Republican are promoting their own visions for the council district that includes Bethesda, Chevy Chase and surrounding areas.
The Democratic candidates for County Council District 1 include Board of Education member Julie Yang; Drew Morrison, a planner with the Maryland Department of Transportation; and Debbie Spielberg, a longtime aide to County Executive Marc Elrich (D).
Friedson is running to succeed Elrich as county executive instead of seeking re-election in District 1. Elrich cannot seek re-election due to term limits. He is running for one of four at-large council seats instead.
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The winner of the June 23 Democratic primary for council District 1 will advance to the Nov. 3 general election, and face Republican candidate Reardon Sullivan — the owner of a local engineering firm and the past chair of the Montgomery County GOP.
All four candidates spent Sunday afternoon at Bethesda’s Westland Middle School courting District 1 voters at a forum sponsored by the Citizens Coordinating Committee on Friendship Heights, a nonpartisan coalition representing 18 neighborhoods in the area. About 50 people attended the event.
Bethesda Magazine contributing editor Lou Peck moderated the discussion, which touched on issues including the county budget and taxation, housing policy and transportation planning.
Elevator pitches
In his elevator pitch, Morrison emphasized his connections in Gov. Wes Moore’s (D) administration and his ability to respond to crises like the collapse of Baltimore’s Key Bridge in March 2024.
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“I have built that strong partnership in Annapolis to help deliver for Montgomery County,” Morrison said.
Yang touted her experience during her nearly four years on the county school board, including her one-year term as president for which she was unanimously elected by her colleagues in December 2024. She first joined the board in December 2022.
“On this panel, I’m the only one that has been elected,” Yang said. “That means I have been tested and I bring a track record. I don’t make empty promises.”
Yang also noted that she is the only candidate in the race who owns a home in District 1. “I’m not going anywhere,” she said.
Spielberg previously lived in Silver Spring and Sullivan previously lived in Gaithersburg. Both relocated to Bethesda shortly before launching their campaigns. Morrison has said he and his wife are renting in downtown Bethesda while house hunting in District 1.
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Sullivan, the owner and founding principal of WFT Engineering in Rockville, said his experience in business sets him apart from other candidates in the District 1 race.
“These folks are not going to be able to bring jobs back to the county,” Sullivan said. “They are basically used to working in the government sector. They don’t know how to work in the private sector the way I do.”
Spielberg said she has worked closely with communities across jurisdictions during her 17 years working in the county government that began in 2009 during Elrich’s first term on the council. She continued working as an aide to Elrich after his election as county executive in 2018.
“No one else can match my experience,” Spielberg said. “I’ve worked to help Glen Echo, to help the KID Museum [in downtown Bethesda] … I’ve worked on the Bethesda Sector Plan, I’m currently working on the Friendship Heights Sector Plan. I’ve worked with tenants on rent increases that were unsustainable, and I understand many of the issues.”
Rent stabilization
Of the four candidates for the District 1 seat, Spielberg was the only one who expressed support for the county’s rent stabilization law, which caps annual rent increases at the region’s consumer price index, plus 3%, with a hard cap of 6% of the base rent.
“We have lost affordable units all over the county and in District 1, especially,” Spielberg said. She pointed to a building in Friendship Heights where tenants faced double-digit rent increases after a change of ownership that predated the county’s rent stabilization law, which passed in July 2023.
“Mortgages don’t go up like that. You can plan for the future,” Spielberg said.
She said there may be components of the rent stabilization law that should be adjusted, but that the policy is ultimately “an important component of affordability, predictability … and stability in communities.”
Other candidates cited a 2025 report by Montgomery Planning showing rent stabilization was adversely affecting housing production as proof the law isn’t working.
Both Yang and Sullivan expressed support for vacancy decontrol, a policy that would allow landlords to reset the rent for a unit to the market rate after a tenant moves out.
“When I was renting, there were a few years my landlord did not increase my rent because they [wanted] to keep me,” Yang said. “When I moved out, they were able to reset the rent back to the market … . I think that’s fair, that’s beneficial for both of us.”
Morrison said rent stabilization, if the law is well-balanced, can protect against rent gouging and poor performance by landlords without discouraging new investment.
He added that the county’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs and the Office of Landlord-Tenant Affairs “have not been effective advocates” when it comes to code enforcement — something he would seek to change if elected.
More Housing N.O.W.
In response to another housing question, Morrison was the only candidate at Sunday’s forum who said he would have voted for the More Housing N.O.W. legislative package sponsored by Friedson and Councilmember Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6) last July.
The goal of the package was to allow more residential building types – including duplexes, triplexes, townhomes and apartments – along the county’s transit corridors, with a requirement that 15% of a project’s proposed housing serve the local workforce.
Critics of the package, which included changes to the county’s zoning ordinance to allow for higher density in some areas, argued that new development would encroach on existing neighborhoods and contribute to traffic congestion.
“I will make sure that what comes out of [More Housing N.O.W.] is reasonable, addresses traffic, addresses stormwater issues, and if it’s not, we need to make real changes immediately,” Morrison said.
Yang, Spielberg and Sullivan all said they would not have supported the zoning text amendment adopted as part of More Housing N.O.W.
“Building housing along transportation corridors makes sense. Building housing at Metro stops, again, makes sense,” Sullivan said. “But putting these heavy facilities, multi-family facilities in established, single-family neighborhoods, I do not agree with.”
Spielberg said she also would not have supported the package, which she described as “putting any sort of housing anywhere, anyhow.”
“Simply building more housing does not necessarily produce affordability,” she said.
Yang described the outcome of More Housing N.O.W. as “blanket upzoning of our single-family neighborhoods.”
“What you love, what’s special about your neighborhood, is worth protecting,” Yang said. “Planning and building must respect the well- thought out and established master plan.”
Budget and taxation
Concerning the county’s annual budget and taxation, Yang, Morrison and Sullivan all said they did not support the tax increases proposed by Elrich for fiscal year 2027, including a 6.3-cent increase to the county property tax rate and a 0.1% increase to the county income tax rate.
“The net increase to a lot of our homeowners will be 12% to 14% — that’s not sustainable,” Sullivan said, referring to the combined effect of property tax increases and rising state assessments. He addedthat he would look to cut spending for the county’s Office of Energy and Sustainability, which he said “brought us the ban on gas heating,” to find savings.
Yang said the county should focus on funding key areas such as education, public safety and labor contracts. To find savings, she suggested the county remain within its budget for overtime pay and look to eliminate long-vacant positions.
Morrison said the county should defer new spending, work with labor partners to find possible savings on compensation and identify county and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) programs that aren’t working as intended.
Spielberg did not say whether she supported Elrich’s proposed tax increases, but acknowledged that his suggested property tax rate appears “dead on arrival” at the council.
She also criticized an alternate budget proposal from Fani-González that includes no property tax increase but would eliminate a $692 credit for people who claim their home as their primary residence.
“Are there efficiencies that we need to find? Yes. Do I know how to find them? Yes,” Spielberg said. “I don’t believe in a sledgehammer approach when a scalpel is more appropriate.”
The three Democratic candidates for the District 1 council seat are next scheduled to appear at a forum on Tuesday. That event, hosted by the Town of Chevy Chase, will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Lawton Center at 4301 Willow Lane in Chevy Chase.
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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine