Candidate Drew Morrison Bringing 'Urgency, Clarity Of Vision' To 1st District Race

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — Ahead of the primary elections in June, Patch has invited candidates running to represent Montgomery County to complete a questionnaire touching on a variety of key issues.

Candidate responses will be published verbatim in the run-up to the primaries on Tuesday, June 23.

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Questionnaire responses for Drew Morrison, who is running to serve as the 1st District councilmember, can be found below:

Name: Drew Morrison

Age: 34

Hometown: Bethesda

Political Affiliation: Democratic

Do you have any previous political experience? If so, please state and explain how that experience will influence your time in office if elected.

Following Donald Trump’s initial election, my wife and I founded a political action committee to support Democrats running for state legislature in purple states across the country. We supported over 200 candidates who were fighting to win back communities for Democratic values.

Our strongest candidates were those with a deep connection to the district, a commitment to making government work better, and a strong focus on local issues. Those are the values I bring in seeking local office. I will be laser-focused on constituent service and creating a more responsive and effective local government.

What do you believe is the single-most important issue facing voters in the district you’re looking to represent? How do you intend to address those issues?

The impact of federal cuts on our community has only strengthened the need to create more job opportunities and address affordability head-on.

When it comes to job creation, we can better highlight our talent to the world. We also need to invest in a business attraction and retention program that truly competes with our neighbors in Virginia.

We need to make our permitting process faster, friendlier, and more efficient so that our small businesses start out stronger. We can lean on our strong biotech sector and growing energy and atmospheric science industries by investing in new companies in those spaces. I have created programs that provide family-supporting job opportunities that don’t require a college degree. On the Council, I will protect important workforce programs, like automotive tech in MCPS, and make sure we’re leveraging state programs so more students get the training they need.

When it comes to affordability, I will be laser-focused on addressing core needs around housing, energy, childcare, and property taxes. I’ll work to build the right housing in the right places to drive down costs. I’ll advance a statewide coalition to foster the clean energy development we need. I’ll work with parents and providers to create more affordable childcare seats. I’ll leverage my budget experience to hold the line on taxes with discipline and creative financing strategies.

How do you differ from other candidates running against you?

I bring an urgency and clarity of vision to the issues before us. My two opponents represent the status quo. In three of the last four years, the County Executive has proposed raising taxes while the County continued to lag peers throughout the region on job growth. The County Executive’s team hasn't tackled head-on the affordability challenges I hear from voters around housing, energy, and childcare.

Meanwhile, over the past four years, the school system has seen major challenges of delivering projects on-budget, improving student performance, making transparent decisions, and addressing school safety issues promptly. I’ve worked at the state, regional, and local level, and I have sought to improve and reform every institution I have been a part of. Residents of District 1 have high standards for the quality of government that serves them. I’m committed to ensuring that we meet that standard.

How would your work experience benefit the goals/objectives you’ve outlined in your campaign and/or the office you’re seeking?

In my career, I’ve done three things. Coming out of college, I worked at the County Council as a transportation, infrastructure, energy, and environment legislative aide for former District 1 Councilmember Roger Berliner. From that experience, I learned how to address the day-to-day quality of life issues that are the fundamental responsibilities of local government and how to achieve big things at the state, county, and regional level.

I spent seven years as a project manager on major infrastructure projects throughout the region. In that role, my job was to bring together diverse stakeholders to build consensus and actually deliver projects. I’ll bring that consensus and trust-building approach to the Council.

I now serve as a senior policy advisor in Governor Moore’s Department of Transportation. In that role, I’ve helped to advance progressive policy goals around workforce development, job creation, and the environment, even during challenging budget times. I’ve dealt with acute crisis, having been detailed to the Key Bridge collapse response and working to organize the Department’s efforts there.

Beyond that professional experience, I have a strong academic background for the job. I have a BA in Economics and Political Science from Yale and two masters degrees from MIT, one in City Planning and the other in Business Administration. My academic work focused on housing economics, energy policy, and creating strong regional economies.

What is your opinion of the work being done by the current officeholder, and how will you improve on it?

I share Andrew’s commitment and focus on addressing the economic development and affordability issues affecting our community. I am also glad that he worked alongside Council colleagues to take the Green Bank - whose enabling legislation I developed - and transform it from a small entity with some seed capital into a $230+ million investment vehicle for our clean energy economy.

In knocking doors around District 1, I have heard from voters who would like to see further focus on engagement and constituent service. My first 100 days will be focused on implementing the constituent service operation residents are looking for and being out in the community, meeting residents and local leaders to align on our shared priorities for the future.

How do you believe Montgomery County should address data centers?

There are three core considerations to the data center issue: addressing their potential direct impact, considering the opportunity cost of data centers over other economic development strategies, and taking action to address the statewide and regional impacts of data centers on utility prices.

When it comes to their direct impact, we must establish clear rules that align with our values. We must create a specific land use category for data centers, restrict them so they do not intrude on residential areas, require that they generate their own 100% clean energy, and address water use and electromagnetic interference and noise issues.

Second, we should consider that many of the industrial areas where data centers could locate are also viable sites for health manufacturing facilities. Our biotech industry is moving toward health manufacturing, bringing together the research and the production, and our peers in Virginia and North Carolina are eating our lunch. I want us to invest in health manufacturing rather than data centers.

Finally, even without hyperscale data centers here, our utility prices are set at the regional level, with demand far outpacing supply. I will build statewide coalitions to create the clean energy we need to reduce ever-rising utility bills.

Do you believe there should be a data center moratorium or a temporary pause? Explain.

I believe that we should enforce the 100% clean energy requirement described above and that will serve to temper the implementation of data centers in Montgomery County.

Do you believe there should be data center regulations put in place? Explain.

Yes, see above.

What steps would you take to offset data center impacts to residents’ standard of living, such as rising energy prices?

As mentioned above, I will build statewide coalitions to create the clean energy we need to reduce ever-rising utility bills. Utility bills are now set at the regional scale through the regional grid known as PJM. We will not be able to tackle rising energy prices unless we create new energy supply at the regional level. I’ve worked on creating new clean energy generation at the county and state level and helped to incubate what will be the largest Maryland state government solar program in history. We’ll need that leadership to affect rising energy prices.

How would you distinguish between a good vs. bad data center? Or do you believe no data centers should be in the county/district?

As described above, we should implement a clear framework that aligns any hyperscale data center deployment with the policy goals our community has and the protections our residents deserve. Further, we should more deliberately evaluate how industrial land that could be used for data centers could be deployed for other job-creating uses more aligned with our County’s economic strategy.

Gov. Wes Moore signed bills banning agreements between local police and federal immigration officials in February. What is your opinion of the legislation?

I support this legislation, which was consistent with existing Montgomery County policy. Our communities are safer when local police are able to focus on their responsibilities and are able to engage comfortably with residents in our community, regardless of status, to address crime.

What steps would you take to support or readjust that initiative?

I would leverage the Council’s oversight powers to ensure that we continue to comply with the letter and spirit of this policy.

What is your stance on the establishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers in the county and/or your district?

Given the serious abuses we have seen at such centers under this administration, I oppose their establishment in Montgomery County. I support the recently enacted legislation to seek to leverage local powers to prevent their establishment. As seen in other communities, I believe that local pressure campaigns can help put the brakes on these centers.

What actionable plans would you undertake to address illegal immigration?

Ultimately, immigration is going to need to be solved at the federal level. Americans have been appalled by the Trump Administration’s mass deportation program. It has been 40 years since the last major immigration reform, but the framework for a fair, just immigration system that works for Americans exists and Congress needs to take the reins and address this issue.

Education: What is the biggest issue facing Montgomery County Public Schools? How would you address it?

The biggest issue facing MCPS is the imbalance of growing need, and complexity of need, in the school system with insufficient resources to meet that need. I think we can take on this challenge in three ways.

First, we need strong budget oversight to ensure that the dollars that do go, and have gone, to MCPS are being spent wisely, focused on the classrooms where they are needed most.

Second, we have to make sure the capital budget goes further. We have to prevent costly budget overruns of major capital projects - as we saw with Woodward HS and the electric school bus procurement - and develop new creative financing tools to address issues like the HVAC backlog.

Third, we have to support the economic growth initiatives described above that will help to generate the tax revenue needed to provide the level of support that our schools deserve. Until we achieve that, we will continue to be stuck in the current trap of raising taxes and chasing declining revenue.

A student brings a gun/weapon to campus without setting off any red flags. What security measures would you advocate for to prevent such an incident?

As described further below, I support reinstating School Resource Officers. I believe removing them was a mistake and their reintroduction would provide an on-the-ground resource to address these types of safety issues.

Do you believe schools need stricter security measures? Metal detectors? Move away from CEOs and revert to SROs? Explain.

I support returning School Resource Officers to MCPS high schools. We must improve the safety of our school buildings for our students, educators, and families. Doing so requires a broad approach: funding behavioral health and counseling services for youth and teenagers, providing support and guidance to those facing difficult life challenges, and making sure that we deliver on early interventions. School Resource Officers are not a panacea, but are effective at supplying guidance, mentorship, and a trusted adult youth can rely on to help manage disputes or challenging situations.

What will you do to encourage affordable/public housing in the county?

To advance deeply affordable housing in Montgomery County, I will focus on strengthening the financing tools available and will leverage publicly owned land.

For over two decades, rules at the state level kept Montgomery County projects from being able to effectively compete for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), a key financing tool for creating deeply affordable housing. I will work with local and state leaders to change those rules and give Montgomery County a fighting shot to build more housing for low-income families.

I will help leverage our national model for housing finance, the Housing Production Fund, to effectively deploy capital to preserve existing affordable housing so it stays affordable and to provide more affordable units on new housing developments.

For many years, it has been County policy to consider County-owned land for affordable housing. I will make good on that promise when we are rebuilding major facilities so that we leverage that low-cost land to create more housing opportunities for our residents.

How will you address crime in Montgomery County/your district?

I would take four approaches to address crime in Montgomery County. First, we must rebuild our police force, which has now had hundreds of vacancies for several years. We will only rebuild that force if we re-establish leadership in the County that builds strong relationships with the force and its leadership.

While we rebuild the ranks, we need to focus in particular on rebuilding the detective ranks. The lack of investigatory manpower keeps property crime and other mid-tier offenses from being resolved, which results in more issues in the future. We also should continue to deploy smart technology, like the aerial drone program, that helps our officers respond to incidents even with fewer officers. And we also need to strengthen partnerships with the Department of Juvenile Services so that we help juvenile offenders access support and a better path before they are adults.

What is your stance on the "Save Wootton" initiative by community members?

I share the concerns of the Wootton community, and I am opposed to the closure of Wootton High School. This school is the center of a community. That center should not move elsewhere because of missteps made by the school system itself in planning for future capacity and repair needs. That is a significant change that will impact so many, and unfair to create such uncertainty and anxiety within the process of a larger boundary study.

Over the past year, MCPS has decided to tackle too many large decisions at once, and Board of Education leadership has failed to provide the governance we need. All at the same time, MCPS pursued a boundary study to change school lines, a complete re-thinking of how local schools work through the programs analysis, and major school closures like Wootton.

I believe we should have effective, neighborhood schools that deliver excellence for all. And I think that the Board of Education and the Council need to work together to rebuild trust, engage fully with parents on decisions, and build the future of the system together instead of through rushed and non-transparent processes.

A 6% property tax increase was proposed for the fiscal 2027 budget to raise funds for schools. Homeowners are reluctant to pay more.

What is your position?

I oppose the County Executive’s recommendation. Our residents have faced four major tax hike proposals in the last six years alongside other rising costs. Further, because of the use of one-time revenues, if passed, the County Executive’s budget would have locked in another 9% tax increase next year. This is not sustainable. It will be my priority to make responsible fiscal decisions to ensure that residents can afford to remain in our community. It is important to recognize what brought us here. Over the past two budgets, both the School Board and the County Executive proposed budgets that have pushed on the County’s fiscal capacity. This has come all while the lights were flashing red that the impacts of Trump’s cuts on our revenues would be meaningful. I have spent my career making hard budget decisions, and I will bring that budget discipline to the County Council to get our finances back on track.

What other options would you consider to raise money that does not include raising taxes?

In balancing the budget today, I want us to leverage the resources that we do have. The County’s budget is projected to grow by roughly $150 million even without any increase to the property tax rate, the income tax rate, or the creation of new special taxing districts. I recommend we live within those means. Below, I highlight how we can work toward that goal.

We can move some major levers to live within our means. We can defer and phase any new programs, on the order of $40 million. We can force MCPS to find savings in its substantial existing central administration budget, alongside similar savings in the rest of County government. With the natural revenue growth of $150 million and an overall budget of $7.6 billion, we could have crafted a budget that provides a strong social safety net and a smaller but still significant increase in school system spending. And we could meet the core public safety and constituent needs residents deserve.