2022 Candidate Profile: Harold C. Maldonado Running In District 7

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — A married father of four students in Montgomery County schools, Harold C. Maldonado is an economic/financial analyst with more than 25 years of experience.

Maldonado is also on the ballot in the Nov. 8 general election. As a Republican candidate, he's running against Democrat Dawn Luedtke to determine who will represent the newly formed District 7 on the Montgomery County Council.

Patch asked each of the candidates running for the county council to fill out the following questionnaire.

Name

Harold C. Maldonado

Campaign Website

Harold Maldonado

Party Affiliation

Republican

Names, ages and any pertinent detail you wish to share.

Married, father or 4, all who have and are attending MCPS.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? This includes any relatives who work in the government you're running for.

No

Education

MA in Economic Development, BA in Economics (The Catholic University of America)

Occupation - Please include years of experience

Economic/Financial Analyst - 25+ years of experience

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

None

Why are you seeking elective office?

I’m running because I’m tired, disgusted, and upset at the type of policies the council has supported during and after the pandemic that have severely damaged our children, our businesses, and our public safety. The council lacks accountability as it ignores all residents, specially; parents, business owners, and concerned residents in District 7. With over 25 years of professional experience in public, private sectors doing economic and financial analysis, I’m ready to work for the thousands of disgruntled residents. Our way of life is also under attack with the Council overreaching in every aspect of our lives from introducing CRT and transgenderism in school curriculum to doing nothing to stop the rise of crime county-wide. It’s time to start fixing the county’s problems and we won’t be able to do that if we elect democrats since they’ve been in control of the county for over 25 years. The people running our county from the Council and the Executive do not care about anybody in the county and answer to the Takoma Communist Cartel who follow an agenda from Washington DC and California, which focuses on destroying the private sector and the middle class. It’s time to start fixing our county. Let’s Get Our County Back!

The single most pressing issue facing Montgomery County is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

To say there’s one overarching issue in our county is to be shortsighted. I would say we have three main issues; economy, education, and public safety, which are interdependent of one another. For the economy, I plan to focus on improving the investment environment to foster growth and establishment of small- and medium-sized businesses. For education, I plan to make the BOE and teachers independent from teacher unions. For security, I plan to increase the budget for the police department and increase the ratio of a police officer per 1K population to at least 5 (current national average is 2.4).

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

Unlike my opponent running for District 7, I'm not a establishment person who has worked in politics through my family and connections and doesn't acknowledge the problems we have in the county. Unlike my opponent, my family is not part of the democrat machine that has is ruining our state and our county. I'm a professional, an economist, who knows first-hand what policies are needed to fix the economy. The democrat party has ruled the county for over 50 years and the results are in, any democrat incumbent or new candidate that comes is will continue the policies we've seen from the council in the last 10 years. The choice is clear, if you want to continue seeing the deterioration of education, public safety, and the economy, continue voting for democrats, but if you want change, vote for change, vote for new ideas and real solutions, vote for me.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

The council has handled education poorly. Reading and math scores have plummeted, once top schools in the country, are now in disarray and decay. Closing schools through unnecessary remote learning and harmful mask mandates have caused irreparable damage to our kids’ learning, social, health, and overall development. What the council has done with our kids is criminal. Our kids are learning about hate, racial animosity, and inappropriate sexual issues at a time when they should be learning about improving reading comprehension and math skills. The future of our county is in jeopardy as the level of education is declining.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have saved US tax payers billions of dollars by advising the Executive Branch of the Federal Government on best ways to help developing and emerging economies in the world spark and bolster economic growth without sending these countries financial aid, but rather help them help themselves through fixing their domestic investment environment. Moreover, I've worked in NGOs (non-governmental organizations) helping low income communities/countries find ways to create jobs. I've been a successful as a business owner and know the ins-and outs of being a small business owner.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

My father has always told me to be honest and the benefits of honesty in general. I've followed this advice and I can say that it has been one that has been in my personal and professional life, which is similar to being accountable. Today, this is a major issue in our county as the council members and the executive lack accountability. They're not accountable to the people they represent. They answer to special interests of big pharma and policies coming from Takoma Park, which are not appropriate nor conducive to address the interests of county residents.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I'm first generation Hispanic-American who loves this country, our state, and our county, and wants to work to solve all the issues that plague our communities using common sense solutions. I'm a product of the public school system. When elected, I will for you not big pharma or listen to handlers from Takoma Park.