Help Save Maryland Newsletter

Help Save Maryland's Voters' Guide to the Montgomery County Council District 4 Special Election is now posted on our website: www.helpsavemaryland.com .

Help Save Maryland would like to thank those of you who respected the democratic process and the intelligence of Montgomery County voters enough to take a few minutes to answer our simple questionnaire. For government to work for the good of the citizens, politicians must be willing to honestly state their positions and to listen to the will of the public -- not special interests.


Montgomery County Council Special Election District 4

Voter's Guide

Prepared as a Public Service by Help Save Maryland

A special election for the Montgomery County Council to fill the vacant District 4 seat is upcoming. Because illegal immigration is a pressing concern to so many citizens in the County, Help Save Maryland asked candidates from all parties their views on the subject.

If you are a District 4 voter, please read the candidates' responses and then go vote! Turnout at special elections is typically very low, so each vote carries a great deal of weight.

Primary Election - April 21, 2009
General Election - May 19, 2009
Polls Open from 7:00AM - 8:00PM

Questions & Candidates' Responses:

1) Would you support federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement 287(g) training for the Montgomery County Police Department in order to expedite removal of illegal alien gang members, criminals and immigration law violators from our community?

Michael L. Bigler - Democrat N/R
Robert Goldman - Democrat N/R
Thomas Hardman - Democrat YES

Ben Kramer - Democrat N/R
Cary Lamari - Democrat N/R
Nancy Navarro - Democrat N/R
Louis August - Republican YES

Robin Ficker - Republican YES
Andrew L. Padula - Republican YES
George Gluck - Green NO


2) Would you support funding of groups like CASA de Maryland, Catholic Charities, Centro Familia and Identity Inc., even if they continue to serve immigrants without legal presence in Maryland?


Michael L. Bigler - Democrat N/R
Robert Goldman - Democrat N/R
Thomas Hardman - Democrat NO

Ben Kramer - Democrat N/R
Cary Lamari - Democrat N/R
Nancy Navarro - Democrat N/R
Louis August - Republican YES

Robin Ficker - Republican NO
George Gluck - Green YES


3) Would you support a law mandating that all county contractors use the federal E-Verify program to ensure their workers were legally eligible to work in the US?

Michael L. Bigler - Democrat N/R
Robert Goldman - Democrat N/R
Thomas Hardman - Democrat YES

Ben Kramer - Democrat N/R
Cary Lamari - Democrat N/R
Nancy Navarro - Democrat N/R
Louis August - Republican YES

Robin Ficker - Republican YES
Andrew L. Padula - Republican YES
George Gluck - Green YES


4) Would you require the operator of the county-funded day laborer centers in Gaithersburg and Wheaton to verify a person's eligibility to work in the US before assisting them?

Michael L. Bigler - Democrat N/R
Robert Goldman - Democrat N/R
Thomas Hardman - Democrat YES

Ben Kramer - Democrat N/R
Cary Lamari - Democrat N/R
Nancy Navarro - Democrat N/R
Louis August - Republican YES

Robin Ficker - Republican YES
Andrew L. Padula - Republican YES
George Gluck - Green NO


5) Would you support a study to determine the number of illegal aliens residing in Montgomery County and any net cost they may impose on citizen taxpayers?

Michael L. Bigler - Democrat N/R
Robert Goldman - Democrat N/R
Thomas Hardman - Democrat YES

Ben Kramer - Democrat N/R
Cary Lamari - Democrat N/R
Nancy Navarro - Democrat N/R
Louis August - Republican YES

Robin Ficker - Republican DON'T KNOW
George Gluck - Green NO


6) Do you have any additional comments on the important issue of illegal immigration and its impact on the citizens of Montgomery County?


"I'm sick of special interest groups promoting the invasion of our sovereign nation and subversion of the rule of law. I'm sick of pandering politicians that will cave at the slightest whisper from the lawyers and Unregistered Agents of Foreign Powers that work endlessly to undermine the legacy of our Founding Fathers. I welcome and will assist every decent person who waits patiently for their turn to legally and reasonably come to the USA to become American. But for lawbreakers, I give NOTHING but endless opposition and my most vituperative expressions of OUTRAGE." - Thomas Hardman (D)


"Many of our schools have large populations of children from families of illegal immigrants. My wife is a substitute teacher in MCPS and she frequently recounts the significant behavioral issues of children she works with, many from children she suspects are illegal immigrants. Almost by definition, many of these families come from turbulent and distressed backgrounds, which often has a negative impact on their children's behavior. The result of this is a damaged learning environment for all students, even those here legally whose parents' taxpayer dollars support the entire system - all during a time when education is more important than ever. If we address illegal immigration issues earlier, these very significant consequential impacts will be reduced or eliminated.


"The later in the "consequence chain" we address illegal immigration, the greater the humanitarian impact on the immigrant and community when enforcement is finally enacted. Our first steps need to be reducing the attractiveness of Montgomery County to Illegal immigrants through methods such as enforcing E-Verify, requiring proof of legal residency to get a drivers license, and a timeline for ratcheted-down customs enforcement by county police. " - Lou August (R)


"We need to enforce the single family zoning laws to protect homeowners." - Robin Ficker (R)


"There are hundreds of millions of people living in abject poverty in this hemisphere. Unfortunately we cannot offer refuge to all or even a significant part of this population without risking the very fabric of our nation. We are robbing developing nations of the core of their workforce thus leaving in their void nations populated by women, children, the elderly, and infirm, who are ill equipped to fend for themselves.


"There is a direct inverse proportional relationship to the rise in Mexican and Central American cartel violence and our acceptance of an ever increasing population of illegal immigrants.

In itself,our misplaced intentions of kindness are in-fact supporting the tragedy of human rights abuses on a mass scale. When the concept of slavery is re introduced into our free nation through indentured servitude and sex slavery, there is a big problem afoot.


"The acceptance of "illegal immigrants" also sets up a two tiered societal structure that opposes the even handed rule of law. More importantly however is the fact that the utilization of this underground workforce inhibits the natural flow of economic development by unduly influencing marketplace for both wages and the prices of goods. I believe that It would be a far better course of action to encourage these individuals to return to their home countries and to rebuild them from within rather than to risk a societal upheaval in the United States that may very well preclude us from ever being able to genuinely assist any more developing nations in the future." - Andrew L. Padula (R)


"I believe that we do not so much have an "illegal immigrant" problem as much as we do an "illegal employer" problem. Enforcing existing laws which hold employers culpable for hiring illegal immigrants will result in a much lower demand for illegal workers. From a recent NPR broadcast about the present dearth of day labor openings: The other day I told my wife on the phone, 'If I can just get a plane ticket - however I can find the money for that - I'm coming back to El Salvador.'" - George Gluck (G)