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SUMMARY:QUESTIONNAIRE: Caribbean-American Political Action Committee (C-PAC) 2026 Candidate Questionnaire
DESCRIPTION:Caribbean-American Political Action Committee (C-PAC) \n2026 Candidate Questionnaire \n  \nOffice Sought: County Executive \nCandidate’s Name: Esther Wells                       \nCurrent Occupation: Senior Tax Manager\, CPA \nParty: Republican \n****************************************************************************** \n\nIf elected\, how would you proactively and consistently engage with Caribbean-American constituents\, groups\, local leaders\, and organizations in your constituency?\n\nAs a Caribbean-American\, I will utilize the existing Caribbean American Advisory Group (CAAG) to ensure it provides actionable feedback on the needs and concerns of Caribbean Americans living or working in the county.\nRegional Collaboration: I will regularly host Community town halls\, advisory meetings specifically targeted at Caribbean-American residents to seek input on critical issues like the county’s operating budget\, Student achievement and outcomes\, public safety\, economic development\, Homeownership\, entrepreneurship\, Health & Human Services\, civic engagement and voter participation.\nDedicated Community Liaisons: The Office of Community Partnerships (OCP) will continue to employ a dedicated Caribbean Community Liaison to serve as a bridge between the government and Caribbean-American residents.\n\n\nHow would your office address barriers Caribbean immigrants face when accessing public services such as healthcare\, safe\, affordable housing\, education or social programs that disproportionately affect them?\n\nWe must move beyond the current one-time “supplemental appropriation” model and focus on reducing the cost of living and fostering a business-friendly environment to create high-paying jobs and long-term financial stability for Caribbean-Americans.\nHousing Affordability: Reverse the 4.7% property tax rate hike\, reverse the 6.3% property tax hike and the 3% income tax hike proposed FY2027 Operating Budget\, and reduce the annual property assessment increases by 50% of cap\, aligning the county with surrounding jurisdictions.\nHousing Stability: Instead of just increasing rental assistance\, I will help Caribbean Americans build generational wealth and lasting stability through pathways to homeownership. I will streamline the permitting process for new construction\, which will increase the supply of homes\, naturally lower costs and provide more entry-level opportunities for first-time buyers.\nService Streamlining: My office will conduct a comprehensive audit of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to eliminate procedural failures and ensure resources reach eligible residents without bureaucratic delay. I will provide workforce development\, upskilling for residents and financial counseling as requirements for receiving social services.\nEducation: Like my Caribbean-American family\, I will prioritize high academic standards and upward mobility to ensure that tax dollars directly improve the graduation rates\, literacy rates\, proficiency rates and college readiness of Caribbean students\, rather than funding central office positions in MCPS. I will ensure that the record-high MCPS budget is actually reaching the schools in diverse areas (like Silver Spring\, Wheaton\, and Gaithersburg) where many Caribbean immigrants reside\, ensuring our children aren’t left in under-resourced facilities.\n\n\nHow do you ensure culturally responsive services for Caribbean-American residents across agencies (e.g.\, health\, education\, law enforcement\, etc.)?\n\nI will maintain the African American Health Program (AAHP) as the primary vehicle for reaching residents of African and Caribbean descent while ensuring every taxpayer dollar is tied to measurable health outcomes.\nProfessional Standards: Rather than creating new administrative layers\, I will mandate that all county agencies\, from DHHS to MCPD\, integrate existing translation services more effectively into their daily operations. Also\, I will focus on health literacy\, ensuring residents understand how to manage their own care.\nFiscal Responsibility: I will audit existing health programs for waste\, mismanagement and outcomes to ensure that funds intended for community clinics actually reach patients in high-density Caribbean neighborhoods.\nVocational Training: I will expand vocational and technical programs to provide immediate pathways to economic independence for Caribbean immigrant youth\, bypassing the debt associated with traditional four-year degrees.\nCommunity Policing: I will establish direct communication links through bicultural liaisons to ensure culturally responsive policing where police are visible\, accessible\, and protective of the neighborhoods they serve.\nIndependent Inspector General: I will ensure the office of inspector general monitors all county departments\, including health and education\, to ensure that culturally responsive initiatives aren’t just empty labels but are delivering measurable results for Caribbean-American residents.\nOmbudsman Programs: I will create a county ombudsman to provide Caribbean-American residents with a direct\, non-partisan channel to report issues with agency services or police conduct\, ensuring the government remains accountable to residents.\n\n\nWhat initiatives will you lead and/or support that benefit Caribbean-American small business owners and workers\, particularly in industries where they are heavily represented?\n\nEconomic Drivers: My administration will work with the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) to launch a “Strategic Growth Initiative” that provides Caribbean-American entrepreneurs with better access to private capital by strengthening the SBA’s Microloan and Community Advantage Programs\, rather than relying on government-managed grants.\nRegulatory Reform: I will work to eliminate redundant permits and fees that disproportionately hurt small\, minority-owned startups in industries like construction\, retail\, and food service.\nOccupational Licensing Reform: I will lead the initiative to streamline our reciprocity-base occupational licenses\, which would benefit Caribbean immigrants with professional backgrounds\, allowing them to enter the workforce faster in skilled trades or healthcare without costly re-certification.\nI will reform the Minority\, Female and Disabled-Owned (MFD) Business Program to focus on results rather than just certification.\n\n\nWhat support would you provide for Caribbean-American students and parents\, including language assistance and help navigating the school system?\n\nFocus on Core Competencies: I will advocate for a return to rigorous instruction in math\, science\, and literacy. Culturally responsive education should mean ensuring every student masters the skills needed for high-paying careers\, rather than social experimentation.\nSchool Choice: I will lead an initiative to provide vouchers or education savings accounts. This allows Caribbean-American parents to move their children out of underperforming neighborhood schools and into private schools that better align with their cultural and educational values.\nParental Empowerment: I will expand the Newcomers Initiative with a focus on helping Caribbean-American parents navigate the school system and advocating for vocational-technical training as a viable path for students.\nSimplified Portals: I will work with MCPS leaders to implement a more user-friendly\, multilingual digital “Parent Portal” to help families track grades\, attendance\, and graduation requirements without needing to navigate a complex physical bureaucracy.\nWith the MCPS budget now exceeding $3.7 billion\, I will demand greater accountability for how these funds support immigrant families.\n\n\nHow would you advance partnerships with Caribbean-American community organizations to promote mental health\, chronic disease prevention\, or other wellness initiatives?\n\nEmpowering Faith-Based and Community Organizations: I will ensure culturally responsive care\, delivered best by those already trusted within the community. Instead of creating new government-run clinics\, I will increase the role of faith-based organizations and community-led nonprofits. These groups are often the first point of contact for Caribbean-American residents facing mental health challenges or chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension.\nOutcome-Based Partnerships: Contracts with community organizations will be tied to measurable health outcomes (e.g.\, lower rates of uncontrolled hypertension or increased mental health service utilization) rather than just the number of people reached.\nHealth Literacy and Prevention: I will form partnerships to focus on health literacy programs that teach nutrition\, exercise\, and preventative care tailored to the Caribbean diet and lifestyle.\nPrivate-Public Screenings: I will encourage partnerships with local pharmacies and private clinics to host mobile screening events in neighborhoods with high Caribbean populations\, making chronic disease detection accessible without expanding the public health bureaucracy.\nCommunity-Led MHPSS: I will support Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) initiatives that respect Caribbean cultural values\, such as the importance of extended family networks in the healing process.\n\n\nHow will you build trust and conduct robust oversight on local\, law enforcement to protect the rights\, security\, and safety of Caribbean-American residents?\n\nI will prioritize full funding for the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) to address staffing shortages while supporting the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) model.\nBicultural Recruitment: I will support aggressive recruitment within the Caribbean-American community to ensure the police force reflects the demographics of the neighborhoods they serve\, reducing cultural and language barriers.\nEffective Oversight: I will work with the Public Safety Committee to ensure oversight is transparent and focuses on building trust through neighborhood engagement and crime reduction\, not just administrative review.\nPublic Access to Data: I will support initiatives that make crime statistics and officer conduct data publicly available online. This allows the community to hold the department accountable through measurable results rather than political rhetoric\n\n\nWhat programs\, funding opportunities\, or policy efforts will you champion that are aimed at improving outcomes for Caribbean-American communities?\n\nStable Property Taxes: I will prioritize stabilizing property taxes and oppose further income tax increases to prevent Caribbean-American homeowners from being “priced out” of their homes as property values rise\, thereby protecting generational wealth.\nPublic Safety as Economic Infrastructure: I will advocate for fully funding the police and School Resource Officers (SROs) to create safe commercial hubs. This policy ensures that Caribbean-owned businesses can thrive in a secure environment\, protecting both customers and owners from theft\, carjacking\, vandalism.\nI will champion the use of Opportunity Zones to revitalize Caribbean-American business corridors like those in East County and Silver Spring.\n\n\n\n 
URL:https://voteforesther.com/event/questionnaire-caribbean-american-political-action-committee-c-pac-2026-candidate-questionnaire/
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DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260331T235959
DTSTAMP:20260418T183327
CREATED:20260321T015946Z
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SUMMARY:QUESTIONNAIRE: Bethesda Today Voter Guide
DESCRIPTION:Bethesda Today Voter Guide Montgomery County Executive \nWhere you live: Montgomery Village \nCurrent occupation and employer: Senior Tax Manager\, Public Utility \nPolitical experience: N/A \nWebsite: VoteforEsther.com \nEmail: VoteforEsther@gmail.com \nSocial media: @ VoteforEsther \nWhy are you running for this office? (100 words maximum) \nIt’s too expensive to live here! My priorities include fiscal discipline\, government accountability\, strengthening the economy\, improving public safety and expanding opportunity through education to reduce cost of living in Montgomery County. \nAs a CPA\, I have the financial expertise and leadership experience to move Montgomery County forward. My career leading tax strategies for multi-national Corporations has generated multi-million-dollar savings. I will apply this rigorous private-sector discipline to balance costs with growth objectives. \nAs President of the Montgomery County Taxpayers League\, I’ve advocated for county taxpayers by supporting appropriate actions to achieve greater efficiency & effectiveness in our county government. \nWhat is the most important issue in this race and what specific plans do you have to address it? (100 words maximum) \nFamilies are being crushed by a crisis of affordability and accountability. To address this\, I will implement: \n\nFiscal Discipline: Streamline Government Operations to include automation of services\, restructure County departments to reduce costs by 20%\nGovernment Accountability & Audits of $7.6B Operating Budget\, focused on procurement\, contracts & grants\, to eliminate waste\, mismanagement\, and misuse of Taxpayers’ funds\nReverse the 4.7% property tax rate hike\nReverse 6.3% property and 3% income tax hike proposed FY2027 Operating Budget\nReduce annual property assessment increases by 50%\n\nMy plan delivers essential tax relief by ensuring every dollar is linked to measurable results. \nWhat is one major issue that has been handled poorly and what would you have done differently? (100 words maximum) \nMCPS’s prolonged COVID-19 school closures severely impacted student well-being and academic success. As one of the last districts to return to in-person learning\, the delay disproportionately harmed students with disabilities\, who lacked essential individualized support. \nState test scores highlight a widening achievement gap: while white and Asian students maintained proficiency levels around 80% (English) and 60% (Math)\, African American and Hispanic proficiency plummeted to 15.7%–22.9% in Math. Furthermore\, virtual learning triggered a mental health crisis\, increasing anxiety and depression. The lack of structure also fueled chronic absenteeism\, disorderly conduct\, and community violence\, underscoring schools’ vital role in social development. \nWhat experience (work\, political or other) has prepared you to hold this office? (100 words maximum) \n\nMaryland CPA with financial expertise and leadership experience leading tax strategies for multi-national Corporations\, which has generated multi-million-dollar savings.\nPresident\, Montgomery County Taxpayers League where I’ve supported appropriate actions to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness in Montgomery County government.\nNAACP Parent Council Representative\, serving to empower minority parents to become active advocates for their children’s education\, ensuring equitable treatment and academic success.\nPresident/Chair of the Board of Trustees of a local faith-based non-profit. Focused on legal and operational oversight\, approving the annual operating/capital budget\, ensuring fiduciary duty compliance and leading strategic planning to advance the non-profit’s mission and financial sustainability.
URL:https://voteforesther.com/event/questionnaire-bethesda-today-voter-guide/
LOCATION:Bethesda Today
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