Katz to Change Hats
When Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney Katz leaves the post he’s held for 16 years to take his seat on the Montgomery County Council he won’t need a moving truck to pack up his things.
After 16 years as mayor and 20 years on the city council, Katz said he has just one photograph given to him by Sen. Barbara Mikulski,(D-Md.) that he’ll want to take with him. The popular mayor has not only been a familiar face on the dais, he’s been a store owner of Wolfson’s Department Store in Gaithersburg’s Olde Towne before closing the shop in October 2013.
“I’m not leaving the area. I will be as involved and more involved in the community than I have been before,” Katz said Wednesday, one day after he captured 40 percent of the vote in the Primary Election to beat Rockville City Councilman Tom Moore and Gaithersburg City Councilman Ryan Spiegel for the District 3 seat.
Katz said he looks back at his career with the city touting the Wells/Robertson House, a transitional housing program and huge development projects like Kentlands, Lakelands and Rio Washingtonian as some of the major accomplishments during his reign. But, he’ll tell you the successes of the city are those earned by the community and city officials and employees not just a top-down credit.
While Katz won’t say who he thinks should take his place- it’s up to the city council to appoint someone- he will say he believes it will be someone who is very familiar with the city. And he has some advice-
“Always remember you are working for the public and these are not your views but your representative views. You have to keep the public involved,” he said.
Katz said he first wants to get to know his colleagues on the county council. Most appear to be incumbents, according to the unofficial results from the Montgomery County Board of Elections.
He also said he’ll be doing plenty of reading to get background for pending county issues.
“Until you actually throw the football, it is different from watching the game,” Katz said.
Time to move from the County…. Look what he’s done to the city in recent years. Bad decision MC residents…