Activist, entrepreneur Ahmad running for council

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

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Ahmad, 68, joins almost 15 candidates, including three incumbents, vying for the four at-large council seats.

High on his list of platform priorities are the traditional countywide items of concern, including traffic congestion relief, protecting the Agricultural Reserve and providing more affordable housing.

‘‘Everything is so connected to the growth of the last seven or eight years that infrastructure has not been able to keep up with it,” Ahmad said. If elected, Ahmad will propose increasing the number of buses and the frequency of routes traveled in the county’s busiest areas. The bus service increases are needed, he said, because other transportation solutions like the Purple Line and the Intercounty Connector are still years away.

Also on his platform is increasing accountability of county offices in the aftermath of the Clarksburg planning ordeal. To foster the increased accountability, Ahmad is proposing increasing the activities of the county’s inspector general and boosting that office’s budget.

‘‘This [current] council has been more or less not actively interested in protecting the interests of the community at-large and can’t say no to more development,” Ahmad said. ‘‘A lot of development has been done at a fast pace without the infrastructure and facilities that need to be built. If not checked right now, there could be some problems.”

Much of Ahmad’s campaign is based on his business leadership and his great amount of civic service. The 33-year county resident has been involved in a number of neighborhood and district associations, in addition to serving in a number of Democratic district leadership positions.

‘‘I decided to run this year because I’ve worked at the local level and have learned how government works,” Ahmad said. ‘‘I am free from office work because my children are working with the family business. I figured now is the time for me.”

A recent fund-raiser netted Ahmad about $31,000, not enough for a race in which he expects to spend about $200,000, he said.

Tufail Ahmad

County Council At large

68, Potomac

Democrat

Experience: Chair, Dist. 15 Democratic Caucus; Board member, Committee for Montgomery and Progressive Maryland

Issues: Less traffic congestion with increased bus routes, reducing school class sizes and more money to combat gang violence

Web site: www.tufailahmad.org