2026 Candidate Questionnaire
County Executive
Will Jawando (D)
Website: willjawando.com
Find all candidate questionnaires here.
Housing Leadership
In your view, why are many Montgomery County residents struggling to afford housing?
I grew up in Montgomery County watching my mom search for affordable apartments and move us when the rent went up. So this question is not theoretical to me. The affordability crisis is the result of years of decisions that put speculative profit ahead of the people who make this county work.
The core problem is a mismatch. Wages have not kept pace with housing costs, and the county is subsidizing luxury development on the assumption that affordability will trickle down. It hasn't. We are subsidizing units in places like Grosvenor that rent for over eleven thousand dollars a month while families at properties like the Enclave deal with mold, broken elevators, and the constant fear of displacement. Seniors on fixed incomes are getting priced out of the communities they built. Young families cannot afford a starter home. Teachers, nurses, and county workers cannot afford to live where they work.
Several things are driving the squeeze. We have not produced enough housing at the price points people actually need, particularly deeply affordable units. We have allowed naturally occurring affordable housing to disappear through rent spikes and neglect. And our economy is not generating the jobs and wages people need to keep up with the cost of living, which is one of the reasons developers themselves cite for holding back on already-approved projects.
Our existing master plans already have approved zoning capacity for roughly 125,000 new housing units. The county's own pipeline analysis found that zoning was not the primary barrier to those units getting built. A lot of approved capacity is sitting idle because developers are holding out, financing has tightened, and infrastructure has not kept pace. The recent decisions to hand out twenty-year property tax exemptions to luxury developers compound the problem by losing revenue our schools depend on while delivering very little for the people in the deepest need.
What is one housing initiative you would plan to spearhead, if elected?
My approach to housing is built on three words: preserve, protect, and produce. If I had to pick the single initiative I would lead with, it is a major expansion of the Housing Production Fund paired with a county-owned and faith-owned land strategy focused on building workforce housing and deeply affordable units.
I was an original cosponsor of the legislation creating the Housing Production Fund. It works, but it is nowhere near the scale of the problem. As County Executive I will significantly expand it, pair it with land we already control, and partner with churches, nonprofits, and mission-driven developers to build housing that working families and seniors can actually afford.
I want to bring everyone to the table early, set a clear target for the deeply affordable units we need, and structure deals so developers contribute their fair share rather than receive tax breaks for luxury projects. This effort goes hand in hand with strong enforcement of the rent stabilization law I authored, real action against slumlord conditions, and preservation of existing naturally occurring affordable housing before we lose it.
Zoning, Supply, and Housing Prices
In your view, how does current zoning policy in Montgomery County affect the supply and price of housing?
Zoning is one part of a bigger picture. As I noted above, our master plans already have approved capacity for roughly 125,000 new units, and the pipeline analysis found that zoning was not the primary barrier to those units getting built. A lot of approved capacity is being held back by market conditions, financing, construction costs and infrastructure rather than by zoning rules.
That said, zoning still matters in some places. There are corridors near Metro and BRT where gentle-density options like accessory dwelling units and modest multi-family buildings make sense. That is why I introduced ZTA 20-07, the Missing Middle Housing near Metro proposal, why I supported removing parking minimums in transit-served areas, and why I supported expanding our ADU rules. Done thoughtfully, these changes give homeowners and small builders more flexibility without forcing one-size-fits-all upzoning on neighborhoods.
But zoning reform alone will not solve the affordability crisis. Supply alone has not delivered housing affordable to the people in the deepest need, and there is no real incentive for private developers to build at the price points where the squeeze is most severe. We have to produce dedicated affordable units, protect existing ones, and ensure new development comes with the infrastructure and economic foundation to support it.
What changes would you support to Montgomery County’s zoning policies to support greater housing affordability?
My approach is straightforward. I support density near transit when it includes real affordability, realistic infrastructure planning, and genuine community engagement. I do not support a one-size-fits-all upzoning that strips communities of any voice in shaping their neighborhoods, particularly in places that are already absorbing significant growth.
In general I support:
Continuing to allow accessory dwelling units so homeowners can add gentle density and help families with aging parents or adult children.
Continuing to remove parking minimums where transit makes that workable, since required parking drives up the cost of every unit and locks in car dependence.
Making the approval process for genuinely affordable and mixed-income projects faster and more predictable, particularly when projects are at or near transit and meet real affordability standards.
Ensuring inclusionary zoning has teeth. Our MPDU program is a national model, but it needs to be updated so it is producing units affordable to people earning thirty, fifty, and sixty percent of area median income, not just so-called workforce housing affordable to six-figure earners.
A note on infrastructure. Density without infrastructure is not smart growth. As we add housing near transit, we need pervious pavements, urban tree canopy, green infrastructure, and adequate school capacity built in from the start, not added later if the budget allows.
Affordable & Market-Rate Housing
Please explain what you see as the role that each of these types of housing play in the housing landscape in Montgomery County, and the needs they fill for Montgomery County residents:
a. Affordable (subsidized) housing
Subsidized affordable housing is the floor underneath our housing market. It is how we make sure that seniors on Social Security, families working two jobs, people with disabilities, and our lowest-income neighbors actually have a stable place to live in this county. It is the difference between a child being able to focus in school and a child sleeping in a car.
The market on its own does not produce housing for people earning thirty or forty percent of area median income. It does not pencil out. If we want a county where the people who keep Montgomery County running, the bus drivers, teachers' aides, home health workers, cooks, and custodians, can actually live here, then publicly supported affordable housing is non-negotiable. It also stabilizes neighborhoods, keeps kids in their schools, and lets seniors age in place with dignity.
b. Market-rate (unsubsidized) housing
Market-rate housing is part of a healthy market. We need new homes for young families, downsizing seniors, and people moving here for jobs. New construction near transit can take pressure off older garden apartments and modest homes that function as our naturally occurring affordable housing.
But I want to be direct. Market-rate housing alone will not solve affordability for the people in the greatest need. Filtering only works over very long time horizons, and only if we are also protecting existing affordable stock and producing dedicated affordable units. Both have to happen at the same time. We cannot rely on the private market to solve a problem the private market is not built to solve.
What is one policy change in each area that you would pursue, if elected?
a. Affordable (subsidized) housing
I will significantly expand the Housing Production Fund and pair it with a county-owned and faith-owned land strategy. We have land. We have congregations and nonprofits that want to build affordable housing on their property but cannot navigate the financing and approvals on their own. As County Executive I will create a dedicated team to identify viable parcels, fast-track approvals for deeply affordable projects, and provide the gap financing to make the deals work. This is how we produce real units at thirty, fifty, and sixty percent AMI, not just on paper, but in the ground.
b. Market-rate (unsubsidized) housing
I will seek to end the new policy of handing out twenty-year property tax exemptions to luxury market-rate developers. That is foregone revenue our schools, transit, and services depend on, and it has not delivered the affordability we were promised. We need to direct those incentives toward projects that include real affordability, prioritize construction near transit, use union labor, and meet our climate standards. If a developer wants county support, the deal needs to work for residents, not just for shareholders. Done right, this will actually unlock more market-rate construction in the places where it makes the most sense, near jobs and transit, while ensuring that public dollars are tied to real public benefit.
Transportation & Smart Growth
What would you do to prioritize transit frequency and access if elected?
Transit only works if it is frequent, reliable, and affordable. As County Executive I will treat Ride On as core infrastructure, not an afterthought.
My priorities are straightforward. Expand Ride On with significantly increased frequency on the highest-ridership routes, and pursue free or reduced fares because cost is one of the biggest barriers to ridership. Move forward on Bus Rapid Transit, particularly the New Hampshire Avenue BRT and Randolph Road BRT to connect East County to jobs, and the MD 355 BRT as the backbone of our transit network. These projects have been studied to death. It is time to build them.
I will also push for MARC expansion with infill stations, including at Germantown, in coordination with the state. For lower-density parts of the county where fixed routes do not pencil out, I will expand microtransit and on-demand options so upcounty residents are not stranded. And I will work to complete the Purple Line and ensure it works for the communities along the corridor, not just commuters passing through.
Underlying all of this is an equity principle. Right now, the people who depend on transit the most often have the worst service. That is backwards, and I intend to fix it.
What would you do to ensure safe walking and biking access to transit, stores, schools and services for residents of existing and new housing?
You cannot say you support transit and then ignore the half-mile of sidewalk and crosswalk that gets people from their front door to the bus stop. First and last mile connections are where transit either succeeds or fails.
As Education and Culture Committee Chair, I doubled funding for school walkshed assessments because kids walking to school should not be risking their lives in traffic. Even at that pace, we are years away from completing the assessments, let alone building the improvements. As County Executive I will dramatically accelerate this work.
My priorities include protected bike lanes, on streets where real safety improvements are needed. Complete sidewalk networks, especially near schools, transit stops, and affordable housing. Traffic calming in neighborhoods where speeding is killing people. And, full Vision Zero implementation focused on the Equity Focus Areas where pedestrian and cyclist fatalities are concentrated, including hot spots like Georgia Avenue near Randolph Road.
I will also direct MCDOT to expand Capital Bikeshare into Montgomery County communities that have been left out, ensure e-bikes are available throughout the system so hills and distance are not barriers, and prioritize stations near affordable housing, community colleges, and job centers. As we approve new development, complete streets standards need to be built in from the beginning, not added later if the budget allows.
Community Input & Stakeholder Engagement
What organizations, stakeholders, datasets, or other sources of information would you turn to to understand the nuts and bolts of housing policy implementation, and how to craft effective policies that meet Montgomery County’s housing needs?
Good housing policy is built from many sources, and I have worked with most of them in my time on the Council.
On data, I rely on the Montgomery Planning Department's housing and development pipeline analyses, the Department of Housing and Community Affairs, the Housing Opportunities Commission, the Office of Legislative Oversight, and Census and American Community Survey data on cost burden, displacement, and demographics. I look at the Urban Institute, the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard, and the National Low Income Housing Coalition for national context and best practices. I also pay close attention to the data coming out of the Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice, since equity has to be built into how we measure outcomes.
On stakeholders, I will continue to bring together a broad table. That means tenants and tenant organizations like CASA, Jews United for Justice, Renters Alliance, and Progressive Maryland. Affordable housing developers and operators including Montgomery Housing Partnership, Enterprise Community Partners, and the nonprofit and faith-based developers building on church land. Mission-aligned developers willing to build at scale with real affordability. The building trades and labor partners who ensure these projects use prevailing wage and union labor. Civic associations, neighborhood leaders, and residents in the communities most affected by both the housing crisis and new development. Smart growth and transit advocates including the Coalition for Smarter Growth, Montgomery for All, and the Action Committee for Transit. And seniors, people with disabilities, and the social service providers who know their needs.
I also believe in listening to the people who are not usually in the room. Some of the best insights I have gotten on housing have come from sitting down with families in multifamily properties, with seniors trying to age in place, and with young people who have given up on the idea of ever owning a home here. Policy that does not reflect their experience is policy that will fail them.
My approach is to bring all of these voices to the table early, not after a decision has been made, and to use the data honestly even when it complicates the politics. That is how we build a Montgomery Promise that actually delivers.