{"id":13941,"date":"2020-10-08T13:14:14","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T17:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=13941"},"modified":"2020-10-08T13:14:19","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T17:14:19","slug":"instability-continues-at-worksource-montgomery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=13941","title":{"rendered":"Instability Continues at WorkSource Montgomery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Adam Pagnucco.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WorkSource Montgomery<\/a> (WSM) is a non-profit designated by the county government as its workforce development organization. WSM helps match job seekers with employers through its job centers<\/a> and a range of other services designed to enhance the functioning of the county\u2019s labor market. It is funded with a combination of federal, state, county and private money<\/a>. But at a time of the greatest need for its services \u2013 a devastating recession \u2013 WSM is in a leadership crisis that the county council is blaming on County Executive Marc Elrich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The council\u2019s dissatisfaction with WSM peaked last year after a number of revelations<\/a> suggested that the organization was struggling to fulfill its mission. The council responded by passing legislation<\/a> enabling \u2013 but not mandating \u2013 the designation of a \u201cpublic educational institution\u201d as the county\u2019s workforce development organization, thereby potentially revoking WSM\u2019s portfolio. The public educational institution the council had in mind was Montgomery College, but to date, my sources tell me that the college has not taken over WSM\u2019s work. WSM survived but its CEO announced her resignation in August 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, WSM landed Leonard Howie<\/a> as its interim CEO. Howie is a well-regarded former state labor secretary who also held senior positions in the U.S. Department of Labor. The council enthusiastically supported him and told the executive branch that they wanted Howie hired as the full-time CEO. Technically, the CEO reports to WSM\u2019s board but informally the county executive has influence over the hiring process. Furthermore, WSM\u2019s relationship with the executive branch is critical to its ability to operate. The council was optimistic that Howie could get WSM to a better place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But something went wrong and Howie is leaving. Multiple sources report that Elrich wanted another candidate to be considered but that person withdrew. According to the council, when WSM offered the full-time job to Howie, he also withdrew. Now WSM is back to square one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three council members \u2013 Sidney Katz (the current council president), Craig Rice (the education and culture committee chair) and Hans Riemer (the planning and economic development chair) \u2013 wrote a blistering letter to Elrich accusing him of fumbling the ball. This quote from the letter conveys its tone:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the County\u2019s highest elected official, you are directly chartered with great responsibility for our workforce programming by the Federal and State government. To be here at this point, without a permanent CEO for Worksource Montgomery, with a skeletal staff and few if any programs in place during a period of unprecedented workforce change and high unemployment is causing tremendous distress for county residents, and is unacceptable.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wherever the responsibility lies, the tumult within the agency is a huge problem for the county. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, MoCo\u2019s unemployment rate was 6.8% in August \u2013 lower than the 9.0% reported in May but still double the county\u2019s pre-COVID rates. Nearly 39,000 county residents are unemployed and seeking work. WSM\u2019s functions are more badly needed than ever. In the wake of this incident, what highly qualified applicants will be interested in leading WSM now? That\u2019s a question that has to weigh heavily on the county\u2019s leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter from Katz, Rice and Riemer to Elrich is reprinted below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

October 6, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

County Executive Marc Elrich
Executive Office Building
101 Monroe Street, 2nd Floor
Rockville, MD 20850<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear County Executive Elrich:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Council President and Chairs of the Council Committees charged with overseeing workforce development policy in Montgomery County, we were disturbed to learn that Leonard Howie, former Maryland Secretary of Labor and presently the Interim CEO of WorkSource Montgomery (WSM), recently declined the organization\u2019s offer to be named full-time CEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since Mr. Howie was first announced as Interim CEO, Councilmembers have repeatedly and publicly expressed great confidence in his leadership. We have stated our belief that he has the ability to get our workforce programming back on track from the debilitating crisis of the past year and a half. Not only have Council members noted Mr. Howie\u2019s capabilities, but when we were consulted in July about how we wanted to participate in a hiring process for the position, the Council communicated to your office and WSM\u2019s chair our strong support for hiring Mr. Howie rather than reopening a hiring process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since learning about his planned departure, Councilmembers have heard conflicting information about the search process and reason for Mr. Howie\u2019s decision. To discuss this issue and your process to ensure the County\u2019s workforce development system is well-positioned for our residents as we seek to recover from COVID-19, a joint Planning, Housing, and Economic Development (PHED) and Education and Culture (E&C) committee session is tentatively scheduled for 1:30pm on Wednesday, October 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the County\u2019s highest elected official, you are directly chartered with great responsibility for our workforce programming by the Federal and State government. To be here at this point, without a permanent CEO for Worksource Montgomery, with a skeletal staff and few if any programs in place during a period of unprecedented workforce change and high unemployment is causing tremendous distress for county residents, and is unacceptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below are questions that we ask you and your staff to answer in preparation for the upcoming meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please provide written responses before the meeting, so we can include them in the public record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Council has been actively and deeply involved in enhancing and improving our workforce development system. The second section of the memorandum details our more recent work for your reference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions regarding WSM\u2019s CEO search and future direction<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cf Can you provide a list of the actions your administration took to address the deficiencies in the County\u2019s workforce development system from the announcement of Dr. Giles resignation as the WSM CEO to the announcement of Mr. Howie\u2019s decision not to accept the position?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cf What instructions did you or your staff provide to the Workforce Development Board regarding the CEO position for the organization?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cf What were the reason(s) that Mr. Howie shared for his decision to not accept the board\u2019s offer to be CEO of WSM?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cf Does the Workforce Development Board have any additional vetted candidates for the CEO position?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cf If there are no additional vetted candidates for the CEO position, what is the anticipated timeline and approach for the new CEO search?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cf If a new CEO search must be conducted, what is your administration\u2019s strategy and approach to ensure continuity in the organization\u2019s mission and obligations?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cf What is the status of the \u201ccombined\u201d Workforce Development Board and the WorkSource Montgomery Board?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cf What is your administration\u2019s strategy and approach, generally, to the County\u2019s workforce development system?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent history on the Council\u2019s efforts to enhance the County\u2019s workforce development system<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Council and its committees have conducted several discussions and worksessions on this topic since the new Council was elected in 2018. Below is an abbreviated history of the major items that were before the Council or its committees. This list does not include the numerous meetings between you and individual Councilmembers and our staff about this topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cf The Council discussed the workforce development continuum on March 5, 2019. Many Councilmembers communicated their disappointment at the quality of the efforts of WSM since its inception in 2015. The Council indicated its support of reconstituting the Workforce Development Board as an immediate action by your administration to \u201cright the ship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cf To strengthen the Correctional Facility job center, the Council added resources to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCR) budget in the FY20 Operating Budget. Following the March 5, 2019 discussion and subsequent follow up by WSM, the Council was not satisfied with WSM\u2019s efforts with the Correctional Facility\u2019s job center and provided these critical resources to DOCR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cf The Council adopted legislation to expand its options to designate the County\u2019s Workforce Development Entity in October 2019. The Council continued to be dismayed at the lack of urgency from your administration and WSM\u2019s leadership to address the issues plaguing the County\u2019s workforce development system. This legislation provided an option to change the designation of the workforce entity to a new organization should Council action be required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cf The joint committees (PHED and E&C) discussed an update with WSM and Mr. Fletcher, Assistant County Administrative Officer, on November 19, 2019. After nine months of engagement, it was unacceptable to learn from Mr. Fletcher that the executive branch lacked a detailed vision and that efforts to reconstitute the Workforce Development Board were still in process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cf The Council in various resolutions appointed your designated members to the Workforce Development Board in April and May 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cf The joint committees (PHED and E&C) received an update from WSM and Montgomery College about the County\u2019s workforce development efforts, with particular focus on issues due to COVID-19 on June 18, 2020. The committees were thrilled with Mr. Howie\u2019s efforts to orient the reconstituted Workforce Development Board and address the many of the previous deficiencies of WSM. The joint committees, and subsequently the Council, voiced their support for Mr. Howie to become the full-time CEO for the organization believing he would generate the workforce development product our County sorely needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sidney Katz
Council President<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hans Riemer
Chair
Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Craig Rice
Chair
Education and Culture Committee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Adam Pagnucco. WorkSource Montgomery (WSM) is a non-profit designated by the county government as its workforce development organization. WSM helps match job seekers with employers through its job centers and a range of other services designed to enhance the functioning of the county\u2019s labor market. It is funded with a combination of federal, state, … Continue reading Instability Continues at WorkSource Montgomery<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[151,338,2373],"tags":[1545,1993,2374,2401],"class_list":["post-13941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adam-pagnucco","category-economy","category-unemployment","tag-adam-pagnucco","tag-economy","tag-unemployment","tag-worksource-montgomery"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4mKJE-3CR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13941"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13943,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13941\/revisions\/13943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}