‘Going home’: Montgomery County Council member stepping down to lead Recreation Department

Two-term Montgomery County Council member Gabe Albornoz stated he s resigning his post as council member to return to leading the county s Department of Recreation Albornoz publicized last week he would be stepping down effective Dec a move that will trigger an appointment process for the period remaining in his term until December of More stories How Montgomery County will fill Gabe Albornoz's seat Amid uncertainty and chaos Montgomery County examines the medical of retail Montgomery County schools see sharp decrease in novice enrollment In an interview with WTOP Albornoz who led the recreation department from to noted it was the job I ve enjoyed preponderance throughout my entire professional career The years that I spent as the director of the recreation department were extraordinary years and I can t wait to go back and have the opportunity to work with selected pretty amazing people he disclosed Albornoz and a lifelong resident of Montgomery County Maryland is stepping into an appointed position as recreation director and will be serving under County Executive Marc Elrich who will be leaving office after two terms in Albornoz was sought about taking a job that will subject him to another appointment process under the next county executive I have a high degree of confidence that my function to the county has been pretty well documented and I think I could bring a lot to the table to the next administration Albornoz narrated WTOP Three of Albornoz s colleagues on the council Andrew Friedson Evan Glass and Will Jawando are running for county executive Albornoz denied discussing his new position and the fact that he d be subjected to a future appointment process with those council members No I have not talked to them specifically about this position moving forward he replied I think all three of them are just focused on winning their races right now Albornoz would be stepping into the position at a time when Montgomery County s fiscal outlook appears challenging what about When the council communicated a billion operating budget for fiscal year in May Albornoz notified his colleagues they would have to be extremely cautious with budgets moving forward due to the economic outlook for the county Now he expressed confidence about having to weather likely budget cuts as the head of a county agency Albornoz commented he served through the recession the Department of Recreation s budget was cut by more than a third over the module of three fiscal years and a lot of staff had to be let go and a lot of programs had to be cut Once he attempts into the office of recreation director Albornoz stated one of the things he wants to do is focus on work opportunities for young people such as TeenWorks a project that was introduced during his past tenure with the department We re going to have to go back to that and expand that project because what I do foresee over the next several years it s going to be a really tough workforce conditions Albornoz reported Questioned about his decision not to run for office again Albornoz reported he consulted with people he trusted and he had his family in mind Being in elected office is certainly complex on the elected officers themselves but especially on their families he disclosed It s a lot of nights it s a lot of weekends it s a lot of stress and they absorb all of that along there with you For Albornoz heading back to leading the job he enjoyed most of in his professional career was like going home Source