Politics & Government

Gottfried is a Candidate for City Council

Civic activist and business owner says he would focus on safeguarding schools, city services and parks.

Richard Gottfried, a civic activist and member of the city’s Finance and Budget Task Force, is running for the Rockville City Council.

“It seemed there was an unprecedented opportunity and a need for a citizen-focused candidate to take a place at the table,” Gottfried said in a news release.

The city holds nonpartisan elections in odd-numbered years for the four seats on the City Council and for mayor. This year’s election will take place Nov. 8. Gottfried is one of nine candidates running for the council.

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He ran unsuccessfully for the council in 2007.

“In the current financial climate, every decision should be well thought out,” he said in the release. “Elected officials need to be accountable to the voters who elect them. The chief objective of a good City Council should be to safeguard our important community assets—our schools, services and parks.”

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Gottfried’s top issues, according to the release, are:

  • Protecting schools from overcrowding and holding police and other public services “to excellent standards by keeping our Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance strong.”
  • Advocating for “intelligent and realistic plans” for growth on Rockville Pike and elsewhere “that respect the needs of our residents and serve our neighborhoods instead of serving only private interests.”
  • Preserving Rockville’s parks and open spaces and supporting long-term goals to maintain residents’ quality of life.
  • Ensuring that tax dollars go toward services to residents and not for subsidizing development.
  • Eliminating waste and “providing responsible fiscal management of our community’s resources.”
  • Promoting “open, responsive and accountable government that encourages and values citizen input.”

Gottfried founded the Home Based Business Action Team, which successfully pushed for changes in the 2009 zoning rewrite that protected home-based business owners.

Gottfried has testified before the City Council about the city’s budget and financial management policies, offering suggestions that have been adopted. He also served on the city’s Finance and Budget Task Force.

Gottfried called for “good government” including making the city budget book “more intelligible to citizens” and modernizing the city finance department’s financial software.

He advocated for a $100 tax credit for residents as a way to offset . The council from the fiscal 2012 budget.

In 2008, Gottfried joined other civic activists to successfully push the city to cut costs by hiring an in-house city attorney to replace an outsourced contract for legal services.

Gottfried, 50, is a certified public accountant who owns a home-based business specializing in individual and business tax services. He owns a home in Twinbrook and has served as the Twinbrook Citizens Association’s treasurer for the past four years.

He teaches personal finance, governmental and not-for-profit accounting at several colleges and universities.

Gottfried received the city’s Good Neighbor Award in 2009.

He recently married Stacey Freeman-Gottfried.


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