Representative Trone opens new office in Frederick to reach constituents
Rep David Trone cutting the ribbon at his Frederick District Office opening.
Maryland District six Representative David Trone hosted the grand opening of his Frederick District Office on January 24 and hopes to address the opioid crisis and mental health, as well as help those in Fredrick who are vulnerable.
County council member Kai Hagan, Mayor of the City of Frederick Michael O’Connor, Maryland State District Delegates Karen Lewis Young and Ken Kerr, and many other Frederick County and Maryland State officials were in attendance and were given short introductions as the event began. Afterward, Trone received recognition and certificates for the work he has done in the community.
“I always talk about how we connect local government, with the state government, with the federal government… [and] by putting this office here, and three other offices in Gaithersburg, Hagerstown, and Cumberland… we can all work together with the senators. We have a great delegation,” Trone said. The new Frederick District Office and the Gaithersburg District Office are open on Mondays and Thursdays, from 9am to 5pm. Other times require an appointment.
“We really went out to [advocate] for folks and try and take care of those problems on immigration, veteran’s problems, Medicaid, Social Security, all those areas [where] we can really help make a difference,” Trone added. “We need our local and state partners to feed those problems to our office… There’s no problem that’s too small. The Democratic Party [is about] helping those that are vulnerable.”
“Climate change is the most important [issue] out there if we’re going to think long term. It’s a myriad of complexity,” Trone said. “We have to be honest with ourselves; until we get a change [in president] next January, we’re not going to make any progress on [climate change]. But once we do, we’ve got to be hammering on it. Because if we don’t, we’re fools. We’re letting down our kids, and their kids, etc.”
“The other piece is mental health. It’s co-occurring with [opioid] addiction. [We’re] thinking about depression, anxiety, [and] trauma that Americans all over are facing, and only 40 percent or so gets addressed. So we really got to zero in on mental health. It’s crucial,” Trone said.
Trone laid out plans for possible initiatives for Montgomery County Public Schools in order to become more involved and make strides in mental health awareness and advocacy.
“One of the biggest issues [on mental health] is the shortage of mental health professionals. When you look at schools: high schools, colleges, middle schools, we don’t have enough trained people that can really work in the mental health field,” Trone said. “We’re working on ideas [of] how to provide loan forgiveness for people entering the mental health field, [which would create] more residency slots for folks that are in the mental health [field], and become psychiatrists, psychologists, etc.”
“[The] three campaigns I talk about [the most] are what I call the three C’s. Compassion: helping those [who need] some help. Civility: trying to treat everybody with respect, [trying to] connect with colleagues across the aisle, and [determining] how we can move forward together. [And] competence: [we] want people to be able to see the goal, develop a plan to get there, a team to get there together, and then move forward,” Trone added. “It’s important for Maryland, [and] it’s important for the country.”
Trone emphasizes the importance of bipartisanship and making progress. “Every bill is bipartisan. If we’re not bipartisan, it’s not going to go through the Senate. We have no chance. And we wasted our time. And I’m not there to waste my time and my life and not to drive stuff that can actually change things for folks,” Trone said.
“We got to have a presence. We got to be in the community. We can’t say [to our constituents] ‘oh go drive to [the] Gaithersburg [office].’ That’s just not going to cut it,” Trone added. “We’ve got to be here to be a part of the fabric in the community.”
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