The Trachtenberg Office Attends the Asian Pacific Affairs Advisory Group (APAAG) Meeting

Naomi Bloch represented the Trachtenberg office at last night's Asian Pacific Affairs Advisory Group (APAAG) meeting that took place at 255 Rockville Pike, Suite 120, in Rockville Maryland.

The group discussed the outcome of the Annual Retreat and the decisions that resulted from this meeting. It was decided that the group would rededicate itself to it's original mission of being a connector between the County and the communities and serving as an advisory body on policy issues.

The four policy priorities for the group:

* Increased participation on Boards, Commissions and Committees as well as increased workforce diversity in Montgomery County.
* Small Business Support
* Nonprofit Support
* Access to Services

The meeting schedule for APAAG will change to include four meetings of the entire group annually; two to be with the County Executive; One to address the group's priorities and the second to talk about the budget. The four policy priority committees would meet separately in order to advance their work on the four identified priority areas listed above.

Finally two upcoming events were discussed:

* Meeting with Steve Silverman, Director of Economic Development -
Thursday, March 25th, 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. - 111 Rockville Pike, 8th Floor.

* Asian American Community Resource Fair (APA Month kick-off event)
Saturday - May 8th from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. in the Executive Office Building (EOB) Cafeteria & Auditorium

The next meeting: Thursday, March 11, 7:00 p.m. - 255 Rockville Pike, Suite 120

For more information about this group, click here.

Councilmember Trachtenberg Meets with the Asian American Health Initiative Steering Committee

Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg met yesterday with the Asian American Health Initiative (AAHI) Steering Committee to talk about its priorities, goals and challenges for Fiscal Year 2011.

The Asian American Health Initiative (AAHI) was established and funded in Fiscal Year 2005 to help eliminate health disparities that exist between Asian Americans and their non-Asian counterparts. It is part of the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services—Office of Minority and Multicultural Health. The AAHI's purpose is to develop appropriate health programs that meet the needs of a diverse group of Asian Americans living in the County.

AAHI’s goals are:

• To conduct an in-depth data collection, analysis and reporting of health status for the different ethnic groups in the Asian American Community.
• To expand and improve the existing health services available to Asian Americans.
• To ensure the availability of quality health care directed to the specific needs of the different ethnic groups in the community.
• To provide outreach programs to inform and educate the different ethnic groups about the accessibility and the availability of health care services.
• To ensure that all ethnic groups in the Asian American Community have their fair share of health care by eliminating barriers.

For more information, visit: http://www.aahiinfo.org/.

Naomi Bloch, Community Liaison for Councilmember Trachtenberg, and Wil Gutierrez, Administrative Assistant, were also present at the meeting.

Councilmember Trachtenberg Meets with Asian American Business Leaders

Councilmember Trachtenberg met yesterday afternoon with a group of Asian American business leaders to talk about the community’s concerns regarding job growth and the need for a more comprehensive over-all vision for the Gaithersburg West/”Science City”. The group emphasized the need for attracting and retaining Asian businesses and Asian science and medical research professionals and their families in Maryland and Montgomery County, in particular.

Councilmember Trachtenberg explained that she also felt a desire for more specificity in the over-all plan being advanced and asked that these leaders write up a very clear proposal of their needs, ideas and concerns regarding this development project and make sure that all the Councilmembers received such proposal.