Questions and doubts are flying in some circles over Ike Leggett’s pick for Montgomery County’s Health and Human Services department chair, the former head of Washington state’s child welfare agency, who was forced out by harsh criticisms from the governor about overspending and child deaths.
Since finding out about Uma Ahluwalia’s past problems, County Council members are expressing skepticism over her selection, while the union that represents more than a thousand of the HHS employees is outraged employees were so blatantly left out of the decision-making process and that the Montgomery County executive made such a risky pick.
Gino Renne, president of UFCW Local 1994, said he’s extremely disappointed Leggett unilaterally decided on Ahluwalia.
He said her appointment could cast a large shadow over a department that’s “been plagued with poor management for years.”
“I don’t understand how he could bring someone here with as poor a track record as hers,” he told The Examiner. “It’s not even fair to the appointee because they’re coming in with a cloud of suspicion.”
Ahluwalia contends that in Washington state, she had no choice but to spend $12 million more than what was dictated in the budget to make needed reforms to a broken system and that the child deaths that occurred during her tenure were not her fault.
Rather, she told The Examiner, she was a scapegoat as the new governor entered office and had to point the finger at someone.
But Renne said the feeling among his members is that if she was a quality public servant, as claimed, “Ahluwalia would have made progress, not continued to have problems” in the state agency.
The County Council must confirm Leggett’s selection. Council Member Marc Elrich said his sense is that any questions were “vetted and cleared before [Leggett] made his choice” but that he is very interested in finding out the realities of what happened in Washington state under Ahluwalia’s watch.
Fellow Council Member RogerBerliner, a member of the council’s Health and Human Services Department, similarly said he hopes to find out whether she truly is the best candidate for the job.
“I will want to know — as my colleagues will, too — what the county executive knew when he chose her,” Berliner said.
Leggett spokesman Patrick Lacefield has told The Examiner the county’s top leader was well aware of the circumstances surrounding Ahluwalia’s exit from Washington state because she brought it up during the interview process.
