I didn’t want to write this.
But after nine days of silence from Montgomery County Councilmember Marilyn Balcombe’s office – and a dishearteningly cold, dismissive paragraph of a response from the councilwoman’s chief of staff – I no longer feel I have a choice.
On June 30, I contacted Councilmember Balcombe directly by email.
I wasn’t asking for money, special treatment, or political favors.
I reached out as a local entrepreneur who lives and works in the community she represents.
I reached out about a new and exciting venture, aimed at protecting and empowering older adults in our community.
This isn’t a vanity project. We’re on a mission to address one of the most urgent crises facing our older-adult population: the relentless digital exploitation of vulnerable residents who don’t know where to turn.
Sometimes they turn to their elected officials for help.
But Marilyn Balcombe isn’t interested in helping older adults and their families.
I’ve spoken with countless victims of scams targeting older adults.
I’ve walked daughters and sons through the aftermath of identity theft.
I’ve trained older adults on how to block scam calls, protect their data, and reclaim their online dignity.
And I believed – naively – that my local elected representative might actually care.
What I got instead was nine days of silence.
No call.
No acknowledgment.
Not even an email auto-reply, though Councilwoman Balcombe’s legislative aide, Holly Mancuso, promised in a phone call today that her boss’s office supposedly sends them out.
(I never received an automated response. If I did, I would share it in this article.)
When I followed up with Councilwoman Balcombe via Facebook Messenger on Wednesday morning, July 9, I received a dismissive and snooty message from her, lecturing me that six business days wasn’t “overly long” (In her honest opinion) to wait for a response.
Wait, what?
Marilyn Balcombe’s message was bureaucratic, defensive, and lacked any sense of urgency and self-awareness.
She offered no apology for her delayed response.
I would have even appreciated fake curiosity, but I didn’t even get that.
Nope – I received a discourteous response from someone who was so clearly annoyed that she had to respond to me at all.
And after Marilyn Balcombe belaboringly responds to my message, what does she do?
Oh, it gets better…
Montgomery County Councilmember Marilyn Balcombe turns petty and immediately removes me as a friend on Facebook.
LOL, what?
She didn’t want to hear, especially from me, that she and her council office dropped the ball, and that her response time to a basic email inquiry is nothing short of unacceptable.
I don’t care that Marilyn Balcombe removed me as a Facebook friend. We aren’t friends. We’re casual acquaintances at best. I don’t know her personally, and I don’t operate in far-left progressive circles.
I reached out to her, especially, because I once considered her and a couple of other council members the lone voices of sanity in a sea of Will Jawandos and Kristin Minks.
Want to hear something funny?
Marilyn Balcome wrote to me in a Facebook message in November 2018: “I need to hire you as my campaign manager.”
That’s very flattering, Dr. Balcombe. I appreciate that. Maybe back then, I would have jumped at the opportunity.
But I don’t think I could work with someone who has such disdain and disregard for Montgomery County taxpayers and future job creators.
I was once campaign manager material for Dr. Balcombe when I was brining her on the podcast and placing her campaign signs in our front yard, much to the chagrin of my wife, who warned me that once she’s elected to the council, she’ll undoubtedly ignore her constituents and take refuge among the other out-of-touch elitists.
My wife was right, of course. She’s always right. I should have listened to her.
I would like to share that I did finally receive a follow-up message from Councilwoman Balcombe’s office: a brief email, written not by the councilmember herself but by her chief of staff, Craig Wilson.
The full message?
One paragraph, copy-pasted, referring me to the county’s business center.
“The Montgomery County Business Center can assist with your startup. Please feel free to reach out to Naddia Clute…”
That was it.
No meeting offer.
Not even an email introduction.
I was dismissed by somebody whose salary we pay.
No phone call.
No engagement.
No basic curiosity about a mission-driven business directly serving older adults in the district.
And this is what passes for constituent services in 2025 in Montgomery County?
Can you believe that Marilyn Balcombe sits on the County Council’s Economic Development Committee, the very body charged with helping businesses grow and thrive in Montgomery County?
If she cannot even engage with the same people trying their best to solve a critical problem among older adults, what is she even doing on the council?
Let’s call it what it is: She has a performative title on a resume padded with indifference.
And, apparently, this isn’t just my experience.
This afternoon, several older adults in Germantown, whom Balcombe directly represents, have shared their frustrations about her office’s constituent services in a lively discussion. They tell me her office doesn’t return phone calls. Emails go unacknowledged. Requests for help are ignored or funneled into bureaucratic black holes.
I share their concerns.
These humble folks aren’t lobbyists.
They aren’t insiders or big-dollar donors.
They’re good, decent, honorable people: retired teachers, caregivers, proud immigrants, civically engaged older adults.
Marilyn Balcombe’s silence – and the cold, indifferent deflection by her staff – is not just a failure of etiquette. It is a fundamental breach of duty.
It’s a dereliction of the most basic role of a public servant: to serve.
Elected officials like Marilyn Balcombe don’t work above us.
They work for us.
And when they treat ordinary citizens like interruptions instead of partners, it reveals everything that’s broken in politics:
-
An elitist detachment from the very communities they claim to champion.
-
A bureaucratic mindset that views residents as nuisances, not people.
-
A performative professionalism that vanishes the moment you need real help.
This county frequently discusses equity, innovation, inclusion, and empowering small businesses.
It’s nonsense.
However, when it comes to actually supporting people trying to improve their community, entrenched establishment-type politicians like Marilyn Balcombe are rarely seen.
They’re spending their time virtue signaling wherever a camera is willing to follow them. In Montgomery County, that’s pretty much everywhere they go.
I’ve met countless elected officials across Maryland who excel at constituent services.
They show up, roll up their sleeves, and lend a hand.
But Marilyn Balcombe?
She didn’t even lift a finger.
Montgomery County voters, take note: This is the level of service you can expect if we re-elect Marilyn Balcombe.
Are you a small business owner looking for resources and support from Marilyn Balcombe’s office?
Good luck.
If you’re an older adult seeking assistance from Mairlyn Balcombe’s council office, don’t hold your breath.
If you’re a resident reaching out in good faith about an issue important to you, Marilyn Balcombe doesn’t want to help you.
Montgomery County deserves better than passive silence dressed up as leadership.
We deserve councilmembers who care, who engage, who hustle, who call back – not just during election season, but every single day.
A Miner Detail will never stop holding them accountable.
