ft. At-Large Montgomery County Councilman Gabriel Albornoz. Arinze sits down with Gabe to discuss his ongoing fight to stop the vaping industry from targeting Montgomery County school children. Gabe opens up about his experience with the County’s new public financing system for local races (17:00) and its ability to bring equity into the political process. Arinze asks why Gabe he spent time knocking “non-traditional” doors during his campaign and the two delve into the benefits of encouraging new constituencies to participate in civic engagement (21:00). Gabe says that the County is a microcosm of the broader U.S. economy (28:00) and he’s working to bring equity to Montgomery County’s communities through his new equity bill (31:00). Finally, Arinze and Gabe discuss the impact of Trump’s racist rhetoric on local immigrant communities. And they do a deep dive on difficulties Gabe and his colleagues face as they try to maintain their immigrant constituent’s trust in the face of heightened immigration enforcement activities; a recent pro ICE rally; and conflicting messages from the courts, census bureau, and others about immigration status impacts (35:00).