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Council interviews Sean Ellis as nominee to lead Office of Community Partnerships
Summary
The Council interviewed Sean Ellis, the county executive's nominee to direct the Office of Community Partnerships, who emphasized language access, outreach strategies (Spanish WhatsApp, Haitian Creole planning) and advisory group expansion; Ellis said he has no conflicts to disclose.
The Montgomery County Council interviewed Sean Ellis on Nov. 12 as the County Executive’s nominee to be director of the Office of Community Partnerships.
Rich Maddalino, the chief administrative officer, introduced Ellis and asked the Council to confirm him. Ellis described his local roots, work on the 2020 census outreach, and efforts to reach communities in languages they use. “For us it started with developing an in‑language account on Facebook in Spanish, but we pivoted to WhatsApp because we knew that folks…are using WhatsApp,” Ellis said, adding the office has a Spanish WhatsApp account and is exploring a Haitian‑Creole channel.
Ellis told the Council he plans to expand community advisory groups and strengthen two‑way communications between the Office and the Council and county agencies. When asked whether he had conflicts of interest, Ellis answered no.
Councilmembers followed with questions about how OCP will reach hard‑to‑count and non‑participating communities, how staff liaisons will be deployed, and how the office will coordinate with faith‑based and other community partners. Ellis proposed quarterly or biannual briefings to the Council and pledged to deepen partnerships with regional and community organizations.
The interview concluded with no vote recorded at the session; Councilmembers said they would be in touch about next steps.
