As Montgomery County, Maryland, gets ready for Phase Two of its reopening Friday, some county workers are chipping in to make sure the process is going smoothly.
They鈥檙e normally charged with enforcing the county鈥檚 housing code, but amid the coronavirus pandemic, they鈥檝e been pressed into service as 鈥渁mbassadors鈥� to businesses that are opening back up.
鈥淭ypically, we do rental inspections,鈥� said Dan McHugh, who manages housing code enforcement in the county. Some of that enforcement work has been put on hold during the pandemic. McHugh called the new role 鈥渢otally different鈥� than what they鈥檙e used to.
The 19 ambassadors are checking to see whether businesses are following the current guidelines, while also offering resources that may be helpful.
鈥淚f there鈥檚 questions that we can鈥檛 address, we try to get the answers,鈥� McHugh said.
He added that there鈥檚 been some confusion about what guidelines to follow, since Montgomery County鈥檚 have differed from Maryland鈥檚.
While their role is education rather than enforcement, McHugh said if they follow up with a business and see that it is not complying with guidelines, that business could be referred to the county Department of Health and Human Services for possible enforcement action.
As of Thursday morning, the ambassadors had visited 1,300 businesses in the county.
The initiative began in the hard-hit Silver Spring area last week, McHugh said.
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