Aoyagi's résumé indicates that he has spent much of his career overseeing transportation issues but has spent the last four years working in the disaster response business.
Between 1974 and 1978, Aoyagi managed intercity and three local bus operations in Boulder, Colo. From 1978 to 1981, he was executive director of the Westport Transit District in Westport, Conn.
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After that, he spent five years as the general manager of the Salem Area Mass Transit District in Salem, Ore.
In 1985, he took over as the chief of Montgomery's Division of Transit Services. A decade later, he became an assistant chief administrative officer in the Duncan administration, a position he held until 1998.
He then became the county's fire administrator. In that position he oversaw 1,800 career and volunteer firefighters. He was also responsible for emergency medical services, the 911 call center and chaired the local emergency planning council.
And, according to his résumé, he played a key role in emergency operations leading up to Y2K and the management of the county's response to Hurricane Isabel, several snow and ice storms, the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon and the anthrax attacks that followed.
Last year, Aoyagi attended an International Association of Fire Chief's conference on weapons of mass destruction.
Unions Split on Hurson's Seat
The politically influential county government employees unions are split over who should replace Democratic Del. John A. Hurson in District 18.
According to sources, the firefighters, teachers and government workers unions each voted to endorse a separate candidate in the district, which includes Kensington and parts of Silver Spring.
The firefighters voted tentatively to back Vic Weissberg , a member of the Democratic Central Committee. The Municipal and County Government Employees Organization decided on Adam Luecking , who works at the University of Maryland. The teachers union leaned toward Jeff Waldstreicher , an attorney.
"There was no consensus on a single candidate," said Gino Renne , president of the Municipal and County Government Employees union.
Since the unions haven't coalesced around a single candidate, it remains to be seen whether the individual unions will formally endorse their respective choices or opt to stay neutral as a show of unity.
