Interviews begin today for one of Montgomery County’s most important non-elected positions: chairman of the Planning Board, which oversees all major development efforts.
County Council members will question a trio of candidates this morning in a public meeting, with six more scheduled for interviews a week later.
Current Planning Board Chairman Derick Berlage took himself out of consideration for another four-year term last month. He’ll finish out his term Wednesday.
County Council President George Leventhal on Monday said his goal is a new beginning for the struggling board.
“We’ve had a very difficult year, and the next chairman will have to work to raise the public’s confidence in the board,” he said. “It’s a big task.”
During Berlage’s term, allegations arose that Planning Board members, behind closed doors, approved numerous building code violations in the Clarksburg Town Center projects.
Leventhal said the field of nine finalists to replace Berlage was whittled down from 14. Council members extended the application deadline from April 12 to May 31 to encourage more people to apply after only a handful expressed interest.
The council will make its final selection next month, after some public input.
“Several community groups want to have forums, so we want to leave time for that,” Leventhal said.
The three applicants being interviewed today are Arthur Brodsky, Alan Steele Bowser and Royce Hanson.
In his resume, Brodsky describes himself as the former president and current executive vice president of the Greater Olney Civic Association.
Bowser is a private-practice attorney in Montgomery County. He also has served as an economist for the Treasury Department and a legislative assistant in the House of Representatives.
Hanson, who was chairman of the Planning Board from 1972-81, is a former dean of the School of Social Science at the University of Texas at Dallas and the former interim director of the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education in Baltimore County.
