Montgomery County Council Member Steve Silverman said Wednesday that he favors two candidates with county Planning Board experience to fill its top spot.
Those candidates are Royce Hanson and John Robinson. Hanson chaired the board from 1972 to 1981; Robinson currently serves on the board.
“Those two are clearly more up-to-date on more of the issues that the Planning Board will have to wrestle with,” said Silverman, who chairs the Council’s planning, housing and economic development committee. “I’m not sure I would say that they have a leg up. All nine of us look for different things in different people.”
Silverman’s comments came the day after the Council finished interviewing candidates for the job, which generally is considered the most powerful non-elected position in the county.
The Council is expected to pick a new chair from its pool of nine candidates July 25 after getting input from other organizations, including the county civic federation.
The remaining seven candidates represent a wide-swath of experience from across the country and have worked in the public and private sectors.
One candidate, Arthur Brodsky, of Olney, lists on his resume former jobs in public relations and as an editor at Congressional Quarterly, a magazine covering Capitol Hill. The Council interviewed Brodsky during its June 13 meeting.
Another candidate, William Dodge, wrote a book on planning titled Regional Excellence.
He told Council members during a public interview Tuesday that he had no ties to special interests and added that the county should work with neighboring regions to maximize its potential.
“We need to engageneighbors in any sort of planning process we engage in,” Dodge told the council.
The Planning Board chair oversees all major development efforts in the county, which has nearly 1 million residents and is among the most affluent in the nation. Hence, the job carries political weight.
“That’s the way it’s generally perceived,” Silverman said.
Planning Board Chairman Derick Berlage took himself out of consideration for the position last month. During his term, allegations arose that board members approved numerous code violations in Clarksburg Town Center projects behind closed doors.
Plan to vote for
Candidates for the Montgomery County Planning Board chairman job are:
William R. Dodge, Jr.
Wendell M. Holloway
Devin L. Battley
John M. Robinson
Michele M. Rosenfeld
David C. Gardner
Arthur Brodsky
Alan Steele Bowser
Royce Hanson
