By Adam Pagnucco.
Last fall, the county council obtained the resignations of the entire planning board and appointed a temporary group as caretakers. Now they are in the process of replacing the caretakers with regular members. They are now filling three seats – one each for a Democrat, Republican and unaffiliated voter – and will fill the remaining two seats, including the chair later.
This morning, the council posted the current list of applicants on its website along with their party affiliations. Here are a few of them I recognize.
Cherri Branson (Democrat) – A former Capitol Hill staffer and director of procurement for Ike Leggett, she was a temporary appointed council member representing the old District 5 (Silver Spring/Takoma Park/East County) in 2014. Branson is currently a temporary planning board member and would like to become a regular member.
James Hedrick (Democrat) – A former candidate for Rockville City Council in 2019, Hedrick is active in the pro-housing YIMBY MoCo Facebook group. He is a senior financial analyst with the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chair of Rockville Housing Enterprises, the City of Rockville’s public housing agency.
Mitra Pedoeem (Unaffiliated) – Has decades of experience at the county’s transportation department, parks department and office of management and budget. Most recently, she was the county’s director of permitting and retired from that position last year.
David Winstead (Republican) – A land use attorney, long-time member of the Chevy Chase Village Board of Managers and Secretary of Transportation under former Governor Parris Glendening.
John Zittrauer (Democrat) – A county council candidate in District 4 (Silver Spring/Takoma Park/Kensington/North Bethesda), he finished fourth of five candidates in the 2022 primary.
Gerald Cichy (Republican) and Tina Patterson (Unaffiliated) – These two were members of the planning board that resigned last fall. They voted for the unjustified firing of Planning Director Gwen Wright, which forced the council to intervene. I would be surprised if the council reappoints them after that epic disaster.
There are many other names I don’t recognize and the list has 27 applicants. The council will select which applicants get interviews and will make its appointments soon.