By Miranda S. Spivack and Lori Aratani
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, May 22, 2008
After a trickle, the number of applicants for two spots on the Montgomery County Planning Board grew to a deluge just before last week's deadline.
Twenty-nine residents have applied, among them well-known community activists, a well-known developer and former employees of the park and planning agency.
The County Council will interview applicants on June 12, and possibly conduct more interviews the following week. Council members hope to make selections this summer, council spokesman Neil Greenberger said.
The new members will replace Democrat Gene Lynch, who died in January, and Republican Allison Bryant, whose term expires next month.
The Planning Board helps the council set land-use policy and reviews development applications. Members can serve for two four-year terms. The two new appointees must come from different political parties.
Among those applying are Clarksburg community activist Amy Presley, who helped expose construction irregularities at the northern Montgomery development, and Joseph Alfandre, who developed Kentlands in Gaithersburg, Montgomery's first major venture into "new urbanism."
Other applicants include Alan Bowser, a lawyer and Silver Spring community leader; Wendell M. Holloway, a member of the county's zoning Board of Appeals who served as interim president of Bowie State University; Jeff Baron, a Foreign Service officer and former congressional staffer; Paula Bienenfeld, a historic preservationist who has worked in land use; Robin Ficker, an anti-tax-increase activist; William Mooney, a former Montgomery police officer and former top planning agency official who is a partner in Smart Growth Investments, headed by former governor Parris N. Glendening (D); and Ben Ross, a longtime transit activist and president of Disposal Safety, a company specializing in contamination analysis.
The part-time post pays $30,000 annually. Only the chairman, Royce Hanson, has a full-time position. He is paid $153,660.
Other applicants are:
¿ Lourdes Baldoza-Cabanas, chief financial officer of Sloans & Kenyon, a Bethesda auction and appraisal firm;
¿ Pamela R. Bingham, an environmental consultant;
¿ Walter S. Booth, a lawyer and civic activist;
¿ Gerald R. Cichy, executive assistant in the Maryland Transit Administration's Office of Planning;
¿ Leonard S. Cohen, former chief executive of the Loan Guarantee Investment Corp.;
¿ Benjamin W. George, a real estate agent;
¿ Bruce A. Goldensohn, a systems engineer and former mayor of Gaithersburg;
¿ Herbert N. Jasper, a public management consultant and former counsel to Walter F. Mondale when he was a senator from Minnesota;
¿ Issa Khozeimeh, manager of the utilities services division of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority;
¿ Cary Lamari, a home builder and community activist, who unsuccessfully ran for County Council in 2006;
¿ Philip Litman, former audit manager for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, of which the planning board is a part, and author of the commission's ethics rules;
¿ Jon M. Lourie, who heads an architecture firm;
¿ Cynthia Pansing, a land-use consultant;
¿ Carol A. Placek, a lawyer and former business development manager for the county's Housing Opportunities Commission;
¿ William S. Richbourg, a debt manager for Wells Fargo Bank;
¿ Goldie W. Rivkin, an urban planner;
¿ Gerald J. Roper, a residential and commercial property consultant;
¿ Nelson M. Rosenbaum, who heads a health-care information services company, and author of two books on urban planning;
¿ Patrick E. Ryan, a lawyer and consultant on veterans issues, and community activist with Action in Montgomery; and
¿ Marye Wells-Harley, former Prince George's County director of parks and recreation.
Leggett Up to New TaskLast week, Rockville-based Manna Food Center challenged residents to "Stuff a Bus" with donated non-perishables as part of a food drive held in cooperation with Whole Foods Market and the county government.
As an added attraction, Manna recruited several celebrity baggers, including County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), to work inside one of four Whole Foods stores. The chain contributed 5 percent of gross sales for the day to Manna, and offered up its parking lots for the event.
Arriving for his shift at the Rockville Whole Foods at 12:30 p.m. last Wednesday, Leggett shed his suit jacket and slipped a Manna "Stuff A Bus" T-shirt over his white dress shirt.
"Heavies on the bottom, eggs and bread on top, right?" Leggett asked, before taking up his post at the end of checkout lane No. 8. Leggett proved pretty nimble at the job -- even taking the extra step of double-bagging for one woman who bought four glass bottles of lemonade.
Some constituents recognized him, but other shoppers were unaware it was the county's chief executive who was bagging their eggs and organic produce.
"I heard the announcement, but I had no idea I was in the Ike line," said Meg Perella of Kensington.
With all eyes on Leggett, Patrick Lacefield, Leggett's chief spokesman, stole away to do some grocery shopping of his own. Rather than have his boss do the bagging, he opted for another checkout line.
But why?
Well, Lacefield explained, it could be a mite awkward having one's boss bag up one's groceries -- even if it was for a good cause.
Praisner's Committee Duties
Don Praisner, who was elected last week to fill the County Council vacancy left by the death of his wife, Marilyn, will be sworn in Tuesday, and will join the council's Management and Fiscal Policy Committee and the Public Safety Committee, council President Michael Knapp (D-Upcounty) said this week.
Praisner defeated Republican Mark D. Fennel with 66 percent of the vote in District 4, where Democrats hold a registration edge of more than 2 to 1.
Voter participation was about 8.5 percent.
Marilyn Praisner, who served 17 years on the council, died in February after heart surgery. Don Praisner, a retired CIA analyst, campaigned to protect his wife's legacy as a fiscal watchdog and advocate for slowing development.
Staff writer Ann E. Marimow contributed to this report.
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