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Montgomery picks pair for planning board
ROCKVILLE, Md. -
Montgomery County Council members on Tuesday appointed two new members to the high-profile Planning Board -- one a female legislator who received heaping praise and a unanimous vote in her favor and the other, a male former aide to the governor whose developer interests split the council vote. Jean Cryor was selected to fill Meredith Wellington’s seat in the most agreeable fashion. In contrast, Gene Lynch was selected to take over Wendy Perdue’s position in a much more tension-filled vote. The Board, which falls under the Maryland-Capital National Park and Planning Commission, is considered to be the council’s advisory arm on land-use, community planning and zoning matters. Council members during their meeting engaged in a spirited discussion about the direction of the board and the parameters of conflict of interest before taking a vote between Lynch and Tedi Osias, whose own potential conflict as a leader on the county’s Housing Opportunities Commission was a topic during interviews. Lynch has worked as former County Executive Neil Potter’s aide, not to mention as an aide to former Gov. Parris N. Glendening, and he currently runs Smart Growth Investments, a private group backing projects on the East Coast, a topic of much debate Tuesday. The council members favoring Osias were Valerie Ervin, Nancy Floreen, Michael Knapp and George Leventhal. Meanwhile Lynch proponents were Marc Elrich, Marilyn Praisner, Roger Berliner, Phil Andrews and Duchy Trachtenberg. Cryor, a unanimous pick, was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates for a dozen years. According to Council spokesman Neil Greenberger, Planning Board members earn $30,000 a year, recently bumped up from $24,600. For that amount, board members are supposed to meet once a week as a formal group, attend Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission monthly meetings and read all zoning and building materials submitted for approval. The Planning Board chairman position is a full-time job, paying a $150,000 salary. |