On Wednesday, the entire Montgomery County Planning Board resigned after weeks of scrutiny.
“I think where people are implicated, a resignation is appropriate,” County Executive Marc Elrich said in a statement following the resignations. “This cannot be the end of the conversation on the dysfunction and structural issues at Planning. The Planning Board faces a deficit of trust, and continued questions about management, transparency and process must be addressed. I stand ready to work with the Council to ensure transparency in choosing the interim members of the board and ensure that the investigations continue.”
The county council announced it lost confidence in the board and accepted resignations from Chair Casey Anderson, Vice Chair Partap Verma and Commissioners Gerald Cichy, Tina Patterson and Carol Rubin.
Earlier this month, the council disciplined Anderson, Verma, and Rubin for inappropriate conduct in the workplace. Then, WJLA reported that Anderson was accused, via confidential email, of inappropriate workplace behavior. On Oct. 7, the board fired Director of the Planning Department Gwen Wright, who was quoted in the news story speaking up for Anderson. No reason for termination was given in a news release. On Monday, County Council President Gabe Albornoz said the council was “aggressively investigating” the recent issues surrounding the department.
In his statement, Elrich also said the board has been “cited with multiple violations of the Open Meetings Act.” He touched on Thrive Montgomery 2050.
“Furthermore, the problems with Thrive 2050 and equity and community input should have been recognized and dealt with instead of a push for quick adoption of this significant guide for the next 30 years of development. As noted by one racial equity consultant hired by the Council, ‘compressed timeframes are the enemy of equity.’”
He said it is clear that new people are needed on the board.
“Park and Planning has been run by a group of insiders for far too long. There needs to be a respectful balance of the views of developers and those of the community. I hope that the new Planning Board appointees reflect the demographics of this community and are committed to our residents, community input, and an efficient and transparent process.”
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