The Rockville City Council has narrowed the list of candidates hoping to finish the term of former council member Julie Palakovich Carr to three.
They are:
- Monique Ashton, a senior vice president in the public relations and marketing agency Ogilvy. Ashton has also served as a board member of the Montgomery County Council of PTAs and as a member of many individual school PTAs in the system.
- James J. Hedrick, a finance specialist at the Federal Housing Finance Agency. He is also on the executive committee of the Twinbrook Community Association.
- Robert J. Wright, a 40-year civil servant for the federal government who retired in 2016. He was most recently a senior adviser with the Department of Energy. Wright was a city councilman from 1995 to 2001.
Twenty-two candidates applied for the seat that opened after Palakovich Carr was elected to the state House of Delegates.
An initial round of interviews was conducted on March 2 and the field was narrowed to five.
A second round of interviews wrapped up Tuesday night.
Final interviews are scheduled March 20 when a decision is expected from the mayor and council members, according to Marylou Berg, the city’s public information officer.
The candidate selected will finish out Palakovich Carr’s term, which ends after the city’s November election.
Council members are paid $26,376 a year and the position is considered part time.
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@moco360.media
