All three candidates vying for an appointment to a four-year term on the Montgomery County Planning Board told the County Council on Tuesday that creating more affordable housing and considering racial equity in development decisions are key issues facing the county.
One of the candidates interviewed by the council is Mitra Pedoeem, who currently sits on the board and is seeking appointment to a full term. She has served since March 2023, fulfilling a partial term following the resignation of the entire five-member Planning Board in 2022. Her background includes a stint as director of the county’s Department of Permitting Services and serving various roles in the county’s planning and parks departments since 2004, according to her resumé. Her current term expires Friday.
Pedoeem is being considered along with two other candidates, Brandice N. Elliott and John Schlichting, for the seat on the five-member board.
Elliott is an urban planner with more than 20 years of experience, according to her. She currently serves as the director of planning services at Holland & Knight LLP in Washington, D.C.
Schlichting was the director of planning and code administration for the city of Gaithersburg from 2012 to 2024, after working 27 years as a real estate developer in Washington, D.C.
The annual salary for the part-time post appointed by the council is $30,000. The council has not scheduled a vote on the appointment.
On Tuesday, the council asked the candidates what they considered as the most critical issues facing the board. Pedoeem said affordable housing is “a pressing issue,” but must be considered in concert with other challenges.
“We must promote development in the right place, near transit,” Pedoeem said. “We must also create a regulatory environment that is welcoming to development while maintaining high standards and accountability. But housing alone is not enough. Infrastructure must keep pace.”
During Pedoeem’s tenure on the board, she has been part of board decisions that created big waves in the county, including the drafting of the controversial Attainable Housing Strategies Initiative. The proposal outlined recommendations to the council for zoning changes in some single-family home zones in targeted areas of the county to increase access to “missing middle” housing. The council has not moved forward with every suggestion in the proposal, but some parts of it inspired the “More Housing NOW” legislative package.
Elliott said addressing the issues of “housing affordability, diversity and attainability” are the biggest challenges facing the board.
“Montgomery County continues to experience a housing supply gap, particularly for households earning below the area median income,” Elliott said. “[We need to] find ways to creatively include more housing, but also respect our [existing] neighborhoods, and doing it in a sensitive way.”
Schlichting also cited housing affordability as a key issue, but said he sees retaining employment and being competitive in the region as other critical challenges the board must address.
“I do believe that implementation of Thrive Montgomery 2050 is key to tackling each of those issues in a meaningful way,” Schlichting said. “I think guiding the county’s land use to support these critical issues is a very important role [of the board].”
The Thrive Montgomery 2050 plan, passed by the County Council in 2022, is an update to the county’s general master plan that is expected to guide development for the next 30 years.
The plan focuses on topics such as where growth should occur in the county, what type of housing is needed, what new communities should look like, how to grow arts and culture countywide, transportation networks, and the future of county parks.
Candidates were also asked how the Planning Board should prioritize racial equity and social justice in their efforts. Pedoeem pointed to the creation of the Community Planning Academy, which aims to make the planning process more accessible for residents.
“Its first cohort includes 50 residents, many from underrepresented communities. It’s giving people the tools to understand and influence planning decisions,” Pedoeem said. “That kind of education and outreach helps us build long-term relationships and trust.”
Elliott said if appointed to the board, she would prioritize refining the ways it conducts equity analyses in its decisions.
“The board has a responsibility to evaluate whether planning decisions are equitably distributing both the benefits and growth, and whether they are advancing opportunities for marginalized communities,” Elliott said.
Schlichting said it is important to address how planning decisions have historically marginalized certain residents in the past. He shared his experience as part of the city of Gaithersburg’s comprehensive zoning rewrite over the past two years, which had not been changed since the 1960s.
“It was a monumental task, and as we all know zoning historically has been inherently inequitable, so every aspect of the rewrite of the zoning code to Gaithersburg was looked at through an equity lens,” Schlichting said. “I think that is absolutely critical in every land use decision.”
According to county law, board members must live in the county and be registered to vote as a member of any political party or unaffiliated with any political party. No more than three board members may be from the same political party. Members generally serve four-year terms and are limited to two full terms.
Pedoeem is registered as an independent voter and Elliott and Schlichting are registered as Democrats. Currently, the other board members are Chair Artie Harris, a Democrat; James Hedrick, a Democrat; Josh Linden, an unaffiliated voter; and Shawn Bartley, a Republican.
