Council interviews two planning board candidates, presses on housing supply, equity and community engagement

The Montgomery County Council on July 14 interviewed two candidates for appointment to the county planning board, pressing them on how they would advance housing production, racial equity and community engagement while noting the limits of the board’s authority.

James Hedrick, who told the council he has served on the planning board for more than three years and now leads Rockville Housing Enterprises, said the county needs to increase housing production and deepen affordability. “We need more housing production. We need more affordable housing production in the county,” Hedrick said, adding the county should pursue “deeper affordable development” and build units near transit.

John Schilliting, whose career includes architecture, private development and a long tenure as Gaithersburg planning director, said he supports Thrive Montgomery 2050 and framed the issue primarily as one of supply. “Thrive Montgomery 2050 … frees up more land and more ability to provide supply,” Schilliting said, arguing that increased supply — and the right mix of housing types — will help bring prices down.

Why it matters: appointments to the planning board shape the county’s approach to zoning, master plans and major redevelopment sites; members’ views on what housing to encourage influence what kinds of projects move forward and which policy tools staff and the council consider.

During the roughly two-hour interview exchange, council members and the candidates debated specific tools and tradeoffs. Hedrick emphasized programs and subsidies targeted at “deeper affordability,” and described hands-on experience with tax-credit financing and public housing. Schilliting pointed to policy levers used in Gaithersburg — including a comprehensive zoning rewrite he helped implement and requirements on large redevelopments — to secure a mix of homeownership and rental units.

Both candidates identified community engagement as an area for improvement. Schilliting said outreach should be “relentless,” using social media, listservs and in‑person events. Hedrick described door‑knocking, canvassing and placemaking events to reach residents who do not typically attend public hearings. “We’ve worked really hard … to go out into the community and get views from as many different sources and places as we can,” Hedrick said.

Council members pressed the candidates on tools to preserve legacy, family‑owned businesses during redevelopment. The candidates suggested including supportive language in master plans, right‑of‑first‑refusal clauses where feasible, graduated rent approaches and loan programs as possible options — while cautioning that meaningful protection requires a countywide program or finance tools to be enforceable.

The hearing drew specific examples and figures that council members used to frame questions. A proclamation read earlier in the session stated Montgomery Parks manages roughly 37,000 acres; the recreation director told the council the department employs “more than almost 200 full‑time career staff members and more than 2,500 part‑time staff.”

Procedural notes: the clerk announced schedule changes earlier in the meeting, including cancellation of a public hearing on sectional map amendment H161 and rescheduling of testimony on SMA H163. After the interviews, the council approved the consent calendar and recessed until 1:05 p.m.

What’s next: the council chair thanked both applicants and said the clerk will follow up with candidates about next steps in the appointment process. No formal appointment was made on July 14.