4 vie to head MoCo Planning Board

The Montgomery County Council will interview four candidates Wednesday to replace county Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson, whose term expires June 14. The five-member board oversees the $100 million agency that manages the county's development and parks.

The candidates are: Francoise Carrier, a lawyer who heads the county’s office of zoning and administrative hearings; Kensington Mayor Peter Fosselman, a civil engineer and principal of an engineering firm; Tedi Osias, lobbyist for Montgomery’s Housing Opportunities Commission; and former planning board vice chairman John Robinson, a lawyer with the federal energy regulatory commission. The full-time job pays $160,000 to $180,000.

Joseph Alfandre, a member of the board and the developer of Kentlands, an early “new urbanist” community in Montgomery County, has withdrawn his candidacy for board chairman. In a letter to the County Council, Alfandre cited “personal and family reasons.” He is out of the area and could not be reached by phone or e-mail.

-- Miranda S. Spivack