Image by Aimee Custis used with permission.

A longtime Greater Greater Washington volunteer, our paid editor for one year, member of our editorial board, happy hour organizer, terrific blogger, and all-around great guy Dan Reed could be the next member of Montgomery County's planning board. You can watch his interview on Thursday, and if you live in Montgomery County, ask the council to pick him!

The board comprises five members who hold hearings and pass judgments on proposed developments, creates and reviews sector plans and zoning amendments, and weighs in on other land use issues. Members can serve up to two four-year terms, and current member Marye Wells-Harley is term limited. The County Council appoints the members.

Out of many applications, the council has now selected four finalists, whom it will interview on May 11. You can watch the discussion here. The other three candidates are Bruce Romer, the former chief administrative officer to County Executive Doug Duncan; Peter Myo Khin, who was part of the recent transit task force that studied BRT for the county; and Tina Patterson, a businesswoman in Germantown.

Dan has been a dedicated activist in Montgomery County for many years. He grew up in the county and started writing about planning issues on a personal blog, Just Up the Pike, over ten years ago while a student at the University of Maryland. He was Greater Greater Washington's editor from 2013-2014 soon after getting his Masters of City Planning at the University of Pennsylvania.

Currently, Dan works as a planner for respected firm Nelson\Nygaard and also writes regularly for Washingtonian Magazine as well as on GGWash and elsewhere. He's been part of the county's task forces on BRT on Route 29 and on boosting the nighttime economy, a leader in Action Committee for Transit, the driving force behind efforts to revitalize the Flower Theatre, and much more. In these roles, he's shown how he can work with many people across the county and reflect the needs of communities who aren't always a part of the planning process.

As a member of our editorial board, Dan reviews posts and gives input on how to continually improve our content. He also organizes most of our monthly happy hours which rotate around the region.

Here's some of what Dan had to say in his application for the Planning Board seat:

We are at a crossroads in Montgomery County. For decades, Montgomery County was a prosperous and largely homogeneous bedroom community for the nation’s capital. In recent years, that has changed. We are still prosperous, though many parts of the county struggle with poverty; we’re far more diverse, having become majority-minority in the 2010 Census; and we’re no longer a bedroom community, as according to the Census, 60% of employed Montgomery County residents work in the county.

Yet ahead lie big changes in how we live, work, and get around. The county is largely built up and there may not be opportunities to accommodate new growth simply by sprawling further out. There’s a growing demand for walkable communities with at least some urban features, not only from young adults but also from retiring adults, and from the county’s growing minority and immigrant communities.

Big employers seek smaller office spaces and are leaving office parks for Metro-accessible locations, while major chain retailers shrink or close altogether, leaving gaps in our malls and shopping districts. New technologies like bikesharing and ride-hailing are creating new ways to get around, but the looming threat of autonomous vehicles could totally disrupt the way we inhabit our communities altogether.

For the past eleven years, I have watched those trends as a community member and an urban planner, and I’ve seen how they’re already starting to transform Montgomery County. I have the experience needed to help this county meet these challenges head on. As a younger person who grew up in East County, I have the perspective to speak to the vast array of experiences Montgomery County residents have, especially those who do not always participate in local affairs.

I’ve spoken with so many people in this county who struggle to find housing they can afford with easy access to jobs, education, or loved ones. Aging Baby Boomers say they’re ready to downsize from their big single-family home, and unable to find an apartment or condominium nearby that meets their needs. Others say their kids moved to Frederick County or out of the region because they simply can’t afford it here. Many of my own friends, who grew up here and are now settling down and starting families, tell me that they can’t find the kind of housing they want.

This county has a responsibility to protect and preserve our neighborhoods, as well as our environment, our economy, and social opportunities. I learned from last year’s election that people in Montgomery County are excited to be engaged in their community, and I want to use this position to engage them.

We have the opportunity to create a stronger, more equitable, more vibrant county, and one that can be an example for communities around the nation. I would like to work with the Planning Board and the County Council to help accomplish that.

Dan will bring a lot to the Planning Board. If you live in Montgomery County, email the County Council below to ask them to select Dan!