Artie L. Harris, Jr. will chair the Montgomery County Planning Board after the county’s council tapped him for the position on Tuesday. The council also appointed Josh Linden as a planning board member as well. The planning board is the primary land use and planning adviser for Montgomery County, as well as commissioners of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. The appointments come after the planning board’s previous chair, Casey Anderson, and other board members, including Vice Chair Partap Verma, Gerald Cichy, Tina Patterson and Carol Rubin, were embroiled in controversy — which included Anderson acknowledging he kept a fully stocked bar in his office, which went against Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission policy. “Artie Harris and Josh Linden have the combined experience, leadership and listening skills that are necessary to engage with community members and the Council about land use and planning issues. These individuals will play an integral role in establishing a vision for the future of our County,” said Montgomery County Council President Evan Glass.
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Harris brings extensive real estate experience, holding degrees from Stanford and Purdue universities. Linden, a planner and analyst at BERK Consulting, specializes in comprehensive plans and holds degrees from Georgetown and Portland State universities. Harris and Linden will begin their duties on June 15, pending approval from Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, according to a news release. WTOP’s Abigail Constantino contributed to this report.
