This story was updated at noon on July 30, 2021, to include a comment from Fani-González.
Natali Fani-González, the vice chair of the county’s Planning Board, announced Friday that she is resigning to focus on running for a County Council seat.
Fani-González wrote in a Facebook post that her resignation on the board will be effective Aug. 31. Her final meeting as a member was Thursday.
She has been on the Planning Board since October 2014, and was appointed vice chair in September 2019.
Fani-González wrote in an email to Bethesda Beat she is resigning to focus her efforts on her campaign for County Council District 4. She filed to run for that seat earlier this year. Current Council Member Nancy Navarro, who has held the seat since 2009, is term-limited and cannot run again.
“I don’t want to create a perception that there is any type of ethical conflict between my campaign and the Planning Board,” Fani-González wrote. “I am 100% committed to help improve Montgomery County as a whole, hence resigning from the Planning Board was, in my view, the best decision for the County.”
In her Facebook post, she pointed to her efforts on more than 20 master plans and studies, ranging from local area plans to transportation goals and initiatives.
“My positions have spearheaded the message that we all benefit when we intentionally build more affordable housing, create a reliable transit system, design safe streets so people can walk, bike, roll and drive, support our schools, increase local access to vegetable/fruit gardens, parks, and recreational opportunities,” Fani-González wrote in her Facebook post.
Fani-González previously told Bethesda Beat that her focus during the campaign would be on cyclist and pedestrian safety, job growth, living wages and environmental concerns.
Former State Del. Maricé Morales, Wheaton business owner Omar Lazo and Paul Schwartz, a former columnist for the Sentinel newspapers who is currently a lobbyist in Annapolis, also are running for the District 4 seat. All are Democrats.
Steve Bohnel can be reached at steve.bohnel@moco360.media