Some finalists for the Montgomery County Planning Board may have switched their party affiliation just months or weeks prior to applying for the board.
According to a recent report by local political blog Moderately MoCo, five of six applicants for unaffiliated and Republican seats on the Planning Board were recently registered as Democrats.
The three openings must be filled by one Democrat, one Republican and one unaffiliated voter, according to county and state law.
Those slots opened up after the entire Planning Board resigned last October, following drama involving former Chair Casey Anderson and other members on the board.
Gwen Wright was fired by the former Planning Board last October before all members resigned, and Tanya Stern has been serving in an acting capacity since then. Then-County Council President Gabe Albornoz (D-At-large) and his colleagues selected five new members to serve on a temporary basis. Three of their terms expire at the end of February.
According to Moderately MoCo’s report, Shawn Bartley, a Republican, switched his affiliation from Democrat to Republican on Nov. 5, 2022. Bartley provided MoCo360 with a photocopy of his voter registration card from 2002 in an email to MoCo360, which has him registered under the Republican party.
“Additionally, Governor Hogan’s office of appointments vetted me in 2019 before appointing me to the school board in 2020,” Bartley wrote.
Bartley is a Silver Spring-based attorney, serves on the Maryland State Board of Education and is chair of the county’s Primary Care Coalition.
In an email, Donald Silverstein – who is registered as unaffiliated – confirmed with MoCo360 that he did change his registration from Democrat to unaffiliated in October and provided a photocopy of his voter registration.
“I have always thought of myself as an independent (or unaffiliated) but found most of the time the real election happened in the democratic primary,” Silverstein wrote. “Over the years I found myself changing party affiliation often to vote for the candidates in the primaries that I felt most strongly about.”
“There were two reasons why I changed. First and foremost, I wanted to get back to my custom of being unaffiliated. Second, when I saw what was happening at the Planning Board last fall I thought I might want to get involved sometime in the near future and wanted to make sure it was clear I was truly an independent and not affiliated with any party,” Silverstein wrote. “That was my motivation for making the change last fall instead of waiting until just before the next election.”
Silverstein is a civil engineer at Blake Real Estate Co. Inc. in Washington, D.C. He lives in Kensington.
Paul Gaiser, an unaffiliated finalist, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night. According to Moderately MoCo, Gaiser was registered as a Democrat and switched to unaffiliated registration on Nov. 10, 2022. Gaiser is an architect at Landis Architects/Buildings in Washington, D.C.
Leanne Tobias, an unaffiliated finalist, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night. According to Moderately MoCo, Tobias was registered as a Democrat and switched to unaffiliated registration on Jan. 1. Tobias is a local real estate and land use consultant who specializes in environmentally-friendly buildings.
Mitra Pedoeem, an unaffiliated finalist, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night. According to Moderately MoCo, Pedoeem was registered as a Democrat and switched to unaffiliated registration on Dec. 16, 2022. Pedoeem is the county’s former director of permitting services. She also has worked for various county departments, and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.
In an interview with MoCo360, County Council President Evan Glass said the County Council is complying with the state law that requires no more than three board members to be from the same political party.
“I’m aware of dozens of people who change their party affiliation depending on the election [to vote in primaries]. This is commonplace in Montgomery County,” Glass said. “People have the freedom to register for whatever party they would like. This is America.”
The County Council will announce its picks for Planning Board later today.
MoCo360 reporter Steve Bohnel contributed to this report.