URGENT to AG Brian Frosh: Can the Montgomery County Council change the statutory term for Planning Board appointments so that they are only temporary appointments?

From: Parents Coalition

Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2022 12:20 PM
To: OAG <OAG@oag.state.md.us>
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Subject: URGENT to AG Brian Frosh: Can the Montgomery County Council change the statutory term for Planning Board appointments so that they are only temporary appointments?

 

Dear Attorney General Frosh,

The Montgomery County Council has announced that this week they will appoint temporary acting commissioners and a temporary acting chairperson to the Montgomery County Planning Board.  

The Montgomery County Council has also announced that they will not be following the statutory process for filling unexpired terms on the Montgomery County Planning Board.

Questions to be answered by the Maryland Attorney General's office:

1. Can the Montgomery County Council change the statutory term for Planning Board appointments so that they are only temporary appointments?
2. 
   
3. Can the Montgomery County Council change the statutory appointment process for Planning Board appointments and eliminate the statutory 3-week period between making the list of applicants public and the appointment date?
4. 
   

In April of 2021, your office issued an opinion as to whether a state superintendent of schools appointed to a vacancy in the middle of a term serves for the remainder of the unexpired term. In 106 Opinions of the Attorney General 67 (2021), your office concluded that the Maryland State Board of Education could not offer a State Superintendent a term different than that provided for in the statute.  

In the appointment of Montgomery County Planning Board commissioners and the chairperson, the statute does expressly state that an individual appointed to a vacancy serves for the unexpired term, the statute does provide for staggered terms, and the statute does refer to positions by using the word term.  In light of your offices' Opinion in 16 OAG 67, it would appear that the Montgomery County Council must also follow the applicable statutes in appointing Commissioners and a Chairperson to the Montgomery County Planning Board.  

The Maryland statute on filling unexpired terms on the Montgomery County Planning Board does not provide for temporary appointments.  There does not appear to be any language in the statute that would support the appointment of temporary acting Planning Board Commissioners or a temporary acting Chairperson.  

The statute does not offer any alternative to the appointment process and is clear that the public is to have access to the list of applicants for these positions for 3 weeks prior to appointment. 

The appointment of Montgomery County Planning Board Commissioners and its Chairperson are of great public importance as the Montgomery County Planning Board actions impact virtually every land use decision in the County.

Thank you for your immediate review of these questions. 

We look forward to your prompt response as time is of the essence in this matter.  

Janis Zink Sartucci

Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD

Formed in 2002, the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland seeks to achieve the goals of coherent, content-rich curriculum standards; high expectations combined with timely remediation and acceleration; a wider range of educational options for parents and children; greater transparency and accountability; and meaningful community input.

Attachment - Montgomery County Council 2022 FAQs: Appointment of New Planning Board Members