By Barbara Flack-Darko
WI Contributing Writer
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Alan Steele Bowser, a respected leader in local and national Democratic circles, is seeking one of two appointed seats on the Montgomery County Planning Board.
Bowser is a former deputy assistant secretary of commerce and a lawyer who represents clients before federal agencies and Congress. A former World Bank consultant, he has extensive experience as an economist and international policy analyst in the public and private sectors, as well as experience in privatization, overseas market development, and regulatory and legal reform.
He also has extensive political credentials that include serving as a campaign advisor and speechwriter for several local and national Democratic campaigns. He currently is an executive board member of the African American Democratic Club of Montgomery County and a member of the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board.
Bowser holds a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center, a master’s from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University.
He was among the finalists last year for planning board chairman. Now he is among nine other candidates who will be interviewed next month by members of the county council for two planning board seats. Seven of the finalists are Democrats, one Republican, and an independent. A total of 26 people applied for the appointments.
Bowser’s Democratic competitors are: Robert Cope, a lawyer and civic activist; Elvin J. Crespo, a lawyer and real estate investor; Cary Lamari, former president of the Montgomery County Civic Federation who lost a bid last year for an at-large seat on the county council; Gene Lynch, former chief of staff to Gov. Parris Glendening (D) and special assistant to former Montgomery County Executive Neal Potter (D); Robert L. Mitchell, a developer and civil engineer; and Tedi S. Osias, director of legislative and public affairs for the county’s Housing Opportunities Commission and aide to former county councilmember Howard A. Denis (R).
The Republican applicant selected for an interview is Jean B. Cryor, a 12-year state legislator who lost her re-election bid last year to Craig Rice, one of two Black delegates in the Maryland General Assembly. The Independent applicant is John Low, a Green Party member and an antiques dealer.
The interviews will be held in public on June 11 and 12 in the council’s sixth-floor conference room in the Stella B. Werner County Council Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville.
The council has to select two new commissioners to succeed Democrat Wendy C. Perdue and Republican Meredith K. Wellington whose terms expire June 15.
The planning board’s five commissioners are elected to four-year terms and are paid $30,000 a year.
One new board member must be a Democrat or an independent and one must be a Republican or an independent. Currently, the planning board’s lone Black member is a Republican, Allison Bryant; his term expires next year.
http://www.washingtoninformer.com/ARBlackDemocrats2007May24.html
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