My Letter for Appointment to the Montgomery County Planning Board 2009

March 23, 2009

Council President Phil Andrews
Montgomery County Council Office
Stella B. Werner Council Office Building
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, Maryland 20850

Dear Council President Andrews:

I am pleased to present my application for the position of Member of the Montgomery County Planning Board.

As you know, my interest in serving the Council and the residents of Montgomery County as a member of the Planning Board is longstanding. With the encouragement of members of the Montgomery County Council, I have been privileged to meet with the Council on other occasions to discuss my views about the important planning and development issues facing Montgomery County.

In previous correspondence to the Council and in our meetings, I have shared my ideas about Montgomery County planning. I’ve noted my strong support for preserving Montgomery County’s Agricultural Reserve and my commitment to smart growth and the idea that “great urban design—focused on great transit, pedestrian safety and convenience, green space, public amenities, arts and culture—is the future for our transit station areas…” I affirmed the Council’s view that that the County’s regulatory processes must be up to the task of 21st century development, and that “community input and transparent decision making are more important than ever.” I also expressed my support for the application of the best principles of community design, adequate public facilities and sustainability to guide future growth and development toward our smart growth centers.

I believe that my appointment to and service on the Montgomery County Planning Board can help the Board move forward with even greater community understanding of its mission and public support for its decisions. I look forward to assisting the Chairman and the other Board members with their work. My experience in environmental, transportation, and housing issues can contribute directly to the Board’s mission.

Montgomery County Service. Throughout my career, I have been extensively involved in community development and planning issues as an attorney, economist and policy analyst. Since the last time the Council considered my candidacy for appointment to the Planning Board, I have continued my extensive work on the County and local levels in planning and community development issues. On the County level,

• I continue to serve as a member of the Advisory Committee of the Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services (DPS), representing the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board.

• I serve as an alternate member of the Montgomery County Planning Board’s Purple Line Master Plan Advisory Group (MPAG). I worked to ensure that Silver Spring civic associations were appropriately represented on the MPAG.

• I was appointed by County Executive Isiah Leggett to the Montgomery County African American Advisory Group (AAAG).

• I am a member of the County-wide civic organization, CivicLink, which meets periodically with the Montgomery County Executive to discuss issues of concern to community organizations.

• I have participated in the planning and design charettes for Silver Place, the new home of the Montgomery County Planning Board, and the “massing” charettes for the new Silver Spring Library.

• In Silver Spring, I continue to serve as President of the Park Hills Civic Association (PHCA), one of the oldest civic associations in Montgomery County. In this capacity, I have helped our neighbors advocate for environmental protection, public and pedestrian safety, sustainable transit, and community revitalization.

• As PHCA’s President, I established a Purple Line Task Force, composed of both neighbors who support and who do not support the recommended Purple Line mode and alignment through our neighborhood. This Task Force completed an extensive analytical report on the Purple Line modes and alternatives, drawing on community comments, independent research, and numerous meetings with MTA officials. Representing the Park Hills community, I testified before the Planning Board and at the MTA’s Public Meeting on the neighborhood’s Purple Line concerns.

• As PHCA’s President, I am a member of the Presidents’ Council of Silver Spring Civic Associations (Prezco) and have supported their work on pedestrian safety, budget integrity, and public safety. In this context, I have been involved in the planning of the community’s crime prevention summit “Safe Silver Spring,” in May 2009.

• I have supported important community organizations such as the Friends of the Library, Community for a New Silver Spring Library, Friends of Sligo Creek, and Impact Silver Spring.

• I continue to serve as President of the Silver Spring Town Center, Inc. (SSTCi), newly designated as a 501-c-3 non profit organization, and have undertaken extensive outreach activities to Montgomery County residents, veterans, artists, and very importantly area youth. In this position, I have produced music events throughout Silver Spring, including the November 2008 “Tribute to America’s Veterans” benefit concert, featuring blues musicians Michel Baytop and Jay Summerour, and Silver Spring jazz great, Marcus Johnson. The event benefitted “Operation Second Chance,” a Montgomery County non-profit organizations that assists wounded military personnel in their return to civilian life.

• As President of the SSTCi, I have also initiated the first Annual Silver Spring Blues Festival in Downtown Silver Spring, with assistance and sponsorship from Montgomery College, the DC Blues Society, Three Keys Music and the Peterson Companies.

• I also continue to serve as a member of the Silver Spring Arts and Entertainment District Advisory Committee, appointed by the County Executive.

• I continue to serve on the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board and, until late last year, was the Chair of its Neighborhoods Committee, and I am a member of its Transportation and Pedestrian Safety Committees, and its Commercial and Economic Development Committees.

• I am a member of the Northwest Park Oakview Weed and Seed Program Steering Committee, representing the Citizens Advisory Board, where I focus on community development and public safety in the New Hampshire Avenue corridor of Montgomery County.

• I continue my strong advocacy for parks and recreation programs and have encouraged and participated in several environmental clean up programs in Sligo Creek Park, Long Branch Park and Broad Acres Park.

• I continue to work with area tenants and tenant associations on issues of concern.

• I am the founder and editor of two local blogs: Silver Spring Neighborhoods www.silverspringneighborhoods.blogspot.com and Silver Spring Town Center, Inc. www.silverspringtowncenter.blogspot.com

Professional Experience and Education. Please recall that my professional experience spans over thirty years working on energy, environment, transportation, housing and agriculture issues, in the public and private sectors. I have worked as an economist for the United States Treasury and the Executive Office of the President and I served as a legislative assistant in the United States House of Representatives. I have also worked as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Federal Transit Administration, and the U.S Secretary of Veterans Affairs. I am a graduate of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and the Georgetown University Law Center. Currently, I am an attorney and consultant in private practice in Montgomery County.

Executive and Management Experience. I have a record of leadership and accomplishment as a senior executive and manager. In 1999, I was appointed to the Senior Executive Service of the United States. I served as the United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Basic Industries, with responsibility for one of the largest group of offices in the International Trade Administration. As U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary, I managed over 100 professional staff members in the U.S Office of Automotive Affairs, the U.S. Office of Energy, Infrastructure and Machinery, and the U.S. Office of Metals, Material and Chemicals. During my tenure at the Commerce Department, I led active and successful programs in China, Russia, Eastern Europe, India, Mexico and Europe, and I supported a dynamic group of public-private partnerships.

Among many significant achievements at Commerce, where I helped to raise the profile of renewable energy and energy efficient technologies, I developed President Bill Clinton’s Clean Energy Trade Initiative, which promoted the sales of U.S. clean energy and environmental technology throughout the world. I also organized an International Mass Transit Trade Mission, which drew on the resources of the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Transportation and supported the export of U.S. transportation products and intelligent transportation technology to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. I also led the Department’s participation in the President’s China Housing Initiative, which worked with American businesses and key industry trade association to promote the export of U.S. building materials and construction technology.

Board Experience and Expertise. I have extensive and unique high-level experience and expertise with public sector boards and committees that is directly relevant to this appointment. For over ten years, I served as Board Operations Officer at the World Bank Group, assisting its Chairmen, its Corporate Secretaries, Managing Directors and Executive Directors on important Board-related issues. During my tenure at the World Bank, I frequently served as acting Secretary for the Bank’s Audit and Budget Committees and was selected to serve as the Secretary of the Bank Board’s Inspection Panel Working Group. Earlier in my career, I served as the staff economist on President Jimmy Carter’s Commission on World Hunger, a Presidentially-appointed body to examine the nature and extent of domestic and international hunger and to propose policy recommendations for the United States Government.

Mr. Council President, thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to discussing this matter further with you and your colleagues on the County Council.

I hope to have your support for this appointment.

Sincerely yours,


Alan S. Bowser, Esq.