UPDATE: Washington Post coverage of Rollin Stanley's departure today mentions Maryland Juice's coverage and notes that Stanley will be leaving mid-May. Meanwhile, MoCo blogger Dan Reed from Just up the Pike has a piece up at Greater Greater Washington that summarizes Stanley's work plotting out the future of land use in Montgomery County.
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| MoCo Planning Director Rollin Stanley |
ROLLIN STANLEY DITCHES MOCO: Maryland Juice has learned from two knowledgeable sources that Montgomery County's Park and Planning Director Rollin Stanley has resigned today. When asked about the matter, Democratic Planning Board member Casey Anderson stated simply: "He got a fantastic offer. A much bigger job."
This would indicate that Rollin Stanley was poached by another jurisdiction. When asked to provide details about where Mr. Stanley was headed, Casey Anderson stated: "It is a major city that has grown rapidly and is expected to continue growing fast. They want to announce his hiring themselves next week."
That Rollin Stanley should be poached is not surprising, considering that the public tide among planners and residents these days, strongly favors smart growth principles for land use. Stanley's vision for Montgomery County and his work for other cities has won national accolades. Even still, the timing of the poaching is very interesting, given recent controversy surrounding Mr. Stanley. He recently engaged in a war of words with anti-growth activists, and his job upgrade now leaves him with the last laugh. But the consolation prize for his critics is that he is now gone. Maryland Juice's hope is that the next Planning Board chief will bring the same broadview and gaming out of Montgomery County's future that Rollin Stanley did.
