The County Council on Tuesday picked Natali Fani-Gonzalez for the vacant spot on the county’s Planning Board, making her the first Latin American and first millennial to serve on the five-member body.
Fani-Gonzalez, a Kensington resident and owner of her own public relations firm, was one of four finalists for the position who interviewed last month in front of the Council. She ran for a House of Delegates seat this year in District 18, but fell short to the three Democratic incumbents.
While interviewing for the job, Fani-Gonzalez emphasized how she could bring a new perspective to the Planning Board because of her ethnic background and age, all the while acknowledging she has little experience in the planning field.
The Planning Board rules on specific development proposals and sets zoning, transportation and land use guidelines within broader master and sector plans. The shake-up on the Planning Board comes after the Council selected former commissioner Casey Anderson to replace outgoing Chair Francoise Carrier in July. The Council received letters of interest from 25 applicants to take over Anderson’s spot.
In a prepared release, Councilmember George Leventhal praised the unanimous selection of Fani-Gonzalez with a reference to Latin American independence leader Simon Bolivar:
Last weekend, my wife and I saw the great movie The Liberator about the life of Simón Bolívar. Today I feel that the spirit of Bolívar is present in our chamber as we mark the significance of two leaders of Venezuelan origin in positions of influence in our county government — our colleague, Councilmember Nancy Navarro, and now our new colleague, Commissioner Natali Fani González. I want to congratulate Natali, who will represent all residents of Montgomery County well, but also I want to congratulate the Latino community on this significant milestone.
Fani-Gonzalez arrived to the U.S. from Venezuela when she was 16. In an essay before the June primary, she wrote how her mom had to clean houses on the weekends to earn enough money to support the family. That meant Fani-Gonzalez often accompanied her to jobs in Chevy Chase and Potomac.
Fani-Gonzalez, who will turn 34 later this month, said she was the only ESOL student to graduate with honors from her high school class. She worked as a lobbyist for CASA de Maryland, where one of her main efforts was lobbying for passage of the Maryland DREAM Act.
She now owns her own public relations firm that has done work for Amnesty International, the Iron Workers Union and the Montgomery County Latino Health Initiative.
Fani-Gonzalez will quickly be thrown into two major master plans that could shape Bethesda for the next few decades. The Bethesda Downtown Plan, the sector plan rewrite for downtown Bethesda, is set to go before the Board early next year.
She’ll also play a role in the future of Westbard, which unlike downtown Bethesda does not have the transit facilities that typically serve as justification for large-scale redevelopment.
A new major property owner hopes to create a “main street” and include housing in what’s now a strip shopping center anchored by a grocery store. Area residents have already registered their wariness of the proposal. The Westbard Sector Plan could allow for new zoning that would allow such development.
