The entire Montgomery County Planning Board resigned Wednesday, effective immediately.

According to a press release, the Montgomery County Council has accepted the resignations of Chair Casey Anderson, Vice Chair Partap Verma, and Commissioners Gerald Cichy, Tina Patterson and Carol Rubin. The roles are Council appointments and typically serve four-year terms.

In an email, Council President Gabe Albornoz wrote: “The Montgomery County Council is united in taking the steps necessary to ensure that the Montgomery County Planning Board can serve its critical functions and oversee the Planning and Parks Departments’ important work for our community.”

He continued, “The Council has lost confidence in the Montgomery County Planning Board and accepted these resignations to reset operations. We are acting with deliberate speed to appoint new commissioners to move Montgomery County forward. We thank the commissioners for their service to our County.”

The recent drama involving the Montgomery County Planning Board includes a complaint against Vice Chair Partap Verma made to the county council and obtained by the Washington Post.

According to the Post’s report, on Monday the Montgomery County Council received a confidential complaint that alleged Verma failed to recuse himself from two recent investigations into his boss, Chair Casey Anderson, and shared information about ongoing investigations into Anderson. The first investigation looked into whether Anderson cultivated a “toxic” work environment by using sexist and inappropriate language; the second involved a report that Anderson kept a stocked bar in his office.

The complaint also alleged Verma violated the Hatch Act, which forbids federal employees from partaking in partisan political activity; in this case, asking for donations for county council candidates.

Gwen Wright, who was abruptly removed from her role as Planning Director on Friday after nearly a decade, was also mentioned in the complaint. The anonymous source questioned whether Wright’s termination could be linked to her public defense of Anderson while he was being investigated for creating toxic working conditions.  

The board, which serves as the council’s chief adviser on land use and and community planning, is one of two separate planning agencies in the county; the other is Montgomery Planning, which the board oversees, and which recently made headlines for voting to remove Gwen Wright as its Director a few months shy of her planned retirement.  Deputy Planning Director Tanya Stern was appointed Acting Montgomery Planning Director.

“The Council is confident that the Planning Department’s newly appointed Acting Director Tanya Stern will provide steady leadership in the weeks ahead. The Council also appreciates and supports Park and Planning staff,” the release read.

Sonia Healy, a Legislative Information Officer with the Montgomery County Council, says despite the shakeup, the council is still planning to move ahead this month with voting on THRIVE  Montgomery 2050, the county’s general plan for the next 30 years, which the county has been working on since 2018.

The council will appoint temporary acting planning board commissioners on Oct. 25. It is “immediately seeking individuals with expertise in land use, planning, economic development, transportation, and environmental and park issues” to explore applying for the positions.

This story was corrected to reflect a complaint was made against Vice Chair Partap Verma, not an investigation.

This story was updated to include reports of investigations involving board members.