Wells-Harley joins Montgomery Planning Board
Former Prince George's planner seeks community input in her new role
Colesville resident Marye Wells-Harley considers herself a local gal.
Even though she has worked most of her professional life in Prince George's County, she's ready to get deeply involved in her home county of Montgomery — and she hopes to bring the rest of the community with her.
"Any way we can better communicate with people, we can get them more involved," she said.
Having spent 42 years with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, including almost 10 as director of the Prince George's County Department of Parks and Recreation, Wells-Harley has a solid base in community planning, she said.
"My whole career I've worked in public service," she said in a recent interview. "And when you deal with parks, you're doing community planning."
That's because good planning breeds good communities, and "anytime you improve communities, then you provide a greater opportunity for people to improve their quality of life," she said.
Throughout her career, Wells-Harley maintained her passion for parks — encouraging people to use, appreciate and take care of them. One of her goals as a Planning Board commissioner is to help the board gain national recognition for the agency's number and quality of parks.
Her strength with parks is what made her such an attractive candidate, say her supporters.
Councilwoman Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 4) of Silver Spring said Wells-Harley understands how parks fit into the county as a whole.
"She comes to us with all of that background, which is going to be immeasurably important," Ervin said.
And council President Phil Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg said in a July statement that Wells-Harley "will bring an unprecedented level of experience with parks issues to the board."
In her second application for the position, Wells-Harley beat out 17 others. She always wanted to serve Montgomery County, but wasn't sure that she would get the chance, especially because most of her work has been in the county next door, she said.
But Wells-Harley got her wish when she was approved unanimously by the County Council on July 21 and sworn in by the Planning Board on July 30. When the board meets again Sept. 10, she'll take her seat, replacing John Robinson, whose term ended in June.
Wells-Harley aims to including more people in the planning process, which she believes will help smooth over the disagreements that are bound to arise as the board debates how the county should grow.
The most pressing challenges will include figuring out how to create affordable housing while balancing ballooning traffic, smart growth and the budget, she said.
Not everyone's going to like the answers, but "if people can understand what went into the final decision, you are more likely to have some type of an agreement," she said.
Some of her most memorable community planning accomplishments came in her early days with the Prince George's Recreation Department, where she was hired straight out of Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina in 1965 as the department's first black employee. In that job, she worked in black communities that often had no planned recreation, except for what Wells-Harley could create.
She developed a strong rapport with residents that still stands today by establishing basketball, softball, dance and soccer classes. She even put together the county's first public boxing gym in Palmer Park, which eventually helped produce legend Sugar Ray Leonard.
Her accomplishments eventually included such projects as the $30 million Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex, a publicly and privately owned recreation complex next to FedEx Field in Landover that Wells-Harley spearheaded.
Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson considers her long tenure with the parks and recreation department in Prince George's County invaluable, according to Planning Board spokeswoman Valerie Berton.
Her supporters say Wells-Harley has plenty of positive personal aspects as well.
Wells-Harley is a "no-nonsense kind of person" who can analyze an issue independently of whatever politics are swirling around it, Ervin said
She also is the first black woman to serve on the board, which barely crosses her mind, Wells-Harley said.
While she's always been an advocate for black women — seeking out mystery novels written by black female authors is her favorite pastime — Wells-Harley said she applied for the Planning Board to improve the quality of life for everyone in Montgomery County.
Still, she said that she'll keep "a watchful eye" out for the eastern part of the county, from where she hails. Wells-Harley, who lives with her husband in Colesville and has two stepchildren, is an avid University of North Carolina basketball fan in her spare time.
The Intercounty Connecter highway, which is under construction, the Purple Line mass transit project, the Kensington and Wheaton Sector Plan updates, the Silver Spring library and possible downtown Burtonsville development all make for a busy time on the east side, she said.
As a registered Democrat, Wells-Harley will be one of five Planning Board commissioners. Together, they preside over the county's general plan, individual town master plans, the parks department and Capital Improvements Program budgets.
Each commissioner serves a four-year term and is limited to two full terms. Under the rules, no more than three members of the Planning Board may be from the same political party, and all members must be residents and registered voters of Montgomery County when appointed.
Most of all, Wells-Harley said, she'll be looking for ways to draw new people into the planning process — like herself.
"If we can encourage people at a younger age to get involved in their communities, that will go a long way beyond planning," she said.
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