The Montgomery County Council conducted interviews on Jan. 21 for four nominees to the Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC): Jonathan Miller, Roy Priest, Azola Shaw and Paul Weech.

Each nominee spoke to experience and priorities. Jonathan Miller described a 37‑year federal housing career and said affordable housing is foundational to outcomes in education, health and employment. Roy Priest, the incumbent HOC chair and a long‑time housing executive, emphasized accelerating production and preservation, reducing entitlement and soft‑cost delays in development, addressing pandemic‑era rent shortfalls, and strengthening resident services and staff capacity. Priest cited a reported $3.8 million loss to the agency last year linked to unpaid rent (transcript language) and urged cross‑sector integration between housing, economic development and workforce programs.

Azola Shaw, a Rockville City Council member and renter, framed her candidacy as informed by personal experience with displacement and said she would prioritize expanding the housing production fund, enlarging resident services (career development, financial education and childcare partnerships) and supporting intergenerational housing. Paul Weech (pronunciations in the transcript varied) described a career spanning federal budgeting, mortgage finance and nonprofit housing leadership and said he would focus on managing HOC’s four business lines (development, property management, lending and social services), preserving assets and improving services for residents.

Council members asked nominees about near‑term challenges: the candidates acknowledged federal and state fiscal and policy uncertainty, rising development costs and long entitlement timelines. Several nominees urged expanding the housing production and preservation funds, streamlining permitting and entitlement processes to reduce time and cost, and increasing resident support services such as financial literacy, small‑business connections for residents and pathways to homeownership.

Multiple council members raised property management and staff retention concerns. Nominees and current chair Priest said HOC has taken steps to strengthen property management staffing and that the commission receives regular briefings on union and staffing matters; they recommended improved reporting and transparency on operational metrics. Priest noted an implementation plan tied to HOC’s strategic plan and said the commission is developing online reporting to show progress against goals.

No appointment votes were taken at the hearing; the council indicated it will consider the nominations and vote at a future meeting.