Stanley to Lead Calgary Planning Department

When Montgomery County Planning Director Rollin Stanley , he'll head north to Calgary, Alberta, where he will head the city's planning, development and assessment department.

Calgary—which, at 1 million residents, is Canada's third-largest city—recruited Stanley last winter after interviewing him several years ago for another position and after an international search, according to a Montgomery County Planning Department news release.

"Stanley did not seek out the position, he said, but considered the offer too good to refuse because it provides the challenge of managing Calgary’s tremendous growth as well as professional opportunities for his wife, also a planner," the release said.

Stanley, who has directed the 140-member county planning department for the last four years, announced his resignation last week. In Calgary, he will head a department of 800 employees.

“We’re sorry to lose him,” Montgomery County Planning Board Chair Françoise Carrier said in a statement. “He motivated all of us with his ideas and energy, and he helped set a great course for the county. Our focus now is to keep up the momentum to implement the county’s vision for its future.”

Planning Board Commissioner Casey Anderson also expressed disappointment at the loss of Stanley.

“I would have loved to see him spend the rest of his career in Montgomery County, but I certainly understand why the Calgary opportunity is so attractive,” he said in a statement. “It’s a huge undertaking, and they are lucky to have someone with Rollin’s energy and creativity to take it on.”

Carrier is aiming to hire a new planning director by year's end, and an announcement regarding interim management is expected within the next few weeks, according to the release.

Stanley is known nationally for his "smart growth" approach to planning, about which he has written on his director's blog. But Stanley has also come under fire for controversial statements he used to describe his detractors, .

In an interview with Bethesda Magazine, Stanley called some of his detractors "rich, white women" who spread fear about his initiatives. A group of activists asked him to publicly apologize, Patch reported.