Cherri Branson Appointed to Fill Valerie Ervin's Vacant Council Seat

By Laura L. Thornton

The Montgomery County Council appointed a successor to Valerie Ervin on Tuesday: Cherri Branson will be the new county council member representing District 5 through Dec. 1, 2014.

Ervin resigned from her council seat on Jan. 3 to become executive director for nonprofit organization Center for Working Families in New York City, Patch reported. The county council is required by law to appoint a successor to fill her unexpired term after the resignation is effective, The Washington Post reported.

Branson is chief counsel for oversight on the Democratic staff of the House Committee on Homeland Security and has held key staff positions in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1989.

She was chosen from among 13 applicants who were interviewed this month by the council. Applicants needed to be registered Democrats (like Ervin) and have no intention of running for a council seat in the next election, Patch reported.

The public was invited to sit in on the interviews.

Branson earned a bachelor's degree form Vassar College, a law degree from Indiana University School of Law and a postgraduate law degree from Emory University School of Law. 

She has been president of the African-American Democratic Club of Montgomery County, and the county council appointed her as a member of Montgomery County’s Commission on Redistricting in 2011. She also has served as a member of the Charter Review Commission, according to a Montgomery County Council news release.

District 5 includes the communities of Briggs Chaney, Burnt Mills, Burtonsville, Calverton, Cloverly, Colesville, Fairland, Four Corners, Hillandale, Lyttonsville, Silver Spring, Takoma Park and White Oak, according to the county's website.