Leslie Richards Selected for DVRPC

Last month, Leslie Richards . After winning election last November, she became a Montgomery County Commissioner on January 3. By the end of the month, she'll be shaping transportation policy in nine counties and two states.

Richards, who has been a planning consultant for 17 years, was selected by her fellow commissioners on Thursday to be Montgomery County's representative on the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), which plans, directs and allocates funds for transportation projects that serve more than 5.6 million people across the greater Philadelphia area. She will join representatives from 17 other state, county, and municipal bodies as voting members of the DVRPC board.

Board Chairman Josh Shapiro believes Richards's professional background will give her an advantage in the DVRPC's administration.

"I'm excited to see Montgomery County represented by Commissioner Richards on the DVRPC. We are certainly putting our best foot forward. Putting someone of Commissioner Richards's expertise on the DVRPC will not only mean great things for Montgomery County but for the region and for South [New] Jersey," Shapiro said.

"I think she's going to be the de facto head of the DVRPC by her second meeting," Shapiro joked after the meeting.

Richards named the advancement of the Lafayette Street Corridor Project linking Norristown to the Pennsylvania Turnpike as one of the main issues for which she would advocate on the DVRPC. She said she also looked forward to learning more about how the DVRPC is using geographic information systems (GIS), a branch of technology that Richards said could improve the capabilities of many of the county's departments.

"Montgomery County has a lot of transportation projects that I'd like to see moved forward and I want to see how the DVRPC supports that. I'm very interested in seeing the resources they have," Richards said.

The other voting seats on the DVRPC board are held by the PA Department of Transportation (PennDOT), the NJ Department of Transportation (NJDOT), Bucks County, Chester County, Delaware County, Burlington County (NJ), Gloucester County (NJ), Camden County (NJ), Mercer County (NJ), the city of Chester, the City of Philadelphia, the City of Camden, the City of Trenton, The Pennsylvania Governor's Policy & Planning Office, the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, and two representatives appointed by the governors of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

In addition, SEPTA, NJ Transit, the Federal Highway Administration, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are among the state and federal agencies that hold non-voting seats on the DVRPC board.

Richards described herself as an enthusiastic supporter of the DVRPC and said she's looking forward to working with the group.

"There are definitely issues I'm passionate about that are best served on a regional basis, whether it be traffic, flooding, or air quality," Richards said.

Notes: The Commissioners approved $247,747 in matching funds for municipal planning contracts to Narberth, Ambler, Lower Pottsgrove, Lower Salford, Perkiomen, Souderton, Upper Moreland, and West Pottsgrove. The money will be used for land development studies, design reviews, zoning map updates, and miscellaneous other planning expenses. 28 municipalities in the county receive county funds for municipal planning ... The Commissioners also approved $4.03 millon in matching funds to SEPTA as outlined in the county's 2012 operating budget ... Commissioner Bruce Castor noted that Thursday marked his 100th Board of Commissioners meeting.