County Executive Isiah Leggett today announced the appointment of Phil Alperson as the County’s Local BRAC (Base Re-Alignment Commission) Coordinator. The appointment is for a one-year term and is funded by the United States Department of Defense’s Office of Economic Adjustment.

The National Naval Medical Center (NNMC), located in Bethesda, is scheduled to add approximately 1400 new jobs and receive 435,000 new patient and visitor trips annually when it takes over some of the patient care load of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The plan is scheduled to be implemented by September 2011.

In his new role, Alperson’s duties will include developing a local BRAC work plan, working with NNMC to assure that County and community issues and concerns are addressed, and staffing and facilitating a County BRAC Implementation Committee to advise the County Executive on community impacts of the NNMC expansion.

“The impact of the expansion of the National Naval Medical Center will be felt in many different ways in the County,” said Leggett, “and it’s imperative that we have someone working as a liaison with federal officials so that we have a role in decisions that will affect our community. I am pleased we were able to find someone with the experience that Phil has to fill this important role,” said Leggett.

A Silver Spring resident, Alperson has served as legislative director for Congressman Chris Van Hollen since he was took office in 2003. He has nearly 30 years of experience with the United States House of Representatives, working for five Members of Congress from diverse parts of the country –the Catskills area of New York, rural New Mexico, the barrio of East Los Angeles, south Mississippi and Montgomery County. As legislative director, he handles a broad range of issues affecting suburban Maryland, including transportation, social services and local initiatives targeting the gang violence problem. He has procured millions of federal dollars to assist Maryland governments, universities and non-profits with economic and community development projects, including mass transit and highway construction, housing and urban development, and health and social services.

“Montgomery County must do its part -- and our federal and state government partners, and the private and non-profit sectors, must all pull together -- to ensure that the BRAC transition is as smooth as possible,” said Alperson. “I am excited about this opportunity and look forward to the day we can put a welcome mat at Walter Reed’s front gate and provide our active and retired military veterans the highest quality medical care they deserve.”

Alperson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana.