Western Montgomery County Citizens Advisory Board (WMCCAB) "DownCounty"

Mark Rittenberg is a Principal and founding partner of AMR Commercial, LLC (AMR), a Bethesda based commercial real estate firm established in 1994. AMR provides commercial real estate brokerage services to owners, investors and tenants in the Washington Metropolitan area with a special focus on Montgomery County. Mr. Rittenberg is a lifelong resident of Bethesda, where he lives with his wife and two children.

Timur Edib has been practicing immigration law for 20 years from his office located across the street from the County Council, and he also owns a real estate brokerage where is a licensed broker in Maryland and DC. Tim and his wife Melek are long-term residents of the county with both of their children graduating through the Walter Johnson cluster. Prior to moving to Maryland, Tim completed his MPA degree in public policy at ASU and was nominated by the mayor to serve on the City of Phoenix’s Excellence in Education Commission where he developed programs to empower the parents of ESOL students, so they could be fully engaged in the educational process. He then served as a legislative analyst to the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s Budget and Finance Committee, and also taught environmental science at Harrisburg Area Community College. While a law student in Baltimore (UB), Tim’s clinical experience was in Community Development, where he helped empower neighborhood associations. Tim has been a civic leader in Maryland for many years, serving as the HOA president of his community for the last 15 years, serving pro bono to help JSSA with their resettlement programs, and serving as president of the Maryland American Turkish Association.

Brendan McKay is a lifelong resident of Montgomery County. He owns Bethesda-based Mortgage Brokerage, McKay Mortgage Company. Brendan serves on the Board of Directors for the Bethesda Chamber of Commerce. He is also the President of Advocacy for the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME). Brendan lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with his wife, Jennifer, and their two children, George and Helen.

Kristen Nelson is a consultant and writer who advises corporations and government organizations on management, legislative, and communications strategies. She has worked as an independent consultant and freelancer for most of her career. Her writing has appeared in many publications, including Washingtonian, Car & Travel, Hydro Review, and Association News. Kristen is a native Washingtonian, who grew up in Montgomery County and attended the Connelly School of the Holy Child. She graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science in Communications and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History. She also received a Master of Science in International Finance from Johns Hopkins University.

Matthew Herrmann is a long time resident of Montgomery County. He served as Chairman of the White Flint Downtown Advisory Committee and is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Pike District Partnership, a new non-profit supporting economic development of the North Bethesda area. He currently serves as Senior Advisor at the Roosevelt Group a federal affairs and consulting practice in Washington, DC. Matt joined the Roosevelt Group after over 10 years of service on Capitol Hill. He served as Chief of Staff to the former Ranking Member of the Readiness Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee. As Chief of Staff he served as primary policy and political advisor. Matt also has extensive background in policy issues impacting the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. He participated in public forums with CSIS, Banyan Analytics and the Singapore International Foundation to discuss the importance of the U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific region. Prior to joining the Office of Congresswoman Bordallo, he served as Executive Officer for the National Guard Bureau's Office of Legislative Liaison where he provides counsel to senior National Guard leaders on legislative matters. Matt also serves as an adjunct faculty member at American University teaching a course he developed entitled "Politics & Policy in the Digital Age". Matt, his wife, son and daughter currently reside in Potomac, Maryland.

Lee Rucker Keiser is a civic engagement enthusiast who was appointed to the CAB in Spring 2025. The Bethesda resident honed her Montgomery County navigation expertise while leading capital project advocacy as the last pre-pandemic president of her neighborhood association, later serving as a Senior Fellow to the Montgomery County Council (2020-2022). Lee is a graduate of Leadership Montgomery; and of the Community Leadership Institute, National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board. Professionally, Lee served in the health policy arena for decades in D.C. and NJ, including as a Medicare expert with the AARP Public Policy Institute. Lee’s personal civic engagements include: arts patron, amateur chamber musician; and violist in the NIH Community Orchestra, for whom she led their post-pandemic restart, securing public and private concert venues across Montgomery County, cheerfully building new and larger audiences for free-admission performances.

Katya Marin has lived in Bethesda since 2005, when she moved here from New York. She is the Financial Controller at QED Investors, a venture capital firm specializing in early-stage fintech. She has also worked and consulted with local companies such as Webs, Collage Group, LiveHealthier, Green Generation Solutions and Project Create. Katya is active in the community, volunteering with the PTA, EBCA, Bethesda Urban Partnership and Bethesda Green. On the weekends you can often find her watching her daughter row for the B-CC crew team.

Kristine Warner is a seasoned communications strategist and partner at Maier & Warner Public Relations, where she leads branding, placemaking, and community engagement efforts across Montgomery County and the DC region. With a strong background in real estate, public affairs, and civic advocacy, she brings a passion for inclusive development and local identity. Kristine has worked closely with residents, business owners, and government partners to advance projects that reflect community priorities and long-term vision. 

Nancy Abeles has lived in Montgomery County for four decades. She served as chair of the Bethesda BRAC Integration Committee. She currently serves on the MD355 BRT Community Advisory, NIH’s Community Liaison Committee, and on the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments Transportation Planning Board, which she has also chaired. She is a graduate of TPB’s Institute for Community Leaders. She was formerly Outreach & Innovations Director of System 1, Inc., a consultancy based in Bethesda, after a previous career in public relations and advertising in the Washington DC and New York markets. Nancy currently serves on the BOD of Artomatic, an interdisciplinary arts festival that “pops up” around the DMV, and has served previously on boards of Adventure Theatre, National Philharmonic Orchestra at Strathmore, and the Glen Echo Park Foundation. She also served, for elementary through high school levels, as a MCPS PTA Cultural Arts Chair, and on the MCPS panel for Cultural Arts Programming, as well as on education committees for the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County.

Originally from Northwest Ohio, Gary Fahle moved to Bethesda/Chevy Chase in 2006. After 32 years at the National Institutes of Health, he recently retired as the Director of the Microbiology Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory. He has been an advocate for issues affecting the community related to the Purple Line project, pedestrian safety and dog parks in the B-CC area. In his spare time, Gary enjoys cooking, gardening, and traveling with his husband.

Janet Shatz is the owner of JSS Properties, LLC and acquires, renovates, and manages townhouses located in Frederick, Maryland and Bradenton, Florida for low and moderate-income renters. She served as a consultant managing apartment rentals and has a long time career in housing. Janet created and ran the Mortgage-backed Securities Trading Desk for Fannie Mae and was a Vice President for Lender Marketing. Janet holds an MBA from George Washington University in Finance and Investments.

A longtime resident of Bethesda, Janet has served as President and current Board Member of the American Technion Society for the DC Metro area, and President and current Board member of the Capital Speakers Club of Washington, DC. Janet has two adult daughters and is active in her Edgemoor neighborhood.

Michael Chiswick-Patterson, a resident of Chevy Chase West since moving from downtown DC in 2015, is the father of three children in local elementary schools. Michael works as an investment funds lawyer at Goldman Sachs & Co. Since moving to the Bethesda area, Michael has served as an officer on the Somerset Elementary PTA and representative to the Montgomery County Council of PTAs, and has been an advocate for pedestrian-oriented public spaces and improved public transportation. Michael graduated from Princeton University with a focus on European history, and from Columbia Law School.

George Wolfand is a lifelong resident of Bethesda and graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S. Cum Laude in Information Systems Management & Accounting and is a CPA. George and his wife of 35 years have 3 grown children – all engineers! George has an extensive career as a Management Consultant with both Accenture & Ernst & Young, and has also held senior Management positions with Oncor Communications, VeriSign, The TSA (post 9/11 federalization of the U.S. Airports), and InPhonic. Seventeen years ago, George co-founded the Washington D.C. office for Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA) – a strategic cost management consultancy. Today, ERA has over 700 consultants in 20+ countries. George is a Managing Director for the company, a Telecommunications/IT specialist, and assists clients across the world in this capacity. George is also active in the community and has served as President of the West Fernwood Citizens Association for the last 6 years and now also a WMCCAB Residential Representative.

Cynthia Bell is a public relations and marketing professional with 30 plus years of broad communications experience. Cynthia’s expertise lies in communications strategy, marketing, digital media, media relations, events and publications. She has worked on several successful campaigns in a variety of arenas, such as health care, that includes health care reform, justice, immigration, children and families which includes foster care reform, women’s issues and performing arts.