Meet the 2025-26 ESSCA Board candidates!

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Welcome to the 2025-26 ESSCA Elections! Here are the candidates.

President: David Schneider My name’s David Schneider and I’ve lived in East Silver Spring since 2003. I’ve loved being part of our community where my two daughters (now 19 and 17) attended local schools and where I’ve watched our neighborhood become a great place to live, work, and raise a family. This past year I served as ESSCA treasurer, organized the ESSCA snow shovel brigade which cleaned ice and snow off of the Grove Street walking lane, and collaborated with my neighbors to pull off a terrific ESSCA Fest on May 3rd. You may also know me from my December 2024 Bonifant Street business project where I visited almost all of the Bonifant Street businesses struggling with Purple Line construction, spoke with the owners or staff, purchased something where I could, and posted a writeup on neighborhood Facebook pages to encourage all of us to support our local merchants.

As President, I’d like to continue this spirit of community support by giving away most of the funds in the ESSCA treasury. We currently have almost $6,000, more than we need to support the organization, and I’d like to collaborate with our neighbors to identify local non-profits and provide them with financial support. I’d also like to return to more regular community meetings where we can learn from and collaborate with people making a difference in our community. I’m excited to work with you to make East Silver Spring a safe, vibrant and inclusive home for all of us.

Vice-President: Dan Reed

Hi! I’m Dan (they/them), your ESSCA Vice President. I grew up in Silver Spring—my family first moved here in 1991—but I’ve lived in East Silver Spring since 2019 and have served on the board since 2021. I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in that time: we rewrote the constitution, made dues voluntary, and have hosted rotating happy hours and meetups at several local businesses—all in the service of bringing more people into the fold and creating a neighborhood association that looks more like our neighborhood. I’d like to think we’ve gotten a lot closer to that goal. I’ve met many of you (and your dogs!) while going on long walks through East Silver Spring with my dog Drizzy, a rescued pitbull mix, and am so grateful for the friendships I’ve made here. (If you see us, please say hi!)

In my next term, I’d really like to focus on traffic safety. Speeding continues to be a serious issue in East Silver Spring, especially as drivers try to avoid Purple Line construction. (Opening day can’t come soon enough!) My dog and I were recently hit by a speeding driver on Thayer Avenue this month—we are safe, thankfully, but I know many of you have experienced this as well. For a decade, I worked as a transportation planner on these issues, and am excited for the chance to apply those skills in my backyard. By working together as a community, I’m confident that we can push Montgomery County to make our streets safer for everyone, no matter how you get around.

Treasurer: Chad Rector

I love East Silver Spring, where I have lived with my wife and two children on Easley street, across from Bullis Park, for 17 years. What I value most about this community is that there is a whole world of restaurants, shops, and different kinds of residential areas all within a compact, walkable area, all with reasonable access to transit. I take a lot of pride in living in a town that has places for lots of different kinds of people, with different interests, who can share the fun of living together.

I commute from Silver Spring to Marymount University, a small college in Arlington, VA, where I am a political science professor. I teach courses on international relations as well as the politics of climate change, immigration, and terrorism; I also teach one course every year on the politics of housing and transit in Arlington. In Silver Spring, I’ve volunteered as a soccer coach, girl scout troop cookie manager, and food drive coordinator; a few years ago I hosted the ESSCAfest on my front porch and for several years after that I organized some kids to run the popcorn machine at the event. I’ve really enjoyed many of the ESSCA meetings, including times when local civic leaders and elected officials are able to attend and can explain their views, and I’ve enjoyed the annual street fest. I hope to have the opportunity to help ESSCA however I can. Thanks!

Recording Secretary: Sandhya Mehta

Chesapeake Avenue has been home for my husband, now college-age twins and me for 11 years.

I recently naturalized after living in the U.S. for decades as a green card holder. My journey began in India and has taken me through the Philippines, the UK, and finally the U.S., where I’ve lived in Los Angeles, New York (including Jackson Heights), Washington, D.C., and now Silver Spring. Events in my personal life as well as in the world around us have steered me into wanting to take a more active role outside my current four corners.

Having studied and worked across diverse cultures and communities, I’ve come to deeply value human connection, shared stories, and collaboration. Life is fleeting—yet rich with meaning when we connect with our neighbors. As I continue seeking purpose beyond professional work as a transactional attorney, serving as ESSCA Recording Secretary offers a bite-sized, meaningful way to contribute.

In this role, I envision strengthening our association as a transparent and welcoming space—where every voice is heard, records are kept clearly and accurately, and decisions reflect our shared values. Beyond the recording secretary’s duties, I’d love to explore starting/expanding member-led occasions to gather, around vegetarian cooking, meditation, or amateur line dancing sessions—simple, joyful ways to bring us together more regularly. I do believe that—“it’s (the) connections, stupid”—and I hope to help nurture ours. Equally, I'm looking forward to getting to know more of our neighbors after a late start (both, the 11 years' delay in taking note of our terrific association, as well as the 11 day or so delay in submitting my statement because I've been out of the country)

Corresponding Secretary: No Nominees. Consider volunteering! Indicate your interest on the ballot, or email esscaprez@gmail.com

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