Commissioner Roy O. Priest has more than 49 years of experience in the fields of housing finance and redevelopment and community economic development. Commissioner Priest previously served as the Executive Director and CEO of the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) in Alexandria, Virginia. Under his leadership, ARHA completed the redevelopment of 621 units of mixed income housing that have generated $25 million of residential and commercial tax revenue, created a pipeline of 530 units planned for redevelopment, planned and implemented more than 20 community-based programs for residents, and improved the overall quality and condition of ARHA properties.   Prior to joining ARHA, Commissioner Priest served as the President and CEO of the National Congress for Community Economic Development (NCCED). As Chief Executive Officer of a national trade association representing more than 4,300 Community Development Corporations, he established innovative, effective strategies designed to foster growth and prosperity in America’s economically distressed communities.

Commissioner Priest also spent 17 years with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). As the Director of Economic Development, he administered and managed HUD’s economic development programs including the Urban Development Action Grant, Empowerment Zones, Enterprise Communities, Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), and Economic Development Initiative (EDI) Program.

Commissioner Priest began his career in Washington in 1967 at the District of Columbia Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA) as the Project Director for a large urban renewal project responsible for the development of new and rehabilitated housing, retail space, and community service space. Over the following seven years, he held a myriad of senior management positions that involved the management of major program and policy responsibilities of the RLA.

A native Washingtonian and long-time Montgomery County resident, Mr. Priest received his Master of Public Administration from American University and his Master of City and Regional Planning from Catholic University of America.

Commissioner Salomon is President of Skyline LLC, a developer of affordable multi-family rental housing, and previously provided consulting services to governmental entities and non-profits in all aspects of the affordable housing development process.During his time at Skyline LLC the organization has had partnership interests in excess of 7,000 units of multi-family housing throughout the nation including Missouri, New York, New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Kentucky, and Puerto Rico.

A graduate of Kenyon College, Commissioner Salomon also has extensive experience with a wide variety of affordable housing programs including the Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LITC); HOPE VI; HOME; CDBG; Section 202; Section 8, and FHA-insured properties, as well as state low-income housing tax credits. He was the developer of the first-ever Section 236 IRP decoupling preservation transactions resulting in a new program at HUD.

His past experience also includes working as executive assistant to a former Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and working as a government relations adviser with a focus on affordable housing issues before Congress and the administration.

His other community involvement responsibilities include being the founder of Lasso The Moon
Foundation, past board chair of Community Bridges, past board member of The Siena School Foundation and Riverworks Arts Center.

Commissioner Salomon was appointed to the Housing Opportunities Commission in June 2023.

Jeff Merkowitz is Senior Advisor at the CDFI Fund and brings three decades of both policy and direct, on the ground experience, in the areas of housing finance and community development.

He previously served as Director of Operations and Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, where he crafted the Senator’s policy responses to both the foreclosure crisis and the longstanding shortage of affordable housing in California. His work for the Senator to expand refinancing opportunities led to the ability of over two million struggling homeowners to refinance their mortgages at historically low rates. He also led efforts in the Senate to restore funding for the Housing Trust Fund and Capital Magnet Fund. 

Prior to that, Commissioner Merkowitz served as the Chief Financial Officer for Opportunity Fund, a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), where he created the financial infrastructure to manage the organization’s affordable housing development, small business, and New Markets Tax Credit loan programs. Additionally, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica, where he organized local women’s groups to start up small businesses and provided assistance to rural communities with small development projects.

Commissioner Jeff Merkowitz is a graduate of Princeton University and earned an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Linda Croom was appointed to the Commission in January 2016.

Commissioner Croom served as President of HOC’s Resident Advisory Board for eight years.  During her service, she was a leader and advocate for HOC clients and their families.

Commissioner Croom is a Paraeducator in the Montgomery County Public School system and currently works with elementary students in Gaithersburg.

Jonathan Miller is the recently retired Deputy Director for Policy and Research in the Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection (DCP) at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC). In that capacity, he had responsibility for the development of supervisory policy, guidance and consumer protection and CRA regulations for the FDIC. He also oversees the exam analytics and consumer research functions, including the production of the FDIC’s Household Survey on the Unbanked and Underbanked.

Prior to joining the FDIC in February 2011, Commissioner Miller worked for the U.S. Congress for more than 23 years including for the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs under the leadership of Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT). There, he led the Committee’s work to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the National Affordable Housing and Capital Magnet Funds and numerous bills to preserve and expand affordable housing.

Commissioner Miller is a graduate of Georgetown University and has a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Izola (Zola) Shaw has served professionally as a leader at all levels of government for two decades and is a current councilmember for the City of Rockville. She is liaison to the Rockville Human Rights Commission, Rockville Housing Enterprises and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Region Forward Coalition.

In addition to the Rockville CIty Council, Ms. Shaw has served on several Montgomery County and city boards and committees, including the Rockville Charter Review Commission, chaired the Montgomery County Racial Equity and Social Justice Advisory Committee and led the drafting and passage of the county’s Racial Equity and Social Justice Act. She also served on the Montgomery County Domestic Violence Coordinating Committee and worked to provide wrap-around services to survivors and their children in support of their journey to safer and healthier lives.

Ms. Shaw has been a long-time affordable housing champion by leading efforts in Rockville and Montgomery County to stabilize housing, especially for the most vulnerable communities.

Ms. Shaw is a proud alumna of Howard University, where she graduated magna cum laude with a dual degree in political science and history. She also earned a master’s in economic and community development at Johns Hopkins University.

Paul Weech has more than 40 years of eclectic experiences in the housing, community
development and financial services fields. He is currently the principal of his own consulting
firm, Innovative Housing Strategies, LLC.

Prior to this consulting role, Commissioner Weech was the president and CEO of NeighborWorks
America, a Congressionally-chartered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides grants, training, and
technical assistance to a network of more than 240 nonprofits across the country.

Commissioner Weech previously served in senior leadership positions for the Housing
Partnership Network and Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future and worked for nearly
10 years at Fannie Mae. He has held positions as chief of staff at the United States Small
Business Administration, staff director for the Subcommittee on Housing and Community
Development for the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and senior
analyst for Housing and Credit for the U.S. Senate Committee on Budget.

Commissioner Weech teaches a course on U.S. Affordable Housing Policy and Practice for the
Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation as part of its
Masters in Real Estate Development Program.

He holds a master of public policy degree from the Ford School for Public Policy Studies at the
University of Michigan and a bachelor of arts in political science from Duke University.