Politics & Government

Council Considers Censure for Hyattsville Mayor

Mayor admits mistakes in disclosure of meetings with developers, adding items to council agendas.

The Hyattsville City Council is considering censuring Mayor Marc Tartaro, accusing him of violating council policies and procedures by adding items to previous meeting agendas on behalf of city council members without their knowledge, and by failing to inform the city council in a timely manner of meetings he held with developers of a proposed grocery store at University Town Center.

"I think it's a really sad and unfortunate thing to have to bring this motion," said Council Member Patrick Paschall (Ward 3) during discussion of the motion to censure, which he cosponsored with Council Member Timothy Hunt (Ward 3). "We feel a need to get these actions into the public sphere."

Motion Misnomer

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The motion to censure is motivated by two actions taken by Tartaro in recent months.

The first concerns the sponsorship of motions included on the agenda of the June 13 city council meeting. According to motion to censure, the agenda for that meeting included three budget measures supposedly sponsored by Council President Candace Hollingsworth (Ward 1) and nine budget measures supposedly sponsored by Council Member Tim Hunt (Ward 3)

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"In fact, neither of the motions in question were authored or proposed by the council members listed as the sponsors," reads the motion to censure. "Additionally, at no point prior to the publication of the agenda were Council Members Hunt or Hollingsworth consulted by the mayor regarding these items."

The measures were based on budget suggestions submitted by city council members as the city administration was assembling a proposed budget for the current fiscal year. The measures were never considered. At the June 13 meeting, the items were struck from the agenda when objections were raised about their sponsorship.

"These were ideas to include when putting together a budget proposal," said Paschall during Monday's meeting. "After seeing a budget proposal and getting a glimpse of what the numbers looked like…my understanding was that neither of those individuals would have proposed any of those things as motions for a budget."

The motion to censure argues that the process by which those items were added to the June 13 agenda went against the city council's official, written policies and procedures for submitting a measure for consideration.

Tartaro agreed, saying that his aim was only to bring those suggestions before the council for debate.

"That was a mistake on my part," said Tartaro during discussion of the motion to censure. "My mistake was having them [the budget suggestions] put in the form of a motion…so when council discusses them, they would have a motion number for us to discuss."

Meeting Minutes

The motion to censure also accuses Tartaro of not promptly reporting two meetings held earlier this year, on March 4 and May 6, with developers interested in constructing a Safeway grocery store at the University Town Center along East-West Highway in Hyattsville. 

According to Jim Chandler, director of Hyattsville's Department of Economic and Community Development, the meetings in question were discussions involving city and county officials.

Hyattsville's city council policy and procedures, according to the motion to censure, requires that the mayor report back on meetings held with third parties regarding any item which the city council will have to act on. It specifies that "in no event should this information item be presented later than the next regularly scheduled council meeting after initial discussions commence on any issue with third parties."

But, according to both Paschall and Tartaro, the city council was not informed of the mayor's meetings with developers until a closed session held after the June 27 council meeting. 

Tartaro, during discussion of the motion to censure during Monday's meeting, said that he withheld the information at the request of developers.

"When I met with the developer, we discussed proprietary and highly confidential information. I asked if it would be okay to share that information with council in a closed session," said Tartaro. "The developer said that it was not acceptable to do that."

However, in light of the objections raised by the motion to censure, Tartaro said that, in future meetings with third parties, he plans to issue a statement disclosing his requirement to inform the city council of the discussions. 

Censure of Attention

Introduced during Monday's meeting, the motion to censure was added to the agenda as a discussion item by unanimous vote of the city council. Other than discussing the item, no further action was taken. The motion to censure is slated to return to the dais for more deliberations and a possible vote at the next city council meeting, set for Aug. 5.

As for the censure itself, it's really nothing more than a legislative slap on the wrist. It carries no penalty or punishment more severe than an official scolding.

"It is my understanding that the word censure doesn't even appear in the city charter," said Richard Colaresi, Hyattsville's city attorney. "It's just something that legislative bodies can do, issuing a censure."

Former Ward 2 city council member David Hiles, who lost his re-election bid in May, in public comment during the meeting, urged the city council to put aside disagreements and focus on improving the city.

"You should let the public interest be your guide," said Hiles. "Are you being asked to support actions in the public interest, or in support of a grudge?"


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