Politics & Government
Elections: LaVonne Leslie
Mayoral candidate LaVonne Leslie talks about her top three concerns for Hyattsville.
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Name: , Hyattsville resident from 1989-1995 and 2006-Present.
Age: 59
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Occupation: Professor at Howard University
Family: Divorced; two adult children
Hometown: Cisco, TX
Qualifications: More than 30 years in state and local government in Nebraska, Georgia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
- Undergraduate Degree in Political Science, Pre-Law
- Graduate Degree in Public Administration, History
- Master's Degree, Howard University, U.S. History
- Has taught at Bowie State University, College of Notre Dame, Loyola College and Morgan State University.
Three most important city issues and how they should be addressed:
1) Safety
"I support more police enforcement. I to reduce traffic accidents. I'm also a proponent of speed bumps in certain neighborhoods, crime watch committees with support from law enforcement and I also support grants to provide training for our officers. I believe we have enough law enforcement officers but just to have the officers more visible in the city."
2) Intergenerational Civic Involvement
"Civic programs for the city on mentoring and tutoring our youth. Artistic and cultural activities to beautify the city's image. In other words, enabling our artists to have more exposure. Also, I am a supporter of language programs. I know our Spanish population is increasing, and that's part of civics. We need to promote [language] programs so that we can be more bilingual."
3) Issues Concerning Aging Population
"I am definitely interested in promoting health and wellness programs for our aging. We need to have a committee specifically addressing those concerns. Also programs to keep our aging informed on legislative issues that concerns their population in terms of legislation passed, healthcare, social security, housing, those types of issues."
Website: lavonneleslie.vpweb.com