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Politics & Government

Rift Between Tartaro And Hunt About Trust

The rift on the Hyattsville City Council between Mayor Marc Tartaro and Councilmember Timothy Hunt became clear after a disagreement at Monday's City Council Meeting.

The rift on the Hyattsville City Council between Mayor Marc Tartaro and Councilmember Timothy Hunt that became clear on Monday stems from a disagreement over transparency and a lack of trust.

While the Crittenden Street Construction project was the item listed on the agenda, it was the topic of transparency and trust that took over a portion of the Hyattsville City Council meeting Monday night.

And, Wednesday both Councilmember Timothy Hunt and Mayor Marc Tartaro reiterated their concerns about council communications and trust.

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“Things got out of hand Monday,” wrote Tartaro in an email to Patch, “As a mayor, I’ll take some responsibility for that. There are always going to be strong feelings on many topics, and issues where there is considerable disagreement and even tension.”

“Some of my frustration stems from the lack of trust. It has been a long-term problem for our Council,” added Tartaro.

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At Monday’s city council meeting, Hunt accused Tartaro of withholding information related to the Crittenden Street construction project and being dishonest. At one point during a discussion of the project, Hunt asked the mayor if he could see all the documents on administrative aide Julia McTague’s desk related to the project. Tartaro said “he’s not going there” and that “there’s nothing else out there.”

But Hunt was undeterred, he tried to pass an amendment requiring Tartaro to provide the council the latest blueprints on the project. The amendment failed to pass by one vote.

Tartaro told Hunt that the Council had been working on this project for months and that if he had any questions he should have asked them to the city administrator before the meeting. Hunt said he had tried to do so and called the mayor dishonest for accusing him of not being prepared.

“It’s an effort to discredit those that disagreed by saying they weren’t prepared and ready to do their job,” said Hunt.

Hunt said he also believes the level of trust between some members of the council and the mayor has broken down. He said Tartaro has had “a lack of transparency” and a “controlling nature.” Hunt had previously accused the mayor of withholding information related to a personnel issue in August of 2011. 

Hunt said that under previous Mayor Bill Gardiner he was able to attend staff meetings related to construction projects and view first and second draft documents related to them. But under Tartaro doing so became difficult. He said Tartaro was angry that city staff was letting him know meetings were going on related to the project.

For his part, Tartaro wrote, “To be fair to staff, we don’t expect—or customarily allow—them to share their work-in-progress. As mayor, part of my role setting the agenda is to give the approval in consultation with staff that something is complete and ready to go before the Council.”

The disagreement spiraled out of a discussion about new engineering work to create designs for pervious concrete sidewalks and a safer Crittenden Street/ Route 1 intersection.  The council has been actively working on the project since it in November.

Tartaro said that due to the number of significant issues the council faces right now he wants to make sure that their time is used carefully.

“Councilmembers have opportunities to speak directly to staff and to raise questions about anything on the agenda or in their packet.” Tartaro wrote, “It is tough to spend time revisiting issues that had been decided weeks or months back. It isn’t fair to our residents, who expect us to move the city forward.”

“Disagreement is a healthy thing as long as it’s constructive,” said Hunt, “We need the best information to make the best judgment. It doesn’t help when we have controlling members.”

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