Questions for Council Candidates

Density - Questions for Council Candidates

A question about population density has Hyattsville's City Council candidates talk about development.

Editor's Note - Welcome to fifth installment of Questions for Council Candidates. Recently, Hyattsville Patch sent a 15 part questionnaire to candidates running in this year's Hyattsville City Council election. The questions, developed with the help of Hyattsville Patch readers, probe the candidates thoughts on city policy, development, and also asked the candidates to do a little self reflection.  Between now and May 6, Hyattsville Patch will be publishing their responses to each question to help you, the reader, make a more informed decision at the polls on May 7. Here now are the responses to the fifth question. Responses are organized alphabetically by ward.  Ward 1 Candidates William Jenne - Editor's Note - Jenne's response to this …

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Ross Gateretse

10:57 am on Thursday, May 2, 2013

Please re-read my statement, by no means am I against progress or growth. I can't stop change, change is necessary for a vibrant community, but it needs to be monitored.   more ›

Paschall Nets Big Haul for Hyattsville Campaign

Ward 3 Hyattsville City Council candidate stuns with big fundraising numbers in campaign finance documents.

*** Who dontated to whom? Find out with the 2013 Hyattsville Campaign Finance Database. *** Patrick Paschall, running unopposed for Hyattsville's Ward 3 City Council seat, has raised nearly $4,500 in campaign contributions, according to preliminary campaign finance reports filed last Friday at city hall.  "When I announced that I was running, I reached out to friends and family, and law school friends," said Paschall in an interview. "I was completely amazed and gratified by the outpouring of support I received." With a little more than a week until the elections, Paschall's campaign has so far raised $1,537 more than the combined total of all other city council candidates.  While historic local campaign finance records are hard to come by…

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Forum Theme: Moving Past Council Discord

Questions, answers at Hyattsville candidate forum focus on building a more cohesive, collegial city council.

Amid discussions about transit, senior services, development activity and public safety, one topic kept bubbling back into last night's Hyattsville City Council Candidate's forum: how to improve the state of civic discourse behind the council dais.  "The general feeling is that there is a failure in the leadership by the mayor and council executive committee," said Ward 1 Candidate Bart Lawrence. "It's not about the size of the council, it's not about specific solutions to OPEB," said Clayton Williams, one of three candidates running for one of Ward 5's two open city council seats in next month's election, in response to the first question of the evening, which dealt with city council relations and municipal policy. "The root issue is the …

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City Council Votes Down Tax Measure

Mayor Marc Tartaro says city departments facing projected 13 to 15 percent budget cuts.

A vote to set the city property tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year failed last night before the Hyattsville City Council. The failure to set the tax rate came as some members of the city council said that they needed more information about the next year's budget before they could vote on the tax rate.  Mayor Marc Tartaro had introduced a measure to set the city's property tax rate at 63 cents per $100 of assessed property value. That's the same property tax rate the city has had since 2005 when it was raised from 58 cents per $100 of assessed property value.  In the end, supporters of the tax measure could not muster the six votes necessary to set the property tax rate. Tartaro, Council President Matt McKnight (Ward 3), Council Vice …

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Jim Groves

8:18 pm on Wednesday, May 1, 2013

BigDan, again, you are so quick to bitch about things changing but you seem to forget how it was. Was Rt. 1 really better when it was big EMPTY Lustine parking lot and nasty little stores with nothing behind them? Really, that's was better? Why would you go down Jefferson to get on Rt. 1 if you are going to get gas? Why wouldn't you go up by DeMatha and go through town. Don't blame your lack of …   more ›

Proposal Keeps City Property Tax Rate Same

Real property tax rate has remained unchanged since 2005.

Hyattsville Mayor Marc Tartaro has introduced a resolution which would keep the same municipal real property tax rate which the city has had for the last several years.  Tonight, the Hyattsville City Council will consider Tartaro's property tax measure, which sets the city's real property tax rate at 63 cents per $100 of assessed property value.  The last time the city of Hyattsville raised its real property tax rate was in 2005 under former Mayor Bill Gardiner. Previously, the city's real property tax rate stood at 58 cents per $100 of assessed property value.  At 63 cents, Hyattsville's real property tax rate is the 12th highest among Prince George's County municipalities and special tax districts. Colmar Manor has the highest real …

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Hyattsville Hires City Administrator

City's new top civic servant brings 35 years experience working in local governments.

Earlier this week, the Hyattsville City Council hired a new city administrator, bringing to an end a year-and-a-half period where the position was vacant.  The man stepping into the role, Virginia resident Jerry Schiro, has more than 35 years experience working in top level administrative posts in local governments across the greater Washington DC region.  Here's some of the highlights from Schiro's LinkedIn profile: In 2010, as he was set to retire from his job with Middleburg, he was credited with turning around that town's finances, according to an article in The Loudon Times. He left that job with a glowing recommendation from Middleburg's Mayor Betsy Allen Davis.  “In the past three and a half years he has far exceeded anything we …

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Jenne Takes Another Shot at Council Campaign

Oliver Street resident says Route 1 development, school assistance will be top priority.

Editor's Note - An earlier version of this story erred when stating Jenne's local political history. He has run for city council twice in the past, both times in 2011, when Ward 1 residents got to go to the polls twice in one year, as explained in the article below. The story has been corrected.  William Jenne, a Hyattsville resident since 2005, is making his third attempt at a run to represent Ward 1 on the city council.  Jenne said that if elected he would focus on drawing redevelopment activity into the northern section of Hyattsville's Route 1 corridor. "I would like to facilitate, in any way I can, the redevelopment of the strip," said Jenne in an interview earlier this week. "An issue that goes along with that is parking, because you…

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