It has been a busy fast month! Seems like we were just getting our children
back into school and celebrating Labor Day.
Columbus Day has even come and gone.
With all of the time that has passed, your Mayor, Council, and staff
have continued to work on behalf of you (our residents), our businesses, and
the City of Mount Rainier. The following
is an overview of a few of the things that have happened since last month:
October 1, 2014, former Councilmember, Ivy Thompson
officially resigned from the Council and took up residence in College
Park. I know that her constituents as
well as the Mayor and Council wish her much success in our sister City, College
Park.
With the resignation of former Councilmember Thompson, a
vacancy in Ward Two has been created.
Councilmember JBrent Bolin has the
onerous
job of collecting, reviewing, and submitting to Mayor and Council up to three
names to be considered for filling that vacancy. If you are interested in being considered for
this very important job in our community, PLEASE submit your resume to
Attention: Councilmember Brent Bolin, One Municipal Place, Mount Rainier, MD, 20712.
Qualifications for the position are simple: You must be eighteen (18) or over, registered
to vote in the County, and must have lived in the City for one year or more. The city held positions are nonpartisan
(neither Democrat or Republican nor Green Party or Independent).
Hungry Harvest, a food sharing program is now servicing our
area! If you are looking for fresh produce
from local farmers at a reasonable price, this is the place. Hungry Harvest is a local mission-driven
business committed to reducing food waste and ending hunger in America.
It was started by University of Maryland students.
They deliver fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms,
to your door every week for a fraction of the cost that you could purchase
these items at our grocery stores. Their local farm fresh produce is as
much as 50% less than farmers markets and other CSA’s.
For every bag or produce sold, they donate a bag to a local
family in need, food bank or homeless shelter.
You can contact: Kevin
Kresloff, Brand Ambassador of Hungry Harvest, LLC, Kevin.kresloff@hungryharvest.net or
call him at
301-675-5964 with
questions or to sign up for a free trial.
Visit their website at
www.hungryharvest.net.
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Pepco is back in the neighborhood trimming and cutting
trees. This work restarted after the
Mayor and Council met with PEPCO representatives to make sure that they
followed our Tree Ordinance. Because of
some special legislation at the State level, utility companies have the right
to take corrective and preventive measures to ensure the safety of their wires,
and reliability of their services.
Therefore, they do not have to comply with our Tree Ordinance. They must get permission to or trim trees on
private property. PLEASE retain your
pink copy that should be left with you by the PEPCO representative.
PEPCO also provided nine tree vouchers to the City for
replacement trees that were accidentally cut down a few months ago. Please
contact City Hall or me should you have questions about PEPCO activities in our
community.
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First time home buyers’ workshop was held on November 1 by
the Redevelopment Authority (RDA). If
you missed that free workshop, and is still interested in purchasing a home in
Prince George’s County, act now by contacting the RDA! Howard Means, the director of the RDA stated
that the RDA has $5,000,000.00 for first-time home buyers. First-Time Homebuyers Can Access Up to
$60,000 in Down Payment and Closing Costs.
For more information, call (301) 883-5456 for assistance in English
and
(301) 328-3292 for
assistance in Spanish.
This informative workshop was held at the Langley Park
Community Center, 1500 Merrimac Drive, Hyattsville, MD 20783
at 11:00 am. The workshop was presented in English and in
Spanish to ensure all participants would gain a full understanding of the “My
HOME” program.
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Meeting with Mayor Petrella Robinson to discuss their
relationship with Gateway CDC. Following
our meeting, the two of us attended the Gateway CDC Board meeting. The following was gleaned from the meeting
relative to the City of Mount Rainier:
The Gateway CDC is seeking to restructure itself and become
more beneficial to the three municipalities that it was created to serve. As the Gateway CDC takes a sharper look at
itself, the three municipalities should examine themselves and determine what
it is they want the Gateway CDC to do with and for them.
The Gateway CDC is struggling to keep its doors open. They are willing to work with the
municipalities, but need some help and guidance from each. The current executive director has been working
diligently to make the Gateway CDC responsive to the municipalities, but need
some help from each to determine what Gateway CDC can do to help them.
I have agreed to make sure that Mount Rainier is an active
partner with the Gateway CDC, and that the City would appoint members to serve
on its Board that worked closely with the Mayor and Council to develop and
implement projects in the City. I also
agreed to set up and host a meeting with Mayor Jim Cooksey and Mayor Robinson
at a later date to discuss our mutual needs and support of the Gateway CDC.
Over the past, members of Mount Rainier volunteered to serve
on the Gateway CDC Board to meet the criteria of “five members from each
municipality.” However, those serving
from Mount Rainier did not consult with, work with or report to the Mayor and
Council. As a result, they were unable
to truly work with the City to raise funds for projects that were critical to
the City of Mount Rainier.
With the restructuring, it is hoped that the City would be
able to appoint or reappoint five residents to serve on the Gateway CDC Board,
and that the City would become an active and supportive member of Gateway
CDC. If you are currently serving as one
of the five members of the Gateway CDC Board as the Mount Rainier
Representative, PLEASE call City Hall (301-985-658) and provide your contact information as well
as a couple of good dates that you would be willing and able to meet with the
Mayor.
If you are interested in serving on the Gateway CDC Board,
and can spare up to five hours a month to work with the Mayor and Council, and
Gateway CDC to help kick start our projects (3200 Rhode Island Avenue, the
Civic Center, and other projects in the City), PLEASE call City Hall and
provide your contact information as well as a couple of good dates that you
would be willing and able to meet with the Mayor.
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Mount Rainier has endorsed a number of green and healthy initiatives
over the past several years, and those initiatives were well intended. Now, we need to act on them as part of
helping to move our next generation forward.
Those initiatives include:
Let’s Move! Is a comprehensive initiative, launched by
the First Lady, dedicated to solving the challenge of childhood obesity within
a generation, so that children born today will grow up healthier and able to
pursue their dreams. Combining comprehensive strategies with common sense, Let's
Move! is about putting children on the path to a healthy future during
their earliest months and years. Giving parents helpful information and
fostering environments that support healthy choices. Providing healthier foods
in our schools. Ensuring that every family has access to healthy, affordable
food. And, helping kids become more physically active.
Everyone has a role to play in reducing childhood obesity,
including parents, elected officials from all levels of government, schools,
health care professionals, faith-based and community-based organizations, and
private sector companies. Your involvement is key to ensuring a healthy future
for our children. Want more information,
visit
http://www.letsmove.gov/learn-facts/epidemic-childhood-obesity.
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Complete Streets--The Mayor and Council passed this initiative
as part of what we believe is a new day for using our streets, alleys and bike
trails. When our streets were built,
they were built for cars. Now, we are
encouraging residents to consider walking within the neighborhood, ride their
bikes to short destinations, and use zip cars or other ways to move around the
metropolitan area. That means our
streets must become more user friendly for all types of mobility.
Complete Streets are streets for everyone. They are designed
and operated to enable safe access for all users, including pedestrians,
bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities. Complete
Streets make it easy to cross the street, walk to shops, and bicycle to work.
They allow buses to run on time and make it safe for people to walk to and from
train stations.
Creating Complete Streets means transportation agencies must
change their approach to community roads. By adopting a Complete Streets
policy, communities direct their transportation planners and engineers to routinely
design and operate the entire right of way to enable safe access for all users,
regardless of age, ability, or mode of transportation. This means that every
transportation project will make the street network better and safer for
drivers, transit users, pedestrians, and bicyclists – making your town a better
place to live.
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Kids to the Park Day --
National Kids to Parks Day is always the third
Saturday in May. Mayors,
town councils, kids, teachers, and families across the our Country,
and 18 national collaborators, including the NFL Players Association
and the American Academy of Pediatrics come together for a day of outdoor
play on the third Saturday in May each year! However, obesity is a year round
disease that is fueled by televisions, fast food restaurants, and manufactures
who filled their food with sugar.
If you have not done
so already, please consider signing up now to take your child (ren), a
neighbor’s child or your nieces and nephews to the park regularly. If we are to reduce obesity in our community,
then we must get our children active. This
is a terrific way to showcase our local parks and to get to know our
neighborhood and our neighbors. There
are lots of fun things to do in our parks, and I encourage you to become active
and part of our community.
Kids to Parks Day is officially in support of
the
First
Lady's Let's Move! initiative. Last year, more than 260 mayors
from 45 states participated in this national event. We can and should make this a year round goal
for our community and our children.
President Barack Obama has launched a program, My Brother’s
Keeper, to help reduce crime in our community, to provide opportunity for young
Black males to become better equipped to survive in our society, and to ensure
that all children receive a good quality education. As your Mayor, I signed on to this program in
light of the number of teen deaths over the past few years, and the number of
young Black teens incarcerated from Mount Rainier. I had this on the agenda for discussion at
our last work session, but we did not get to it during the work session. I will be bringing this initiative and all of
the others back to the table for discussion and action over the next few
meetings.
By the time that our next newsletter is printed and
distributed, our own Councilmember, Jimmy Tarlau will be officially elected as
the next State Delegate representing the 47th Legislative District. Therefore, I am taking the liberty here to
wish him a wonderful bon voyage, and much success in Annapolis as he represents
us here in the great City of Mount Rainier, Maryland.
Jimmy, thank you for your service to the City, and for
placing you and your family under such public scrutiny to serve our
community. We wish nothing but the best
for you as you take this giant step in your career.
Note: Councilmember
Jesse Christopherson will be seeking volunteers to replace Councilmember Jimmy Tarlau in
Ward One. If you are interested, please
do not hesitate to let Councilmember Christopherson know of your interest. The process for Ward One has not been
determine since Councilmember Tarlau is still sitting on the Council, and his
official notice to vacate the seat has not yet been submitted.
The holiday season is here.
Many of those in our community are facing the season with dread and
trepidation. You and I can make this
season a good one for all of our residents.
If you are shopping for the holidays, consider getting that bargain of
buy one get one free or half price. Then
donate it to the Mount Rainier Food Bank.
This year, I am encouraging the Mount Rainier Food Bank to
take the lead on collecting perishables and non-perishables to be distributed
to our families in need at Mount Rainier Elementary and Thomas Stone Elementary
for Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
I am also asking Captain James Stoots to once again head the turkey
collection for the two schools during the Christmas Holidays. In addition, I am asking a former resident, Kyhyam
Cooper to deliver turkeys to the City from his Turkey Run.
If you are a family in need or you know a family in need,
PLEASE submit your name or theirs to Ms. Janis Lomax at City Hall. I am also asking the principals at each
school to once again submit names of families in need to Ms. Janis Lomas. The names should be submitted no later than
November 21 for Thanksgiving, and December 12 for Christmas.
Speed humps/bumps at stop signs --Mayor and Council
discussed the issue of safety in the City, and unanimously agreed to look into
placing speed calming devices at all of our stop signs over the next few
years. We strongly believe that this
measure will help to slow traffic through our neighborhoods, but will also
force most motorists to stop at our stop signs.
In addition, the Mayor and Council agreed to revisit the
type and model of speed hump and/or bumps that are used in the City on City
streets. This discussion is still
ongoing. If you have suggestions, please
contact me or your Councilmember.
Trash collection snafu.
In an effort to get residents to comply with the trash code, Mayor and
Council authorized Public Works to issue citations for non-compliance and to
leave the trash. During the week of
October 20, Public Works implemented the directive given by the Mayor and
Council. As you can imagine, this
resulted in some real hardships and difficulties for many residents who have
been out of compliance for years (including yours truly).
Based on the response, and a review of the matter, Mayor and
Council has decided to revisit the issue, and to phase in the more strictly
enforced Trash Code. Therefore, with
this newsletter, residents are reminded that trash receptacles may not be
larger than 33 gallons, and must have a lid placed on them prior to being
placed in the tree boxes for pick up.
Trash receptacles that exceed the 33 gallon limit and/or do not have a
lid on them will receive a notice of violation for the first offense, and will
not be picked up for the second offense, and will be fined in accordance with
the ordinance for each infraction thereafter.
In addition, every effort will be made to make sure that new
residents to the area are provided with information about the City’s codes
within 90 days of their becoming a resident.
Welcome packages are available at City Hall. (NOTE:
The Welcome Package is being updated to be more user friendly and
comprehensive.) Residents should also be
aware that information about the City’s Codes and Ordinances may be found on
the City’s website,
www.mountrainiermd.org,
the two City cable/FIOS channels (21 and 71), and in the City’s newsletter from
time-to-time. When everything else
fails, please do not hesitate to call City Hall and/or Public Works. They are there to make sure that this information
is disseminated to all residents.
WIFI for the City.
Another initiative that I have been working on, and is still in its
infant stage is WIFI for our City. I
believe in this day and age, WIFI should be available to everyone in the City,
especially our children whose families are unable to provide access to the
internet. In some communities, school
age children are provided with laptops to take home to do their school
work. I am pushing hard to make that a
reality in Mount Rainier, and WIFI will be necessary because many of our
children do not have access to the internet and/or cannot get to the library to
use the computers there.
Social Media is becoming more and more a part of our everyday
life. At our last work session, I
provided the Council with a proposed social media policy based on several
presentations at the Maryland Municipal League’s (MML) Convention and
Conferences over the past three years.
Currently, there are a few Mount Rainier sites on Facebook, there is the
Mount Rainier ListServ, and that may only be the tip of the iceberg of social
networks that carry the name Mount Rainier, MD or the City of Mount Rainier.
MML strongly recommends that municipalities have policies
regarding social media as well as the use of the City’s logo. At the current time, the City has
neither. Our attorney and MML have
reviewed the proposed policies. Both
have weighed in on it, however, our attorney is proposing a more strict policy
than that used by many other municipalities.
Over the next few meetings, the City will develop, approve,
and issue policies around its use of social media. If you have ideas, comments and/or
suggestions, please send them to our Assistant City Manager, Ms. Veronica
Owens.
Veteran’s Day Celebration – We will be celebrating our
veterans again this year. Last year was
the first time that the City took a moment to recognize its veterans, and those
who attended were very pleased to receive this recognition in their own home
town.
The celebration will be held in Potts Hall, November 8, 2014,
2:00pm until 4:00pm, 3405 Rhode Island Avenue, Mount Rainier, MD 20712. A late lunch will be served. Please come out and support our VETERANS, and
bring your neighbor.
