January 2017 Hyattsville Life and Times

Page 1

WRITERS WANTED

Write for the Hyattsville Life & Times in 2017. P. 2

MY TWO CENTS

POP-UP STAYS UP

Tanglewood Works decides to remain in the Arts District. P. 4

Question of city council size to appear on 2017 ballot

H A P PY N E

W

Resident hopes to see Hyattsville become a sanctuary city. P. 10

EH H T M O R F YEAR

L&T!

Life&Times

By Krissi Humbard

At their Dec. 19, 2016 meeting, the city council unanimously voted to place an advisory, non-binding referendum question regarding the size of the city council on the ballot for the upcoming 2017 election. Councilmembers Edouard Haba (Ward 4) and Ruth Ann Frazier (Ward 5) were absent. The referendum question will establish voters’ preferences about the number of councilmembers on the city council. It also seeks input on the number and size of the election wards, the number of councilmembers per ward, and whether there should be any councilmembers elected at-large by all the city’s voters. “The last time [the council] had a deliberate conversation about size was in 2012,” when the council was discussing options for redistricting,

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COUNCIL continued on page 13

Vol. 14 No. 1

Hyattsville’s Community Newspaper

January 2017

Council approves funding for purchase of new Call-A-Bus By Quanny Carr

The city council approved funding to purchase a new Call-A-Bus at the Dec. 19, 2016 meeting, after members from the Hyattsville community voiced concerns about lack of service and unreliability. The original proposal was discussed during the Dec. 5, 2016 city council meeting. The proposal requested that “$20,000 be reappropriated from the Department of Public Works to

the Department of Community Services to purchase a reliable Transport Vehicle/Call-A-Bus.” During that meeting, residents of Hyattsville spoke about their experiences with the program and called on the city to approve the proposal. “I have a 92-year-old mother … We had scheduled a Call-A-Bus pickup to get her to Providence Hospital for a very important medical examination,” said Winifred Weaver, a Ward 1 resident. “The bus broke down. We didn’t

know until long afterwards, and thank goodness a good Samaritan, a neighbor of my mom’s, offered to give us a ride there and back.” Weaver finished her personal testimony, imploring the council for change: “I press upon you with all of my heart, I beg you, please, find the money to invest in a dependable bus. Otherwise your senior programs are going to fall by the wayside.” The bus provides senior citizens and people with disabilities a

convenient transportation service to assist with everyday errands like medical appointments and grocery store trips. The service is available from Monday to Friday and costs $2 each way. Ward 1 resident Linda Otts, who spoke positively about the program, also addressed the unreliability of the vehicle, “You can’t keep putting Band-Aids on Band-Aids.” According to the proposal, the CALL-A-BUS continued on page 8

Operation Santa with a Badge spreads joy to kids near and far

Hyattsville Life & Times PO Box 132 Hyattsville, MD 20781

By Helen Parshall

HELEN PARSHALL Kids dance with Santa outside the Mall at Prince Georges, excitement tangible in the air as they wait to begin the shopping adventure.

Over 100 police officers and children loaded in police cars, with lights and sirens blaring, streamed into the Mall at Prince Georges’ parking lot on Dec. 10, 2016, eager to shop for the holidays. It was all a part of Operation Santa with a Badge, an annual Hyattsville tradition that brings together officers from agencies in Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania and more than 100 children from local, low-income families for a chance to experience some holiday magic. “My favorite part is seeing the faces on the kids,” said Doug Holland, Hyattsville police chief. “More often than not when the kids are shopping with the police officers, they’re buying things for other family members, their brothers and sisters, mom and dad, too.” SANTA continued on page 12

CENTER SECTION: JANUARY 11, 2017 ISSUE OF THE HYATTSVILLE REPORTER — IN ESPANOL TOO!


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