MAKING CENTs
HYATTsVILLE LOCALs HELP wITH FEsTIVAL
MUsIC TO HER EARs
One Hyattsville resident gets a unique proposal from her fiance ... with pennies. PAGE 3
The variety of cultural programs at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival wouldn’t be possible without a core group of Hyattsville residents. PAGE 9
Nevilla Ottley, founder of Ottley Music School, comes from a long line of musicians. PAGE 6
Library to close on Sundays by Susie Currie Starting July 4, all branches of the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System will be closed on Sundays due to a $1.3 million drop in state and county funding. Kathleen Teaze, director of the library system, said that its budget has been cut by about $4 million since 2007. In the fiscal year that started this month, she said, “we’re getting $1 million less from the county and $300,000 less from the state.” She estimated that the cut in state funding is equivalent to what it would cost to keep the Sunday hours. It’s the latest round of cutbacks that began in October, when Hyattsville became one of three branches — down from seven — to remain open on Sundays. Reduced hours throughout the system meant that some locations lost up to 9 hours a week; Hyattsville lost three when it began closing at 6 p.m. on Thursdays. More recently, the Adelphi Road branch closed its lower-level circulation desk and installed two new automated checkout machines. For some visitors, these changes translated into a decline in service in what is one of the busiest libraries in the system,
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Hyattsville Life&Times
Vol. 7 No. 7
Hyattsville’s Community Newspaper
July 2010
HAPPY CAMPERS photo by valerie russell The cityʼs new summer day camp program, which started June 21, offers children ages 3 to 13 a full day of fun and friends.
Council reverses hiring decision by Paula Minaert At a time when nearly half the city’s department-head positions are open, the city council is rethinking how to fill them. Three out of seven directorlevel jobs, which require contract approval by the council, are or are soon to be empty: treasurer, director of recreation and the arts, and city administrator. The controller position, which reports to the treasurer, is also open. Soon after City Administrator Elaine Murphy announced her retirement in April, council passed a motion that charged her, in consultation with the
council’s executive committee — Mayor Bill Gardiner, President Marc Tartaro (Ward 1) and Vice President Bill Tierney (Ward 2) — with choosing the firm that would recruit her successor. But on June 9, the council voted 9 to 2 to rescind that motion, directing instead that the whole council be involved in the selection process. Voting against the reversal were Gardiner and Matt McKnight (Ward 3). “There are no grounds to my mind [for rejecting it],” said Gardiner. “And it’s unusual for us to overturn a previous council motion.” Murphy had selected Voorhees Associates, a choice opposed
by both Tartaro and Tierney. Tierney, who has a professional background in human resources, introduced the motion to overturn the earlier action, saying, “Too many red flags went up for
me to feel I could work with this firm.” He mentioned concerns about the firm’s understanding of Equal Employment OpporHIrInG continued on page 13
Jemal promises WSSC building upgrades by Susie Currie Neighbors concerned about what they see as security problems at the former headquarters of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission won concessions
from the building's owner during a meeting there on June 23. It's been empty for nearly 20 years, since the water company's headquarters moved to Laurel in WSSc continued on page 12
Included: The July 14, 2010 Issue of The Hyattsville Reporter — See Center Section