Please disregard an earlier draft of this email newsletter which was sent in error. The Council Member's approved text is below. Thank you.


July 20, 2020
 
Dear Friends,
  
This Tuesday, July 21 is our final County Council session before the August recess. The agenda is full of important legislative items. You can find the agenda and watch live or archived video here.

Two items I'd like to call your attention to are CR-62-2020, a resolution I am proposing to create a Food Security Task Force for Prince George's County and CR-50-2020 the County's 10 year Solid Waste Management Plan. While I anticipate the Food Security Task Force to be approved, this is only an initial discussion of the Solid Waste Plan. I urge you to engage in this important conversation.

I'm also proud to join my colleagues in supporting CR-66-2020, proposed by Council Members Calvin Hawkins and Sydney Harrison, which declares racism a crisis and disease of public health safety and economic welfare, which I anticipate will pass tomorrow.

I am extremely proud of CR-46 and CR-47, the County's Annual Action Plan for Housing and Community Development and our FY2021-2025 Consolidated Plan, respectively. Thanks to work initiated by my colleague Council Member Derrick Leon Davis, the County Council has focused on housing needs, including affordable housing, in Prince George's County over the past few years and we are making strong progress. 

Legislation I proposed to enable the University of Maryland's Western Gateway project to be submitted to the Planning Department in order to go through a through review, including numerous opportunities for community input, will likely be approved tomorrow as well. If you are interested in this project, please watch for details soon about a conversation with the Planning Department on the next steps for this particular project and the initiation of a new plan for the area surrounding the Adelphi Road Purple Line stop.

Finally, I want to thank everyone who has engaged with me and my colleagues around CB-48-2020, legislation which would approve a ballot question for the November General Election ballot to change the County's Homestead Tax Credit cap. I am a strong proponent of robust discussion on issues of importance to our County. My first Thought Series forum, therefore, delved deeply into the topic of our County Budget and Tax Structure, including CB-48-2020. I still believe that we must invest more in ourselves in order to move forward. I hope you will join me in August for my Thought Series forum on Affordable Housing in the County.

Be sure to follow Council agendas here and sign up to receive Council Connection, a weekly update of Council business, here.

Another important way for residents to be move involved in our County is to serve on a Board or Commission.   Twice I have proposed legislation to setup a Countywide approach to publicly advertise board and commission openings.  I hope that before I leave the Council legislation will be in place to establish a procedure that both the County Executive and legislative branch follow as one County. For now, I am sharing that there are two openings right now. The first is to serve on the County's Board of Appeals  which hears zoning and administrative appeals. The second opening I am currently aware of is with the Prince George's County Economic Development Incentive Fund where we are looking for someone with a finance, banking, or accounting background to review fund applications.  A special thanks for former Landover Hills (now Cheverly) resident, Mia Pittman, for serving in this role for 8 years.   If you believe you are a good fit for one of these openings, please send your resume to CouncilDistrict3@co.pg.md.us so I can put your name forward for consideration.

This Wednesday, my team and I will distribute our 1,000th box of four free, frozen meals catered by Martin's Crosswinds, in partnership with the Department of Family Services. More than half of these meals have been delivered to seniors unable to pick them up thanks to numerous volunteers. Reservations for Wednesday are closed, but we will have a limited number of extra boxes, first-come-first-serve, for seniors 60+ who live in District 3. Come to the New Carrollton Municipal Building, 6016 Princess Garden Parkway, on Wednesday, July 22, after 9:30am.

click flyer to enlarge
Early July also marked the third month of our Greater Riverdale Cares initiative to bring together nonprofits, churches, municipal leaders and others to support those in need due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This work truly exemplifies my motto Together Strengthening Our Community. Thank you to everyone who has been part of it.

As the economic crisis continues, and the additional unemployment benefits come to an end, the need only continues to grow. If you are in need, or know someone who is, please go to https://bit.ly/D3Help to let us know what you need. We will do our best to assist.

You've likely heard PGCPS will operate virtually from August through February. Learn more.

Even as restaurants and stores begin to reopen, please remember we are in a pandemic. COVID-19 is highly spreadable and we've lost too many lives to this virus. Please continue to social distance and wear a mask. Following these mandates will not only help keep you and your community members healthy, it will also help our local businesses. We will only be able to continue to re-open if our infection numbers continue to decline.

Below is this week's list of food distributions in and near Council District 3. Please share with those who may need assistance.

Click flyer to enlarge


As always, feel free to reach out to a member of my District 3 team or me if we can help you in any way. I am sharing updates regularly on social media, especially my Facebook page .   #onlytogether

Together Strengthening Our Community,






P.S. The Census directly impacts funding for our community. Complete the 2020 Census TODAY! Call 844-330-2020, no code needed. Your community is counting on you to complete the Census 2020! #pgcensus #proudtobecounted #onlytogether

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Learn more about Tax Credits for Homeowners and Renters

Click to enlarge.

County Cooling Centers

The Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEM) and M-NCPPC have opened three cooling centers in Prince George's County.  

Please note due to COVID, there is one in North, Central and South County.

  Northern Area: Adelphi Recreation Building - 8000 Block West Park Dr, Adelphi

Central Area: Ardmore Recreation Building - 9222 Ardwick Ardmore Rd, Springdale 
 
Southern Area: Birchwood City Recreation Building - 1331 Fenwood Ave, Oxon Hill 
 
All are open from 12 noon to 6 pm and are staffed by OEM.
 
Non-Emergency Questions or Concerns CALL 3-1-1.


SNAP Espanol
  -----
 Contact Your 
D3 Team
301-952-3060

CouncilDistrict3
@co.pg.
md.us
 
Wanda Brooks 
Citizen Services Specialist
-- 
geneather Lloyd
Office Manager & Scheduler
glloyd@co.pg.md.us 
--
Aimee Olivo 
Chief of Staff
-- 
Alina Smith
Latino Liaison
--
Alesha Wilson
Community Outreach & Special Projects Coordinator
aewilson@co.pg.md.us


If you have received this e-news from someone other than my office, and are interested in receiving this update directly, please email CouncilDistrict3@co.pg.md.us or call (301) 952-3060.