Local Governance - Questions for Council Candidates

Editor's Note - Welcome to third 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 third question. Responses are organized alphabetically by ward. 

Question - How should local government govern?

Ward 1 Candidates:

William Jenne - Editor's Note - Jenne's response to this question was added after this post was published. Jenne, citing work and family obligations, did not submit his responses to the candidate questionnaire until May 2, well after the publication deadline, and well after the first seven candidate responses had been published.

“Government is best that governs the least” goes the old cliché. However I would add that local government should do everything to improve the community in the least intrusive, least expensive, most efficient way that is respectful of personal and property rights.

Bart Lawrence - Our government’s responsibility is, as the charter states, the good governance of city, which includes such items as the preservation of City property, preservation of peace and good order, and promotion of the health, safety, comfort, convenience, welfare, and happiness of the residents and visitors of Hyattsville. Because Hyattsville’s Mayor and Council are not full-time positions, the government’s primary concern must be the hiring and retaining of engaged and dedicated staff. With such staff in place, the government can and must allow City staff to apply their talents in the conduct of City business. The Mayor and Council are responsible for ensuring that staff members perform their duties, that the City fulfills its responsibilities to residents, and that constituent concerns are heard and addressed. The City is best served when the Mayor and Council hire the right staff and give them the direction they need to do their job well.

Ward 2 Candidates:

Robert Croslin - The council’s responsibility is to decide and establish policy based on quality information provided primarily by paid staff.

David Hiles (Incumbent) - We should work with an eye toward making our community a better place to live.

Ward 3 Candidate:

Patrick Paschall - The first and foremost role of local government is to provide basic services to residents.  This means ensuring that we have safe communities, reliable waste management, effective code enforcement, smart local development, and ensuring the needs of the residents are met.  The role of elected officials is partially to set policy direction for the above functions and ensuring the city has the resources it needs to meet these goals.  But elected officials are also the voice of the city’s residents to outside stakeholders, such as the county and state governments.  I intend to be a strong voice for our community by working with elected officials and staff at various levels of government to ensure that the needs of Hyattsville and its residents are addressed.

Ward 4 Candidates:

Ross Gateretse - Developing bold solutions for Hyattville does not happen in isolation. The mayor and the city council should be cohesive unit, have a culture of innovative collaboration. The local government should promote transparency policies, focused on civic outreach and engagement, crime prevention and business development, with a system that enables all members of the council to tackle the city’s greatest challenges and work together to use available resources to better strengthen our city. The local government should develop a lifestyle strategy, a written plan of bold actions that are designed to move the city from where we are to where we want to go. And we get there with integrity, compassion and understanding.

Edouard Haba - Our government is representative by nature. Thus, elected officials should maintain constant communication with their constituents and to take their inputs and/or concerns into account when making decisions.

Ward 5 Candidates:  

Pastor Herrera - Editor's Note - Herrera did not submit responses to this questionnaire before the publication deadline.

Joseph Solomon - Local government should a be direct reflection of the needs of its community.  Counties are the functional unites the state, but cities represent the will of the people.

Clayton Williams - Professionally, respectfully, efficiently, and with humility.