Patch User Profile for Sarah Nemeth

Sarah Nemeth, Patch Staff
Hyattsville, MD

Email: sarahn@patch.com Phone: 301-915-6577 Follow us on Twitter: @HyattsvllePatch Follow us on Facebook.

Sarah comes to Patch from a hop-scotch career in journalism including stints at the Union-Sun & Journal (Lockport, NY), The Gazette (Hyattsville, Md.), and the Hyattsville Life & Times.

Originally from Niagara Falls, NY, she earned her college degree in communication studies from Canisius College in Buffalo. When she's not writing, she's singing at her home church in Vienna, Va., at the dog park with her yellow Labrador retriever or reading a James Patterson novel at a bookstore or one of Maryland's beaches. She lives in Hyattsville.

At Patch, we promise always to report the facts as objectively as possible and otherwise adhere to the principles of good journalism. However, we also acknowledge that true impartiality is impossible because human beings have beliefs. So in the spirit of simple honesty, our policy is to encourage our editors to reveal their beliefs to the extent they feel comfortable. This disclosure is not a license for me to inject my beliefs into stories or to dictate coverage according to them. In fact, the intent is the opposite: we hope that the knowledge that my beliefs are on the record will cause me to be ever mindful to write, report and edit in a fair, balanced way. And if you ever see evidence that we failed in this mission, please let us know. Politics I am a conservative registered Republican. Religion I don't consider myself to be "religious" but am a born-again Christian. I attend McLean Bible Church in Vienna, Va. Local Hot-Button Issues Gentrification: There is room for all, but progress often means change. So as West Hyattsville loses the "west" and becomes assimilated into the more historic sections of the city, Hyattsville should embrace new ideas from different cultures like the Salvadorans. As EYA, Post Park, University Town Center and Mosaic at Metro fill up with residents and niche businesses, the city should see that the new and the old can coexist together.

Language: As long as English is our nation's standard language I believe we should all have a working command of it. Those who choose to speak other languages should be permitted to do so as they choose. However, it should not be incumbent upon taxpayers to have signage, jurisdictional literature or public speaking events translated into languages other than English. Hyattsville's had to go through this with code enforcement documents. We see it at city council meetings when those who speak Spanish must have a translator in order to talk during public comment. It's an issue that must be dealt with swiftly and sensitively.

Police: Enough or not enough? The Hyattsville Police Department has been accredited and reaccredited (multiple times) by CALEA. Crime in general in the city is low. But what about citizen robberies, especially near the Metro stations? Stemming crime is as much about prevention as it is about enforcement, but without enough police officers on the streets, neither one is possible. Should the SWAT team be eliminated? Is it enough to have a SWAT MOU with the Greenbelt police?