Hyattsville’s 2021 election season is here, and with 20 candidates running for five ward seats and the mayor’s office, it may be the biggest election the city has ever seen. All week long, Route 1 Reporter will be introducing you to as many of the candidates as possible in a series of video interviews. Over the past week, Route1Reporter has interviewed 15 of the 20 candidates running.
Today, we unveil the interviews with the city’s Ward One candidates, or at least as many of them as we could get. Route 1 Reporter was unable to complete an interview with candidate Michael Brown, who cut-short a scheduled interview this past Sunday with Route 1 Reporter. Brown was out door-to-door campaigning at the time. During a pre-interview candidate-information collection process in which all other interviewed candidates provided responses, Brown cut short the interview after Route 1 Reporter inquired about any businesses he owned, saying the questions were getting “personal” and noting he had a top-secret security clearance. He also added he needed to visit his mother, who was ill. Attempts to re-schedule an interview with Brown before these articles published were unsuccessful.
Still, Route 1 Reporter was able to secure interviews with candidates Sam Denes, Mai Abdul Rahman, and Daniel Vallejos-Avila.
Route 1 Reporter’s interview with Abdul Rahman is below.
In these interviews, each candidate was asked the same six questions. The questions were not shared with the candidates beforehand. The questions are also fairly broad, providing candidates an opportunity to introduce themselves and describe their approach to local government policymaking.
Hyattsville’s election season concludes May 11, 2021.
Theis:
Hello. My name is Michael Theis editor and publisher of Route1Reporter.com. I’m here today with Mai Abdul Rahman, one of four candidates for ward one in Hyattsville. In all, Hyattsville has 20 candidates running for five ward seats and the mayor’s office. This interview and others are intended to be a broad introduction to the candidates and their approach to local government policy and policymaking. Let’s begin. Mai, how are you doing today?
Abdul Rahman:
Thank you. Thank you for asking me.
Theis:
Excellent. First question, tell me a little bit about yourself. What do you do and how did you come to live in Hyattsville?
Abdul Rahman:
I came to live in Hyattsville because I have daughters who are artists and they basically chose Hyattsville because of its reputation as a very welcoming artistic community where art thrives. So, we came to Hyattsville and I’ve really enjoyed it. And what do. I do, in – during – last semester I taught – I was a guest lecturer the semester before I think we talked about this. I also was a professor and – which is an associate professor. I don’t want to claim something bigger than what it is. And so right now I am working on the COVID-19 task force. This interest began. I began this interest as a volunteer. I started when COVID-19 hit, what in March of 24th, when we started started the lockdown around that time. I began, you know, when the first COVID-19 test site opened up, I began working there and then I moved from there, and now I’m working in Anne Arundel County, which is at the general assembly actually in Annapolis. And I decided I wanted to be part of the solution, than sit around and get very frustrated about what’s going on. And it’s been really great learning experience. I’m also an EMT, certified nationally certified EMT. And I work out of engine 13, so it kind of fit, it was the right thing to do.
Theis:
Some people – For the people who may be watching, what is engine 13? Talk a little bit about it.
Abdul Rahman:
It’s a volunteer Riverdale engine. Basically. We are a group of volunteers who have a couple of engines and an ambulance. And my work is primarily within the ambulance category.
Theis:
Second question: Why are you running for Hyattsville city council?
Abdul Rahman:
Because I am, you know, we’re only about a mile or a couple of miles away from Washington D.C. And Hyattsville is really quite a jump. And I mean that in, in the total sense: People get along very well here. They’re good neighbors. I mean, I’m walking the streets and that’s all I hear, you know: laughter – a kid’s outside playing; the bells of the church are ringing, people just walk to the church, come back. There’s a lot of laughter and families walking with their strollers and dogs. It’s just a really – it’s a really nice community. And I’ve been on, you know, because of COVID-19, I also helped with putting packages for people who need it. And I understand some of the pockets of needs, the senior citizens, for example, and people without family. I also worked in a way that on two committees, and especially the education committee and I’m an educators, you’ve already – we’ve already discussed. I used to be a teacher and now I teach at the college level. So the educational is part of my life. And I feel like I have some answers. We do have high graduation rates – I mean, I’m sorry – high college graduate rates within 20781. We also have high drop-out. Students are actually dropped out of high school quite early here in Hyattsville. I would like to address that question. I mean, I know how. I don’t know all the answers, I do have some of the answers.
Theis:
All right, then that kind of actually leads into my next question: What is the most pressing issue facing Hyattsville right now? And what policies would you pursue to address it?
Abdul Rahman:
Okay. Where our kids are coming back to school. And there is still a lot of fear about COVID-19. Meeting some of the principals. It was clearly articulated by at least two principals, if not more, that they’re really essential needs that are not being met. And and it’s hard on both. I mean emotionally hard. Going, you know: People are really anxious to start things, but I don’t think there’ve been any preparations to kind of transition them into the school. So I would like to look into how we can make it easier for parents, teachers as well as principals. I mean, some of the principals were telling us that they’ve lost, for example, students have lost several members of their family, not just one. All the way up to grandmother, grandfather, father, mother – but that’s also the case for some of the teachers.
Abdul Rahman:
And so it is the case for some of the principals. So how do we, how do you make sure that those kinds of traumatic experiences are addressed, who is really responsible to address them? I would like to put forth some proposals or maybe consider kind of a — really, we’re all traumatized by COVID-19. I don’t think there’s any segment or a lot of times when we talk about kids and how hard it is for them, and it is very hard. But I think adults are also traumatized and that, that really merits some consideration and some help.
Theis:
It looks like you and I both just got that text message about Prince George’s County vaccine moving to phase two with the vaccines there. My next question here: What is a unique skill or perspective you would bring to this job if elected?
Abdul Rahman:
Ooh, that’s a good one. I – what unique perspective would I…? The perspective that I don’t know, everything, maybe that’s not unique. That’s probably a lot of people feel that way, but I certainly don’t feel like I have all the answers and I’m sincere when I say that. And I’m going to depend on listening to a lot of people who have a stake in some of the issues that they care about. I have, of course I’m a researcher. I can figure out some things, but on the gut level, there are some issues that I really need help with. For example, I think seniors need a lot of help. People who are living in this community who are older, we need a senior community center. That’s something that I really would like to work on. And I would like to work on a senior community center and a youth center, and then combining them together where the mentors, you know, for reading and math and so on, that could come from the senior community center.
Abdul Rahman:
And that’s an idea that I did not come up with. I don’t want you to think I’m a brilliant person. Actually, it came up because I was talking to someone told me that she was someone who was really concerned about the issues that deal with seniors. And so that’s something that I’ll bring to the table. But what I venture to say that I have anything unique and special? No, I think I’m run of the mill, but I’m going to try harder. I’m going to be authentic and I’m going to be sincere. And that is a promise I make to you.
Theis:
Okay. Then a fifth question, there are four candidates for city council running in ward one, yourself included, which means there is a mathematical chance the winner will receive less than half of the votes cast. If you were to win, how, if at all, would it change your approach to policymaking? If most of the voters in your ward did not vote for you?
Abdul Rahman:
It wouldn’t matter one bit.
Theis:
How so?
Abdul Rahman:
It wouldn’t matter. I’m not…I’m not…I’m going to have…I am here to… I just said, I want to be honest, sincere. And I mean that, I mean that I am going – or I plan to be guided by my integrity, which means it doesn’t matter whether someone votes for me, it doesn’t vote for me. I’ll do the best that I can. And, and anyway, no one actually knows who votes for home and how are you going to pick and choose? That’s kind of…I don’t know if I – No, you have to represent everyone, otherwise you’re not worthy of the office.
Theis:
And the last question today, many hot button issues, in our national political discourse are at their heart local issues, controlled locally, such as policing, education policy or debates over renaming landmarks and parks. How do you identify politically in a national context – such as progressive or conservative, Democratic, Republican, or any other term under the sun – and how do those political values inform the policies you would pursue here in Hyattsville?
Abdul Rahman:
Okay. I’m not running as a global leader. I’m running for my here, not…For my ward. For one zip code. 11,000 individuals who live here. 3,000 eligible voters. I cannot envision any situations where I can influence anyone outside of, you know, within my domain and my ward. And I say this because a lot of people come to me, for example, yesterday I knocked on a door and this woman said that the postal office is really slow and could I help her? And I said, you realize I have no control over the postal office. The office I am running for does not have any control over the postal office, but my neighbor, he works for communications. He’s the communications director for the postal services. I’m going to talk to him about what you have, but that’s all I can do. So what I’m trying to tell you is that I understand my limits.
Abdul Rahman:
My limits are, yeah, everything is local. And if it, if it’s done – I have a lot of ideas. And if it’s done well, other people are going to magnify their value by copying them. Because you know, I’ve worked at the general assembly. I know how it works out. I’ve, you know, I see how legislators, you know, we just…you borrow good ideas. There’s nothing wrong with that. But for me to assume that I am going to have a major impact of any kind outside of my zip code – I will probably have some impact on Hyattsville – but not beyond. And I know my limits and I will live by those limits. And I’m glad to understand my limits. And the other thing, this is a nonpartisan. This is why this is such an attractive place. This is a non-partisan and it’s going to be quick.
Abdul Rahman:
You don’t have to… You know, you could be as clean as you want as quick as you want. And it’s just – it’s just a wonderful opportunity because no one cares about your politics. You’re just there to deliver, you know, a community service to your own community in the best way that you know how. And that’s what I want to do. I don’t want to be a hero for the world. I don’t want to be anything like that. I just want to represent my own voters and my own city in the best manner that I can. That’s it.
Theis:
Okay. Excellent. Well, Mai Abdul Rahman, I’d like to thank you very much for taking the time to speak with me today, to everyone watching along on Route1Reporter.com, thank you very much for watching along. And if you’re Hyattsville voters, get out there and vote on May 11th. Good day everyone.