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 four of Hyattsville’s six Ward Three candidates, namely Adam Alfano, Sherlyna Hanna, Alexander Houck, and Jimmy McClellan.
Unfortunately, Ward Three candidates Chuck Perry and James Wigley did not respond to requests for interviews before Monday morning, when the first of Route 1 Reporter’s candidate interviews published.
Route 1 Reporter’s interview with McClellan is below.
In these interviews, each candidate was asked 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 Jimmie McClellan, one of six candidates running in Ward Three. In all Hyattsville has 20 candidates running for five ward seats and the mayor’s office. This year, 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, Jimmy, how are you doing this?
McClellan:
Doing great. Thank you. How are you?
Theis:
Okay I’ll dive right into the first question. Tell me a little bit about yourself. What do you do and how did you come to live in height?
McClellan:
Yeah, so a little bit about me. I was born in the DMV, but I grew up in Florida. my mom is a immigrant moved to the United States in her late twenties from Germany when she married, my dad was in the army. so I grew up in Florida. I went to college at the University of Florida, majored in political science, but by the end of my time there, I decided I wanted to go into education. So I took my first job. I taught kindergarten in New York city. and through that, working in a very diverse neighborhood of mostly first-generation American students, most of my students were from the Caribbean I really thought about my experience as a first-generation college student and wanted to think about ways that I could do work to help support students in college. So I went back to school, I went to Virginia Tech to get a master’s degree in education.
McClellan:
And then currently I work in higher education. so when me and my partner were thinking about where we wanted to live we wanted to make our way back to the DMV a couple of years ago. he got a job working in DC and I worked at the university of Maryland and we found Hyattsville through that process of searching for a place to live. It was pretty close to both of us and things that were really important to us were an art scene and a culture as well as having local businesses and that being really the core of a community. That was something that we were looking for as well as a good transportation. like I said, neither one of us work in Hyattsville. So being able to get around is important to us. that’s how we made our way here.
Theis:
Second question. Why are you running for Hyattsville city council?
McClellan:
Yeah, so for me I think relationships between government and citizens really matter when we think about local politics, this is one of the only spaces. This one may be school board which also has local politics, but these are places that you can really connect with the people that you’re making decisions, making decisions with in your role. so for me, that relationship piece is key. I think that local government has to include people regularly into the process when city councilors are making decisions. So for me, that looks like reaching out to folks throughout an entire four year term, not just when I need their vote, not just only when things that are coming up that are big deals, but also letting them know what’s happening through virtual spaces or going door to door throughout those four years.
McClellan:
So so for me, those are some of the big reasons of running, but the more and more I’m talking to people, I’m hearing that there’s a disconnect between what’s happening at the city level or local level in general and the things that they want when we’re thinking about the developments that are happening around the city. People want to be included in that. People who live in some of the rental spaces that are being developed for have been developed in the past, want to give feedback, to make sure that the new places that are coming up they don’t necessarily make some of the same mistakes when we think about noise or we think about green space, or we think about closeness to some of the things that make Hyattsville very special, like our local businesses and things like that. So continuing to have those conversations with people who are currently in those spaces and then people who will be affected by that development as we continue growing is one of the reasons why I’m running.
Theis:
Okay. Third question. What is the most pressing issue facing Hyattsville right now and what policies would you pursue to address it?
McClellan:
Yeah. So for me, I spoke to this a little bit in the previous question, but our growth and development, I think is the core of what people are talking about. So that is what I think is the most pressing issue. And I think it connects to a few priorities that I have. Number one is safety. When we think about these big developments or developments in general, that are coming to Hyattsville, that’s going to bring in more traffic. That’s going to bring in more people as well. So what are we doing to work with people who are operating our streets, some of those, you know, first belonged to the city, some, maybe the County or the state to make sure that traffic is eased and calmed in those areas so that people can go outside and still play.
McClellan:
Um, and their children can go play in their green spaces. some other things that I think that it connects to is the environment. So we know that there are some environmental shifts happening in just our country and the world’s culture and things. One quick example would be that, you know, in a few years, electric cars are probably going to dominate the, the roads more than fuel fuel cars that use gas, gas, powered cars. So what are we doing to lay infrastructure now on things like that and others that don’t make us have to like rip up new roads again, to put the plugs down to charge electric cars and things like that. So as we’re developing, what are we thinking about futuristically is what I’m trying to say. Additionally, a lot of people, most people that I’m speaking to, including myself moved here because of the character and culture of Hyattsville.
McClellan:
So as we’re growing, how are we making sure that that character and culture is spreading to those new areas and neighbors feel a part of Hyattsville and don’t feel like they’re kind of on outskirts. So whether you’re a renter or whether you’re a homeowner. and then the last thing I think is inclusion. When we think about how we’re bringing people together from different areas of town, from diverse backgrounds making sure that we are still providing ways to bring people together, not just downtown, but how are we doing that in places like Ward Three, which is, you know, the furthest ward from downtown. So bringing things to them there so that neighbors can still come together, get to know one another, because I think that creates a collective culture that helps me, even if I’m not a renter or if I’m not a homeowner, I can understand the experience of people who are different than me to understand how issues affect them. So that’s what I would say.
Theis:
Okay. Then a fourth question, what is a unique skill or perspective you would bring to the job if elected?
McClellan:
Yeah, so I would say my experience as an educator is something that is at the core has taught me from the core of what I do and informs the work that I want to do on city council. So being an educator is a lot about bringing relationships to the table and forging those relationships with people who share differences. So for me, I think, when I think about education, it’s about bringing information to people, letting them grapple with it for a little bit, and then seeing what comes of that to see how we can move forward. So that’s what I do on a daily basis in the classroom. when I’m teaching at the University of Maryland, that’s what I did as a kindergarten teacher. And it’s also what I could see happening as a city council member. So being able to bring the information to the people, whether that’s virtually or coming straight to their door hearing what they have to say about that, letting them sit with it, following up, and then bringing some decisions to the table because I think innovation is a two-way street.
McClellan:
I think we have, I have to be able to bring information to folks and they have to let me know what’s on their mind as well. so I think that this is really important too, as we think about what’s happening in ward three, with the growth and development, the major, major housing developments that are being built here, hearing what neighbors who currently live here are saying as well as prospective future neighbors and hearing their perspectives. If they live around here looking to around here and are looking to be a part of clients.
Theis:
Okay. Fifth question, there are six candidates for council in ward three this year, which means there’s a big mathematical chance that 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?
McClellan:
Yeah. So the first thing that I will say is it’s exciting that there are a lot of people running. To me, that’s, that’s one of the things that keeps me in Hyattsville is because residents here are so engaged. So that is exciting. and at the same time, I, I hear what you’re saying that, that, that might mean boats are split. You know, what I have noticed through Hyattsville is that a lot of people make their decisions based on relationships they have with folks. And I think as all of us candidates continue to get to know people in the in the neighborhoods in which we live, we will continue to show that we’re going to do good work for me. When I think about what is going to set me apart is my experience as a proven leader within the city from probably a week or two, after I moved here, I started to get involved very quickly.
McClellan:
So I started going to city council meetings. I attended committee meetings and I ended up getting a spot on the code enforcement committee. So for me having that experience within the city is is extremely important. I think something that sets me apart, additionally, outside of the city, getting involved with neighbors who wanted to help during the pandemic. We helped to launch a mass match program that sowed and delivered mass to vulnerable neighbors, as well as my experience working at the University of Maryland. So the university of Maryland has more students than Hyattsville has residents. And a lot of ways I look at the job that I do at UMD as kind of being a part of a small city and being a leader within a small city and being able to connect with folks teach them about the issues and advocate for them. Those are things that I’m used to doing in my day job and are things that I’m excited to bring to the city council. But after the election, I look forward to building bridges with neighbors who may have voted for someone else, and continue to, to hear what things were important to them and see how we can work together.
Theis:
Okay. My final question: many hot button issues in our national political discourse are at our heart local issues. And these are such things as policing education policy or debates over renaming landmarks and parks. How do you identify politically in a national context, such as democratic, Republican, socialist, or libertarian, or any other term under the sun, and how do those values inform the policies you would pursue here in Hyattsville?
McClellan:
Yes. So I consider myself a progressive. I do align with the democratic party. I’m actually a board member of the Young Democrats of Maryland. And I serve as the Pride Caucus chair, which is the LGBTQ arm of our organization. So to me being a progressive means to think forward. These issues are cities big and small are trying to figure out how to move forward with them. And there are things that I think are very relevant to what’s happening in Hyattsville. when we think about the police shooting a couple of years ago in Hyattsville, when we think about, um the renaming of Magruder Park and trying to infuse anti-racist policies into the work that we’re doing here in Hyattsville. So, so those are, those are all things that are really important to me. I look forward to continuing those conversations with residents to come together because I don’t think that I have the one answer in one solution to all of it.
McClellan:
I think it’s so important for us to come to, to come together and not only have formal public forums and things like that through the city, but also counselors being able to go out into their city and have informal conversations to bring those and seek out people who these policies might be effecting that might not know that we are the or we can be the voice to change some of those policies. So those are all things that are important to me as well. And I look forward to, to working with neighbors and the other city council members if elected on city council.
Theis:
Excellent well, Jimmy, at this point, I don’t have any further questions I would like to thank you very much for taking the time to speak with me and to make time for route one reporter readers here to everyone watching out there and route one reporter land, thank you for watching along and on May 11th, get out there and vote. Have a good one. Everybody.