Route 1 Reporter (https://route1reporter.com/category/news/)
Kamali was selected by a unanimous 5-0 vote of Mount Rainier’s City Council during a special session held July 17, 2021. His tenure as city manager will begin Aug. 2, 2021.
A developer plans to build a 316-unit mixed-use apartment building in Hyattsville near the Prince George’s Plaza Metro Station.
Editor’s note: Route 1 Reporter is supported by its readers. If you like the reporting, please support Route 1 Reporter on Patreon. Hispanic renters at two Langley Park apartment complexes sued their landlords in federal court Monday, alleging violations of federal housing discrimination laws over what they say are inhumanely disgusting living conditions because the property owners have failed to make required repairs.
The apartment complexes are the 488-unit Bedford Station, located at 1400 University Boulevard, and 101-unit Victoria Station, located at 1407 Merrimac Drive, in Langley Park. Through holding companies, both apartments are ultimately owned by Arbor Realty Trust, a New York-based real estate investment firm. Representatives for the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Route 1 Reporter. The suit was brought by CASA, a Langley Park-based immigrant civil rights advocacy group, on behalf of eight residents living in the complexes.
The suit alleges the apartment owners engaged in a systemic pattern of boosting their income by buying apartment properties in low-income areas and performing minimal – if any – maintenance on the properties.
The national Satanic Temple church will adopt the Bladensburg Peace Cross as a monument to Satan and Satanic veterans.
Prince George’s County Council approved a measure calling for the completion of the planned Capital Trails Network of hiker-biker paths throughout the county.
Editor’s note: The headline has been edited to more clearly state the nature of the dispute
A Maryland legislator has asked the Mount Rainier Ethics Commission to look into Pepco’s lobbying relationship with former Mayor Malinda Miles during her closing months in office. In a June 10, 2021, letter to the city’s Ethics Commission, Del. Al Carr, a Democrat representing Kensington, Wheaton and Chevy Chase as part of the District 18 delegation, raised concerns about how Pepco solicited Miles’ support for the energy company’s pending application before the Maryland Public Service Commission to raise electric rates over the next several years.
Miles’ support was most-visibly rendered in an April 25, 2021, virtual public hearing before the Public Service Commission. During that meeting she praised the energy utility company for providing electrical services to re-open the Mount Rainier Library, its work to install electric vehicle charging stations in the city, and enthusiastically urged the Public Service Commission to approve the rate change. The case is under consideration.
Mount Rainier City Council is considering joining a growing list of local governments to endorse a congressional plan to expand Medicare. The measure to support a partisan congressional proposal – the Medicare for All Act is a proposal from Democratic legislators – is notable in Prince George’s normally non-partisan city governments.
The measure was introduced by Mount Rainier Mayor Celina Benitez at the city’s June 15, 2021 City Council meeting, who noted the partisan, all Democratic Prince George’s County Council had issued a similar resolution. In introducing the measure, Benitez said the pandemic underscores the need for a healthcare reform.
“It’s not just the fact that Covid has been a problem,” said Benitez. “It has highlighted a lot of the areas that need help in the healthcare system.”
The measure seems to have support from most of the rest of City Council, who each offered brief remarks indicating at least conceptual support of Benitez’s resolution.
Only Councilor Luke Chesek had reservations, saying “I’m just not necessarily there yet on this.”. In a three-minute discourse in which Chesek noted he once wrote a paper on health law policy in law school and also reads long-form journalism on the topic, he contrasted Medicare with insurance options available under the existing Affordable Care Act.
Mount Rainier City Councilor Scott Cecil is willing to airgrievances in ways most hyperlocal politicians tend to avoid. Is it working?
cil voted to withhold support of a rezoning needed for a controversial housing development near the city’s University Hills neighborhood.
In an announcement notable for its lack of details as much as the news it contained, College Park city officials announced they had parted ways with recently-hired city manager Natasha Hampton.