Four years ago, I ran for city council in Ward 2 and lost. (Ouch, that is still hard to write!) In many ways, it was a blessing in disguise. So much good came out of my loss, even though it may have taken a while to realize it after the sting of losing. However, that loss has prepared me for the role of council member much more than winning could have ever done. Much has changed over the past four years; I’ve changed and Hyattsville has changed. My family and I have gone through loss, grief, new life, and joy. I doubled-down on my efforts to make a difference in this community that I love and I have come to love it more.

So now, today as I stood “on top of Hyattsville” I reflected on what brought me here, filing for candidacy again, and two words stood out to me: Hope and Love. I am hopeful that I will be allowed to serve Hyattsville and represent the neighbors I love. I have Hope that our city will stand above the partisan politics that create ugliness in our newsfeeds. I carry a deep love for everything that Hyattsville has given me over the past 12 years, not just a place to live or work, but a HOME; a place I feel I belong, although we are all so different from one another; a place where we as neighbors lift each other up in times of need; a place where my children will grow, cared for by the village that surrounds them. Hyattsville is my home, and I feel much like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz- there’s no place like it. I have never experienced the strength of love and solidarity that I have felt here.

In a world that seems so divided, please come together to support me so that we can celebrate Our Home, Our Hyattsville, One Hyattsville.

I encourage you to volunteer, to donate, and most importantly to vote.