I was unable to be physically present at the forum due to travel and since the technological arrangements for me to call in did not work, I’m posting my remarks here. Please follow up with me by phone or email if you like.

Opening statement: Good evening Hyattsville and especially ward 2 residents. I’d like to thank the Hyattsville Life and times for once again hosting the candidate forum for the city. It, and the paper, are an invaluable asset to our democratic life here in our community. I regret that I cannot join you in-person tonight for the forum as I have done in the past. Part of being successful in the position of Councilmember is maintaining a balance between this role and the others that we fill in our lives, so right now I am taking a long-planned trip to join my husband during this important Holiday week as he has been serving our country overseas. This decision was not easy as my role as council member is one that I take seriously, and fill with energy and love.

For the last two and a half years I have worked to bring residents’ issues to the fore of the conversation. I have responded to your phone calls and emails and over the past two months I have been down almost every street in ward two knocking on doors talking with residents about the issues that are most important to them. That has led me to advocate for youth mental health services (through my motion for the city’s In Wellness we Thrive Program), our students’ education as liaison to the Education Advisory Committee, public safety as liaison to the Police and Public Safety Citizen’s Advisory Committee, especially solutions for safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists, and most importantly for transparent and accountable budgeting (most lately through my motion to establish an audit committee and interviews to staff the committee) so that we can have an inclusive, affordable community, because I love Hyattsville.

In my eighteen years in Hyattsville I’ve built connections with my neighbors, with communities, with county and state leaders, and with council colleagues. No council member can achieve anything on her own. Consensus-building and working as a team with Council, staff, and residents is a must. As the candidate with over a decade of experience doing that in Hyattsville on city committees and community- building in ward 2, the choice is clear-please support me by re-electing Emily by May 13th-choose experience-and choose someone who fills the role of councilmember with love.

I was able to follow along with the live stream on Facebook and comment live answers. Below are those answers. I will go into further detail at a later time.

I regret that I couldn’t be there this evening and that the technology for me to call in was not working. I will be sure to answer the questions as soon as they are available. Hello to all of the candidates!

Answers to questions:

How to help youth, especially with bullying:

We have great resources in our YAC and EAC as well as our community resources staff. That’s why we started the Youth mental health wellness program. We ask the youth what they need and connect them to grants to get them what they need.

The city’s financial position and cuts:

There are pros and cons to the financial position; we have cash reserves, but we have debt that limits our operating budget and our ability to take on new projects, as well as the doubt that comes from being behind on audits. What we need is to build more trust- that comes through transparency and good communication. As far as cuts, we need to be careful about where we cut- the biggest cost is staffing, but people are our biggest asset. We need to think carefully about the projects we take on so we are not wasting time and money on studies or plans that do not come to fruition.

About our PD working with other jurisdictions as relates to our sanctuary City status:

I think the 2019 incident is a wake up call for the city to re-evaluate its policies and processes. It’s one thing for our own department policies, but we’ve learned that it is important that we know how we communicate with other departments, knowing that their policies are different. This will require retraining out officers and reaching out to other departments know our policies.

On affordable housing and passing the city’s drafted rent stabilization ordinance:

The best way to advocate for affordable housing is to make sure that we are creating opportunities for partnerships (like Pennrose project) for more submarket housing, allowing seniors to stay in and to fix their homes, and creating tax cuts for those who need it. If we find the county rent stabilization program is insufficient and the city can afford standing up the program in the budget, I will support the council in passing it.

On engaging with seniors in our community:

I’ve been in touch with them through my long-standing neighborhood group, I walk the neighborhood and talk to them, they know my kids, I attend community meetings. As always, I’m available by phone, not just by email. We need to make sure we have print and not just digital media.

One thing I’m most excited for in the new term:

I am excited for the first meetings for the audit committee and getting our finances and budgeting processes more streamlined and effective.

Closing statement: As your councilmember, I have been committed to the causes that are important to our ward 2 neighbors. I know this from talking to them – I’ve been to your door, you have my number and my email. I have contacted over 1,000 voting households in ward 2 over the last two months. Voter engagement happens on the ground; people need to be heard. I am committed to affordable housing in Hyattsville. It takes a nuanced, multifaceted approach to make that attainable across the economic spectrum. Rent stabilization is one tool in the toolkit for affordable housing, which includes public/private partnerships for new construction, tax credits for homeowners, and other programs. Currently we have county legislation that I am committed to make work for Hyattsville by working with our county leaders as the most budget efficient way to attain that goal, as well as finding opportunities for submarket housing projects that we want to see in Hyattsville. This is part of a larger financial, budgetary, and economic strategy that council, staff, and community leaders must collaborate on to deliver.I’ve been an advocate for school zones, clear cross walks, and traffic calming on our streets. That will not change in my next term. Without question, our sanctuary City status in Hyattsville should remain and its efficacy evaluated for reinforcement. All people are deserving of human dignity and if we do not have the rule of law, then we have very little as a society. We always need to support the most vulnerable in our community. I’ve only just begun the work of getting ward 2 ‘s priorities in motion. We still have a long way to go to get a fully transparent and efficient budgeting process in place for the city. I believe my efforts have moved the needle toward better oversight, more prudence, and more accessibility, especially in regards to the budget book, but there is still more to do. It takes someone with patience and diligence, not someone wanting to make DOGE-style cuts. Please re-elect me, Emily Strab, so that we can continue to progress towards a brighter future for Hyattsville.