Prince George’s County Council Member Deni Taveras (D) - District 2, has been honored with the 2017 “Legislator of the Year” award from the Prince George’s County Municipal Association (PGCMA).
Council Member Taveras enthusiastically accepted the award, “I am proud to be recognized for my legislative achievements by the Prince George’s County Municipal Association, especially for those measures advocating for social justice issues, seeking to improve the lives of working families and supporting the County’s diverse communities.”
PGCMA President Joseph Solomon says Council Member Taveras was named “County Legislator of the Year” by the organization for her work supporting municipalities located inside and outside of District 2. “The award was a recommendation of the PGCMA legislative committee as a result of the Council woman’s regular presence at PGCMA meetings, and her willingness to provide a detailed review of the County Zoning rewrite to municipal leaders. On behalf the association, I congratulate her on this accomplishment, and I hope she continues to listen to the needs of municipalities.”
Council Chair Dannielle Glaros (D) - District 3, also congratulated her colleague. “This Council is proud of the important work Council Member Taveras has done on behalf of her residents. This legislative package was supported unanimously by her Council colleagues.”
Among the measures that won Council Member Taveras the special honor was her “Thriving Communities” legislation aimed at addressing poor property standards, residential overcrowding, parking congestion, illegal dumping, and chronic public nuisances. The bill package included CB-049-2017, which works to eliminate blight, provide basic accountability for property owners, and improve community notification processes for non-conforming uses. To safeguard the public health, safety, and welfare of our vulnerable County’s families and children, the package also included legislation to impose civil fines and penalties for violations of the housing code in our multifamily rental facilities (CB-091-2017) as well as legislation to establish a definition and fines for housing overcrowding (CB-037-2017). In addition, legislation to prevent retaliatory action to ensure tenant rights are protected (CB-085-2017) was included in the “Thriving Communities” initiative.
An additional set of priority legislation put forth by Council Member Taveras includes CR-090-2017, calling for the extending of Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA); CR-002-2017, a resolution condemning anti-Immigrant activity, racial bias and discrimination, and crimes involving harassment; and CB-062-2017, an act establishing a language access program for County residents who have a limited capacity to speak, read or write English.
Deni Taveras, serving her first term on the Prince George’s County Council, has over 15 years of experience as a policy analyst within local, state and federal government, and with international financial institutions including the World Bank. In Legislative Year 2018, she is serving as vice-chair of the Council’s Public Safety and Fiscal Management Committee.
One of nine regional chapters of the Maryland Municipal League, the PGCMA is an association of Prince George’s County elected and appointed municipal leaders working together to benefit the residents of the County’s 27 municipalities, Prince George’s County, and the State of Maryland.
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