The vote extends the city’s contract with Compost Crew, a food scrap collection company based in Maryland, and will help the city attain its sustainability goals.

“We certainly are excited about helping as many municipalities as we can to give their residents good options to compost their food scraps and keep them out of the trash and out of incinerators,” said Dan Israel, the company’s senior vice president of municipal programs.

College Park began a food scrap dropoff program in 2019 where citizens could leave their scraps at the public works yard.

The city was surprised by how many residents participated in this program, according to Robert Marsili Jr., the city’s public works director. From 2019 to 2020, the city collected a total of 31 tons of food scraps, Marsili said.

[College Park advances plan for park to support nature, wildlife]

In 2022, the mayor and council approved the start of the curbside collection program and began a contract with Compost Crew, Marsili said.

This program allows residents to buy totes or buckets to store their food scraps at their homes and businesses. The Compost Crew picks up these scraps every Tuesday and later turns them into compost.

As food scraps make up a large portion of the material that gets thrown in the trash, composting reduces the amount of trash that goes to the landfill, according to Israel. These food scraps produce methane gas, which contributes to climate change.

“When you keep it out of the landfill, you turn it into compost, it significantly reduces that methane production,” Israel said.

District 4 council member Maria Mackie said she composted her own vegetable scraps for years with a composter in her backyard. She used the compost for her vegetable and flower gardens.

But the city’s curbside collection program has made the whole composting process a lot more convenient, she said.

[Prince George’s County Council confirms controversial pick to head environment department]

Mackie said the College Park City Council is often very supportive of initiatives to make the city more environmentally friendly, as they strive to be a sustainable example for surrounding municipalities.

“We want our city to be environmentally friendly and we have a responsibility to look out for the environment,” Mackie said.

There are currently about 485 program participants, but Marsili said the city is hoping to get more citizens involved with the program.

Some people are wary about keeping their food scraps because of concerns about the smell and sanitation, Mackie said, but she has never had any issues with the process. Marsili agreed that residents should not have any problems as long as they have the proper containers and understand how to store the scraps.

The city wants to get more off-campus students involved with the program and has been trying to promote it to University of Maryland students, Marsili said.

As the site is up for sale, District 5 council member Wala Blegay and County Executive Aisha Braveboy said the land’s redevelopment is an opportunity to improve the county’s economic growth.

“We are excited about the redevelopment of the 500-acre Six Flags site,” Braveboy said at a press conference Thursday. “We know that the next development project that will be there will be a year-round project that will generate thousands of jobs and opportunities for Prince Georgeians and beyond.”

Six Flags chief executive Richard Zimmerman said in a May news release the company closed the Maryland location because it no longer fit with its long-term growth plan and selling the property would produce more income than continuing operations.

[As Six Flags’ Maryland location closes shop, longtime visitors say goodbye]

Blegay told The Diamondback potential buyers placed bids in August on the site, and its current owners are expected to make their final decision in January.

She envisions the site becoming a commercial destination like the National Harbor in Oxon, with retail, entertainment and sports options for residents. Blegay added she has already spoken to prospective developers about her ideas for the land.

“Most of the top bidders did already reach out to my office and get an idea of what I wanted,” Blegay said. “They seem to be on board and very open and so I’m positive that whoever comes out would be somebody that we can work with.”

Blegay said the park generates about $3 million in tax revenue for the county. She sees the site having the capability to bring in similar funds to what the National Harbor does at $73 million.

[Maryland sues Trump administration over blocking FBI headquarters move to Greenbelt]

Upper Marlboro resident Frederick Tutman said the suggestion for another large shopping center in the area is not sustainable or beneficial.

“The idea that what the county needs is more destinations for people to actually go and shop, which is absurd,” Tutman said. “People need other things too. They need nature’s infrastructure, not just the built universe.”

Tutman, a local environmental activist who also serves on the council’s infrastructure planning task force, told The Diamondback he is concerned the land will be transformed into more residential housing. He explained that this would lead to additional traffic and not adequately address the county’s financial challenges.

Landover resident Taylor Frazier McCollum told The Diamondback she likes the idea of developing the land to offer additional entertainment, shopping and other activities for residents.

But Frazier McCollum added that she hopes to see more community amenities with natural trails, fields and other green space.

If passed, the early lease ordinance would prohibit landlords from offering a lease renewal earlier than 180 days after the start of the tenant’s current lease, which falls late February for renters who begin their lease at the end of August.

The legislation, spearheaded by College Park student liaison Nick DiSpirito and deputy student liaison Amira Abujuma, aims to protect renters from pressure to re-sign a lease months before knowing their housing plans for the next year.

Several students shared personal experiences with the council about facing pressure to renew their leases early in the school year.

Junior public policy major Peyton McDonald said she began receiving emails and flyers encouraging her to renew almost a full year before her lease ended.

“The message was clear: Sign now or risk losing your home,” she said. “I was constantly worried that if we didn’t sign in time, our apartment would be taken by somebody else, or that I’d have to move into a different unit and start over.”

[College Park City Council to hold hearing on proposed early lease ordinance]

McDonald said the ordinance would relieve pressure by setting a reasonable timeline for renewals and give students breathing room to evaluate their housing options.

Junior finance major Jonathan Leung faced a similar situation.

“Approximately two months into this school year, our landlord began pestering my roommates and I constantly,” he said.

Leung said the pressure caused “premature panic” for him and his roommates. He added that he shouldn’t have to worry about releasing this early into the academic year, especially when dealing with schoolwork.

But several landlords at the meeting Wednesday night opposed the legislation primarily because of its “good cause” non-renewal and right of first refusal provisions.

Under the “good cause” requirement, tenants would likely have to go to court to prove their actions warrant a refusal to release because Maryland does not have a statewide definition of “good cause.” This means landlords could be incentivized to keep problematic tenants because of potential legal fees and the time it takes for someone to be convicted of a crime.

Lisa Miller, president of the Prince George’s Property Owners Association, said although many property owners would disagree with it, the 180-day restriction is workable. She urged the council to remove the good cause component.

Abujuma, the deputy student liaison, said the good cause language was based on the early lease ordinance in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and is not the focus of the liaisons’ push. She said they are willing to remove that provision.

Many landlords argued that the policy shouldn’t apply equally to single-family homes and large apartment complexes.

“One size doesn’t fit all,” College Park landlord Jamie Jaseph said. “The high-rise folks seem to be the ones with the pressure tactics. I’ve never done that in 22 years of being a landlord.”

[Holly Simmons, Kelly Jordan win District 2 College Park City Council seats]

Catherine Weber, a senior international relations major, testified in person against the ordinance.

Weber said she lives in a single-family house in Old Town, and signing her lease more than a year in advance gave her and her roommates peace of mind while she studied abroad last spring.

“If this ordinance had been in effect, I would have been forced to try and secure housing while abroad in Barcelona, juggling classes and being in a completely different time zone,” she said.

Student liaison DiSpirito said they will continue to push for 180 days for all city rentals. Landlords shouldn’t have to worry about filling vacancies, he said, because the demand for student housing in the city far outweighs the supply.

The ordinance allows students to sign leases early if they choose, but landlords cannot ask or pressure them to do so, DiSpirito said.

Robert Davis, president of property management company Green Coast Services, asked the council to table the bill to spend more time gathering input.

“I do not want a government entity telling me how to run my business,” he said, adding some practices in the ordinance will hurt his business.

The ordinance will also have an unintended consequence of driving up costs by flooding the market during the established timeframe, Davis said. With more students seeking housing at once, he argued, competition for the same properties could spark bidding wars and ultimately benefit landlords.

The liaisons said the ordinance will improve affordability in the city by allowing renters more time to review more affordable options. Abujuma explained that the ordinance won’t shorten the housing timeline, but shift it.

“Right now it’s the fall frenzy,” she said. “If you haven’t decided housing for in the fall, then you’re just not going to get housing for the spring, or you’re going to get something unreasonably priced.”

She explained that when that timeline shifts over, it might decrease housing prices for students because they will have more freedom of choice.

The liaisons expressed satisfaction with the student turnout Wednesday. Abujuma said it was “extremely phenomenal to see” and added she was also surprised by the landlord turnout.

The council has not yet scheduled a vote on the ordinance.

This university’s chief administrative officer Charles Reuning announced last week that testing of the light-rail vehicles is set to begin on campus in early January. On-campus testing is set to be conducted on selected days from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The Purple Line is about 80 percent complete and set to begin operation in December 2027.

Freshman Jaden Cohen said it’s exciting to hear that the cars will actually start moving. But since the testing will be conducted at night, he is concerned some students may be unaware the testing is happening or try to disturb the cars.

“People don’t make smart decisions at night, and there’s no way to have a police presence across the whole line,” said Cohen, an accounting and supply chain major.

Cohen added he’s excited for the Purple Line to make it easier both to get around the area and to get to the Amtrak to return home to New Jersey.

Cohen’s also curious to see how students crossing Campus Drive during peak times will look like, he said. Cohen noted even buses are not able to get through the student’s foot traffic.

[College Park City Council asks state to evaluate site for affordable family, senior housing]

“I don’t know what’s gonna happen there. Is the train just gonna wait for students for an hour?” Cohen said.

Freshman digital art and media communications major Giulia Blough grew up in this area and frequently visited this campus since one of her parents worked at the university. She remembers seeing “significantly worse” construction around campus then.

Blough said she is curious if the testing of the Purple Line will actually happen as scheduled and how it will affect campus safety.

“I feel like I’ve been told so many times that ‘it’s almost done, it’s almost done’ and then it hasn’t been,” Blough said.

The Purple Line was set to open in 2022, but the construction process was paused for two years when Purple Line Transit Partners — the contractor overseeing the project’s construction — quit five years ago.

Five of the Purple Line’s 21 light-rail stations will be located on or near this campus. The line will also connect to the Metro’s red, green and orange lines.

Blough said that it will be interesting to see the light-rail vehicles coming through campus, considering all the people walking, riding scooters or driving cars. She added the Purple Line opening will make the journey home easier for students from nearby counties.

[Maryland sues Trump administration over blocking FBI headquarters move to Greenbelt]

“It’ll be nice for people that live in Montgomery County because they have a direct way of transportation home instead of having to order an Uber or take two different trains to get home on the Metro,” Blough said.

Applied economics graduate student Erik Lavoie said the Purple Line is a positive development but believes the project could have been designed better.

Lavoie said many students do not have access to a car and the Purple Line will be an alternative to spending money on Ubers. He added he’s concerned the Purple Line could get stuck at certain busy times in the day, just as he sees other vehicles get stuck on Campus Drive due to high pedestrian traffic.

“I’m just wondering if the people who planned [the Purple Line], are they fully aware of what it looks like around here at 11 a.m. when a lot of classes are out?” Lavoie said.

The council approved sending a letter to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore during an Oct. 28 meeting asking the state to redevelop the property, located at 9829 Rhode Island Ave.

The property is state-owned and has been underused by the Maryland Department of Labor since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Michael Williams, the city’s economic development director.

The potential project would align with Moore’s “Housing Starts Here” executive order, which encourages the state to redevelop state-owned land to create more affordable housing.

Redeveloping the Rhode Island Avenue site would bring more traffic to the Hollywood Shopping Center and create more quality, but affordable, housing opportunities for College Park residents, Williams said.

“This is a really good idea, and I just hope that the state has the time and the manpower to put into it,” Williams said.

District 1 council member Jacob Hernandez said there has been a desire from residents to transform the property, so he was proud to introduce this letter to the council.

Hernandez said he’s approached different state departments in the past about redeveloping the site and been turned down, which put the project on pause. But under Moore’s executive order, he saw an opportunity to restart the conversation.

[New food hall in College Park features food from more than 15 restaurants]

“Right now, an empty building is doing nothing for us,” Hernandez said. “It’s impacting our property values negatively because we have a vacant property that isn’t contributing to the neighborhood.”

This specific site is also well-located for a housing development because of its proximity to public transportation, the city’s letter stated. It would be located close to other city investments, like the soon-to-be constructed North College Park Community Center and the $7.3 million renovation of the city’s largest park, Duvall Field.

It would also increase traffic for the Hollywood Shopping Center, which has been a priority for the city, Williams said.

“We hope to see more neighborhood activity through the shopping, through housing, more people that can afford to stay and live in College Park,” Williams said.

Hernandez agreed with Williams and said using the property in any form would ultimately increase revenue for the businesses in the shopping center and generate tax revenue that would be reinvested back into the community.

Mayor Fazlul Kabir said some community members expressed concerns about the potential project. He said some are worried a tall, dense housing complex wouldn’t fit with the character of the neighborhood.

According to Hernandez, the neighborhood is mostly comprised of single family homes. But he and Kabir said if the project moves forward, the city will ensure there is ample opportunity for community engagement and resident feedback.

Tobias Thom, who lives in College Park’s Berwyn neighborhood, said he thinks the potential redevelopment is a good idea that could create more diverse housing options in the area.

If the project moves forward, Thom would want to see it be a big and dense complex that would maximize the investment, he said.

“There’s so much space … there should be no reason why we don’t build a big building there that could house hundreds of students and thousands of people,” Thom said. “The sky’s the limit on it.”

The city has been prioritizing the issue of affordable housing and made it a focus point for its five-year plan starting in 2026, Kabir said.

[College Park City Council to hold hearing on proposed early lease ordinance]

The city council voted to create the Affordable Housing Task Force in April, which is now responsible for assessing the housing gaps and creating a report with recommendations to address them, according to Kabir. He added that their report will likely be ready in the coming months.

They also revised a tax incentive program to offer tax breaks to developers building affordable housing units, he said.

Affordable housing is housing in which the resident pays no more than 30 percent of their  income on housing costs, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Some existing affordable housing developments in College Park are Atworth and The Flats at College Park, which opened in May.

Affordable housing is important to prioritize because it makes homeownership attainable for College Park residents, Kabir said.

“There are longtime residents who have been renting for a while, and they’ve been thinking to become a homeowner at some point, but they’re not able to because they have been priced out,” he added.

Affordable housing concerns aren’t specific to College Park.

Maryland’s department of housing and community development reported in July that the state is short of 275,000 affordable rental units for households earning 80 percent or less of their area’s median income.

Kabir said every jurisdiction is trying to address the issue of affordable housing in their respective communities.

If the state agrees to evaluate the site for affordable senior housing, it will determine its suitability for redevelopment, according to Kabir. If the state determines that it is suitable, it will oversee the redevelopment, with the city being responsible for community engagement.

“We’re conducting outreach to make sure that we can do something,” Hernandez said. “The alternative is to just leave a property there that doesn’t provide any value to the businesses that are immediately surrounding in Hollywood Shopping Center, to the residents of the neighborhood.”

The food hall houses more than 15 restaurants of varying cuisines. Restaurants such as Tejas Barbecue, Bobby Flay Steak and Detroit Brick Pizza all function out of one kitchen. Customers can enjoy their food in the hall, have it delivered to their homes or order carry-out.

“We have a little bit of everything,” said Ayana Garzillo, a Wonder marketing brand ambassador. “It’s like a one stop shop.”

There are more than 70 Wonder locations across the Northeast, including several in the Washington, D.C., area. The space in College Park has ordering kiosks, seating options, a counter where customers pick up their food and a large kitchen.

Before Wonder’s opening, the chefs cook the entire menu to hone their skills, Garzillo said.

Wonder also partners with Grubhub and offers free delivery to customers. Due to this partnership, customers are also able to order from Grubhub partners, such as Busboys and Poets, through Wonder.

“If you want pizza and your friend wants steaks for dinner, you can all order from the same restaurant and all have delivered at the same time,” Garzillo said.

[Black Lion Café to bring new Ethiopian coffee option to College Park in 2026]

The company’s partnership with Grubhub also allows customers to order Blue Apron meal kits through Wonder, according to Garzillo.

The space now occupied by Wonder used to house The Bagel Place, according to College Park economic development director Michael Williams. The sudden closure of The Bagel Place in 2021 came as a shock to many community members, The Diamondback previously reported.

Williams said the city thought Wonder could successfully cater to the College Park community while filling the large space left behind by The Bagel Place.

“Not only are we the university and a big host of students that we have here in the city, but we have really diversified 17 different neighborhoods,” Williams said.

The College Park location was in the works for more than a year and began its soft opening earlier last week.

Senior kinesiology major Declan Herlihy visited Wonder on the day of its grand opening. He lives down the street from Wonder and wanted to check it out after watching the construction process for months, but said he is skeptical about the food hall model.

[Renowned chef Peter Chang brings Szechuan restaurant to College Park]

Herlihy and his friend Alex Nguyen, a junior physiology and neurobiology major, said they don’t entirely understand how the food hall works.

“When I first walked in, I thought it was just a place that you would get food made specifically by Wonder,” Nguyen said. “And then I saw all these different restaurants.”

Wonder employs many students, Williams said, but stands out as more than just a part-time job due to its equity program, which provides Wonder employees with stocks.

The company is also donating $1 to Food 4 Maryland for every meal sold its first week, according to Rehanna Barre, College Park’s economic development coordinator.

College Park Mayor Fazlul Kabir said that Wonder provides community members with a new kind of eating experience.

“It gives multi-restaurant options. As a customer, we can order mixing and matching from different restaurants,” Kabir said. “It’s a kind of unique experience and I don’t think anyone in this area actually has it.”

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated that Wonder is donating $1 to Maryland Food Bank for every meal sold its first week. Wonder is donating $1 to Food 4 Maryland for every meal sold its first week. This story has been updated.

PGCPS announced on Oct. 29 that it would add the hot meal program in certain schools, replacing the cold bag meals previously provided. The school district is also now offering free breakfast to more schools this year. PGCPS said these programs would particularly benefit families who are struggling as the government shutdown enters its 38th day.

Prince George’s County is home to about 70,000 federal workers and contractors, many of whom are being furloughed. Uncertainty over federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could affect about 11 percent of county residents who depend on food assistance.

“This expansion comes at a time when families are feeling stretched,” interim superintendent Shawn Joseph wrote in the news release. “By adding new hot supper options and expanding free breakfast, we’re helping more families manage through uncertain times.”

[Prince George’s County group suggests policy changes, victim support to stop gun violence]

Mary Kirkland, PGCPS’ food and nutrition services director, told The Diamondback that the hot meal service is currently available at about 10 schools but the district is receiving additional requests from others who also want to participate.

Schools are eligible for the hot meal program if more than 50 percent of students receive free and reduced price meals and have at least 75 students in after school programs, according to the news release.

“The most concern that people may have right now is like, ‘OK, I know my child can go to school, they can get breakfast, they can get lunch. But what happens between lunch and the next day when they come back for breakfast?’” Kirkland said. “This supper program helps bridge that gap.”

Kirkland said funding for all after school meals comes from the federal child and adult food care program. She said the school system can choose to provide hot or cold meals using these funds.

PGCPS also expanded its free breakfast program to include 23 more schools this year, meaning a total of 115 schools throughout the county now offer free breakfast to students. This program is funded by Maryland Meals for Achievement, a state program that reimburses schools to help them provide free breakfast. A school is eligible for the program if at least 40 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

[Prince George’s County food banks feeling pressure from high demand, loss of SNAP benefits]

In a statement to local superintendents on Oct. 9, Maryland state superintendent of schools Carey Wright wrote there is a possibility that federal school meal funding could be impacted by the shutdown.

She wrote if the shutdown continues through November, the Maryland State Department of Education will seek funding from the state to pay for meal programs. But school systems may be asked to rely on their own finances to support meal services if the shutdown continues into December.

As of now, Kirkland said she is not concerned about a loss of federal funding for meal services.

“We are all working together to ensure that we provide the best for our students,” Kirkland said. “From a food nutrition standpoint, from an academic standpoint and just overall.”

Mary Klatko, the federal and state legislative chairman for the Maryland School Nutrition Association, told The Diamondback that meal programs such as the one in PGCPS can help fill the food gap some students may experience during the shutdown.

“I know everybody is in a panic about the SNAP program but as far as the students, we are getting paid, even in the shutdown, for [school] meals,” Klatko said. “The school food service program is doing everything it can to try to make sure that students get enough food.”

The legislation, known as the Early Lease Ordinance, aims to protect renters from pressure to re-sign a lease months before knowing their housing plans for the next year.

Under the ordinance, landlords would be prohibited from offering a lease renewal earlier than 180 days after the start of the tenant’s current lease, which falls around March for many renters.

Tenants would then have at least 30 days to accept the offer. After a tenant agrees to renew, the landlord would have 30 days to provide the lease for them to review, and both the tenant and landlord would then have 10 days each to sign and return it.

Additionally, landlords would be prohibited from showing the unit to prospective tenants or renting it to someone else for a subsequent lease period until 210 days into the current lease, unless they can show good cause not to offer a renewal.

[Holly Simmons, Kelly Jordan win District 2 College Park City Council seats]

College Park student liaison Nick DiSpirito and deputy student liaison Amira Abujuma spearheaded the proposal, which was modeled after a similar policy adopted in 2021 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, home to the University of Michigan.

Because student liaisons can’t formally introduce legislation, they worked with District 3 council member John Rigg, who presented the idea at a September work session. The council voted unanimously to draft the ordinance during that meeting.

Some landlords in College Park currently ask tenants to commit for the next school year just weeks after moving in, DiSpirito said, making pressure to re-sign their lease an “almost universal” experience for renters.

“I was asked, I believe, last year, in the start of December, which is still pretty early,” he said. “By then, I didn’t know what my classes were going to look like next year, or potential internships or jobs. And like many landlords in this situation, not to fault them either, but there were a lot of phone calls almost every single day to re-sign.”

As students make up the bulk of the city’s population, DiSpirito said they are disproportionately affected by renting policies.

Many first-time renters, in particular, are vulnerable to pressure from landlords because they aren’t aware of their rights or alternatives, he said.

Former student liaisons Gannon Sprinkle and Dhruvak Mirani discussed the possibility of an early lease ordinance when they founded the College Park Tenant’s Union in 2023, Sprinkle said, though the topic was never formally discussed with the council.

He said it was one of the few issues on which they heard no opposition from students.

“Affordable housing, tenants’ rights and an equitable renters’ market was something that was near 100 percent,” he said. “I’m not even sure we’ve talked to one person who disagreed with us.”

[16, 17-year-olds vote in College Park election for first time in city history]

Sprinkle added he hoped people recognize that the ordinance is an “effective and equitable policy” that will benefit all College Park residents.

But at the city council meeting on Oct. 21, landlord Richard Biffl spoke out against the ordinance. He said students themselves often push to sign leases early so they can secure housing for the next year as soon as possible.

“Usually, my tenants are seniors, and they’re not planning to renew anyway. If a group of juniors is interested in the fall for the next year, that’s great,” Biffl said. “I don’t think there should be any impediment to that.”

He added landlords already have strong incentives to retain existing tenants, citing the cost of preparing units for new renters under Maryland’s lead inspection law.

The University of Maryland SGA passed a resolution in October in support of the ordinance.

DiSpirito said the ordinance could also help improve housing affordability by giving renters more time to explore more options before feeling forced to sign early.

“It really eliminates the option of choice, freedom of choice, when you don’t have the ability to see other areas of the city that might be more affordable for you, or maybe another part of the city that’s closer to some of your classes,” he said.

If approved, College Park would become the first city in Maryland with such a policy, DiSpirito added.

The public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the council chambers at College Park City Hall.

The federal General Services Administration selected Greenbelt as the location for the new headquarters in November 2023 after more than a decade of discussion. But Trump announced in July that he intends to keep the FBI in Washington, D.C., by relocating the headquarters to the Ronald Reagan Building complex — which was not an option originally approved by Congress.

Maryland is suing on the grounds that Trump violated Congress’ decision, unlawfully re-allocated billions in funds and ignored the federal requirements to consult with state leaders, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a Thursday press conference

In 2022, Congress gave the General Services Administration three relocation choices: Greenbelt, Landover and Springfield in Virginia. The administration officially selected Greenbelt for its location, sustainability, cost and development flexibility, a news release from the administration read.

In July, the FBI stated that keeping the headquarters in Washington, D.C., would save money and time, despite U.S. Customs and Border Protection currently being housed in the Reagan complex.

“It’s about our public servants,” Gov. Wes Moore said in the Thursday afternoon conference, calling Trump’s plan illegal.

Moore said that the current headquarters lacks appropriate security measures, and is too small and exposed to ensure proper function. The chosen Reagan Building has the same issues, he said.

[U.S. senators advance plan to keep FBI in Washington, DC]

Brown said that Maryland had been working with federal partners for more than a decade to create a new headquarters when Trump shut the process down in 2017.

The project was revived by Congress in 2022, he said, providing the General Services Administration with the three location options. Between 2016 and 2024, Congress allocated more than $1.1 billion for the project. Prince George’s County contributed more than $100 million to the project, Brown added.

“Marylanders were counting on this project, Prince George’s County was counting on this project, local businesses were counting on this project,” Brown said. “We invested because the federal government said it was coming.”

Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy emphasized in the press conference that the headquarters was set to be the largest single economic development project in the history of Prince George’s County. The relocation was set to bring in about $4 billion in economic benefits and more than 7,500 jobs— enough to alter the gross domestic product of the county.

The project would also give Prince George’s County the opportunity to have the best cybersecurity in the nation, Braveboy said on Thursday.

The lawsuit also alleges that Trump’s decision intends to harm Maryland by denying economic benefits expected by the state, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-5th) wrote in a Thursday news release.

“So if Donald Trump thinks that we are going to roll over when he tries to make life worse for our law enforcement, he better think twice,” Moore said. “And we’ll see him in court.”

Simmons received 235 votes, while Jordan received 173 in this week’s general election. They narrowly defeated Christopher Gill, an IT project manager at the National Institutes of Health, who received 170 votes.

Daniel Oates, former president of the Calvert Hills Citizens Association, ran uncontested and received 360 votes to fill the District 3 seat. He will serve District 3 alongside incumbent Ray Ranker, who was re-elected with 372 votes.

The District 2 seats opened after current council members Llatetra Brown Esters and Susan Whitney announced they would not seek reelection. District 3 council member John Rigg also chose not to run for another term, leaving his seat vacant.

[16, 17-year-olds vote in College Park election for first time in city history]

The mayor and all council members are up for election every two years. This year, with the exception of District 2, all races were uncontested.

Simmons moved to College Park in 2016 to attend the University of Maryland, where she received her master’s degree in community planning.

She has served on the city’s Committee for a Better Environment and Old Town Historic District Committee, and is currently the Berwyn District Civic Association’s acting treasurer.

Simmons said she sees affordable housing as a top priority for residents and wants to use her background in local government to address those issues.

“[There’s] just a real concern around ensuring that we do have affordable housing, and that the affordable housing that we have is high quality,” she said.

Jordan, a nine-year College Park resident, has served as co-president of the Berwyn District Civic Association and on the Paint Branch Elementary School parent-teacher association.

She hopes to contribute to improving the efficiency of city operations, Jordan told The Diamondback after learning the election results.

[College Park housing program supports local workers with down payment, closing cost assistance]

“I want to make sure that everything is going well with Duvall Field, and in particular, the programs that are going to be set up in that, so that it’s used as much as the city has paid for it to be revitalized,” she said.

In uncontested District 1, incumbent council members Jacob Hernandez and Alan Hew secured their city council seats for another term, receiving 536 and 492 votes, respectively.

Incumbent council members Maria Mackie and Denise Mitchell each also secured another term in uncontested District 4, with Mackie receiving 147 votes and Mitchell receiving 159.

Mayor Fazlul Kabir, who also ran unopposed, was reelected with more than 1000 votes.

The newly elected council members will be sworn in during the Dec. 2 council meeting.

To read more about the newly elected council members, click here.