Meet the Candidate: Rodney Roberts

Rodney Roberts is a lifelong Greenbelt resident of 53-years, who lives here with his wife Tara. He attended Prince George's County schools and was active in sports with the Greenbelt Boys and Girls Club. A 1975 graduate of the National Technical Institute, College Park, Maryland, Roberts is the sole proprietor of a small business that specializes in on-site repairs of various types of equipment and vehicles (celebrating 13 years in business).

Roberts is serving his 10th term on Greenbelt City Council. He attended nearly every council meeting during the four years prior to his being elected to City Council in 1991, becoming known as an outspoken community activist. During his 20 years on Council, Roberts has never missed a regular council meeting!

Roberts enjoys volunteering his professional skills to groups such as Greenbelt Intergenerational Volunteer Service (GIVES). When the New Deal Café was in danger of closing, Roberts donated over 100 hours of his time working with a small group of volunteers to install a commercial kitchen. The Café was able to install a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen for less than $30,000, a savings of more than $70,000, giving the Café a new lease on life.

In 1991 Roberts proposed, and worked through to implementation, a community policing program that included the city's first police bicycle patrols. Since then he has worked to increase bike patrols throughout the city and to establish police substations in Greenbelt East and Beltway Plaza.

Roberts was a leader in the citizen movement that resulted in the city's acquisition of 184 acres of woodland, part of the original “Green Belt.” Roberts’ continued advocacy resulted in the 2003 passage of a city ordinance establishing a Greenbelt forest preserve consisting initially of 225 acres.

Roberts testifies on behalf of the city before state and county officials concerning development, transportation, recreation, environmental and fiscal issues. In 2004, he testified before the Maryland Board of Public Works (consisting of the comptroller, Governor, and treasurer). Overcoming initial opposition, he secured $648,000 in Program Open Space Funds for the purchase of 10 acres known as the “Sunrise Property” in Greenbelt East, one of Greenbelt's newest forest preserves. Roberts has consistently opposed yearly city tax increases for non-essential hiring and other items.

Roberts served as a member of the Metro Area sector planning group. He is a member of the Transportation Planning Board of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, City Council liaison to the Youth Advisory Committee and Arts Advisory Board. Roberts is a member and former chair of the Committee to Save the Green Belt and a founding member of the Greenbelt Foundation for the Arts. 

Bio Provided by the Candidate.