Supporting Federal, Local, and Private Sector Workers

Frankie was raised by a proud union family and has worked for, organized with, and been a member of several unions including UNITE HERE, SEIU, the Campaign Workers Guild, and UFCW.

As we work with county, state, and federal partners to support federal workers and contractors under attack from DOGE and the federal administration, we must also strive to be a model employer as a city government and support family-sustaining union employment in our private sector work as well. As public and private sector workers feel the brunt of federal cuts and rising costs, Greenbelt should double down on our history of cooperation and uplift and support mutual aid efforts to support working families.

As a council member, Frankie will introduce a collective bargaining ordinance covering the entire city workforce and work with colleagues on the council to urge the General Assembly to pass a universal public sector right to bargain for all public employees in Maryland. Economic development decisions of the city should also take into account the labor relations practices of employers as we seek to bring higher paying employment to Greenbelt.

Fighting for Quality Housing as a Human Right

Greenbelt was founded on the notion that working class people deserve quality housing in vibrant, walkable communities. As a proud member of Greenbelt Homes Inc (GHI), Frankie is dedicated to keeping that legacy alive today as part of Maryland's oldest and largest housing cooperative. Affordable, quality housing is a core economic, social, and racial justice imperative, a major determinant of public health, and is strongly linked to education opportunity and economic mobility.

As a renter-majority city, Greenbelt should pass a strong rent control measure capping annual increases to the rate of inflation up to a maximum of 3% to give tenants stability in their housing and keep our city affordable. Further, landlords with repeated uncured health or safety violations should not be allowed to raise rents until those violations are resolved. 

Greenbelt should support a strong Right of First Refusal law to allow tenants and not-for-profit entities to purchase existing buildings and offer technical assistance to tenants who wish to convert their communities to cooperative or social housing in the spirit of GHI.

Enhancing Transportation for a Connected City

As a resident of old Greenbelt, Frankie is an avid user of the neighborhood's pedestrian friendly design connecting people to restaurants, the Coop Supermarket & Pharmacy, Greenbelt Cinema, civic spaces, houses of worship, recreational fields, and parks. Our city struggles with past transportation decisions that run several major highways through our community that do not enhance the ability of local residents to walk, roll, bike, or take public transit within our city and primarily divide neighborhoods from another.

Frankie's top transportation priority for the next term would be getting the long-promised Capital Bikeshare station built at the Greenbelt Metro Station and getting it stocked with numerous E-Bikes. This will help built build stronger connections with Metrorail to the existing bikeshare stations at Greenbelt Station, across from Buddy Attick Lake Park, and near the Community Center. We also need to enhance trail lighting and safety, and finally build the long-promised connection between our Greenbelt Station neighborhood and the Metrorail and MARC station just to the north.

Defending and Expanding Our Democracy

At a time when our democratic and public institutions are under threat, we need to commit to protecting our essential rights and expand democratic participation in every part of the city. Frankie was proud to advocate for the city's all-resident voting policy passed by the city council last year, but even before adoption, fewer than 17% of registered voters participated in the 2023 municipal election. We should all strive to work together to raise participation in every election moving forward.

Universal vote-by-mail is an essential tool to raise awareness about municipal elections, and make it simple for every resident to securely vote. The City of Rockville adopted a vote-by-mail election in 2019 and saw turnout increase from 6,468 to 12,287.

Finally, Frankie supports a pilot participatory budgeting program to allow neighbors to locally plan, debate, and determine how they would like to see public funds spent by the city.

A Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Greenbelt for All

The federal government and conservative state governments across the country attack abortion rights and IVF treatment, slander qualified people of color in public life as "DEI" hires, target our immigrant neighbors with threats of deportation without due process, curtail the ability of LGBTQ+ folks to live openly and to access gender affirming and prophylactic care, and undermine the basic liberties and due process rights of all of our residents.

Greenbelt and the State of Maryland should be welcoming havens for people displaced because of regressive policies across the country. The Greenbelt city council should continue to engage all city stakeholders in the work of the city's Reparations Commission which was authorized by voters during the 2021 election and work with other jurisdictions to continue building best practices around holding the crucial discussion about repair for centuries of systemic violence and discrimination.

Fairer Taxation to Support Strong Public Services

As we seek to address long-term fiscal issues in both Greenbelt and Prince George's County, we need to build partnerships to find progressive ways to fund our essential public services. Maryland state law requires that all households and businesses pay the same, flat percentage rate for property taxes. Those policies advantage wealthy cities, counties, individuals, and businesses over working-class people and their neighborhoods and leave us with limited options to fund needed enhancements to our education system, transportation, housing, and other essential government functions.

As a council member, Frankie would work to build county and state partnerships to change state law and enable a progressive property tax system in Greenbelt. In office, Frankie would seek to build coalitions with other city and county leaders across Maryland to enact progressive funding measures such as income and wealth taxes on millionaires and billionaires so that our communities can lead the nation in high-quality public services.