GREENBELT CITY COUNCIL

Messages for City Council may be left at 301-474-8000 or sent to 25 Crescent Road, Greenbelt, Maryland 20770.  City Council may also be E-Mailed at the bottom of this page.

City Council holds regular meetings the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month except during July, August, and December when it meets once a month.  All regular City Council meetings and work sessions are open to the public.  Executive Sessions are not.  Meetings are held in the council chambers located at 25 Crescent Road, Greenbelt, Maryland.

Petitions and requests may be brought to the attention of Council at City Council meetings.  They will then be referred to city staff and acted upon at a future date.  As a general rule, Petitions and requests will not be acted upon at the same meeting that they are introduced.

Click here to email Mayor Davis

Rodney M. Roberts-Mayor Pro Tem

Rodney Roberts is currently serving his sixth term as a member of the Greenbelt City Council.  Mr. Roberts is a lifetime resident of the City of Greenbelt. While growing up in Greenbelt, Mr. Roberts was very active in the Greenbelt Boys and Girls Club.  

Mr. Roberts is a skilled mechanic, welder and carpenter.  He currently operates his own mechanical repair business.

Mr. Roberts has been active in Greenbelt politics for the past ten years.  Prior to serving on Council, Mr. Roberts was a community activist and was a member of the Committee to Save the Green Belt.  He has been City Council's liaison to the Youth Advisory Committee since 1992.

Council member Roberts represents the Greenbelt City Council as a member of the Council of Government's (COG) Transportation Planning Board.

Click here to e-mail Mayor Pro Tem Rodney Roberts

Edward VJ Putens-Council Member

Edward V.J. Putens is currently serving his eleventh term on the Greenbelt City Council.  Prior to serving on Council, he served as the chairman of the Community Relations Advisory Board.  He was one of the original members of the Windsor Green Board of Directors, and served on the board for eight years. He has been a resident of Greenbelt for 31 years. Mr. Putens currently lives in Greenbrook with his wife Becky and his 3 children.

Mr. Putens graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Microbiology.  While in college, he played on the lacrosse team.  He has been employed by the federal government for 27 years.  Since 1987 he has been with the Food and Drug Administration and currently serves as a manager in the FDA's Office of Human Resources. He previously served in a variety of management and staff positions for the Department of Labor, the Office of Personnel Management and the U. S. Postal Service.

Within the community, Mr. Putens is active in in the Citizens for Greenbelt, Friends of the Greenbelt Museum,  the Greenbelt Arts Center, and the Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic Club.

Council member Putens represents City Council by participating in the Council of Governments (COG), the Prince George's County Municipal Association, the Maryland Municipal League and the National League of Cities.  He currently serves on the COG Human Resources and Public Safety Policy Committee.  In the past he has served on the Transportation Planning Board and the Human resources Policy Committee.  He has also served on various committees of the National League of Cities and is currently a member of the Small Cities Committee and Public Safety Policy Committee.

Click here to e-mail Council Member Edward Putens

Konrad Herling -Council Member

Elected to City Council in 2003, Konrad Herling has been active in community life for 26 years. A founder of the Greenbelt Arts Center and former Community Relations Advisory Board chairman, he has served Greenbelt in a variety of capacities, including co-producing plays, dance recitals, and concerts at the Arts Center and community-oriented programming for Greenbelt Access Television (GATE). His volunteerism has been motivated by two key driving forces: first, to bring the community he grew up in closer together, and, second, to improve the quality of life in the process. These lessons were learned at an early age through the example of his parents, Albert and Frances.

Herling was 10-months old when the family arrived from New York in December 1953. He and his sisters, Karene and Erica, learned that working together was an important principle. As corny as it may sound, the Herling family motto was "Cooperation is our motto." This concept was reinforced by a community where it was critical that people be involved, be it as members of the local business co-op, the nursery school, participants in Greenbelt Homes, Inc., or as good neighbors. Equally important in the Herling household was the idea that being involved in the community's offerings in a positive way enriched each person individually while enhancing the quality of life for the town as a whole.

Konrad Herling's recreational and cultural experiences included swimming, tennis, and piano lessons, as well as Little League baseball (now, the Cal Ripken League). He attended Greenbelt Center Elementary (today, the structure serves as Greenbelt's Community Center), Greenbelt Junior High (now Greenbelt Middle School), and Parkdale High. He graduated from Towson University with a B.A. in history and secondary education with a minor in Latin American history. Between semesters he worked for the Greenbelt Department of Public Works mowing lawns, assisting the trash crew, planting and pruning trees in Springhill Lake, and cleaning up minor oil spills at Greenbelt Lake.

After graduating from Towson University, Herling substitute-taught in area schools, worked as a construction laborer for Washington Homes, Inc., and umpired for the Little League. In March of 1977, he began his 26-year career with the Federal Communications Commission. Herling, who received the Catherine Foster Award for Public Service in May of this year, is a broadcast analyst and the Media Bureau's electronic filing expert.

Herling's previous community experience includes serving as Vice President of the Springhill Lake Civic Association (1980-1983), a member of the GHI Nominations and Elections Committee, Vice President and Secretary of the Eleanor & Franklin Roosevelt Democratic Club, and representative to the Roosevelt Center Merchants Association for the Greenbelt Arts Center. He helped organize the Roosevelt Center Charrette (1985) to help re-design the town center, was a member of the Crime Prevention Committee (1983-5), and was a member of the task force to support the bond referendum of 1987 (provided funding to convert the former elementary school to a community center and to create Schrom Hills Park).

In 1987-88, he served as Vice Chairman of the Arts Policy Committee, whose report led to the creation of the Arts Advisory Committee. In 1989, he proposed the creation of a city planning department, which was established shortly afterwards. He received the Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award in 2001.

Activities for Greenbelt's youth have also been an interest of Herling. This past year he helped coach six-to-eight year olds in the "machine pitch" baseball program and helped produce two teen concerts.

Click here to e-mail Council Member Konrad Herling

Leta Mach -Council Member

Leta Mach and her husband Darrell moved to Greenbelt in 1974. They have two married children -- Ryan and Amy.

In 2000, Mach was honored as Greenbelt's Outstanding Citizen. This recognition followed years of community service in a variety of positions with many different community organizations.
She first became involved in Greenbelt when her children joined Greenbelt Cooperative Nursery School. She became a member of the cooperative's board of directors as chair of the Housekeeping and Bylaw Revision Committees and Treasurer. Later, she served as president at both Greenbelt Elementary School and Eleanor Roosevelt High School (ERHS). After her children graduated, she continued to be involved in the school and served on the Eleanor Roosevelt Community of Schools Community Advisory Board

In 1995 when the City Council established the Advisory Committee on Education, she was appointed to the committee and elected chair by its members. Until her election to the City Council in 2003, she continued to serve as chair of ACE, helping to guide the development of its programs to the benefit of Greenbelt's schools.

Because of her interest in communications and writing, she volunteered to help at the News Review soon after moving to Greenbelt. She served as a reporter, editor and proofreader for many years. In 1979, she joined the Greenbelt Labor Day Festival Committee as vice president of facilities. The next year she became publicity chair and continued in that position or as assistant until 1992.

Her work experience also reflects her dual interests in communications and education. From 1969-73, she taught Early Western Civilization, Modern European History, Asian Area Studies and Soviet Area Studies at Suitland Senior High School. From 1981-87, she was the Information Specialist at Greenbelt Homes, Inc. (GHI). She was responsible for media releases, brochures, hotline messages, advertisements, audio-visual materials, a newsletter, annual reports, corporation minutes and monthly information and educational programs. During this period, she served on a committee for the formation of the Greenbelt Museum, where she later volunteered as a docent. For Greenbelt's 50th anniversary, she also chaired the Greenbelt Oral History Committee that collected video oral histories. She also participated in the book project by writing chapter two of Greenbelt: History of a New Town. From 1987-2003, she worked at the National Cooperative Business Association as director of communications and cooperative education. Today, she runs her own communications business as well as being an independent skin care consultant.

Her other cooperative service includes chair of the GHI Audit Committee from 1988-89 and secretary of the board of the Greenbelt Consumer Cooperative from 1993to 2003. Beyond Greenbelt, she is president of Parent Cooperative Preschools International and 2008 Institute Chair for the Cooperative Communicators Association, the only national professional association for communicators working in cooperatives. In 2002, she was honored with that association's highest award, the H.E. Klinefelter award. She had previously in 1995 received the national Co-op Month Award for Communications.

Mach grew up in a military family that was stationed overseas and in several U.S. states. While she was in high school her father was stationed in Washington, D.C. and she graduated from a Prince George's County school - Bladensburg. Mach attended Michigan State University where she met her husband. In 1969, she received a B.A. with Honor with a major in history and minors in English and education.

Click here to e-mail Council Member Leta Mach