Seat Pleasant candidates gear up for Sept. 8 election

Running for mayor are incumbent Eugene Grant, former mayor Eugene Kennedy and Councilman Johnie L. Higgs Sr. (Ward 1).

Grant declined to comment about the election until August.

Kennedy, who served as mayor from 1994 to 2004, when he was unseated by Grant, said he decided to run because many of the programs and plans he had while in office ‘‘went to waste.” Kennedy said one of those programs, the city’s afterschool program, has been dormant for three-and-a-half years, and the city only recently began a summer day camp that began June 30 and will end in August.

‘‘I’m a people person and I had this energy energized,” Kennedy said. ‘‘The city is in a dead mode. You come through the city, you’d see kids out on the playground, on the basketball court. Now everything is just flat. There’s no more movement of the youth in this city.”

This is Higgs’ first time running for mayor. Higgs has lived in Seat Pleasant for 33 years and has served on the City Council for 20 years. He is a former president of the Prince George’s County Municipal League Association and a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park’s Academy for Excellence in Local Government.

‘‘I will work to unify the people of the city, make necessary infrastructure improvement, bring community and economic revitalization, work to lower the crime rate, restore our program for young people and provide more support to seniors, and work to establish a healthy environment for the city of Seat Pleasant,” Higgs said.

Councilwoman Elenora Simms (At-large) is running for the Ward One seat vacated by Higgs and will face newcomer Cemone A. Bynum. Councilman Brian K. Shivers (Ward 2) will face challenger Maxine Marie. Councilman Reveral L. Yeargin (Ward 3) will face challenger Lamar Maxwell. Councilman John Morris (Ward 5) faces challenges from residents Darrell Hardy and Charles K. Ruffin. Ruffin ran against Morris during the 2004 elections for the same seat.

Councilman Kelly Porter (At-large) will face newcomers James Wright Jr. and LaTasha Gatling. Porter has served on the council for 12 years and said economic development has been his main focus, such as revitalizing the streetscape and businesses on Martin Luther King Jr. Highway and overseeing the progress of development projects such as the proposed 150 condominiums, single-family homes and row houses between Eads Street and Addison Road. No construction has begun on the project.

‘‘A lot of people think things can happen overnight,” Porter said. ‘‘It’s a time process, getting to know what you can so you can become proficient and a good, effective leader. Getting to know the players. Getting to know what makes a viable arrangement. And that takes time. Everyone talks about effective change. I feel I’ve done that and I’ve been there for the citizens.”

Gatling said residents ‘‘deserve to come home to something that looks beautiful and not rundown” and said one of her focuses is bringing in more county and state government funding to enhance the city’s image.

‘‘We are the ‘City of Excellence’ and we need to represent that in our city,” Gatling said.

Wright said he hopes Seat Pleasant will engage its youth more and develop stronger relationships with nearby schools, such as Walker Mill Middle School and Central High School. Wright also noted the city’s economic development potential because of its location near the Addison Road-Seat Pleasant Metro station. Wright is also vice chairman of the Seat Pleasant-University of Maryland Health Partnership, which pushed to get the Governor’s Wellmobile, a traveling health clinic, to make visits to the city.

‘‘That Wellmobile is a start of the revival of Seat Pleasant, because if we can attract that type of entity to come to Seat Pleasant, we can go on to other things,” Wright said.

E-mail Natalie McGill at nmcgill@gazette.net.