Rodney M. Roberts, 65, is a life-long Greenbelter. He attended Prince George’s County schools and was active in sports with the Greenbelt Boys and Girls Club. Roberts is sole proprietor of a small business that specializes in on-site repairs of various types of equipment and vehicles.
In 32 years, Roberts has never missed a council meeting.
Roberts volunteers his professional skills to groups such as Greenbelt Intergenerational Volunteer Exchange (GIVES) and individuals in need. Roberts successfully fought efforts to demolish two single-family homes in Greenbelt, using his own funds and labor to do repairs on one.
Roberts proposed and worked through to implementation a community policing program that included the city’s first bicycle patrols.
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 testifies on behalf of the city before federal, state and county officials concerning development, transportation, recreational, environmental and fiscal issues. He represented the city on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Transportation Planning Board for 28 years.
Roberts found legal representation to help the city fight the maglev train.
Roberts recently knocked on hundreds of doors to collect petition signatures for the city manager residence issue.
In 2022, Roberts filed a NEPA suit against the U.S. Treasury Department to fight the proposed industrial development of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. Because of his suit, Treasury has had to abandon plans to dump 120,000 gallons of polluted wastewater daily into Beaverdam Creek.