Jun 17

Jun 17 Madam Mayor

PTA Mom Becomes First African American Mayor of New Carrollton

By Hamil R. Harris

It’s hard to figure out when New Carrollton realtor Phelecia Nembhard finds the time to sell homes because most days she was at her children’s schools selling candy or passing out flyers for the Parent Teachers Association.

And when Nembhard wasn’t at Lamont Elementary, Charles Carroll Middle, or Parkdale Senior High School, she was driving around in a minivan giving out bags of her groceries. In 2018, this PTA mom was so busy she had no idea that 55 voters wrote in her name and she was elected to the New Carrollton City Council.

But what was once considered as a political fluke in a Prince George’s County City of 12,400 residents got very serious on June 8th after votes were counted and this 51-year-old mother became the first African American and woman, as well as the youngest person to serve as the Mayor of New Carrollton. It was her very first official campaign.

“I’m just part of history and it shows that all things are possible,” said Nembhard in an interview where she talked about how she defeated the first-term mayor by campaigning hard in the New Carrollton apartment complexes.

“We touched everybody. In prior elections people didn’t really campaign in the apartments,” said Nembhard, who received more than 30 percent of the votes cast by mail. “I want to give young people a chance.”

Ballots were mailed out to every New Carrollton resident in a race that came down to signs placed in people’s yards and about 2,000 votes were cast. Nembhard received 1139 votes and Mayor Duane Rosenberg got 835 votes.

In terms of her feelings, Nembhard said, “It doesn't feel like anything new because I have been working with the community since 1998.”

Mayor Andy Hanko led New Carrollton for 34 years, but he didn’t run for re-election after he became ill. Hanko died in May 2018. That year Council member Duane Rosenberg received 206 votes to defeat Council member Katrina Dodro, who received 192 votes, to become mayor.

One New Carrollton observer said that Nembhard was successful because she won the support of the police department and longtime residents. She also built support with the churches in the community.

“She has been dedicated to serving in general and especially the less fortunate and she brings new energy to the City of New Carrollton,” said William Clay Ph.D., a guidance counselor at Charles Carroll Middle School.

Now it’s Nembhard’s moment to lead and for the first time, all of her children are out of school. She has two boys and one girl, and her last child just graduated from Parkdale High School.

When asked about her goals, Nembhard said, “I just want to give young people a chance.”