Others May Have Been Intimidated Handling A $4.6 Billion Budget But Prince George’s County Council Vice Chair Deni Taveras ‘Took To It Like A Fish To Water’

By Raoul Dennis

Some people are just comfortable around money. Prince George’s County Council Vice Chair Deni Taveras (D-Dist. 2) is one of them.

The vice chair was asked to represent the County Council in negotiating the FY22 budget. In taking the responsibility, the former New Yorker became the first Latina to lead the effort in County history.

But she had absolutely no fear of the task ahead. In fact, Taveras rolled up her sleeves, pulled up a calculator and dove into the process. In a recent interview with Prince George’s Suite Magazine & Media, Taveras expressed her excitement about the new budget and her willingness to take part in leadership again.

“I had over $100 million in requests from councilmembers to bring home the bacon [for Prince George’s],” Taveras says of the early pressure to take part in a budget that would work for everyone. “It was a long wish list but we had to [remain true to the big picture] and remain true to the districts as well. I don’t like to play politics with such things.”

Taveras worked with the Alsobrooks Administration’s budget team led by Chief Administrative Officer Tara Jackson and other executive-level leaders to develop the budget. Jackson, who was named CAO in December, was also working on her first County budget in the position (click here to see “New CAO Named to County Executives Leadership Team). She says it was important to work together and move forward in the right spirit of things. But Taveras makes no bones about her excitement in being involved.

“I loved the opportunity to do this. I felt in my zone,” she said. “It brings me back to seeing my Aunt Cristina on the streets of NYC hustling and negotiating and being in the zone. It was very good felt natural. I could relate to what we needed to do from the beginning because it was not new to me. It was just new at this level.”

The Vice Chair’s Aunt Cristina has always been a tour de force with business and numbers and was a strong influence in the life of her young niece. “My aunt Cristina is the ultimate entrepreneur and sales person. She sold Amway, had a clothing store, and now buys and sells second had goods. This is how she makes a living. Her negotiation skills are a sight to behold.”

Initially, Taveras was unsure of herself but she shook it off.

“I was at first intimidated. But I threw myself upon my staff and family and people and threw my street cred into it once I got an understanding of the process. And I said to myself: ‘Why shouldn’t we fund programs that prevent infant mortality or re-entry programs or preventive health for our residents?’”

The council leader’s approach along with that of her colleagues and the county executive’s leaders gelled to create a budget aimed at improving services for County residents at fundamental levels from behavioral health to childcare to small business support to road/street maintenance and funding for green improvements. She references food insecurity programs, leveling access to procurement, support for renters until they get back on their feet in the aftermath of COVID-19 and more (click here to see an overview of the FY22 budget). “We want to share thing that that will make a tactical difference in the lives of people who live here,” Taveras says.

“I know that whatever I’m doing, I can go to sleep at night and sleep well,” she said. “That’s what this was about. Everything we asked for I felt was going to make the difference in people’s lives.”

By the end of the process, Taveras says she’s excited about the results. “We walked away with a win-win with $100 million of request and walked out will over $50 million of win. We basically got one out of two instead of one out of two which is a pretty good ratio for my first time out. We brought home the bacon.”

The budget process isn’t the only thing that the councilmember engages in with a heightened sense of vision. Her district is rapidly developing and includes $10 billion dollars in commercial and residential development over the next eight years. A mix of nine new and renovated schools and two libraries are in the pipeline for construction. Taveras engages hands on in efforts varying from food distribution to vaccine mobilization, crime reduction, bilingual education and equity of opportunity for minority business development.

The Vice Chair sees the growing economic power of the Latinx community and brings that argument with regard to the capability of Latino companies in the county.

“There is capacity within the Latino community,” Taveras says. “When people say the talent isn’t there, I beg to differ. There is skilled talent. Like African-Americans and other communities, we just need to get the opportunity.” She notes that The Prince George’s County Professional Latino Alliance, a Latino business support network is developing for launch this fall but stopped short of providing any detail as yet. “Something is coming,” she hints. “I look forward to being a part of it.”

Let’s Do It Again

Providing leadership in the budget negotiation is something Taveras would be very happy to revisit.

“It was truly a rush. It was such a great experience. I loved it. At first, I was nervous: I had the imposter syndrome. But then it came to me like a fish to water: working to defend and justify a percentage of the request – and winning where we really needed to. In the long term – it will help me as I move forward in the next stage in life as I look to provide greater and continued community development. It will benchmark future endeavors to come. But we’ll leave that open ended till I’m a little more ready to talk about it,” she says.