Leaders on the Prince George’s County Council are celebrating the end of what they argue was a productive and accomplished 2026 legislative session, though not everyone seems to be in agreement.
The year was marked by ambitious legislation that passed and antagonistic turmoil behind the scenes.
“We passed a lot of bills, which took a lot of work and a lot of collaboration from my colleagues,” Council Chair Krystal Oriadha said. “The work that we have the ability to do is not just for today, but it’s for generations. A lot of the work that we’re working on, we might not even see the fruits of our labor within the next four to eight years, but it’s really laying the foundation for what’s possible.”
Oriadha, along with Vice Chair Eric Olson and council members Tim Adams and Shayla Adams-Stafford, spent nearly 30 minutes talking about the legislation they were most proud of, including bills focused on responding to President Donald Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration at the start of the year.
Oriadha’s focus coming into 2026 was on improving the lives of new moms around the county. She also pushed bills that aimed to lure new restaurants and grocery stores around the county, while pushing regulations that could force some liquor and convenience stores out of business.
In her news conference, Oriadha defended her actions amid lawsuits challenging bills she’s championed, including one from the owners of liquor stores and self-storage units challenging an extra fee that might not be permissible under state law.
While the lawsuit is pending, she also put a measure on the ballot asking voters to give the county approval to institute such fees. This week, Oriadha also pushed through a bill that forces stand-alone convenience stores to stop selling tobacco products.
“We’re lawmakers. It’s our job to change the law, to look at the law, to make sure the law changes to meet the needs of the residents,” she said.
Behind the scenes, the legislative year was marked by conflict and fighting, which ramped up in recent months over controversies surrounding Oriadha’s and council member Ed Burroughs’ connections to nonprofits that receive significant amounts of grant money through the county.
“What the public sees is chaos, and I think there’s a lot of concern about their elected officials and who they’re representing, and it doesn’t look good,” said council member Jolene Ivey, who has clashed with Oriadha throughout the year. “I’m not saying that nothing good was done, but the overwhelming feeling that I’m getting from citizens is that people are concerned about the possibility of corruption.”
She and council member Sydney Harrison both filed Open Meetings Act violation complaints against Oriadha stemming from what happened at the council’s Oct. 20 meeting. They allege that Oriadha instructed council staff to keep their microphones off, essentially silencing them.
“We are elected officials, and we have to be able to speak for our constituents,” Ivey said. “We have to be able to ask questions. And she literally was silencing us. So we have to speak up to make sure that kind of behavior doesn’t continue.”
State lawmakers gearing up for the next legislative session in Annapolis have also been keeping an eye on the council. When their prefiled legislation is announced and discussed later in November, several bills aimed at putting more guardrails on the council are expected to be discussed.
With three new members of the council arriving next year too, Ivey said she thinks things will get better.
“I believe that I’m going to have more support for my bill to have an Office of Inspector General,” Ivey said. “I’ve already spoken to some other colleagues who are on board. They didn’t want to do anything this year because of leadership and behavior, and they were afraid of retribution. But we’ll have new people in place for the upcoming council, and I believe we’ll get more done when it comes to good government.”
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