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Politics & Government

Meet the Candidate: Leta Mach

Leta Mach is running for re-election to Greenbelt City Council in 2011.

Leta Mach and her husband Darrell moved to Greenbelt in 1974. They have two married children — Ryan and Amy — and four granddaughters, Anna, Alexa, Piper and Amelia.  

Mach was first elected to the Greenbelt City Council is 2003 and is completing her fourth term. She has served on numerous local and national committees to represent the city of Greenbelt including the National League of Cities Human Development Committee. She is vice chair of the Maryland Municipal League Communications Committee and secretary of the Prince George’s Elected Municipal Women. At the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and its affiliates, she serves as chair of Clean Air Partners and is the immediate past chair of the Metropolitan Washington Air Quality Committee. She is council liaison to the Greenbelt Advisory Committee on Education (ACE) and the Greenbelt Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. 

Mach served as chair of ACE since its inception until her election to city council   helping to guide the development of ACE programs for the benefit of Greenbelt’s schools. As ACE chair and council member she pushed for a new Greenbelt Middle School, which is scheduled to open next year. As council liaison to the Greenbelt Middle School Task Force, she strongly supports acquiring the historic school for community use.       

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Mach's interest in education and cooperatives has informed her efforts to enhance the quality of life for Greenbelt citizens in other ways. As Eleanor Roosevelt High School Parent-Teacher-Student Association president, she called for a light at Frankfort Drive and Greenbelt Road and again called for a light, successfully, after election to council. Familiar with the Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) program providing services to seniors in New York City cooperatives, she advocated for the adoption of Greenbelt’s Assistance in Living program. She once ran a conference on cooperatives and the living wage and as a council member pushed the city to establish a living wage policy.

Mach's effort’s ensured Greenbelt’s 2007 Playful City USA designation and its renewal each year since. The program recognizes and promotes health and fitness for the young and not so young throughout the city. She also helped secure KaBOOM! grant money available to Playful City honorees — for the South Ora Court playground. Alert to opportunities and partnerships, she also suggested the Maryland Municipal League adopt the MML Geocache Trail. This high-tech treasure hunting game brings people from around the country to find the city’s geocache and promotes and markets the city at virtually no cost.

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As a new member of Council in 2003, Mach felt it important to deepen her understanding of local government and thus enrolled in and subsequently became a graduate of the Academy for Excellence in Local Governance, a collaborative effort involving the Maryland Municipal League and the University of Maryland Institute for Governmental Service and Research.

In 2000, Mach was honored as Greenbelt’s Outstanding Citizen. This recognition followed years of community service in a variety of positions with many different community organizations. Through the years, she served as treasurer of the cooperative Greenbelt Nursery School; PTA President of both Greenbelt Elementary School and Eleanor Roosevelt High School; News Review reporter, copy editor and proofreader; volunteer for the Greenbelt Labor Day Festival Committee; chair of the Greenbelt Homes, Inc. (GHI) Audit Committee and secretary of the board of the Greenbelt Consumer Cooperative. 

For Greenbelt’s 50th anniversary, Mach chaired the Greenbelt oral history committee that collected video oral histories. She also participated in the book project by writing chapter two of  “Greenbelt: History of a New Town.” She has also been a museum docent. 

Beyond Greenbelt, Mach is the past president of both the Cooperative Communicators Association and Parent Cooperative Preschools International. She has received many awards including in 1995 the national Co-op Month Award for Communications.

Mach's work experience includes teaching social studies at Suitland Senior High School from 1969-1973 and serving as the Information Specialist at GHI from 1981-1987. From 1987-2003 she worked at National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) as director of communications and cooperative education.

Mach grew up in a military family. While she was in high school her father was stationed in the District of Columbia and she graduated from a Prince George’s County school – Bladensburg High School. In 1969, she received a B.A. with honors with a major in history and minors in English and education from Michigan State University. 

Bio Provided by the Candidate

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