Prince George’s County Council member Krystal Oriadha ends 2025 as the new chair of the council. Oriadha spoke to WTOP about this year’s accomplishments and what’s next for the county in 2026.
She said in 2025, there were good moments as well as trying times.
“I think it overall was a good year, right? We did suffer some losses,” Oriadha said. “In the sense of knowing that we were losing the stadium, that we were losing Six Flags, but I really think that those are opportunities.”
She said she sees the losses as a chance to create something, “even bigger and better, something that creates more revenue than either of those created. So I think that, yes, we had some challenging news, but I am optimistic to what the future holds.”
Passing the county budget
Oriadha said the budget was a big item to overcome this year on the council.
“We were facing a huge deficit, and we were worried about what that would mean for the resources, the ones we would give our community,” she said.
In May, the Prince George’s County Council adopted a $5.8 billion budget for fiscal year 2026, which began July 1, 2025.
The decision comes at a time when the county is facing a more than $90 million budget gap.
“I’m really proud of the budget that we passed. I think that we didn’t reach into the reserves, but we were still able to maintain a lot for the community,” she said.
Legislative highlights
When is comes to legislation, Oriadha said she’s proud of the “bread and butter” issues that were covered.
“Like tackling vacant properties, properties that are unkept by the landlords, making sure that we hold them accountable for the beautification of our community,” she said.
She said she was grateful that for the first time, the council dedicated money to the Black Maternal Health Fund with a $250,000 bill.
“I think we were able to take care of the basic issues that are front and center, that community see every day, but also looking at the big picture and looking at new programs and new ideas,” she said.
“So I think we had a balance of both of those things.”
Tough possible difficulties to navigate in 2026
Looking to 2026, Oriadha believes that housing, jobs and a loss of the job force could be coming in the new year.
“I think those are all tied to what this administration is doing,” she said.
“We also don’t know what the impact is going to be on our services, right? Because they kind of go back and forth between, what is going to be the long term impacts of Medicaid, what’s going to be the long term impacts of SNAP, what’s going to be the long term impacts of free and reduced lunch. What’s going to be the long term impacts of all of these programs that rely heavily on the federal government?”
Oriadha said the council is trying to anticipate what steps to take next when it comes to helping those who are going to need it most.
“So I think we’re just on a waiting pattern to see what the long term impacts are going to be,” she said.
Things to look forward to in 2026
Some of the things Oriadha is looking forward to the most in the coming year is getting more into some of the initiatives she has a passion for, like child care.
“I’m excited about just some of my key initiatives around talking about child care,” she said.
“Looking at universal child care in a way that we have not before, looking at the learning gaps that we have with our kids with autism, and doing early screening campaigns, because we know that’s a game changer to get kids the resources that they need from ages one to three, but we know our kids are getting diagnosed later in life.”
Oriadha said she’s also looking forward to opportunities surrounding economic development.
“Making ourselves self sufficient, right? The reality is, is that we have to build a commercial tax base at a higher rate than ever before, not just because the deficit we’re currently facing, but also the challenges that we don’t know that’s going to come from the federal government. And so I look at that as an opportunity.”
WTOP’s John Domen contributed to this report.
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