Council Member Samuel H. Dean ended his term as Chairman of the Prince George’s County Council for the 2008 Legislative Year on Tuesday, December 2, 2008. Currently, Mr. Dean serves as the Chairman, Planning, Zoning and Economic Development Committee (PZED), and has chaired that Committee for three of the six years he has been a member, a member of the Transportation, Housing and The Environment Committee (THE), a member of the Council’s Budget Process Committee, a Board member of the Prince George’s Community College Foundation, the alternate member of the Council of Government’s Transportation Planning Board (TPB), and the alternate Council Representative to the Dimensions Healthcare System.
On Tuesday, February 12, 2008, the members of the Prince George's County Council unanimously elected Council Member Dean to serve as Chairman of the Council for the second time to complete former Chairman David C. Harrington’s term for Legislative Year 2008. Recognized for his strong leadership ability, Council Member Dean had been elected by his colleagues to serve as Chairman of the Council for the 2005 Legislative Year. He served as Vice-Chair for the 2004 Legislative Year.
Council Member Dean was overwhelmingly re-elected to a second four-year term on the Prince George’s County Council in November 2006 by 99-percent of the voters in District 6. Mr. Dean was first elected to represent the nearly 90,000 citizens who reside in the communities of South Bowie, Capitol Heights, District Heights, Forestville, Kettering, Largo, Mitchellville and Upper Marlboro, in November 2002, receiving 93-percent of the vote.
While serving as the Chairman, Mr. Dean was also a member of the following Committees: Planning, Zoning and Economic Development (PZED), Public Safety and Fiscal Management (PSFM), Health, Education and Human Services (HEHS) Committee and chaired the Rules, General Assembly and Committee of the Whole. Mr. Dean served on the Prince George’s Community College Foundation Board of Directors, was the Council Representative to the Board of Education, and the Alternate Council Representative to the Dimensions Healthcare System.
Council Member Dean was appointed by the County Council in July 2006 to serve as Chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee on High Stakes Testing charged with evaluating alternatives to the state-mandated High School Assessment Tests (HSA). Beginning in 2009, high school seniors in the State of Maryland who fail the HSA tests will not receive a diploma. The Committee report and recommendations may be viewed online at HSA TESTS.
In the 12 years prior to his election to the County Council, Mr. Dean served as a civic leader and activist in many Council-related areas. He has been honored as "Volunteer of the Year," by Prince George's County, and the Prince George's County School Board, respectively. A veteran of the United States Air Force who served our country for a decade and a member of the American Legion, Mr. Dean retired from the Federal Government as the Deputy Director, Office of Human Resources, U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions (EEOC). As co-owner of a successful 8A certified small business specializing in human resources management, Mr. Dean was employed by EEOC immediately after retirement to provide technical expertise in union contract negotiations and by other local, state and government agencies in his specialty field. Mr. Dean is also a former member of the American Meteorological Society. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and Technology from the University of Maryland, University College, in College Park.
Since 1975, Council Member Dean, has been a member of the prestigious International Public Management Association for Human Resources (formerly the International Personnel Management Association (IPMA), , served on the Executive Committee and received its highest honor, the Warren W. Stockberger Achievement Award, in 2000, in recognition of his contributions to the improvement of public personnel management at all levels of government. Mr. Dean is a past president of the Eastern Region of IPMA comprised, at that time, of New England, New York State, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia, Western Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. In 1991, he received the Prince George’s County Gladys Noon Spellman Memorial Award for Outstanding Personnel Services.
Council Member Dean is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the historic, 143-year old Vermont Avenue Baptist Church in Washington, D. C. He is also a member of Prince Hall Free and Accepted Masons (F&A.M), Fellowship Lodge 26. As a Charter Member and Distinguished Past Secretary of the Kiwanis Club of Mitchellville, Inc., his service activities include mentoring students at Kingsford Elementary School, working with incarcerated male youths at the Cheltenham Youth Detention Facility, and other community service activities.
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Mr. Dean has been a resident of Prince George's County since 1975. He resides in Mitchellville with his wife, Donna. They have two children, and two grandchildren.