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Meet the Commissioners Samuel J. Parker, Jr., is Chairman of the Prince George’s County Planning Board, Chairman of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and Chairman of the Employee’s Retirement System. An accomplished expert in revitalization and planning issues, Chairman Parker has more than 25 years of professional experience in the areas of historic preservation and community revitalization and redevelopment. From 2004-2006, he served as the Associate Director for Community and Business Development of the Prince George’s County Redevelopment Authority. From 1991-2004, he held a series of progressively responsible positions as a preservation planner, senior planner, planner coordinator, and acting division chief for M-NCPPC. Chairman Parker’s career has also encompassed planning positions with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Metropolitan Washington Planning and Housing Association, and Mount Pleasant Home Center, Inc. He has presented novel projects and positions on housing, planning, and community development at national conferences and international forums. He is a former instructor in the Graduate School of Planning of the University of the District of Columbia and the School of Architecture Foreign Studies Program at Catholic University of America. Chairman Parker has a bachelor’s degree from Catholic University and a master’s degree in regional planning from Cornell University. He also holds numerous memberships in professional and community organizations including the American Institute of Certified Planners and has won recognition from a number of groups including the Metropolitan Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the Neighborhood Design Center.  Sylvester J. Vaughns was appointed to the Prince George’s County Planning Board in 2003 to fill Commissioner James Brown’s unexpired term. He was reappointed as commissioner and designated vice chairman of the Prince George’s County Planning Board in June 2007. A long-time Prince George’s County resident, community activist, and volunteer, his civic affiliations include the Palmer Park Citizens Association, Neighborhood Action Partnership, and the Boys and Girls Club. He is a trustee of Hemingway Memorial A.M.E. Church, former member of the Prince George’s County Police Chief’s Advisory Committee, and a member of the County’s Republican Central Committee, and president of both the county and state Black Republican Councils. Mr. Vaughns is widely recognized for his work as past president of the Prince George’s County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), where he directed successful lawsuits for desegregation of the public schools and against police misconduct. He retired from the Prince George’s County government in 1997 as an administrator in the Department of Environmental Resources. Mr. Vaughns is proud of his four children,five grandchildren, and one super great grandson.  Sarah A. Cavitt was appointed in 2007 to fill the seat vacated by former Commissioner William M. Eley. A long-time resident of Prince George’s County, Ms. Cavitt is retired from a 25-year career with the Social Security Administration where she served in numerous roles, including EEO Officer and Branch Office Manager. She is well-known throughout Prince George’s County as a civic and community activist devoted to the protection and enhancement of the quality of life in the county, particularly the southern area. She is also a past president of the Indian Head Highway Area Action Council Inc., vice president of the Police District IV Citizens’ Advisory Council, and the chair of the Dictionary Initiative for all third graders in the county. Ms. Cavitt earned her bachelor’s degree from Creighton College.  Jesse Clark was appointed to the Planning Board in 2006 to complete Commissioner James Harley’s term in 2007. Commissioner Clark graduated from Morgan State University and the University of Michigan Law School. An accomplished lawyer with over 30 years of experience, he first practiced law with Jenkins, Perry and Pride in Columbia, South Carolina. Judge Matthew J. Perry selected him as his first law clerk/commissioner and brought him to the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (USCAAF) in Washington, D.C. For more than a decade, Mr. Clark later served as the confidential counselor to then Chief Judge Robinson O. Everett. As the personal, confidential legal advisor and commissioner to the two venerated federal judges, Mr. Clark provided them with acute insights, critical analysis, and creative solutions on the most challenging and demanding military justice issues facing American service persons around the world. He provided the military “Supreme Court” judges advice on constitutional law, congressional legislation, international treaties and agreements, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the Manuals for Courts-Martial and pertinent federal court and United States Supreme Court decisions. At different intervals, he served on the Court as the senior legal staff attorney, the acting senior staff director, and the death penalty counsel. As a military justice expert who drafted over 200 opinions and prepared memoranda of law on over 4,000 petitions for review and countless motions and writs during his 30 years with USCAAF, Mr. Clark was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service. A long time active member of the Federal Bar Association, he has served as Chairman of the Association’s Criminal Law Committee, Deputy Chairman of its Administration of Justice Section, and Coordinator of its Nationwide Student Law Day Project, which won first place in the ABA Law Day Competition. He has also held membership in the American and National Bar Associations and served as founder and director of the American Youth Bar Association developing a major court visitation program that annually benefited hundreds of high school and college students in the Washington, D.C. area. Commissioner Clark is a member of community and civic organizations, including the Tantallon Citizens Association, and has received numerous awards and citations for his professional, civic, and church activities including the highest Federal Bar Association Award and a “Point of Light” from President George Bush. Mr. Clark is the youth director at Randall United Methodist Church and directs the youth choir and the Randall’s Marching Drum Band.  John Squire was appointed to the Planning Board in 2003. A long-time resident of Glenn Dale, Commissioner Squire served with distinction in numerous posts and commands during a distinguished thirty-year career with the United States Army. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from South Carolina State University, a master of business administration degree from Howard University, and is a graduate of the United States Army War College. Particularly skilled and experienced in budgeting and administration, Commissioner Squire also has experience in the private sector including corporate board memberships, former Chairman of the Board and president and publisher of Metro magazine, and former Chairman of the Board of Directors of International Brokerage and Marketing, Inc. He is Chairman of the Finance Committee and Elder for the Seabrook Seventh-Day Adventist Church, a former member of the Executive Committee and Corporation Council of the Potomac Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, a member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Dream Academy, and a member of the Maryland Realtor Association.
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