Your 4/13/26 City Council Agenda
Happy Sunday, Ward One
It feels a little too on the nose that we’re getting a new city attorney and new city manager right as the flower buds are popping on the cherry trees and out of the tulip leaves. This new administration is really coming into its own with the announcement of these new hires and soon the new HR Director, Finance Director, and Police Chief.
Today, as I’m doing spring-y activities, I’m waiting to hear what the mayor will discuss in his state of the city and propose in his budget tomorrow. You can already guess that I’m going to be checking out that sidewalk funding, but read on to know what else I’ll be watching for in both of these major policy actions.
Here are the top 3 things you need to know in Annapolis:
Tomorrow’s meeting is the state of the city, unveiling of the budget, and confirmation of a new city manager and city attorney. You should watch!
The mayor and I will be hosting a ward walk on April 18th at 9 AM starting at Maryland and Hanover. Hope you’ll join!
In approximately the area of RPD 2, BGE is planning a power outage on April 22, beginning at midnight and lasting 6-8 hours.
Updates from Harry
It feels like a “hurry up and wait” kind of day. I’m going to the farmers’ market and planting my garden, but on my mind is the momentous city council meeting tomorrow. Rarely do we have such a full meeting: state of the city address, unveiling of the budget, and nominations of both a new city manager and city attorney.
I don’t have the budget yet; I haven’t seen a draft of the speech; I don’t know what we’re going to find out. So, today, I’m just sharing my thoughts with you on what I’ll be looking for when those drop tomorrow.
In the state of the city, I’ll be excited to hear how the mayor grades the beginning of this administration and any announcements of plans for the next year. How are we doing on the customer service focus that he ran on? While recognizing that we’re still only about 4 months in, I want to hear about outcomes, not actions.
I appreciated that our former mayor made a point in his states of the city to emphasis that the council works as a team and to call out work by each individual alderman over the past year. In our quasi-parliamentary system, no mayor can be successful acting alone.
My top priorities for the budget were infrastructure improvements, better customer service, and a tax rate cut.
You can guarantee that the first page I’ll be flipping to when I get the budget book will be the sidewalks capital improvement plan to ensure we’re increasing funding for both brick and concrete sidewalk rehab. Also, I’ll be checking on general roadways, the traffic safety CIP, and safe biking projects.
Customer service could mean a lot of different things, so it might not be obvious on a first read where this fits into the budget. It might mean some additional funding in the mayor’s office or for council to more quickly answer your concerns. It might be a new software system for the Finance or Planning and Zoning departments so they can reconcile invoices easily or issue permits in less time. Understanding how this priority fits into the budget will likely come as we drill into each department’s budget request via Finance Committee hearings April 20th to May 7th.
The city’s biggest expense is personnel, mainly police and fire personnel. As I understand, negotiations over wages for FY27 and FY28 are still ongoing with the four unions that represent city staff. That leaves a big question mark right at the center of the budget. If this expense growth can be held to a reasonable level, then I’d like to see us knock the tax rate down somewhat to account for increasing land values.
Notably, these two things (employee costs and land values) are tied together. City employees want to be paid more because their expenses are growing, and housing costs are—on average—the largest component of that. We would make life more affordable for individuals and reduce strain on local government budgets, if policymakers at all levels would allow for the kind of smart land use that we see in downtown Annapolis to be more prevalent throughout the city and the state.
As I write in the legislative section below, the proposed city manager and city attorney both seem qualified, and I see no reasons not to support the mayor’s picks here.
The city attorney’s most important job is handling the myriad lawsuits that get thrown at the city on a regular basis. While some of these are routine, others are existential. I’m not qualified to weigh in on the legal merits of their defense of each case, but I will watch how the cost of addressing litigation changes under a new city attorney.
The city attorney’s office provides advice and support to the council, since our legislative assistant and legislative drafter are both housed in that office. It’s crucial to me that the city attorney understands that their role is to give us the best information so we can make the best decisions. When it comes to legislating, the city attorney’s office cannot be a veto point.
The city manager is responsible for almost all aspects of city government, so my evaluation criteria for her could be just my goals for the city generally. But the main thing I’ll be watching is how we continue to move towards clearer performance metrics and outcomes-based budgeting.
For whatever the city’s goals are, they should be straightforwardly described in a quantifiable way that Annapolitans can understand. And it should be clear to the council how much is being spent to meet each of those performance metrics, so that we can reallocate funds to be spent in the most cost-effective and most valuable ways.
Once that budget is released, I’ll be asking lots of questions and working hard to ensure it works for Ward One. But between now and 7 PM tomorrow, I’ll be waiting.
This week and every week, I’m grateful for the honor of representing you and our whole community. Never hesitate to contact me at harry@harrymhuntley.com.
City Council Agenda
Call To Order
Mayor Littmann
Moment of Silence
Pledge of Allegiance
Mayor Littmann
Roll Call
City Clerk Watkins-Eldridge
State of the City Address
Mayor Littmann
Approval of Agenda
Ceremonial Items
Reports from Committees
Comments by the General Public
Remember, you can come to any city council meeting to tell us about what’s important to you and your neighborhood!
Register here or just show up.
Public Hearings
CA-1-26 Updating Requirements for Publication of the Charter and Code of the City of Annapolis
This just allows electronic publishing of updates to the Charter and Code.
O-6-26 Oversight of the City's Firing Range
Authorizes the Police Chief, in addition to the Mayor, to decide who uses the City's firing range.
Consent Calendar
Budget-related First Readers
O-8-26 Annual Budget and Appropriations and Property Tax Levy
This ordinance constitutes the city budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 2026 and ending June 30, 2027. It includes the Annual Operating Budget for the new fiscal year starting July 1, the Capital Budget, Capital Improvement Program 9planning for the next 5 years), appropriates money for all City spending over the next fiscal year, and levies the City's property taxes for FY 2027.
R-10-26 Annual Fees Schedule
The list of all the City's fees and the corresponding sections of the Code requiring each fee. Fees are a payment for a service (like inspecting a rental), while fines are a punishment for breaking part of the code.
R-11-26 Annual Fines Schedule
The list of the City's fines and the corresponding sections of the Code. Fines are a punishment for breaking part of the code (like walking around with an open alcohol container), while fees are a payment for a service.
R-12-26 Position Classification and Play Plan
The list of all the City's jobs, their pay rank, and the actual salary for each position.
R-8-26 Fee Waivers for City Supported Special Events in Fiscal Year 2027
the authorization to waive fees for major annual special events in Annapolis, such as parades. The fees include police services, traffic control, post-event cleanup, and related services. Pay attention to the fiscal note on this.
Resolution First Readers
R-9-26 Filing of Grant Application with the Transit Administration
The City applies for a state transit grant each year. The Transportation Department must include Council approval of the application when submitting it.
R-13-26 Compensation of Acting City Manager Victoria Buckland
This continues Vickie Buckland’s acting city manager position until the new City Manager starts. The mayor can only have an acting city manager for six months at a time before the council needs to approve it. Even though the new city manager will be starting soon, we need to approve this for the less than a month between when the existing six month authorization expires and the new city manager starts.
R-14-26 Confirmation of Anthony Kupersmith as City Attorney
Previously the County Attorney for Talbot County, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore. He served as the chief legal advisor to the County Council, county boards and commissions. He’s got expertise in land use, tax policy, and environmental matters—just what we need! If approved, he will begin as Annapolis City Attorney on May 7. Tony seems capable and excited to do this job for the right reasons. I intend to support him.
R-15-26 Confirmation of Yolanda L. Lewis as City Manager
After an extensive nationwide search, the mayor ahs identified his candidate for city manager, Yolanda Lewis. Ms Lewis was previously the Chief Administrative Officer for Fulton County, which has about a million residents. Most recently, she worked for Pew Charitable Trusts. If confirmed, she will begin as Annapolis City Manager on May 21, 2026. I’m confident that the mayor’s office undertook a rigorous process to identify the best candidate for the job. I’m hoping to get to meet Ms Lewis tomorrow (I wasn’t able to make the interviews with the rest of the council) but see no reason not to support her.
Ordinance Second Readers
O-1-26 Property Tax Credits for Child Care Centers, Family Child Care Homes, and Large Family Child Care Homes
This credit aims to expand the supply of daycare in Annapolis and reduce costs for young families. As amended, it allows a property tax credit of up to $4000 for having a state-certified child care center on the property. I intend to support this.
O-3-26 Annapolis Harbor Lines at Hawkins Cove
Allows the City to change the harbor lines at Hawkins Cove to get the Hawkins Cove Restoration project underway. I intend to support
Adjournment
Other news you can use
Naptown Flea is going on from 1 to 6 today in front of Fed House. Stop by for vintage finds.
Free Family Tennis program, in partnership with Rec and Parks, every Saturday and Sunday this summer, 4pm to 5:30pm at Truxtun Park.
Monday is Sine Die for the General Assembly. Will I see you out celebrating?
Presidents Hill Community Association meeting will be Tuesday at 7 PM at Mike Monahan’s house.
If you’re interested in the budget, watch Thursday at 5 PM as the Acting Finance Director will walk the council through the highlights of the mayor’s proposed budget. Like I explained in my last newsletter, this will be available on the city’s YouTube and Facebook pages.
We’ll also have a “ward walk” with the mayor and me on Saturday, April 18 from 9 to 10 AM, starting at Maryland and Hanover. This will be an opportunity to look at concrete (or brick, as the case may be) issues in the ward.
And of course next Saturday is also the Annapolis Cup. I hope to see you there, as the Johnnies take on the midshipmen in the most dangerous game of all: croquet!
A Drive Electric Earth Month event will be on the first block of West Street, from 10am to 2pm on April 19.
BGE has a planned outage in approximately the area of Residential Parking District 2 on Wednesday, April 22 beginning at midnight and lasting approximately 6–8 hours. They’re doing some work to make the electric grid more resilient and basically make it possible to work on smaller parts at a time without having to shut down such a large area. You should be getting a mailing or two about this, if you’ll be affected.
Please send me any events or other information you’d like advertised to your neighbors.
Have a great week, everyone!
Harry