Happy Sunday, Ward One
Check out this picture from the beautiful day we had yesterday for Porchfest Annapolis in Murray Hill. I love events like Porchfest that bring us together as a community, especially around music. There was such great energy of people meeting new friends, spending time with old ones, and appreciating local artists. Huge thank you to the organizers and everyone who volunteered their home!
Speaking of bringing us together as a community, we should all be voting on or before November 3rd. I encourage you to support Democrats up and down the ballot, our sitting judges, and Question 3. There is more information in the News You Can Use section below on deadlines to vote.
Here are the top 3 things you need to know in Annapolis:
The council will vote on final passage of legislation that rewrites our charter preamble, allows long-term room rentals, changes the rules for parking in front of driveways and expands the Board of Elections from 3 to 5.
If you’re part of any community organization in the city, please update its contact info here by November 30.
Thursday at 8 AM, I’ll be at Curate to talk about a few pieces of legislation that have to do with snow removal. Please join me if you have any questions or concerns.
Updates from Harry
The City is updating its directory of community organizations by ward, including homeowners associations, business associations, schools, churches/congregations, and other community groups, and I want your help!
This directory allows the City and residents to connect with organizations throughout Annapolis and share important information about City services, projects, and neighborhood updates.
I use this information when, for instance, there’s a construction project going on that will have localized impacts, and I want the people who live in those couple blocks to know what’s going on.
If you are part of any community organization—big or small, here or in another ward—please take less than 5 minutes to complete the Community Organization Contact Information Update Form by November 30, 2026.
Even if your organization was included in the previous directory, city staff want you to complete the form to help them obtain the most up to date information and the appropriate consent for public posting.
The form introduction has important information about privacy and consent to ensure we’re not just sharing individuals’ information willy-nilly.
Thank you for ensuring Annapolis can reach more organizations across the whole city. Your assistance will help the city restore this valuable resource to its website while ensuring the information is current and consistent with privacy requirements.
And you’ll ensure I can keep everyone up to date on what’s going on around town.
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
You may notice the repetition of some legislation that was on the agenda two weeks ago. After a boisterous—to say the least—public comment period, our council meeting was already running late when the power cut off around 11:30. Last meeting’s second readers have all been pushed to this meeting.
Call To Order
Mayor Littmann
Moment of Silence
Pledge of Allegiance
Mayor Littmann
Roll Call
City Clerk Watkins-Eldridge
Approval of Agenda
Ceremonial Items
Update from the Mayor
Mayor Littmann
Reports by 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. After last meeting’s messy public comment, in which some people shouted while others were speaking, the mayor has said he will more strictly enforce our rules of decorum so everyone can be heard.
Council Discussions
The City Manager will be presenting her business case on the hybrid-electric passenger ferry that we have a federal grant to purchase. I see lots of benefits to this, but, as a boat owner myself, I’m also wary of the operating costs of any boat purchase. The presentation and release of an RFP for operators will help the council have more information to weigh the costs and benefits, but so far the more evidence we gather, the more this looks like it could be a really cost-effective way to get Annapolitans around town and out on the water.
Public Hearings
O-30-26 Landlord and Tenant Relations - Eviction
This aligns our notice and other requirements for tenant evictions with those of other jurisdictions, in order to protect our residents at a most vulnerable time. For instance, one of the changes requires that property of evicted tenants not be thrown onto the city sidewalk. All these changes make sense to me, and, as I mentioned, I believe they’re borrowed from other jurisdictions, so I will likely support this legislation.
Consent Calendar
We’re voting to accept a state grant to study battery infrastructure in public housing and to reappoint three members of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and the Board of Appeals, including Ward One’s own environmental champion, Bob Gallagher.
Business & Miscellaneous
To cover the cost of our updated union agreements, we’ll be shifting some of our unused capital reserve funds towards capital projects and reprogramming the “pay-go” capital funding to cover the cost of living adjustments (roughly 2%) for staff salaries in the operating budget. This is what we expected, and it will not have any negative consequences on important capital projects, like sidewalk repairs. There are also supplemental appropriations accepting grants for public safety equipment.
Ordinance First Readers
O-24-26 Clearing Sidewalks of Snow, Sleet, and Ice - Deadlines, Enforcement, and City Clearing
This legislation, from me, tweaks the process we developed last year to allow Public Works to clear sidewalks of snow and charge the owner for it as a last resort. Feedback from the inspection staff and the law office, who’ve defended the citations in court, led to a few process changes, including giving you more time to clear your walk and removing the requirement that a certified letter get sent before the city could clear it. It still includes the opportunity for the Public Work Director to adjust fees based on extenuating circumstances. This ordinance got bumped up to this agenda because we need it passed before it might snow. But I’ll be at Curate Thursday morning at 8 for anyone who wants to come talk about this and the next legislation (from Mayor Littmann) with me. Or, email me your thoughts.
O-31-26 Snow Emergency Phases and Procedures
This is similarly meant to clean up our processes after last winter’s big snow storm. It revises language for declaring snow emergencies and creates a new phase IV emergency in which no traffic is allowed on the road.
Resolution First Readers
R-30-26 Fees Related to City Code § 14.04.060, Clearing Sidewalks of Snow, Sleet, and Ice
The amount of these is not actually changing; we’re just citing the new section of code in the ordinance above.
R-44-26 Fines Related to City Code § 14.04.060, Clearing Sidewalks of Snow, Sleet, and Ice
The amount of these is not actually changing; we’re just citing the new section of code in the ordinance above.
R-46-26 Fiscal Year 2027 Pay Plan Revision for Cost-of-Living Adjustment
As I mentioned above, our unionized employees all received a roughly 2% cost-of-living adjustment, which we passed at a previous meeting. This legislation revises the pay plan to also include a 2% cost-of-living adjustment for non-unionized employees on the Non-represented (N) and Executive (E) pay scales
Charter Amendment Second Readers
CA-2-26 Expanding the Board of Supervisors of Elections Membership
The Board of Supervisors of Elections is a lot of work! Three dedicated volunteers have put countless hours into overseeing our elections, and they have come to the conclusion that they need more hands. This legislation increases the Board to 5 members, including by adding a seat for an independent or third-party voter, both of which I support. I do not support the substitute amendment from the Rules Committee, because—while it has some good parts—it would allow the council to appoint anyone to the Board solely based on their party registration, which I think could lead to hijinks. Right now, the Democratic and Republican members have to come from the party central committees, and keeping it that way is the most fair way to ensure the board’s partisan balance.
CA-3-26 Expanding the Preamble of The Charter of the City of Annapolis
This adds a new paragraph to the preamble of the city charter, something that was recommended by the Charter Revision Commission a few years ago. One part I’m especially excited about is the mention of our duty to steward the Chesapeake Bay. I support this amendment, along with the amendment from Alderman Thorp that specifically mentions our residents, history, maritime industry, and universities.
Ordinance Second Readers
O-11-26 Allowing Long-Term Room Rentals in Private Homes
I’ve been a co-sponsor of this legislation from the beginning, because I support fixing the broken status quo in which it’s illegal to long-term rent out a room in your house in most of the city. In trying to fix that, the first version of this bill made things too complicated. At the recommendation of the planning commission and others, the primary sponsor, Ald Schandelmeier, has developed an amendment to more straightforwardly allow this, which I will support
O-12-26 Removing Streets from Special Residential Parking District, Number 5
This removes the following street segments from Special Residential Parking District Number 5:
Forbes Street, between Monterey Avenue and Giddings Avenue; and
Monterey Avenue, between Forbes Street and Tucker Street
and leaves these still in the district:
Annapolis Street, between Taylor Avenue and Melvin Avenue; and
Giddings Avenue, between Forbes Street and Tucker Street
This is Alderwoman O’Neill’s legislation, it solely affects her ward, and I see no reason not to support it.
O-17-26 Right to Park in Front of Residential Private Driveways
As I’ve said from the beginning, the devil is in the details on this legislation. I’m reminded of a quote about democracy that it’s “the worst system except for all the others”. I’m sympathetic to our current system not being optimal, but it’s clear to everyone that there are many streets where parking in front of driveways is not viable, and I think that having the city be a total mix of where parking is and is not allowed in front of driveways will lead to a lot of confusion and people getting blocked in. In particular, one of my big concerns is that this takes enforcement of blocked driveways from being proactive (anyone seen is getting a ticket and maybe towed) to being reactive (the process is only initiated after someone complains and you’ve missed wherever you needed to go by the time the tow happens). Also, it’s been brought to my attention that our current system already allows communities to request that parking in front of driveways be allowed in their specific block. So, while there are good arguments on both sides, I do not intend to support this legislation. And I have brought forward an amendment to exempt residential parking districts (much of Ward One) from it through the end of next year; there’s a similar amendment for most of Eastport. That will allow us, if the bill does pass, time to see how this works in other areas and to determine street by street where in our historic city this makes sense and where it doesn’t.
O-21-26 Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County - Membership and Director Appointment Changes
These are good, commonsense changes to update the structure of the Resilience Authority that’s a joint project of the city and county. With an amendment to reinstitute the requirement that the board members appointed by the city must live in the city, I fully support it.
O-25-26 Mobile Food Service Vendors - Historic District Special Events
Right now, “mobile food service vendors”—better known as “food trucks”—are only allowed in the historic district during city-designated “special events”. At the request of some of our businesses, this expands that allowance to include events organized by a business association within the city. So, it would allow food trucks at something like the Chocolate Binge Festival. I think this strikes a good balance.
Resolution Second Readers
R-17-26 Fees Related to O-11-26, Allowing Long-Term Room Rentals in Private Homes
I believe that this is no longer necessary, with the substitute amendment to O-11-26, but I’m going to check with Ald Schandelmeier when I see him tomorrow.
R-32-26 Fines Related to O-25-26, Mobile Food Service Vendors - Historic District Special Events
Sets a $1000/day fine for anyone breaking our food truck rules. This level was recommended as an estimate by our Director of Planning and Zoning, and we’ll monitor to see if it needs to be adjusted for deterrence.
R-34-26 The Establishment of the Annapolis Main Street Advisory Task Force
The city is undertaking a reboot of its Main Street program, which began by bringing it in-house under our Economic Development Manager, Adam Strott. Adam has been working closely with me and with our businesses to create something that can be an advocate and a coordinating body for our downtown businesses. Ultimately, the goal is to spin out a new organization that will be independent. But in the meantime, we need an advisory body to stay compliant with state law. So, I’m sponsoring this resolution to create that Task Force. As amended, it will include business owners, landlords, and residents throughout the designated main street area (it’s more than just Main Street). Let me know if you’d like to be considered for this task force.
R-39-26 Fee Waiver - 2026 Community Meet and Greet with Budweiser Clydesdale Horses
Clydesdales are coming back to Annapolis on December 27th! I’m sponsoring this resolution to waive the fees, so this can happen.
R-40-26 Itinerant Merchant Sales in the Historic District for a Flea Market
We need to have a resolution to do these kind of outdoor markets in the Historic District. Naptown Flea has previously brought lots of great vendors and customers, so I'm bringing forward this resolution for them to do another market on November 22.
R-45-26 Annapolis City Council Support for Draft Addendum II to Amendment 3 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden
Menhaden are a funny little fish that feed rockfish, dolphins, ospreys, and other iconic Chesapeake Bay species. Their numbers seem to be decreasing, and evidence suggests it's the reason for a dramatic decline in osprey chick survival. I've been told that out of the 100 breeding pairs of ospreys in the Severn River, only six chicks survived this year. The mayor, the Environmental Matters Chair, and I are introducing a resolution supporting a proposal to cut the fishery's Bay harvest cap in half and spread that harvest more evenly across the season. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission decides on November 9th, and we want Annapolis on the record in support of this change.
Adjournment
Other news you can use
The general election is Tuesday, November 3, and the State Board of Elections has a few deadlines before then:
Early voting ends Thursday, October 29. Pip Moyer is open 7 AM to 8 PM.
If you want your mail-in ballot sent to you by mail or fax, your request has to be received, not just mailed, by Tuesday, October 27.
Online requests to get your ballot by email are due Friday, October 30.
Completed mail-in ballots have to be postmarked by November 3 or dropped in an official drop box by 8 PM that day. A mailbox on Election Day doesn’t guarantee a same-day postmark, so if you’re cutting it close, use a drop box.
Canvass launches for our sitting state senator, Shaneka Henson, are regularly going out of 1610 West St (Suite 209). She’s a champion for protecting the least among us and making life more affordable for all, and you can help her by knocking some doors, including next Saturday, October 31 at 10 AM with me, Rep. Sarah Elfreth, and the Anne Arundel County Coordinated Democratic Campaign.
I’m holding a town hall at Curate this Thursday at 8 AM to talk about the snow bills. Come grab a coffee and tell me what you think before winter gets here.
Naptown Flea is holding a Halloween Night Market on Friday, October 30 at GameOn bar+arcade. Everything is $40 and under. Check their Instagram for details.
Saturday is Halloween, and there’s plenty to do before (or instead of) trick-or-treating:
The annual, free Day of the Dead Festival runs 3:00 to 8:00 PM at Maryland Hall, with traditional dance, live music from Grupo Etnia and others, local artisans, and tacos.
Spice and Motown Magic play a free Motown concert at Dinner Under the Stars on the first block of West Street from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Outdoor dining starts at 5. “Motown costumes optional!”
The Scarecrow Stroll, with themed scarecrows along West Street, Maryland Avenue, and Main Street is ongoing through November 2.
Clocks fall back next Sunday at 2 AM. Use it as a reminder to test your smoke detectors.
The First Sunday Arts Festival fills West Street and People’s Park one last time this season on Sunday, November 1, starting at 11.
Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth’s office is recording interviews for the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. Veterans of any branch or rank can take part, whether or not they saw combat. Interviews take 30 minutes, and her staff will meet you somewhere convenient. Sign up by November 13.
Please send me any events or other information you’d like advertised to your neighbors.
Have a great week, everyone!
Harry