Your 6/22/26 Council Agenda
Happy Sunday, Ward One
And happy Juneteenth weekend! And happy Fathers’ Day to all the dads reading this! As you can see in “Other news you can use” there’s still time to get Dad tickets to the Annapolis Blues’ game this evening.
Between Juneteenth, an upcoming election, and the nation’s 250th anniversary, I’m ruminating on what our American creed means and how we can live up to it. I think we—myself included—need to do more focusing on what unites us, particularly a belief that we can make things better. I hope you’ll take some time in the next few weeks to similarly reflect.
Here are the top 3 things you need to know in Annapolis:
Tomorrow is your opportunity to testify on legislation reforming the Art in Public Places Commission.
Tuesday is the primary election. Make a plan to vote!
The end of this newsletter has a long list of events to celebrate the 4th of July and the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Updates from Harry
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding, let’s take a moment to ponder how far we’ve come and how far we have to go.
I’m thinking in particular of this line in the pledge of allegiance that we recite before each council meeting: “one nation, under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all”.
As I learned from our county executive, the pledge of allegiance was originally created by a socialist minister. It was first published as part of a celebration of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival, and Francis Bellamy’s 1892 version is almost exactly the same as what we say today.
Except that the phrase “under god” was not added until 1954. While it was undoubtedly for different reasons to different people, part of the goal was explicitly to exclude people who don’t believe in god from being part of the national vision; it was to feed into the Red Scare that Soviet agents walked among us and you couldn’t trust your neighbor; and it was to tie big business with big religion to push back on the popular consensus of the New Deal. In short, the addition was made to divide us.
Our country today feels far from “indivisible”. While Barack Obama’s most famous speech exclaims that “there's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America,” the data tells a different story.
People are more isolated and disconnected than ever. They are more likely to have fewer friends and for the friends they do have to be more like them. Some causes are the decline of civic groups, the rise of social media, and zoning codes that promote segregation in our neighborhoods while discouraging gathering places. All these factors make Americans more and more likely to endorse extreme measures against people who look and think differently.
But the promise of our republic is that, while the majority rules, there are some rights so sacrosanct—life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, and more—that it would be unjust to deprive any individual or minority group of them. To have a functioning democracy, minority interests have to be able to trust that they won’t be entirely steamrolled.
To state the obvious, our nation has not always lived up to that principle. Right here in Annapolis, people were bought and sold with no rights at all because of the color of their skin, and the scars from that injustice linger to this day. Today, there are other groups cast onto the margins whose rights are trampled on or just wither away: the homeless, the undocumented, the drug-addicted.
But America has also undertaken ambitious national projects and succeeded. We greened the deserts and built railroads to transport their produce to our cities. We’ve built skyscrapers and put a man on the moon. We liberated Europe from fascism and rebuilt much of the continent. Across the world, American aid programs have saved millions of lives and prevented untold suffering. These initiatives were not without detractors, but they were grounded in a unifying sense of national purpose that, by collaborating, we could leave a better world for our children.
In our own little town—imbued with so much of the country’s history right here—let’s resolve to be an exemplar of indivisibility, focusing on what unites us more than on what divides us, on what has made our country magnificent, and on what we can all do together to make it even better, especially by living up to its own stated ideals. Just striking up a conversation with a neighbor is a great place to start.
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
Approval of Agenda
Ceremonial Items
Our Annapolis Poet Laureate will present a poetry reading on the history of Annapolis, in celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Presentation
Annual report from Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB)
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.
Consent Calendar
Public Hearings
O-14-26 Art in Public Places - Amending Definitions, Duties, and Membership
As you may remember, the Art in Public Places Commission has had some troubles over the years, so we voted to temporarily disband it. I’m happy to see legislation coming forward to reform it. I intend to support introducing this legislation, but I do have a few concerns with how it’s currently written. Most importantly, it changes the commission’s role from being the decisionmaker of funds to being advisory with the Planning and Zoning Director making the decision. I have mixed feelings about reducing the size from 9 to 5 members, but if it were to move forward with 5 members, I am very opposed to the idea of allowing non-residents to serve on the Commission. Across our boards and commissions, I’m not a fan of having non-residents making decisions about the city. I may also bring forward an amendment to state in the text how this is following the requirements of state law. I hope folks will come share their opinion on what has been a contentious issue.
Business and Miscellaneous
FT-13-26 General/Transportation/Fleet Operations/FASF - Various Departments
This is our year-end transfer to ensure everyone has money for what they need. It includes things like moving money from our contingency fund into snow removal to cover bills incurred in January. You can see a full analysis of each piece by watching Thursday’s Finance Committee hearing.
SA-23-26 Parking - Transportation
This authorizes an additional payment to our main parking vendor, Metropolis. The city is in the process of disputing the charge with the contractor, but to do that, we need to authorize the funds before the end of the fiscal year. The Finance Committee received a briefing on this on Thursday and will get another at our next meeting. We’re keeping an eye on it.
Resolution Second Readers
R-19-26 Finance Director - Karen Ajayi
Karen Ajayi was hired earlier this year as the Deputy Director of the Finance Department. After some months of leading it while the city manager searched for a Finance Director, the conclusion has been made that Ms. Ajayi is the best person for the job. She has impressive experience in both the public and private sectors, and the more that I talk with her the more impressed I am, so I definitely intend to support her appointment.
Charter Amendment Second Readers
CA-1-26 Updating Requirements for Publication of the Charter and Code of the City of Annapolis
This modernizes a small portion of the charter, just allowing the Charter and Code of the City of Annapolis to be published online, allowing that as an option alongside print publication. I intend to support it.
Ordinance Second Readers
O-6-26 Oversight of the City’s Firing Range
This simply allows the police chief to approve use of the police firing range by officers from other police departments. Currently, only the mayor can issue that approval. I will support it.
O-10-26 Reducing the Human Relations Commission Membership
The Human Relations Commission is much larger (15 members) than many of our other boards and commissions, so this right-sizes it. It will ensure the Commission has quorum to conduct its business. I will support it.
Ordinance First Readers
O-16-26 Forest Conservation - Program Amendments to Conform with State Law
The city’s Forest Conservation Act requirements have long been stricter than state law. The state updated their law in 2024. Fun fact, I had a small hand—in a previous day job—in producing the state-required report that led to this update; I wrote the section on Forest Mitigation Banking. This legislation aims to bring us more in line with the new state law. One notable change is the goal shifting from “no net less” of forest to “net gain” of forest. This is a pretty intricate piece of legislation that we’ll dig into in the Environmental Matters committee and probably end up making an amendment or two to.
O-17-26 Right to Park in Front of Residential Private Driveways
Right now, if you have a driveway and you park in front of it, you get a ticket. I’ve seen this happen repeatedly the residents, and it doesn't feel fair. This legislation aims to fix that by allowing people to park in front of driveways with the express permission of the property’s legal occupant. I support the aim of this. But I want to dig more into the mechanics of how it’s enforced and how we communicate it. Within residential parking districts, will the parking enforcement agents know whether a car has permission to park in front of a driveway just by driving past? Are they going to have to knock on the door and ask every time? Even if we solve that, does allowing cars to park in front of driveways with permission encourage people who don’t know better to park in front of them without permission? This has the potential to really add spaces but could get messy if not done right.
Resolution First Readers
R-21-26 Designating City Attorney Anthony P. Kupersmith as Resident Agent for Service of Process
You’ve seen on TV when somebody tricks someone into accepting papers and then goes “You’ve been served!” right? It might be for divorce or other kinds of civil lawsuits. Seth Rogen’s character in the movie Pineapple Express somehow makes a living out of it with disguises and other tricks. And a candidate for state delegate recently made a serious faux pas by doing it to his opponent while he was at a Memorial Day service. So, this legislation simply designates our City Attorney as the correct person to accept those papers for the city. I think it’s pretty noncontroversial.
Adjournment
Other news you can use
Remember that Tuesday June 23rd is the primary election! My last newsletterdived into who I’m voting for and why. Most of us vote at Bates Middle School, but not all of Ward One, so check your polling place here. If you had any trouble with your mail-in ballot, you can always cast a provisional ballot in-person.Today the Annapolis Blues have a doubleheader with the women's team taking on Virginia Beach United at 5 PM, then the men facing Northern Virginia FC at 7:30 PM. Perfect if you’re still not sure what to get Dad.The city wants your opinion on its visual identity, as we undergo a redo of the website. The feedback survey closes tomorrow. The Chesapeake Children’s Museum is doing something called “Creek Critters” on Thursday at 10:30 AM.Eastport A Rockin’ is next Saturday, June 27. Annapolis' homegrown music festival with 40 bands across 4 stages around the Annapolis Maritime Museum on Back Creek is one of the best daylong lineups of the summer.Next Sunday is the Ward One Residents Association annual meeting and elections at the Paca House at 4 PM.There’s a boatload to do for 4th of July. Here’s the city’s press release on it. And lots more below:
Please send me any events or other information you’d like advertised to your neighbors.
Have a great week, everyone!
Harry