Your 7/27/26 Council Agenda
Happy Sunday, Ward One
Yesterday was the annual Iowa Sweetcorn Festival of Annapolis, raising thousands of dollars to provide school supplies for kids, while bringing together lots of neighbors to have fun. What more could you ask for? Just this great weather we’ve been having the past couple days.
Monday is the last council meeting before our August recess. That means there will be no council meetings until September. I’ll check in with you in the middle of the month but will be totally away August 20-31. Enjoy some time on the water, tending the vegetable garden, or just sipping on something cool in the hot sun over the next month!
Here are the top 3 things you need to know in Annapolis:
Up for final passage are updates to the council’s committees, our Forest Conservation Act, and some fees including parking at Hillman.
Free ice cream. People’s Park. Wednesday, August 5, 11 AM to 3 PM. And every scoop is a dollar donated to the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay!
Getting introduced is an amendment to update the preamble of the city’s charter. I’d love to know what you think should be included.
Updates from Harry
AI (artificial intelligence) seems to be everywhere you look these days. It’s built into Google search. A friend of mine who’s looking to get his startup funded told me that everyone seeking venture capital is trying to connect their business to this buzzword. The government of a tiny Caribbean island nation is making millions because it happens to own the .ai website domain (similar to .com). And all of our retirement accounts are getting boosted particularly by AI-related stocks like NVIDIA.
City government should not be left behind. I don’t want to be like Congressman Jim Clyburn who recently said that he didn’t know what ChatGPT was until last week.
There may be reason to take more caution than in the private sector. City government deals with sensitive information and needs to be a trusted source. But there is also an opportunity cost to moving too slowly if there are tools available that can increase productivity.
One way I use AI to help my work is by putting all the documents and meetings transcripts from the budget process into an easily searchable tool, called NotebookLM. For instance, I can ask it, “Why is the fire department’s capital outlays budget higher this year than last?” and it might pull a number from the mayor’s proposed budget, a description in the Fire Chief’s presentation, and some more details in his own words from the transcript of the hearing. Very helpful for staying on top of the many, many different issues we delve into during budget season!
This budget, we funded an initiative by the Director of Planning and Zoning to use artificial intelligence to rapidly check whether complicated architectural plans are complete and meet a variety of specifications, something he’s called a major bottleneck in his mostly successful efforts to speed up permitting. We also put a small amount of money aside for employees to pay for AI tools, like ChatGPT Pro.
Our IT department has already been working to develop a comprehensive plan for staff AI use. And they’re putting together a chatbot named “Annie” to help people navigate the website.
Do you have any suggestions for how city government should use AI to improve the services we provide?
Unfortunately, it’s also true that the product of AI can be “slop”y. You’ve probably seen the long Facebook posts or graphics that all look like same. It can be hard to put your finger on exactly what it is, but we know when something sounds a little too generic, has too many em dashes, or overuses cliches.
I’ve recently had a couple people argue with me about information related to city government by citing a Google search’s AI overview. It was just plain wrong.
A good analogy is that using AI is a little like having different interns. Some will produce higher quality content than others; some are better than others at finding information. But they all need to have context or they can’t do good work.
At the end of the day, it’s another tool in the toolbox, like going from pens to typewriters, from typewriters to word processors, from basic typing to having spellcheck. It’s a tool we can use for better or for worse.
But I know that city government is a big ship which takes a lot of intention to get it to change course or adopt anything new. Without pressure, it’s much more likely that government undershoots the right level of adoption. So, I intend to keep harping on this topic. I don’t think AI needs to be everywhere in city government, but it almost certainly should be somewhere.
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
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. The adjustment to parking fees is a resolution, so it does not have a public hearing. If you want to testify on that, this is your time.
Public Hearings
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.
Consent Calendar
Business and Miscellaneous
Charter Amendment First Readers
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. I support much of this (and will definitely vote to introduce it) but want to ensure it’s perfect before putting it into our charter. Let me know what you think of the proposed language:
“In furtherance of these purposes, the City of Annapolis affirms its commitment to ensuring that all people living within its boundaries are fully and responsibly represented, and that the conduct of municipal government reflects the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The City recognizes the importance of safeguarding the human, civil, and voting rights of its residents and of maintaining a healthy and safe environment for residents, employees, and visitors. It is a purpose of this Charter to guide the City in protecting the community from internal and external threats to public safety and municipal operations. Recognizing that a clean and sustainable environment is essential to the health, welfare, and quality of life of the community, and that the City bears a special responsibility as a steward of the Chesapeake Bay and the natural systems upon which the community depends, this Charter is established to guide municipal government in protecting these ecosystems and addressing the impacts of climate change and sea level rise for the benefit of current and future generations.”
Ordinance First Readers
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. The one part that gives me pause is removing the requirement that the board members appointed by the city must live in the city.
O-22-26 Extension of the Temporary Dissolution and Restructuring of the City of Annapolis Arts in Public Places Commission
The legislation to reform the AIPPC is not ready yet. So, the mayor has proposed extending the dissolution. But I’m not a fan of this. After months of wrestling with the proposed reform legislation (O-14-26), I’ve come to the conclusion that our current code on AIPPC is closer to the ideal than the proposed legislation is. Therefore, I’d like the dissolution to run out so we revert back to operating under our old code. I’d like to see the mayor nominate new members of the commission ASAP. And there may still be some helpful tweaks needed to our existing code. I intend to vote against this.
Resolution First Readers
R-23-26 Collective Bargaining Agreement - American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3162
This is the first of four collective bargaining agreements that the city has reached (or is close to reaching) with its unions. I appreciate that the city manager held the line on cost of living increases. This is right in line with what we’d been expecting, and I will likely support it. If you’d like more details, I highly recommend the well-written staff report.
R-27-26 Fiscal Year 2027 Position Classifications and Pay Plan Update
I really appreciate that our fire chief is always looking to innovate. Right now, all our paramedics are trained as firefighters, but apparently not all paramedics want to or need to fight fires, and EMS duties are much more common than firefighting duties. So, this creates a new position type to for people who are just paramedics (not firefighters). It does not add new funds, just a new type of position. I think this will help with our recruiting and staff expenses, so I’m inclined to support it.
Ordinance Second Readers
O-9-26 Updating the Standing Committees Section of the City Code
This makes some updates to the part of the city code that deals with our committees. For instance, it adds “internet, wireless, streaming, and digital media services” to the jurisdiction of the Economic Matters Committee. It also greatly expands what legislation has to be referred to the Environmental Matters Committee. And I have an amendment that will take the budget timeline out of city code and allow us to specify it each year by resolution, which has been our practice anyway. I do worry that this can be cumbersome on staff who sometimes have to present on the same legislation to many committees. I will definitely be supporting the mayor’s amendments to reduce that burden, but I’m undecided on how I’ll vote on the legislation as a whole.
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; 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 dug into in the Environmental Matters committee, and I really appreciate the work done by Alderman Savidge. I’m supportive of the legislation, but you’ll probably hear me make some noise about a couple of amendments that I think are silly, like requiring plans be published in the newspaper.
Resolution Second Readers
R-29-26 Update of Fiscal Year 2027 City Fees
This updates the FY27 fees for City-owned parking facilities and metered spaces, rental operating licenses, moorings, and special alcoholic beverage licenses and permits. It’s doing a little bit of cleanup from some fees that we missed updating when we passed the budget, including for downtown parking. I support this. The only really controversial piece that I’ve heard is increasing the parking rate at Hillman garage, but that fee has not been increased since the garage opened, even though the price of maintenance has gone up. The parking fund is meant to be self-sustaining, not subsidized by your tax dollars; increasing this fee allows that to be the case.
Adjournment
Other news you can use
The Colonial Players' Ten-Minute Play Festival closes with a 2 PM matinee today at 108 East Street. Eight new plays from local playwrights, all for $10.
BloomHaven brings the JoGo Project and Pressure Band to the Maryland Hall front lawn tonight for a go-go barbecue. Kids 12 and under get in free.
The First Sunday Arts Festival takes over the first block of West Street on August 2 from 11 AM to 5 PM, with 150+ artists on the bricks. It’s ways free to wander.
Free ice cream in People's Park on Wednesday, August 5, 11 AM to 3 PM. Moose Tracks' 10,000 Scoop Challenge sends a dollar to the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay for every scoop eaten. You better believe I’ll be there doing my civic duty.
If you’re looking to go to a Naval academy game anytime soon, their ticket office has moved off the Yard to the stadium. So, you no longer need to get onto Academy grounds just to buy football tickets (although you could always just buy them online). It’s open Weekdays 10 AM to 4 PM.
And Naval Academy Fan Fest will be at the stadium Saturday, August 8 at 2 PM with autographs, field games, and giveaways.
Carriages on West returns Sunday, August 9. This is an all-Corvette show on West Street, everything from chrome-bumper classics to the mid-engine ones that look like spaceships.
The full Annapolis Songwriters Festival lineup is out. It’s got 115+ artists across downtown venues September 10 through 13. Young the Giant at Maryland Hall caught my eye. Most of the festival is free, but the headliner tickets are on sale now.
For a different speed, the Annapolis Chamber Music Festival tickets are now available for its 11th season with five concerts at Maryland Hall from August 14 to 22. Sunday the 16th is a family-friendly Peter and the Wolf show.
Remember that there are no council meetings in August.
Please send me any events or other information you’d like advertised to your neighbors.
Have a great week, everyone!
Harry