Your 9/28/26 Council Agenda
Happy Sunday Ward One!
I hope you’re holding out alright in this gross weather we’re having. Yesterday morning I woke up to a text saying the winds were so bad that this and another detour sign were blowing down the street. One good thing about being a city prepared for flooding is that I knew where to get a couple sandbags to weigh it down.
Between Forward’s Oktoberfest, the Kunta Kinte festival, and the Presidents Hill picnic, Annapolis did not let a little rain slow us down yesterday. We adapted, enjoyed, and had a great time with neighbors. Below are more events to have fun in the community, my experience riding our Go Time bus for the first time Friday, and of course an annotated agenda of tomorrow’s city council meeting.
Here are the top 3 things you need to know in Annapolis:
The Wards 1 & 2 Budget Town Hall is this Thursday 6:30–8 PM in the Stadium Room at Navy Stadium.
Legislation getting introduced would change parking districts from numbers to letters, fix the prohibition on standing for outdoor dining, and set up a task force for our main street program.
This meeting will finally see the appointment of new Art in Public Places Commission members.
Updates from Harry
Go Time will be the future of Annapolis public transportation, but it's definitely not there yet.
If you don’t already know about our Go Time service, it’s kind of like a cross between a city bus and Uber pool. As it had been explained to me, you put in where you are and where you want to go, it picks you up at the closest bus stop, maybe drops off other people along the way, and then drops you off at the bus stop closest to your destination.
What we should be imagining for our public transportation is that you can easily summon a vehicle and it’ll take you and others on an optimized route for a fare that’s low-cost but enough to sustain the system. It needs to be dependable and have relatively short time between when you call it and when it picks you up.
Automation is going to make that possible. Labor costs are the biggest reason we don’t run more buses, which would decrease how much time you have to wait, improve reliability, and expand where you can go.
Automated vehicles are also safer. That may mean other safety features could be reduced, making vehicles lighter and more fuel efficient. It might also enable more comfortable configurations, like the kind of facing-each-other seats that are on trains or even laying down for long-distance trips.
The city could also lean more into using different sizes of buses, from big ones for our most traveled routes to two-seaters that are deployed specifically for low-frequency routes. Calling one of these with a simple phone call or the tap of a button would be amazingly helpful in reducing traffic, improving safety, and alleviating parking pressures.
But. like I said, we’re definitely not there yet. Here was my experience using Go Time for the first time on Friday.
I was going out to get Chinese food at Jack’s Fortune with some friends who had talked about wanting to try the Volcano Bowl (a big tiki drink that comes out on fire), so I figured I should avoid driving just to be safe.
The night before, I downloaded the Transigo app. First step is putting in my name, but as soon as I started typing my first name in the “First Name” box, a little error popped up under the “Last Name” box popped up saying that I needed to add a last name. Of course I’m going to add my last name! I just hadn’t tried to yet. This is not a big deal, but it was my first clue that this system was not optimized in the way we should reasonably expect our technology to be.
While the app lets you book ahead of time, it’s only for the current day, so I couldn’t book on Thursday for pickup Friday. No worries, I clicked through the booking quickly on Friday morning. You also book based on when you want to depart, but there’s not an option to book based on when you want to arrive (6:30 PM in my case). I eyeballed it and booked for 6 PM.
Friday evening, I could see that the bus was running late by a couple minutes, so I left my house at 6 to meet it at the bus stop by 7-11. But when I got there the app told me my driver had already arrived. Worried because I didn’t see him, I hit the little phone icon in the app and immediately got to talk with a dispatcher who told me he wasn’t sure why it said that but the bus was on its way. Turns out that the bus had turned up Main Street at 6 pm on a Friday—maybe necessary, but definitely a great way to get stuck, as we all know.
It ended up getting me at 6:10. You still can’t pay by card on the bus or in the Go Time app. I was aware of this, and we’ve allocated some money to fix it, but it still shocks me. So, I paid in cash (must have exact change).
True to form as a ride-sharing service, we picked someone up at Morris H Blum apartments and then dropped him off at Graul’s. Definitely not on the way to my destination, but I can see how the minor detour makes sense.
After the Graul’s dropoff, I realized that the bus was not taking me to the stop at the Giant (next to Jack’s Fortune) that I thought I thought I had booked. The closest it would take me was Tyler Heights, a mile away.
The driver very helpfully explained the situation to me. Before 7 pm, Go Time doesn’t go to the stops on fixed bus routes (in this case, the brown route). I didn't know this when I checked the night before because it was after 7 pm then. And I didn't notice when I distractedly booked it Friday morning while walking into a coffee shop.
So, the driver kindly communicated with the brown line driver to figure out where he was. And my driver dropped me at a close brown line stop just before the brown line bus showed up. He even printed me out a transfer pass. To be clear, I was in “secret shopper” mode; I did not tell the driver I had any city affiliation.
Once I got on the brown route about 6:35/6:40, it was a pretty smooth ride. We went through Woodside Gardens and Wilbourn Estates, two of our public housing communities. If you look at the fixed bus routes, they notably connect the public housing communities.
Another thing I noticed on the brown line was a lack of signage on the bus and on the bus stops about where the routes go or even the name of each stop. It makes it hard to know when to signal the driver to stop. These features are not designed for people who don't regularly ride the bus, which makes it less welcoming. Contrast that with the DC metro, which is full of maps and announcements, so that even someone who just flew in from another country can tell where they’re going and when to get off.
I got dropped off at the Giant on Bay Ridge Road and arrived at Jack’s Fortune at 6:48.
Clearly, there was some user error here, and maybe you’ll say I’m complaining about minor things. But this particular experience showed me both the promise and the shortcomings of our transit system. If it could have gotten to me on time… If it went where I wanted to go… If the system was more welcoming…
It reminded me of a book I read a couple years ago called “Recoding America” by Jennifer Pahlka, whose claim to fame is rescuing the failed healthcare.gov website after it crashed. She describes in the book how difficult it is to get government tech to work in a way that centers the user experience, something private technology is really good at. Facebook optimizes to avoid these little pain points because they are competing to hold your attention; government tools typically don’t because there’s a feeling that you need to use them.
I think government should try to compete with private sector alternatives. I think we should build a transit system that rivals driving your own car or calling a Lyft. And it shouldn’t be better only because taxes subsidize the cost.
We’re not going to have a fleet of robot buses on the road tomorrow. But I am convinced we should lean more into the Go Time model in anticipation of that coming. We should allow it to drop me off at the Giant even before 7 PM; we should make it possible to pay in the app; we should continue optimizing routes to reduce wait times and travel times; and we should definitely invest in some better marketing that makes our buses more welcoming for people who don’t ride them regularly—even just putting up maps at the bus stations.
Have you tried Go Time or any other part of our public transit system recently? You should! And if you have parts you love or parts you think need improvement, please let me know.
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.
Public Hearings
O-15-26 Cottage Food Businesses as Home Occupations
City code currently prohibits a wide number of uses of your own home. Repairing bicycles is allowed; repairing cars is not. Cutting multiple people’s hair is prohibited, but cutting one person’s hair is allowed—as long as you’re in the R3 or R4 revitalization zones. Food preparation is currently illegal. This legislation defines and allows the production of “cottage foods”, which are those that don’t require refrigeration, such as jellies and dry mixes. I’m very supportive of this.
Consent Calendar
We’ll be appointing the first five members of the newly-reformed Art in Public Places Commission.
Business and Miscellaneous
This accepts a grant from the Department of Homeland Security’s Urban Area Security Initiative.
Ordinance First Readers
O-26-26 Special Residential Parking Districts - District Lettering
This ordinance changes the names of our residential parking districts from numbers to letters. So, “Residential Parking District 1” becomes “Residential Parking District A”. I’ve heard so many people get confused between their ward and their parking district that this is a no-brainer to me. The one thing I hesitate on is the cost of updating signage; the fiscal impact note says zero, but I’m skeptical of that. Also, this is the kind of ordinance being introduced by another alder but with direct impacts on our ward that I might normally have a town hall on, but since it’s doing no more than changing from 1 to A, feel free to share any thoughts you have with me by email.
O-27-26 Water Service Lines - Right of Entry
This sets up a process by which city staff would be able to enter your home to inspect and potentially replace lead and copper pipes. This is kind of a big power but also meant for a very good cause, so I’m inclined to support it but want to ensure we have appropriate guardrails.
O-28-26 Department of Transportation Fines and Allowing Fine Waivers
The city manager placed a moratorium on waiving parking fines earlier this year because we didn’t have a clear process for whose get waived and whose don’t. This would establish that process. You can read the exact language, but my summary of it is that you can only get tickets waived because of something outside of your control, which seems like a fair standard to me.
O-29-26 Outdoor Dining - Definitions, Administration, and Operational Standards Update
This legislation from Alderman Thorp does a lot to make our outdoor dining code more clear. It contains about three key substantive changes
1. It removes the silly prohibition on standing up while eating or drinking in privately-owned parking lot outdoor dining. There’s still no standing for outdoor dining in parking spaces or sidewalks, in the interest of keeping sidewalks navigable.
2. It shifts around who’s doing what, making the Planning and Zoning Department responsible for all permit approvals (previously Public Works did some) and making the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board responsible for violations of the alcohol rules, like standing and drinking in a parking space.
3. And I know folks are going to love this one: It includes some requirements for the barriers around parking space outdoor dining to be more aesthetically pleasing. I don’t like looking at these bright orange construction barriers, and I know you don’t either.
I would still like to go further to make outdoor dining easier, like removing the requirement to go before the Planning Commission and get a special exception, but what we have here is a good step forward.
Resolution First Readers
R-34-26 The Establishment of the Annapolis Main Street Advisory Task Force
As I’ve written about before, 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, which will include business owners throughout the designated main street area (it’s more than just Main Street), as well as a resident.
R-35-26 Water Service Agreement with the Property Owner of 3020 Arundel on the Bay Road
Providing water service to properties outside the city requires a resolution. I typically support these because they spread fixed costs of water service out more for city ratepayers, keeping costs down on the margin. But I do think we need to consider with each of these whether it wouldn’t be better to just annex the property.
Ordinance Second Readers
O-17-26 Right to Park in Front of Residential Private Driveways
This will be getting sent back to committee, not getting a final vote. As I’ve said before, I hope the sponsors are able to solve the myriad implementation challenges with this legislation, but it seems like we just keep finding new challenges to overcome.
O-22-26 Extension of the Temporary Dissolution and Restructuring of the City of Annapolis Arts in Public Places Commission
The dissolution of the commission has already expired, and we’re going to have new members appointed as of tomorrow’s meeting, so this legislation is a little odd. My sense is that the mayor would still like to pass this to ensure everything is legally tight, and I’m OK with deferring to the City Attorney on that, since we’re getting the board appointed now anyway.
Resolution Second Readers
R-24-26 Collective Bargaining Agreement - American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3406
This is the collective bargaining agreement that the city has reached with the union representing more technician-type work, including in Transit and Public Works. 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 intend to support it. If you’d like more details, I highly recommend the well-written staff report.
R-25-26 Collective Bargaining Agreement - International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 1926
This is the collective bargaining agreement that the city has reached with the union representing fire department staff. 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 intend to support it. If you’d like more details, I highly recommend the well-written staff report.
R-26-26 Collective Bargaining Agreement - UFCW Local 400 (Annapolis Police Department)
This is the collective bargaining agreement that the city has reached with the union representing police. 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 intend to support it. If you’d like more details, I highly recommend the well-written staff report.
R-28-26 Fee Waiver - 2026 Freedom Mortgage Military Bowl Parade
The legislation will once again waive fees the city incurs to host the Military Bowl Parade, such as security and cleanup—up to $20,000. This is just for the parade, not the bowl game at the stadium. I plan to vote in favor. Alderman Savidge has a couple good clarifying amendments to this that I will also support.
R-33-26 Fines Related to City Code § 17.44.090, Short-Term Rental Violations
The mayor has proposed increasing fines for unlicensed short-term rental violations to up to $5000. I agree with this directionally, but I don’t support letting the Planning and Zoning Director levy $5000 fines with absolutely zero guidance from the council on what would deserve that level vs a lower level. Surely, there are properties that deserve big fines for willful non-compliance, but I’ve also helped people who just rent their houses for commissioning week and have gotten incorrectly threatened with fines. I would like to see the legislation include some kind of guidance for what should warrant a large fine vs a small fine before I can support it.
Adjournment
Other news you can use
West Annapolis Oktoberfest is going on right now. Annapolis Street is open to pedestrians for the Chessie's Wharf beer garden, food from local restaurants and food trucks, and a packed row of vendors from 11 AM to 4 PM.
Our Ward 1 & 2 Budget Town Hall with the Mayor, Alderwoman O'Neill, and me is this Thursday, October 1, 6:30–8 PM in the Stadium Room of Ackerson Tower at Navy Stadium. City leadership will walk through how budget decisions get made and hear from you about what we should and should not prioritize funding. Registering in advanceis encouraged but not required.
The First Sunday Arts Festival is back on West and Calvert Streets next Sunday, October 4, from 11am to 5pm.
Also October 4, from 4–7 PM at 144 Lafayette Ave. (across from Lafayette Park) is the Murray Hill Residents Association picnic. To make sure there’s a good variety of food to share, please bring a dish based on the first letter of your last name:
A–D: Appetizer
E–R: Main Dish
S–Z: Dessert
The Arts Council hands out the 26th annual Annie Awards, the county's top arts honor, on Maryland Hall's main stage Monday, October 5 at 5:30 PM. Honorees include Annapolis poet laureate Jefferson Holland and former state poet laureate Grace Cavalieri. It's free with a reception after, but you do need to RSVP.
You know how we can see Truxtun Park eroding into Spa Creek? Well, the city is hoping to do something about it with an Environmental Assessment and Shoreline Planning Study. That’ll include a community meeting Thursday, October 8 from 6-7:30 at Pip Moyer. Can't make it? Take the surveyinstead.
The Annapolis Powerboat Show takes over Ego Alley and City Dock October 8-11, with more than 400 boats expected. The Sailboat Show, of course, follows right behind, October 15-18. It’s a good opportunity to check out how well the city dock construction is going.
Navy football hosts Tulsa at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday, October 10 at 3:30 PM.
Porchfest Annapolis is coming to Murray Hill this year! On Saturday, October 24, from 11 am to 3pm (rain date: Sunday), ten front porches and stoops will become mini stages for 30+ local acoustic acts. You can just stroll from house to house, totally free. Last I heard, they were still looking for volunteers.
Please send me any events or other information you’d like advertised to your neighbors.
Have a great week, everyone!
Harry