It has been a while since you heard from me. The Council took its August recess, and I used the time to catch up on constituent casework, legislative requests, and drafting, and to get ready for the fall. We are back at it this Monday, September 14, at 7 PM with a full agenda, and there is a lot below.

The item I most want on your radar is the Wards 5 and 7 Budget Town Hall this Wednesday, September 16, 6:30 to 8 PM at the Pip Moyer Recreation Center. Mayor Littmann, Alderman Schandelmeier, and I will be there with City department leadership to walk through how the City budget actually gets built and to hear your priorities for the next budget cycle, which starts in April 2027. Please register at the link below and bring your questions. I also plan to hold my own Ward 7 town hall later this fall, likely in November.

Monday brings three public hearings worth your attention. One is mine: CA-3-26 adds a second paragraph to the preamble of our City Charter, with commitments to fair representation, civil and voting rights, public safety, and stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay in the face of climate change and sea level rise. The others are O-11-26, which I am co-sponsoring to create a legal path for rooming houses (what many of us call boarding houses: renting rooms in an owner-occupied home), and O-21-26, the Mayor's changes to the Resilience Authority, where I have two amendments to keep City seats in the hands of City residents and give the Council a confirmation vote on those appointments.

Monday also brings final votes on two pieces of my legislation, CA-2-26 (expanding the Board of Supervisors of Elections) and O-9-26 (fixing how legislation gets referred to Council committees), and on the Art in Public Places overhaul, O-14-26, where I will be supporting a committee compromise that keeps real decision-making with the Commission. Details on each are below, along with news on the new Edgewood Road speed camera, the City Dock timeline, the Boat Shows, and our new Harbormaster.

Stay healthy and safe,

Rob

We have a full City Council meeting this Monday, July 13, at 7 PM, and a Council work session Thursday afternoon. A few things I want on your radar before then.

Three ordinances are up for public hearing Monday, and I hope you will weigh in. One is mine: O-16-26 updates our Forest Conservation code to conform with the new state law while keeping the stronger standards Annapolis already had. I wrote up where things stand, including my amendments and what changed in committee, on my blog. The other two are O-14-26, the Mayor's restructuring of the Art in Public Places Commission, where I expect to offer amendments, and O-17-26, which would end the practice of ticketing people for parking in front of their own driveways. That one came straight from constituent complaints, including from Ward 7, and I am signing on as a co-sponsor.

We also open Monday by awarding the first Arnett-Finlayson scholarships. The outgoing Council authorized these, and I am glad to see them finally come to fruition for these students.

Two more updates many of you have been waiting for: we finally have target dates for the speed cameras in the Edgewood Road corridor, and the search for our next Police Chief is underway, with a community survey and two sessions this week where you can help shape what we look for. Details on both below, along with good news on the Spa Road cleanup and the County's plan to fix the Water Reclamation Facility odors, at the end.

Stay healthy and safe,

Rob