We don’t have much on the agenda for Monday, but there is one piece of legislation from the Mayor that I do have quite a bit of concern about. But before I get to that, you'll see two items up for a public presentation: one on houseboats and house barges from the harbormaster, and another on short term rental enforcement, presumably from Planning & Zoning.

Mayoral power grab?

O‑41‑25 proposes creating a new Deputy Chief of Staff position within the Mayor’s Office. If adopted, it would expand that office to 15 employees with a $2.1 million budget —making it the largest and most expensive Mayor’s Office in Annapolis history (up from just 7 employees in FY17). By contrast, the City Council, which serves as the legislative branch, has no staff of its own. This imbalance raises serious concerns about the separation of powers and the Charter’s clear distinction between the Mayor as the City’s chief executive and the City Manager as the chief administrative officer. Many of the duties currently performed by, or proposed for, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff fall squarely within the City Manager’s administrative responsibilities, not the Mayor’s political and executive role. And one of the roles fundamental to the Mayor's office, that of being Chair of the Council, is partially off-loaded to this new position—serving as a liaison to the City Council—and is especially troubling as the Council should not require an intermediary to communicate with one of its prime members. Big picture, expanding the Mayor’s Office without evaluating the needs of all branches risks further blurring these lines and concentrating too much power in the executive. For these reasons, I believe this legislation should be postponed until the budget process, when the new City Manager can weigh in and we can assess the needs of every branch together. While I respect the Mayor as a friend and colleague, I also swore an oath to uphold our Charter, and as written, this proposal conflicts with both its letter and its spirit, and is not the collaborative approach to governance I was hoping for and expecting.

Town Hall video

Thank you to all Ward 7 residents who attended last week’s town hall with the mayor and our directors. We had a strong turnout, although there was one disruptive individual who was not even from our City—fortunately, he wasn’t from our Ward! Otherwise, the event went very smoothly. If you have any questions following the meeting, please feel free to reach out. If you missed the town hall, you can watch it here.

Snow on sidewalks

If you see sidewalks that are still covered with snow in the City, please email [email protected]. If you see sidewalks along Forest Drive, Bay Ridge Rd, Hillsmere Drive, those are maintained by the County and they have enforcement authority. Please submit those complaints at Report a Concern | Anne Arundel County Government.

Summary of last meeting

At our last Council meeting, we approved R-2-26 – Establishing the order of succession for Mayor (I voted Aye).

Stay healthy and safe,

Rob

The big news is still the difficult recovery coming out of this winter storm. Our crews are still hard at work. I know of at least two streets that have been missed, and our Public Works has been notified and plans on addressing them today and tomorrow. Other than that, most roads should have at least one lane that is passable. If you should have any remaining issues with snow on your road, feel free to log the issues with the City at  the Report an Issue portal, email [email protected] or call 410-260-2211.

The City will also continue giving residents more time to get their sidewalks cleared of snow, but we will start to take enforcement action against property owners along school routes, with an emphasis on businesses and multi-family complexes in areas with heavy pedestrian traffic. It is simply too dangerous for people and kids to walk in the roadways so we are doing what we can to get our sidewalks passable.

Mayor Littmann and I will be holding a joint Town Hall on February 5^th at 6:30 at the Eastport-Annapolis Neck library. The Mayor wants to introduce you to the Department Directors. They will each tell you about the services they provide and how you can get involved or get in touch with them. We will be including the usual open Q&A at the end of the meeting. Hope to see you there! I could use help distributing flyers. The conditions of the sidewalks and roadways will hold us back, but if you feel you can safely distribute flyers, please let me know and I will let you know how to get some for distribution. But only do so if you feel you can safely walk around your community. In lieu of walking around, please spread the word to your neighbors via any community email or social media group that you may have access to.

As far as Monday’s Council meeting, we don’t have too much on the agenda, but you can find details on the two items up for a public hearing below.

Stay healthy and safe,

Rob