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

I hope you're staying safe and warm throughout this snowstorm. The roads are still unsafe, so I recommend remaining indoors. Our Public Works teams are working hard to clear the heavy wet snow. Unfortunately, one of our trucks is out of commission, which affects Ward 7. Assistance is on the way, but if you live on one of the streets listed below (mine included!), snow removal may be delayed.

• Janice
• Warren
• Berwick
• Timber Creek
• Victor Pkwy
• Dogwood
• Georgetown Court
• Fairhope Court
• Windwhisper
• Yachtsman

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. Each of them will get 2 minutes to 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’ll have flyers printed up soon for distribution. If you can help distribute flyers, please let me know!

Due to the snowstorm, our Monday Council meeting has been postponed until February 2^nd.

Stay healthy and safe,

Rob

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. Each of them will get 2 minutes to 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’ll have flyers printed up soon for distribution.

Our Monday Council meeting has two items up for public hearing:

O-40-25 - Moratorium on new Short-term Rental permits (see below for details)

O-41-25 - Mayor proposes new Deputy Chief-of-staff position (see below for details)

Stay healthy and safe,

Rob

I wanted to inform you that we have a special Council meeting scheduled for tomorrow, from 2-4pm. These meetings, typically the second of each month, can be called for by the Mayor at will. I’m not entirely sure what precipitated this late December meeting, but what I do know is that the time was moved earlier due to the hectic nature of Midnight Madness. I do apologize for getting this newsletter out late, but the odd Council meeting date has thrown me off my normal schedule. Fortunately, we don’t have anything up for a public hearing and nothing significant up for final vote.

What we do have on our agenda are two items of note:

Moratorium update – The moratorium on new short-term rental (STR) licenses (R-50-25) will be withdrawn and reintroduced as an Ordinance, due to updated guidance from the law office. I am still in opposition to the underlying moratorium. I’ll detail my reasons below.

Mayor proposes new Deputy Chief-of-staff position. See below for details.

Committee assignments - We will also be voting on our committee assignments, and it looks like I will once again likely chair Environmental Matters and serve on the Transportation and Economic Matters Committees.

Stay healthy and safe,

Rob

Thank you to everyone who attended the City Council inauguration—it was wonderful to see so many familiar faces, and we were fortunate to enjoy clear weather that helped set a positive tone for the new term. The spirit of community was evident, and I appreciate your continued engagement as we begin our work together.

As we transition from celebration to governance, I am focused on catching up with constituent communications and preparing to introduce new legislation this spring. My priority is to ensure that our legislative agenda reflects our shared goals and the needs of our residents.

First meeting of the new term

Our first meeting as the new Council convenes this Monday. While much of the agenda covers routine matters such as establishing meeting dates and making committee assignments, there is also a substantive item up for discussion that warrants your attention.

Short term rental moratorium – R-50-25

R-50-25 is being introduced by Alderwoman O’Neal and Mayor Littmann. It would place a moratorium on all new short term rental licenses for non-owner-occupied properties. I am adamantly against this legislation. First of all, traditionally we do not have substantive legislation until January, given that we need time to get oriented and schedule our committee meetings, and rushing this short-shrifts the Council and the public process. Let me explain a bit: if this legislation passes on Monday on first reader, since our committees are not assigned yet and won’t be until January, that means we will have only 60-days to conduct our review versus 90. While the full 90 may not be needed, we don’t know that yet, especially in light of many members being new to this, and we are artificially limiting ourselves. While we could, and may, suspend the rules to give ourselves more time, such a maneuver should be rare. And in this case I in no way think this is an emergency that warrants such extreme actions, especially in light of the fact that we just passed monumental legislation limiting STRs not even 3 months ago with O-17-25. Furthermore, creating the precedent that it’s ok to introduce substantive legislation at our first Council meeting is not a good precedent to set. I fully understand that some made promises to do this, without fully understanding our processes and schedule, but at this stage of on-boarding and orientation I feel that what’s good for the body needs to take precedence over what may be politically expedient. For these reasons I will likely be voting no on this on First Reader. I have a lot of other concerns on the merits of this legislation, but First Reader/introduction is typically is not an appropriate time to have such a discussion on merits, so I will save that for a future email. Suffice it to say even the merits give me great pause on supporting this effort.

Closed session at 6pm

We are having a closed session at 6pm to brief the new Council on legal cases. Our regular meeting will resume at 7pm.

Despite this bumpy start, I look forward to continuing to serve you and working with the new Council.

Stay healthy and safe,

Rob

Thank You

I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to you for re-electing me to serve a third term as your Alderman for Ward 7. Your continued trust and support mean so much to me, and I remain committed to representing you with transparency, integrity, and dedication. Please know that you can always reach out to me with your concerns or ideas. I value hearing from you and working together to strengthen our community.

As we begin this new term, I want to note that our administration and constituent services office are currently in a state of transition. This may cause some delays in my ability to get resolutions to your inquiries, but rest assured that I will follow up with the new administration as soon as possible.

We are down to the wire! This Tuesday is election day and every vote counts! Please remember to cast your ballot at the Eastport-Annapolis Neck Library any time between 7AM to 8pm.

If you should need

Next Tuesday, Annapolis voters will head to the polls to decide the future of our city. I’m writing to ask for your support, your vote, and your help in these final days as we work together to keep building a stronger, more sustainable Annapolis.

 As we gather for our final Council meeting of this term, I want to take a moment to thank you for your engagement and support over the past eight years. When we next convene, it will be with a new mayor and a largely new Council, should I earn your continued support in the upcoming election. This transition marks an important moment for our community, and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve you.

In this update, I’ll share key legislative actions from our last meeting, important election reminders, and opportunities to get involved—including a special door-knocking event with the Governor later today. Your feedback and participation remain vital as we shape the future of Ward 7 together.

Dock St Height legislation (i.e. downtown hotel proposal)

I wanted to provide you with a few important updates from the last Council meeting. First of all is O-14-25, which originally had proposed to do two things: 1. Increase the height allowed for accessory structures on rooftops along Dock Street (i.e. the proposal to allow rooftop dining on a future hotel), and 2. Increase the allowable density for planned mixed and residential developments (PUDs). At first, we amended O-14-25 to tweak the height portion (my amendment #5), but elected not to amend #2 to incorporate a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) requirement (my amendment #6). Without amendment #6, the entirety of O-40-25 failed. Wanting to save #2 (the PUD density changes), a motion was made to reconsider the just-failed vote. Such a motion passed. Then #1 (height changes) were removed entirely from O-14-25, and my amendment #6 (TOD) was inserted back in and passed. Hence, at the end of the votes, O-14-25 passed without #1 (height changes) and with #2 (PUD density increases but with TOD requirements). I advocated strongly for the TOD requirements, as I believe they are crucial for Ward 7. If we ever want a solution to the Forest Drive traffic problems, we simply must incorporate a TOD requirement. I’m happy and proud to say that this the strongest TOD requirement in Maryland, and will ensure that developers partner with us to provide community benefits and transit development for all residents.

Short term rental legislation – O-17-25

I am similarly happy to report that O-17-25 passed with my proposed amendments. What this means is that we have, for the first time in our history, adopted a 10% cap on Short Term Rentals (STRS) per blockface, with a clear path towards achieving that 10% cap. Such a path entails a zeroing out of all non-owner occupied STR permits at the end of two years, at which time a lottery will take place that prioritizes those that were in good standing and owned by either Annapolis or County residents.

2025 election updates

General election reminder

Please remember to vote on November 4th!

I'm seeking your support and your vote as I aim to serve another four years. If you're able, please consider donating; it will help me cover the costs of the mailers I sent ou, in an effort to keep us connected in Ward 7. For more information, see details on General Election

Need help door-knocking

If you would be interested in joining me in door-knocking, we will be having groups go out every weekend this month. So please get in touch! It’s a great way to meet your neighbors. Later today the Governor will be joining us in our canvassing efforts. 11:30 at the intersection of Amos Garrett Blvd and West St.

Savidge Yard signs

If you would like a Savidge campaign yard sign in your yard, please let me know and I’ll get one to you soon.

Legislative action summary from last meeting

• CA-1-25 - City Council compensation commission – approved (I voted Aye)
• CA-2-25 – City Council Pay and Benefits Deadline – approved (I voted Aye)
• O-14-25 - Implementation of Annapolis Ahead Comprehensive Plan – As stated above, I initially voted no, then when the City Dock “hotel” height provisions were removed and my transit oriented development amendment added back in, I supported this legislation. – approved as amended (I voted Aye)
• O-15-25 - Accessory Dwelling Unit – This legislation was withdrawn.
• O-17-25 - Limiting Short-term Rentals per Blockface – approved with amendments (I voted Aye)
• O-18-25 - Re-Allowing Historic Duplexes in R2 Zoning Districts – withdrawn
• O-19-25 - Historic tour regulation – Approved with an amendment (I voted Aye)
• O-21-25 - Annapolis Harbor Lines at 423 Chester Avenue on Back Creek – Withdrawn
• O-24-25 - Election Report Deadlines – approved with amendment (I voted Aye)
• O-29-25 - Tyler Avenue Complete Community Overlay District – Approved (I voted Aye)
• O-30-25 - Business revitalization district change – Approved with amendments (I voted Aye)
• O-34-25 - exempt service classifications change – Approved (I voted Aye)
• R-5-25 - Maryland hall waiver – Withdrawn
• R-33-25 - speed camera fines – Approved (I voted Aye)
• R-34-25 - market space fee interest waiver – Postponed
• R-35-25 - 181 Prince George Street Sidewalk Easement – Failed (I voted Nay, largely out of Aldermanic courtesy)
• R-41-25 - Military bowl parade – Approved (I voted Aye)
• R-42-25 – Compensation of Acting City Manager Victoia Buckland – Approved (I voted Aye)

Thank you for your continued support. Stay healthy and stay safe,

Rob