We have a number of things up for public hearing and first reader at Monday’s Council meeting that may be of interest to you.

What I’m most excited about is the introduction of my legislation, titled “Fair cannabis employment practices”, that I’ve been working on for a while. This would prohibit the City from testing any applicants or employees for cannabis use, unless otherwise required by the State or Federal government. I detail the problem below, but suffice it to say that the City’s testing methodology detects cannabis use that could date back weeks or even months, which obviously has no relation on someone’s ability to do their job. Yet if someone tests positive during their pre-employment screening or if a current employee has any positive test, they are either terminated immediately or have to undergo a full drug rehabilitation program. Potentially losing one’s professional career for a completely legal activity they engaged in while off duty, with no impact to their job performance, seems rather draconian to me. Hence this change.

As far as public hearings, you’ll have an opportunity to testify on one of my Ordinances tweaking the fence code, an ordinance dealing with police contraband disposal that I hope to amend to allow them to donate bikes to kids in need as opposed to auctioning them off, and also my legislation that would require food trucks to follow the same sign laws as our brick and mortar stores; in this case prohibiting those flashing signs you may see on some food trucks.

Lastly, as a reminder, I have scheduled a town hall meeting at the Eastport-Annapolis Neck Library for 6:00pm - 7:30pm on Monday, December 16^th (I apologize for the earlier time, but it appears the library has changed their hours slightly)

Stay healthy and stay safe,

 Rob

Next Council meeting – 11/25/24 (agenda)

This meeting starts at 7pm and will be televised on local cable, YouTube, Facebook, and the City website.  You can submit public testimony at http://www.annapolis.gov/testimony. This will be an in-person meeting.

Public Hearings

• O-28-24 - Police Department -- Property and Contraband Disposal - For the purpose of clarifying that Annapolis will follow state rules on the disposal of abandoned vehicles and generally dealing with property and contraband disposal. I will be amending this to allow APD to donate confiscated bikes to local kids in need.
• O-29-24 - Fence Permit Requirements Related to Buildings and Construction Standards in Title 17 - For the purpose of requiring a completed application and permit issued before removing fences of a certain size; requiring plans to show the location of trees of a certain size; and clarifies when a stop-work order will be issues; reformatting these sections to current Code style; and generally related for fence requirements in Title 17. In light of some recent issues that were brought to my attention with fence permitting and approvals, I have introduced two pieces of legislation. This one clarifies our code to correct issues that frankly shouldn’t need correcting, to address the following: States that no fence over 400’ long should be removed or demolished without a permit, and 2. That existing trees over 5” dbh need to be shown on the permit application, and 3. That applications that do not meet these requirements shall not be considered or approved by the Department, (Yes, I’m even now surprised that I have to even type out #3 as it really shouldn’t’ need to be stated...), and 4. Applicants shall be notified by staff of any appeals filed to their fence permit application, and 5. That the Board of Appeals should handle any appeals on a case-by-case basis and the plainly written meaning and intention of the code shall be adhered to, and that if they need clarifications they should contact the Council, the actual policy-makers, instead of simply ignoring our code.  
• O-31-24 - Mobile Food Service Vendors' Signage - For the purpose of establishing sign requirements for Mobile Food Service Vendors, known as food trucks; and generally dealing with Peddlers, Hawkers and Itinerant Merchants operating restrictions. This is legislation I am introducing, because, on my early morning (and dark) bike ride to work, I have noticed that at least one food truck has a flashing sign that stays on all night. Generally we do not allow such signs in the City; however, since this is a sign on a food truck it never triggered the permitting requirements as a ground-based sign would. Hence, new code is needed to have the adhere to the same restrictions and permitting process as normal signs. Personally, I find these flashing signs distracting and I don’t want them to proliferate all the way down Forest Drive.
• O-32-24 - Fire Sprinkler System Requirement Clarification - For the purpose of clarifying that the fire sprinkler systems requirements of ? 17.20.120(A) and when the requirement goes into effect; updating subsections B through D to comply with current national standards; reformatting the section; and generally dealing with City fire sprinkler requirements.

Legislation being introduced on first reader

• O-35-24 - Fair Cannabis Employment Practices- For the purpose of updating the City of Annapolis employment policy as a result of the State legalizing cannabis use and possession on July 1, 2023, and generally related to city employment policy. This is legislation I’ve been working on for a while. I am introducing this with 5 (perhaps 6 by the time this goes out) co-sponsors. From my sponsor’s summary: “The Fair Cannabis Employment Practices Ordinance is designed to align the City of Annapolis with the progressive approach taken by Governor Wes Moore, as outlined in Executive Order 01.01.2023.16. This ordinance seeks to ensure fair and equitable workplace policies regarding cannabis use, protecting employees' rights and promoting a just and inclusive community.” The problem I’m seeking to solve is that City employees can be immediately terminated or have to be subjected to a full drug rehabilitation program, for utilizing a medically and recreationally legal substance---cannabis---while off duty. The issue is that the test the City utilizes, urine analysis, can detect cannabis in your system going back as far as a few months prior, which obviously would have no impact on actual job performance and have no correlation to actual impairment. Furthermore, the urine test cannot detect the psychotropic component of THC, which makes it even more irrelevant. Despite this, it is utilized by the City (and the County, but that’s another story...)and can threaten someone’s entire professional career based on something they did legally while off duty. Regardless of your views on cannabis, that to me seems fundamentally wrong. Not to mention how it unfairly limits our pool of potential employees. This will still prohibit on-the-job impairment and drug use, but leaves it to the supervisor’s discretion. Because frankly, it doesn’t matter if someone is on a substance or not, if they are incapable of doing their job (i.e. impaired) for whatever reason, even if it’s because of a poor night’s sleep, they should be spoken to by their supervisor to ensure they aren’t doing any dangerous activities that day. This legislation would also exempt any positions where it’s required by federal or state law to be tested for cannabis.  What this legislation does is rather simple: it prohibits the City from testing applicants or current employees for cannabis.
• R-55-24 - Budget Process Timeline for Fiscal Year 2026 - For the purpose of approving a timeline for the Fiscal Year 2026 budget development and approval process.
• R-56-24 - 2025 Salary Review Commission Members Updated - For the purpose of adding a member to the Salary Review Commission established by Resolution 42-24 on September 27, 2024.

Legislation on second reader (i.e. final vote)

• O-26-23 - Forest Conservation Plan Appeals - For the purpose of closing a loophole in the Forest Conservation Plan provisions of the City Code concerning forest clearing; changing the Forest Conservation Plan appeals body from the Building Board of Appeals to the Board of Appeals; and generally related to the Maryland Forest Conservation Act and Planned Unit Development regulations. This is my legislation that seeks to do two things: 1. Remove a loophole from our Forest Conservation Act that exempted older planned developments, and 2. Prevent forests/trees from being irreversibly cleared while an appeal is pending. Obviously, I’m strongly inclined to support, but if you have any concerns or comments, please let me know.
• O-20-24 - Elections - Surplus Funds and Reporting Deadlines - For the purpose of updating candidate reporting deadline requirements and penalties for municipal elections; moving fees from the City Code to the annual Fees Schedule; and generally related to failure to file required campaign and election reports. I intend to support, pending any comments from you.
• R-43-24 - Fees Schedule Updated for Title 4 - Elections - For the purpose of establishing fees required by the adoption of ordinances updating Title 4 - Elections. I intend to support, pending any comments from you.

Community & Political updates

ANPF survey on Quiet Waters Park expansion

The Annapolis Neck Peninsula Federation is asking for feedback on the 4 proposals offered by the County and Friends of Quiet Waters for improvements of the “retreat” expansion to Quiet Waters Park. Survey link here.