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
Legislative action summary from last meeting
- R-45-25 - Fines for Failure to Clear Snow and Ice from City Sidewalks – Passed (I voted Aye)
- O-33-25 - Lease of City Property - Market House – Passed (I voted Aye)
- O-35-25 - Ranked-Choice Voting in Annapolis City Elections – Tabled (I voted Aye to table, as our intention is to bring it back this next year)
- O-37-25 - City Capital Facilities Charges Payment Plan – Passed (I voted Aye)
- O-38-25 - Exception to the City's Prohibition on Doors or Gates Opening Over Sidewalks – Passed (I voted Aye)
- R-34-25 - Market Space Interest Charge Waiver – Passed (I voted Aye)
- R-40-25 - Equitable Public Water Access Plan – Passed (I voted Aye after my amendment passed)
- R-44-25 - A Resolution Calling for Reinvestment in Pedestrian Safety, Transit Access, Affordability, and Climate Action over Highway Expansion – Passed (I voted Aye)
Next Council meeting – 12/8/25 (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
There is no legislation up for a public hearing since this is our first meeting of the new term.
Legislation being introduced on first reader
We do have legislation being introduced on first reader. Most of them are just minor pieces that establish our committee assignments and set our budget timeline, so I did not include them below for sake of being concise, but there is one of note:
- R-50-25 - Establishing a 12-Month Moratorium on New Short-Term Rental Licenses – As I indicated in my earlier remarks, I likely will not be supporting this on First Reader for the reasons mentioned.
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