Council offers more city manager plans

Debate centers on power of next mayor

By RYAN JUSTIN FOX Staff Writer

Published 11/18/08

Just as aldermen Richard Israel and Ross Arnett finally agreed on a combined proposal for a city manager form of government in Annapolis, mayoral hopefuls David Cordle and Sheila Finlayson introduced their own city manager legislation that would keep the mayor the head honcho.

For the past several weeks, Mr. Israel, D-Ward 1, and Mr. Arnett, D-Ward 8, have been crafting a charter amendment that combined elements of their proposals to change Annapolis into a council-manager form of government.

Both aldermen want to weaken the powers of the mayor and shift daily supervision of operations to a professionally accredited government...

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Over reaction - 2008-11-19 08:37:42

The council really needs to wait until we get a new mayor. This call for a city manager is nothing more than a reaction to having the worst mayor in Annapolis history. If we can elect someone who actually has leadership skills, the city manager issue becomes moot. We need to boot every member of the city council also. Their is not a single member of the council who has a vision of direction for this city. No one on the council has stood up and said we are going to address the core problem of crime in this city-public housing, and not just continue to throw resources at the symptoms. We need someone to stand up and say, we aren't going to piece meal a tourist trap city anymore. We are going to create a plan to make this city a desirable place for tourism, because we have a great quality of life in with an outstanding environmental landscape. We need someone who will cut the contract with the current market-house manager and make something functional for the residents, not more processed food for tourists. We need a local government that actually taps the expertise of the residents, and doesn't engage in name calling to locals. So far, I don't see anyone on the council who can do this.

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Peter D. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Terrible