Building may bear Moyer's moniker

During the recently completed Annapolis campaign season, Mayor Ellen O. Moyer was often the target of political punches.

But now that the city is through with that once-every-four-years ordeal, some City Council members are ready to cast aside all the negativity, starting with Monday night's meeting in City Hall.

When it convenes, 143 hours after polls closed on Tuesday, the council is expected to take a look at a resolution that will honor the outgoing mayor by naming the leased building at 145 Gorman St. the Ellen O. Moyer Government Center.

"She had some good screw-ups but she had some very positive things," said Alderman Dave Cordle, R-Ward 5, one of the resolution's sponsors whose own bid for the city's top elected post came up about 500 votes short.

Cordle said her contributions to the city's environmental health merit the honor. Moyer, who was barred by term limits from running again, was responsible or the Back Creek Nature Park, making it easier to get to the city's green spaces and increasing the number of trees, he said.

Currently the Gorman Street facility has no official name and is commonly identified by its address, or just called the Gorman Building.

"We might be dissing Mr. Gorman, or Mrs. Gorman, whomever it might be," Cordle said.

City offices, including the Planning and Zoning Department, Office of Law and others, are located there. In March 2006, the city signed a $300,000 deal to lease the space. Thebottom floor is a CVS accessible from Main Street. Gorman Street runs behind Chick & Ruth's Delly, from Main to Conduit streets.

The text of the resolution itself pays tribute to Moyer's two terms running the city, praising her for completing capital projects and her work toward creating GreenScape, the Annapolis Conservancy and several micro-parks throughout the city. It also incudes a nod to her breaking the gender barrier as the first female mayor in the city's 300-year history, her service to the city when her now ex-husband Pip Moyer was in office and her eight years on the council representing Ward 8.

The resolution also is sponsored by Alderwoman Sheila Finlayson, D-Ward 4.

During his bid for mayor this fall, Cordle tried to sink one of his opponents by tying Moyer around his neck. He said that voting for Democrat Josh Cohen would be like re-electing the incumbent mayor and the city would be chockablock with a litany of maladies.

Cordle admits he wasn't the mayor's biggest supporter during the campaign.

"No, of course not," he said. "But you have to look past a lot of the negativity. If you put that aside, there are a lot of very good things she did for the city."

Cohen won the election and will become mayor on Dec. 7. Cordle said that if the outcome was different and he had won, he wouldn't have pushed to name the Gorman Building after Moyer. He said he would have preferred the renewable energy park, an eco-friendly mini-power plant the city plans to build in Parole, to take her name instead. The plant is supposed to be cutting edge and a showcase for renewable energy.

That project just seemed to be a better fit for Moyer, a perpetual greenie, her passions and political contributions, he said.

It's unlikely that Moyer or any the three incumbent aldermen who were not re-elected will vote on it before their terms expire. Rather, it will be a matter for the new council to consider.

Moyer didn't return calls for comment.

Other action

Besides the resolution naming a building after Moyer, the City Council also is expected to consider legislation regarding law enforcement officers carrying stun guns, phosphorus fertilizer sales and the proposed renewable energy park.

The City Council will meet at 7:30 p.m. Monday in Council Chambers at 160 Duke of Gloucester St.