Smith on the chopping block as vote nears

Charter amendment could send mayor's point man packing

By JOSHUA STEWART, Staff Writer

Capital Gazette Communications

Published 04/25/10

Tomorrow the City Council will vote on three charter amendments, possibly ending decades of debate on how the city should be run - and possibly sending Mayor Josh Cohen's point man marching out of City Hall.

By Paul W. Gillespie — The Capital
Doug Smith, left, chief administrative officer for the City of Annapolis, speaks with Kwaku Agyemang-Duah, acting director of the city’s Department of Transportation, last week. The City Council will vote tomorrow night on charter amendments that could send Smith packing.

Find Us On Facebook

AP VIDEO more>>

It's a battle that has entangled council members and is hitting city residents with a series of anonymously mailed attack messages.

In the crossfire stands Doug Smith, the city's chief administrative officer, Cohen's city-management guru and biggest adviser.

Cohen wholeheartedly stands by Smith through the attacks. Others said Smith is good enough at his job and approve of the decisions he has made,...

This story has expired!
You can purchase the full text in our news archives.

YOUR COMMENTS

RULES OF PARTICIPATION

If you encounter other problems, please email nlundskow@capitalgazette.com and include your name, username, and any errors or messages that are displayed. The more information you can provide, the better able we will be to assist you.

In order to post or vote on a comment, you must be signed in with a hometownannapolis account.

Take a look at a summary of Commenting Guidelines.

Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. 1 1

Competing City Manager Bills - 2010-04-26 00:44:53

As currently written, CA-09-09 originally sponsored by Alderman Dave Cordle (R-5) is the only of the three Charter Amendments that offers real and substantive change for Annapolis and its future.

Critics point to the financial train wreck that this Administration inherited, the refreshing leadership and tone that Mayor Cohen has brought to City Hall since his Administration took office in early December 2009. They also proclaim that Mayor Cohen should be given a chance to continue his vision and show that his leadership will bring the City back to what Annapolitans expect and deserve.

There is no doubt that Mayor Cohen inherited a financial train wreck and has made tremendous progress at City Hall, has shown extraordinary leadership in making some tough decisions that were long overdue in the process of beginning to downsizing our City Government and its vastly over inflated budget which still has a projected structural deficit of $13+ Million. The Mayor is correct in citing that while City revenues are indisputably down, City expenses is where much of the problem exists.

During this years budget meetings, the Citys Finance Committee asked for help from professional auditors, and outside professionals to advise it on the proper questions and items to be focused on. A City Manager under the Council-Manager form of government as outlined in CA-09-09 would provide them this expert advice without the additional cost of outside consultants.

In concluding CA-09-09 is not about the failures of the Moyer Administration, or the early successes of the Cohen Administration, nor the far reaching possibilities of the next Administration; it is about what is best for our City and its long term management and stability. It is never good practice to design legislation that is based on an individual and/or their performance.

I support CA-09-09 and the Council-Manager form of Government, because it is whats best for Annapolis and its future.

unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?

Scott Bowling - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent

Smith - 2010-04-25 08:01:52

Let me be the first. Josh, do you really want all this anger directed at you? You bring up a good point. When MR. ET is gone I bet the citizens double back and go after you. You have betrayed everyone who put you in office. I bet you wouldnt have the nuts to have another employee meeting at Maryland Hall, well not without the Maryland State Police at your side (thats because you have no friends in the county police or the city police). Wow Josh... what a jerk

unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?

Mike Morris - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral