Mayor looks to shake up council Finance Committee
When the Finance Committee of the Annapolis City Council begins digging into the budget next spring for the upcoming fiscal year, the three-member body could look much different from how it did last term.
Democratic Mayor Gavin Buckley has recommended Alderwoman Elly Tierney, D-Ward 1, take over for Alderman Ross Arnett, D-Ward 8, as chair of the standing committee, one of eight changes the newly reelected mayor has made to the seven council committees in a resolution that will be on Monday’s City Council meeting agenda. The council will have to approve resolution R-31-21 before the changes take effect.
Arnett would be moved to the Audit Committee, the eighth and unofficial standing committee once chaired by Fred Paone, who retired this year. Arnett would remain a member of the Rules and City Government and Environmental Matters committees. Each council member chairs one standing committee and is a member of two others.
“I’m very excited about being finance chair, especially after following the budget for nine years starting with my involvement as [Ward One Residents Association] president and my term as alderwoman,” Tierney said in a message. “I’ve seen it progress from a worksheet budget to one that accounts for ALL of our spending, including anticipated revenues, fund balances and necessary appropriations.”
Tierney said she wants to encourage public participation in the finance meetings during budget deliberations in an effort to increase transparency and improve trust in the process. She added that fiscal policies implemented at the start of Buckley’s first term “ensure that our budget is sound and that we are protecting our risk while ensuring efficient government services for our residents.”
Swapping Tierney for Arnett was intended to imbue new ideas into the committee tasked with analyzing the operating and capital budget documents, Buckley said. Tierney’s methodical approach as a former engineer, and because she is “meticulous and does her homework,” will help bring new perspectives to one of the most important standing committees, he said.
“Alderman Paone and Alderman Arnett were on the Finance Committee for four years. The committee’s task is to come up with a budget that’s acceptable but if you do that and then you don’t vote for a budget, then why are you there?” Buckley said. “So, I decided to go in a different direction.”
Arnett voted against the first three budgets of Buckley’s term in 2018, 2019 and 2020. He abstained from voting on the most recent budget in June.
Following a meeting with the mayor on Friday to discuss the new assignments, Arnett said he was unhappy with the decision and called it unwise and undeserved.
“I told him, ‘You can take me off of the Finance Committee, but you can’t take away my concern about the city’s finances,’ ” Arnett said, adding that he showed the mayor projections for a widening gap between revenues and expenditures in future budget years. “I will still be going to the Finance Committee meetings even though I am not on the Finance Committee and I still will be monitoring the budget and making my comments on it.”
The newest councilperson, Alderwoman Karma O’Neill, D-Ward 2, would take over the Finance Committee seat vacated by Paone. Alderwoman Sheila Finlayson, D-Ward 4, would remain as the committee’s third member.
Arnett said he plans to vote against the resolution Monday and is considering introducing a motion that would keep all committee assignments and plug O’Neill into the three vacancies left by Paone, which include chair of the Audit Committee and a seat on the Public Safety Committee.
Other changes
Under Buckley’s other recommendations, Tierney would remain a member of the Audit and Housing and Human Welfare committees. O’Neill would replace Tierney as chair of the Transportation Committee.
Membership of the Housing and Human Welfare Committee would remain unchanged with Alderman DaJuan Gay, D-Ward 6, as chair, and Alderman Brooks Schandelmeier, D-Ward 5, as the third member.
Schandelmeier would continue to chair the Economic Matters Committee. Gay would replace Finlayson as a committee member, joining Alderman Rob Savidge, D-Ward 7.
Gay would remain a member of the Public Safety Committee; Paone’s seat would go to O’Neill.
Savidge would stay chair of the Environmental Matters Committee and move to Transportation from Rules and City Government. Schandelmeier would take Savidge’s seat on the latter committee.
Finlayson would continue to lead Rules and City Government and take Tierney’s seat on Environmental Matters.
The lone council member to keep her same committee assignments from last term is Alderwoman Rhonda Pindell-Charles, D-Ward 3. She would stay chair of the Public Safety Committee and a member of the Audit and Transportation committees.
Economic Matters Committee
■ Brooks Schandelmeier (Ward 5), chair
■ DaJuan Gay (Ward 6)
■ Rob Savidge (Ward 7)
Environmental Matters Committee
■ Rob Savidge (Ward 7), chair
■ Sheila Finlayson (Ward 4)
■ Ross Arnett (Ward 8)
Finance Committee
■ Elly Tierney (Ward 1), chair
■ Karma O’Neill (Ward 2)
■ Sheila Finlayson (Ward 4)
Housing and Human Welfare Committee
■ DaJuan Gay (Ward 6), chair
■ Brooks Schandelmeier (Ward 5)
■ Elly Tierney (Ward 1)
Public Safety Committee
■ Rhonda Pindell Charles (Ward 3), chair
■ Karma O’Neill (Ward 2)
■ DaJuan Gay (Ward 6)
Rules and City Government Committee
■ Sheila Finlayson (Ward 4), chair
■ Brooks Schandelmeier (Ward 5)
■ Ross Arnett (Ward 8)
Transportation Committee
■ Karma O’Neill (Ward 2), chair
■ Rhonda Pindell Charles (Ward 3)
■ Rob Savidge (Ward 7)
Audit Committee
■ Ross Arnett (Ward 8), chair
■ Elly Tierney (Ward 1)
■ Rhonda Pindell Charles (Ward 3)