btfoom Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/11/10/annapolis-council-to-consider-stripping-republican-mayor-elects-power/ Annapolis Council To Consider Stripping Republican Mayor-Elect’s Power ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Days after a Republican was elected mayor of Annapolis, City Council members say they will revisit legislation that would strip the mayor’s office of much of its power. Democratic Alderman Ross Arnett of Ward 8 tells The Capital he will introduce a charter amendment to move Annapolis to a council-manager style of government. The city manager would report directly to the City Council, not the mayor. <rest at link> This is amazingly ridiculous. I have no idea how one section of local government can even have the ability to push aside another section. Talk about 'sore losers' - yes, Mr Arnett, your guy didn't win the election. Too bad - everyone has had elections go against them. Doesn't mean you strip the winner of his powers. Just another example of the overall horrible state of politics in Maryland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rictus58 Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I heard about this on the news this morning. Talk about Sour Grapes. And people think their votes matter.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebluefood Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Stuff like this serves as a reminder why I'm a registered Independent. Talk about sour grapes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Wish I could be confident that there's a reason for this, other than party politics. But I can't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rictus58 Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Stuff like this serves as a reminder why I'm a registered Independent. Talk about sour grapes. My mindset is that of an independent. But in MD, you can't really vote in primaries unless you're registered R or D. So I had to pick one to have a vote in primaries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corcaigh Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 The timing looks awful for sure ... but the same councilman proposed the same legislation when a Democrat was mayor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sisko Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Wish I could be confident that there's a reason for this, other than party politics. But I can't. The Mayor-elect is a Kenyan moozlum socialist maybe? All kidding aside, I hate stuff like this. The voters have spoken, now get on with it already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btfoom Posted November 11, 2013 Author Share Posted November 11, 2013 Wish I could be confident that there's a reason for this, other than party politics. But I can't. Absolutely. And I'm sure you agree that it is bad for EITHER political side to do something like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinInsite Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 sounds like the council needs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrong Direction Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 The timing looks awful for sure ... but the same councilman proposed the same legislation when a Democrat was mayor. This makes it look reasonable enough. Now if everyone on the council changes their votes from the past, that would be a different story. By the way, lol at wambulance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 This is amazingly ridiculous. I have no idea how one section of local government can even have the ability to push aside another section. Sure they can. City charters are changed all the time, and many cities have city manager-style governance. Often it works better, because the city manager is just concerned with running the city effectively rather than catering to political groups. But I'm not defending this particular proposal, because if it passes, the timing makes it pretty political. But first I want to see if it actually passes. If the same alderman proposes this change every legislative session and it fails to pass once again, this is a tempest in a teapot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 Annapolis is one of the most corrupt cities, politically. its about 2/3 Dem which should give everyone a clue about how sick the people are of the collution of the Dem party in the city. The fact that Cohen lost the election is shocking. Fundamentally, I don't dislike Dems but the ones in this city disgust me. The City Manager legislation is old. It's been around for about 6 yrs but never really got traction, mainly bc the Dems were in power and didn't want to lose power. I'm glad I sold my house in Annapolis and moved. I still have to deal with their stifling bureaucratic system with my fraternity and bc our building is historic, I get the added pleasure of dealing with he Historic Society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btfoom Posted November 12, 2013 Author Share Posted November 12, 2013 Sure they can. City charters are changed all the time, and many cities have city manager-style governance. Often it works better, because the city manager is just concerned with running the city effectively rather than catering to political groups. But I'm not defending this particular proposal, because if it passes, the timing makes it pretty political. But first I want to see if it actually passes. If the same alderman proposes this change every legislative session and it fails to pass once again, this is a tempest in a teapot. I know you most likely don't know the local politics. The Maryland State Legislsture is very skewed to the Democratic side due to several changes in the Charter by a mostly Democratic Legislature. In this case, Rep Arnett has been trying to get the Mayor's role reduced to basically a ceremonial role vs the City Counci because the City Council members are chosen by strictly set lines while the mayor is for the overall city. He knows that a Republican can (and did) win, but there is a very slim chance of Republicans winning in the difrerent sub-districts as layed out currently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 are party politics that prevalent in city govt there? down here they don't really get going till the county level we switched to city manager a decade or so ago,but I'm not convinced it changes much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sisko Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 We don't call it "The People's Republic of MD" for nothing. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.