Annapolis emergency management asks council to back readiness investments after temporary grant freeze

Kevin Simmons, director of the City of Annapolis Office of Emergency Management (OEM), told the Finance Standing Committee on April 28 that the OEM’s FY26 budget request is “not about expenses — it’s about an investment in readiness.” The department sought funding to sustain early warning systems, training, exercises and community outreach while restoring staff capacity after multiple departures.

Simmons said OEM had 7 budgeted positions and experienced a “max exodus” in the last year; the office was down to three staff at one point but has since refilled most slots and remains operating with one vacancy. He told the committee OEM secured about $1,500,000 in grant funding and supports citywide programs including winter-relief services at the Stanton Center and weekly food distributions.

The nut graf: Simmons asked the committee to treat the OEM request as maintenance of public-safety readiness rather than routine operating growth. He flagged two immediate budget items — an annual exercise required under City Code Section 11.48.006 and the city’s share of a CivicReady (robocall) subscription — and warned the committee that federal grant disruptions earlier in the year had temporarily limited OEM’s ability to reimburse operating costs.

Key details and recent history

- Grants and a short suspension: Simmons described a multi-week freeze on OEM grants in late February and for a few days in January after a memo he said came from the federal level; funds that had been awarded could not be used for reimbursements during the freeze and were released to the city only after about two months. He said anticipated short-term asks for $65,000 to cover operating gaps were avoided once the funds were released.

- Performance and staffing: OEM’s performance measures were described as color-coded: green for goals achievable with full staffing, yellow for those achievable with FY26 enhancements, and blue for goals depending on grants. Simmons noted OEM currently meets many training and exercise metrics, is averaging about five overdoses per month (below the benchmark of 20), but remains behind on plan-updating due to earlier vacancies — the office is responsible for maintaining more than 50 emergency plans.

- Enhancements requested: Simmons identified three FY26 enhancements discussed in the presentation: the city’s share of CivicReady ($7,200), annual exercise support ($4,000), and other items tied to preparedness. He noted the City Code section that requires annual interagency exercises: City of Annapolis Code Section 11.48.006, which assigns participation to department directors and senior staff.

- Substance-use programming and funding sources: Simmons outlined how opioid-restitution funds and a health-department grant (described in the presentation as approximately $30,000–$35,000) will be allocated across city programs. The presentation listed line items and dollar amounts attributed to specific programs and posts, including: NAM grama supplies $2,500 and contract services $2,415.95; salaries and benefits $45,700 (listed as Fiona Hayes’s salary); Your Life Matters (Fire Department) overtime and benefits $32,500 and supplies $5,000; APDSUD (Police Department) overtime/benefits $26,000 and supplies $3,000; an OD/oversight contract service allocation of $24,000 for Brandon Gosnell and community liaisons; and $11,000 for training and education for program staff drawn from OEM funds. Simmons said health-department grant amounts vary by year and that the remainder of programming would be covered by opioid restitution funds.

- Winter relief site continuity: Committee members asked specifically about Winter Relief while the Stanton Center undergoes planned renovations; Simmons said discussions with Director Johnson led OEM to plan use of the auxiliary gym (AUG center at Pitt Moyer) as a backup, but that this winter the Stanton Center remained available for the full season.

Committee questions and policy risk

Committee members pressed for clarity about OEM org charts, career ladders and how many positions rely on grant funding. Committee members requested a staffing org chart that shows titles and lines of authority (not just programmatic boxes) and for clarity on career-ladder funding that is currently held in a non-departmental account. Simmons and Acting City Manager Vicki Buckland explained career-ladder impacts are budgeted centrally for FY26 while procedural details are finalized.

Simmons also described OEM’s regional role, including sending personnel to responses outside Annapolis, and highlighted a substance-use coordination role OEM leads in the state (a statewide opioid-prevention coordination that OEM participates in with public-health officers). He told the committee he and his staff track evolving drug-use patterns and will continue coordinating with the Anne Arundel County Health Department.

Ending

Simmons asked the committee for continued support to restore staffing and to sustain grant-funded programs amid federal funding uncertainty. He closed by saying OEM welcomes additional questions as the budget process advances. The committee moved on to other departmental budget presentations after OEM’s remarks.

Quotes in this article come from OEM Director Kevin Simmons and Deputy Director Dave Mandel during the April 28 Finance Standing Committee meeting.