Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Personnel topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
After heated debate, Annapolis council approves deputy chief of staff position
Summary
The City Council approved O4125 to add a deputy chief of staff after extended debate over job description, departmental authority and oversight. A motion to postpone failed (3‑yes, 4‑no, 1‑abstention); an amendment to add reporting and limits was defeated. The ordinance passed on final reading by roll call.
After more than an hour of debate, the City Council approved ordinance O4125, which adds a deputy chief of staff to the mayor’s exempt classification. Mayor Jared Littman and the mayor’s chief of staff argued the position is needed to restore capacity and prevent burnout; supporters said additional senior staff would improve responsiveness to residents and coordination across departments.
Alderman Savage, Alderman O'Neil and others raised concerns about the absence of an up‑front job description, the compensation band for the proposed role, separation‑of‑duties questions relative to the city manager’s administrative authority, and asserted that the council should be given an opportunity to review and comment on a concrete job description before a hire. Alderman Savage moved to postpone the item to the Feb. 23 meeting; the motion to postpone failed on the floor (vote recorded in debate as 3 yes, 4 no, 1 abstention).
A floor amendment that would have added explicit limits on supervisory and procurement authority, required the job description be submitted to the council for review prior to hiring, and required quarterly reporting to the council was proposed and debated; the amendment failed on a roll call.
Despite opposition and requests for additional drafting time, the underlying ordinance carried on second reader and passed a third‑reader roll call. Roll call for final adoption recorded the following positions as read into the minutes: Mayor Littman — yes; Alderman Shandell Meyer — aye; Alderman Contee (listed as Conti in the clerk’s roll) — aye; Alderman Savage — no; Alderman Thorpe — aye; Alderman O'Neil — no; Alderman Smith Brown — aye; Alderman Allsup Johnson — aye. The mayor said the job description and other details would be developed in coordination with Human Resources and could be the subject of subsequent, stand‑alone legislation or resolutions to address specific oversight concerns.
The council’s debate included several requested follow‑ups: a formal job description tied to HR classification, potential requirement for council review of that description prior to hire, and quarterly reporting from the mayor’s office on duties performed. Several members said they prefer those items to be resolved in separate legislation or administrative procedure rather than by on‑the‑floor amendment.
