OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Annapolis City Council Work Session – March 19, 2026: Key to the City, Cars Beach Park, and Winter Storm Fern After-Action

City Council — Thursday, March 19, 2026
BodyAnnapolis, Maryland
SessionCity Council
DateThursday, March 19, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:58:34

Transcript — Verbatim
0:06

Being raised in with a culture of women of hairdressers that I was that had that I looked up to growing up, I was heavily equipped.

0:13

I used to sit in hair salons and watch the ladies work and I really learned a lot about getting a hairstylist with my mentors in front of me.

0:22

I mean, I have clients like Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Kelly Rowland, Yarichi PD.

0:27

I like grammars here, I like confidence hair.

0:29

I like how this slept on and lived in and ruffled up.

0:33

I told myself that I could dream, and I told myself that I could in a situation where I was I wasn't supposed to.

0:39

And so me standing here today is a huge honor because when I started my journey, I had no idea that this could be.

0:46

But I kept going and I kept doing.

0:48

Here we are today.

0:50

I'm getting the keys of the city.

0:53

On behalf of the city of Annapolis, we present you with the keys to the city.

1:04

I honestly want to say thank you so much.

1:07

Listen, I be working really, really hard.

1:10

And I love what I do.

1:11

I love an atmosphere.

1:13

I want to be able to create space for younger individuals to be empowered to be uplifted to find mentorship and to really strategize ways to really uplift.

1:23

And so I'm gonna start a nonprofit here in the Netflix.

1:36

It means more to me than the accolade.

1:39

It's really about the order for me.

1:42

It's really I'm really honored and grateful.

1:46

And that's what it means to me.

1:47

It's really I have a lot of humanity for what my ancestors did for me.

2:25

The first time that I was aware of an election, my grandmother, Lena Holland, Foreman, she'd be out there every election on that corner, any kind of weather, passing out flyers, talking to people, because she believed in that, being able to catch a vote, to have your voice, that voice.

2:45

And when Eisnahoe ran, I went in there with my grandmother when she voted.

2:50

Because she couldn't read.

3:22

But I later on I didn't believe that I had to do that.

3:24

I said, little simple mad, a little reading thing, you know, question, uh uh question and answer page.

3:31

But I didn't have to do that here.

3:32

So when I came back home, I re-registered and we didn't have to do it.

3:36

And I've been voting since I was 18 years old.

3:39

I might have missed one year.

3:41

That's when I transitioned from Maryland to New York that one time.

3:44

And that was in Stanton Island, and I didn't know where to go.

3:48

Things weren't going so good over in our neighborhood, and I had been there for a few years in Eastport, and somebody was running for office, and we never saw him, and so I'm never met him or anything.

4:01

And he never came to Individual that I knew of.

4:05

Um meetings or anything.

4:08

Things weren't good for the working class, the children mainly.

4:13

There were a lot of things that needed to be done.

4:15

You know, the tracks and park thing had to be done and corrected.

4:19

It's uh there was no activities for the youth.

4:22

There weren't any black businesses.

4:25

Cab drivers, barbershops, beauty shops.

4:29

That was it.

4:30

And every time one of us came in, we had to go to hell to get a certificate or something.

4:35

Just talking to people in general, how hard it was to live in Anna Pass and being poor was very hard.

4:41

Yeah, all of this was going on.

4:42

They were losing their homes.

4:44

A lot of the people did not live up to uh or the children weren't able to purchase the property that their families had, they just died off.

4:54

And those who could, they they left town and never came back.

5:00

So a lot of the property they sold it for 20,000, 30,000, and it went up to 250,000 in cost.

5:05

Uh those kind of things.

5:07

Um I was concerned about.

5:10

And I messaged someone that said, Well, yeah, you can run as a write in.

5:13

I said, Well, they already had the election that was a primary.

5:16

I said, Well, the primary's over.

5:18

So you don't have to run right in as a primary, you can run it right in as a uh uh Negero.

5:24

And then I spoke to Carl.

5:25

He said, Well, you know, they never had a woman in there, you know, and and a black woman and blah blah blah blah blah.

5:32

Hey, look, I have nothing to lose.

5:34

$50 or whatever it was to put my paperwork in, that's what I did.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Parks and Recreation███████████████████████████████31%
Emergency Management███████████████████████████████31%
Community Engagement█████████9%
Procedural███████7%
Public Engagement███████7%
Environmental Protection██████6%
Elections██2%
Fiscal Sustainability██2%
Parking Management██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Annapolis City Council Work Session – March 19, 2026

The Annapolis City Council held a work session on March 19, 2026, beginning with the presentation of the Key to the City to an honoree, followed by a detailed presentation on the Cars Beach and Octonia Beach shoreline restoration and park design, and concluding with an after-action report on Winter Storm Fern. The meeting included community partners, city staff, and council discussions on funding, parking, and operational improvements.

Presentation of the Key to the City

  • An honoree (a hairstylist to celebrities such as Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, and Kelly Rowland) received the Key to the City in recognition of her achievements and commitment to empowering youth. She announced plans to start a nonprofit in Annapolis.
  • Another speaker shared personal history about voting rights, the challenges of living in Annapolis as a working-class Black resident, and the struggle for affordable housing. She recounted her experience running as a write-in candidate for city council and working to educate voters. She emphasized the need for integrity and respect in politics and the importance of honoring local history, including the legacy of Cars Beach and the contributions of ancestors.

Discussion Items – Cars Beach Park and Shoreline Restoration

  • Project Overview: Rosalind Johnson, Director of Recreation and Parks, presented the community-driven plan for Cars Beach, a historic Black beach. The project is a collaboration with the Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, design firms Scape and McAdams, and community stakeholders including Blacks of the Chesapeake and nearby residents.
  • Park Design (Mitchell Silver): The concept includes four zones: a welcoming entrance, the Grove (with art installations, story wall, illuminated globes, a life-size crabbing basket, and a light well honoring performers), a social gathering place (amphitheater, cabanas, visitor center, and a non-functional water tower), and the beach area with a restored pier and ferry landing. The design emphasizes cultural heritage, accessibility, and community-centered spaces.
  • Beach Restoration (Ricarius from Scape): The shoreline design addresses 60 feet of historical erosion and two feet of projected sea level rise by 2050. Features include living headlands (groins with plants), dunes at plus seven feet NAVD88, a kayak launch, terrace seating for outdoor classrooms, and a widened beach. The beach will support swimming, kayaking, citizen science, fishing, sunbathing, and relaxation. Permits have been filed with approval expected in July 2026.
  • Funding and Timeline: Approximately $4 million is available for the shoreline restoration (federal and city funds, with additional pending state and federal grants). The larger park design and construction is estimated at $11–12 million, with a placeholder in the upcoming budget for design. Groundbreaking for the shoreline is targeted for fall 2026, with public opening by summer 2028.
  • Community Engagement: Over a year of outreach included listening sessions, open houses, stakeholder workshops, and an interactive open house. The community expressed strong support for a large, accessible beach and soft programming (no regular concerts). Juneteenth is the only annual event planned.
  • Council Questions and Concerns:
    • Alderman Thorpe: Suggested expanding the pier for limited boat slips (e.g., 8-10) for day visitors but not a marina.
    • Alderman Smith Brown: Raised equity concerns about boat access and parking; asked about impact on property values. Staff noted they did not study property values but focused on history and community sensitivity.
    • Alderman Savage: Emphasized connecting the site with a ferry from City Dock and using transit to reduce parking demand. Proposed a parking hub at the nearby Giant shopping center.
    • Alderman Alsip Johnson: Asked about lighting, vendors, and swimming safety. Staff confirmed no food vendors initially but possible food trucks; lifeguards will be present; the pier for fishing will be separate from swimming areas.
    • Parking remains a challenge; staff discussed paid parking with time limits and encouraging alternative transportation.

Discussion Items – Winter Storm Fern After-Action Report

  • Presentation: Kevin Simmons, Emergency Manager, presented the after-action report for Winter Storm Fern (February 2026). The storm featured heavy snow, ice, and prolonged Arctic cold, leading to 11 operational periods of 24/7 operations. Strengths included pre-event coordination, use of hotels for essential personnel, improved sidewalk clearing for safe school routes, no towing, and a 24/7 warming center for eight days.
  • Areas for Improvement:
    • Snow operations: Need for continuous hours, additional snow disposal sites, more contractor resources, and posting the snow emergency plan online.
    • Sidewalk clearing: Equipment dedicated to sidewalks, enforcement clarification for non-city sidewalks, and a written policy.
    • Parking/garage: Extended free garage use period.
    • EOC operations: Need to increase volunteer capability (e.g., snow crews), improve call taker depth and training, avoid circular call routing, and ensure incident commander authority.
    • Senior policy group: Maintain dedicated incident commander to avoid drift as mayor and city manager attend to other duties.
    • Public information: Need relief for PIO (Mitchell Stevenson worked extremely long hours).
  • Council Comments:
    • Alderman O'Neill: Asked about budget vs. actual spending. City Manager noted $50,000 snow budget plus contingency; actual spending exceeded due to extended operations and contractor use. Suggested proactive budgeting based on multi-year trends.
    • Alderman Savage: Emphasized need for clear sidewalk enforcement policy, coordination with county on Forest Drive sidewalks, and addressing private roads/private apartment complexes (e.g., Annapolis Gardens, Admiral Oaks) that failed to clear snow. Staff confirmed they issued about 200 warnings and fewer than 100 fines.
    • Alderman Smith Brown: Requested map of safe routes to school, more frequent council briefings during emergencies, and mechanisms to engage youth and contractors. Also raised issue of county enforcement delay on Forest Drive sidewalks.
    • Alderman Thorpe: Recommended reviewing authority of public works director to hire contractors quickly and empowering incident commanders.
    • Mayor: Directed staff to prioritize areas for improvement and identify which need legislation or funding, and to provide a follow-up with budget implications.

Key Outcomes

  • Cars Beach: The shoreline restoration design is permitted and funded ($4M); park design requires additional $11–12M. Staff will refine parking plan and continue community engagement. The council expressed strong support for the project.
  • Winter Storm Fern: Staff will submit a prioritized list of improvements, including a written snow removal plan for sidewalks, updated legislation on enforcement, expanded contractor and volunteer programs, and enhanced call center training. Funding needs will be identified for future budget cycles.
  • The meeting adjourned at approximately 6:45 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Being raised in with a culture of women of hairdressers that I was that had that I looked up to growing up, I was heavily equipped. I used to sit in hair salons and watch the ladies work and I really learned a lot about getting a hairstylist with my mentors in front of me. I mean, I have clients like Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Kelly Rowland, Yarichi PD. I like grammars here, I like confidence hair. I like how this slept on and lived in and ruffled up. I told myself that I could dream, and I told myself that I could in a situation where I was I wasn't supposed to. And so me standing here today is a huge honor because when I started my journey, I had no idea that this could be. But I kept going and I kept doing. Here we are today. I'm getting the keys of the city. On behalf of the city of Annapolis, we present you with the keys to the city. I honestly want to say thank you so much. Listen, I be working really, really hard. And I love what I do. I love an atmosphere. I want to be able to create space for younger individuals to be empowered to be uplifted to find mentorship and to really strategize ways to really uplift. And so I'm gonna start a nonprofit here in the Netflix. It means more to me than the accolade. It's really about the order for me. It's really I'm really honored and grateful. And that's what it means to me. It's really I have a lot of humanity for what my ancestors did for me. The first time that I was aware of an election, my grandmother, Lena Holland, Foreman, she'd be out there every election on that corner, any kind of weather, passing out flyers, talking to people, because she believed in that, being able to catch a vote, to have your voice, that voice. And when Eisnahoe ran, I went in there with my grandmother when she voted. Because she couldn't read. But I later on I didn't believe that I had to do that. I said, little simple mad, a little reading thing, you know, question, uh uh question and answer page. But I didn't have to do that here. So when I came back home, I re-registered and we didn't have to do it. And I've been voting since I was 18 years old. I might have missed one year. That's when I transitioned from Maryland to New York that one time. And that was in Stanton Island, and I didn't know where to go. Things weren't going so good over in our neighborhood, and I had been there for a few years in Eastport, and somebody was running for office, and we never saw him, and so I'm never met him or anything. And he never came to Individual that I knew of. Um meetings or anything. Things weren't good for the working class, the children mainly. There were a lot of things that needed to be done. You know, the tracks and park thing had to be done and corrected. It's uh there was no activities for the youth. There weren't any black businesses. Cab drivers, barbershops, beauty shops. That was it. And every time one of us came in, we had to go to hell to get a certificate or something. Just talking to people in general, how hard it was to live in Anna Pass and being poor was very hard. Yeah, all of this was going on. They were losing their homes. A lot of the people did not live up to uh or the children weren't able to purchase the property that their families had, they just died off. And those who could, they they left town and never came back. So a lot of the property they sold it for 20,000, 30,000, and it went up to 250,000 in cost.

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