Harry M. Huntley
Candidate in Nov. 4 general election Democratic President’s Hill
Age: 27 on day of General Election (Nov. 4)
Occupation: Agriculture Policy Analyst
Education: University of Maryland, College Park: Agricultural Science and Technology, Environmental Horticulture
University of Maryland, College Park: Economics
Previous political experience: Ward One Representative of the Annapolis Democratic Central Committee; volunteering to help elect local candidates like Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth and School Board Member Joanna Tobin.
Why are you running for office?
I love Annapolis, and I feel an obligation to use my expertise and energy to leave it even better than I found it. I grew up in a family where your mission is to “Leave the world better than you found it.”
My background is working hard on farms then becoming an expert in agriculture policy. Both of those roles prepared me for being on the city council, because Annapolitans expect someone who will “make it happen”. That requires both a raw determination to go out and get it done yourself sometimes and the nuanced legislative skills to bring together all groups to hash out innovative solutions to complex problems.
You can tell by looking at the long list of community leaders who are supporting my campaign–from Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth to Mayor Gavin Buckley and from community association board members to local small business owners–that I’ve been an effective alderman.
I’m running for reelection because we’ve made a lot happen over the past year, but there’s even more work to do.
What issues are important to your ward? How do you plan on addressing them?
The most common sentiment I hear from residents is “I pay a lot in taxes, and I want to see the results.”
Residents want to know their government is efficient and effective at addressing the “little” things that make a big impact on their quality of life. That’s why I’ve worked hard on fixing sidewalks, maintaining parks, and simplifying parking.
And everybody wants to know they can trust their government. My biweekly newsletters have created transparency. I have championed election reforms like ranked choice voting.
Bigger issues include safety, city dock, and short-term rentals.
To protect our people, we need more lighting and eyes on the street. The City Dock project should be about unpaving paradise and preserving it for posterity, and I’ll ensure we get it done. Short-term rentals are an existential threat to our communities, so I’ve introduced legislation to cap the percentage of them on any block.
Finally, I’m the only candidate with a plan to actually lower our tax rate.
How do you see housing and public transportation development progressing in the next four years?
We must make it easier for people who love Annapolis to invest in Annapolis—including their homes, small businesses, and neighborhoods. You shouldn’t have to beg the city for a permit to fix your porch or put in a fence. This will lower expenses while making our neighborhoods more vibrant and family-friendly.
We should be exploring ways to allow the rest of the city to build in the smart, fiscally-sustainable ways that Ward One has. My legislation to re-allow duplexes on double lots is one step towards that. We know that having walkable amenities makes neighborhoods more desirable, so let’s stop prohibiting these in our zoning code.
I’m working almost every day to fix our broken transportation systems so parking is easy, biking is safe, and walking is fun. We’ve made the city owned-garages easier to use, but Hillman is still too difficult. And I made sure to double funding for fixing sidewalks while dedicating half a million dollars a year specifically to repairing brick sidewalks.
Are there decisions/legislation from the previous council that you want to readdress?
We need to seriously reconsider our parking agreement. Premium Parking’s business model seems to be to lock in longterm contracts then do as little as required to minimize expenses and maximize profits. In particular, I believe they are not meeting their contractual obligations to patrol on-street residential parking. Allowing Premium to become part of the agreement and not having strong enforcement mechanisms for that agreement is the single biggest mistake this administration has made.
A few smaller ones:
-I’d like to revisit my budget amendment that didn’t pass to fund the Downtown Ambassadors, who would have acted like beat cops and visitor guides for a very affordable price.
-We should reevaluate opportunities to trim the capital budget (including the exorbitant Annapolis Walk Parking Lot I tried to cut) for opportunities to rebalance the budget towards commonsense maintenance like sidewalk and street repair.
-There’s no need to spend *another* $105,000 to subsidize electric leafblowers.
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