Ben Bramsen
Candidate in Sept. 16 primary Democratic Downtown Historic District
Age: 42 on day of General Election (Nov. 4)
Occupation: [ No response. ]
Education: [ No response. ]
Previous political experience: None, I’m an ordinary guy working for the extraordinary people of Annapolis
Why are you running for office?
I don’t feel our current elected officials are doing enough to give voice and hope to the increasing affordable living concerns for our working class, working poor, and other underprivileged and underserved communities in Annapolis and Ward 1.
What issues are important to your ward? How do you plan on addressing them?
Affordable and healthy housing through revisiting zoning, stronger renter’s protections, and active policy to limit short term rentals while also working to make the current available housing more affordable. We also must work to ease the burden and cost of opening and operating business in downtown Annapolis for small and local business owners.
How do you see housing and public transportation development progressing in the next four years?
If we don’t take drastic actions, both will significantly get worse over the next four years. Housing prices continue to increase for renters and home buyers alike, and if it’s not addressed, we will continue to price out the working class from our community. Making public transportation free for Annapolitans will make a drastic improvement in the ability of the working class to effectively get to and from work.
Are there decisions/legislation from the previous council that you want to readdress?
One recent subject I was happy to see broached was in regards to Ranked Choice Voting. As the system currently is, in the primary, citizens are forced to make decisions based out of FEAR of who they don’t want to get elected instead of making decisions based on who they WANT to get elected. A move to Ranked Choice Voting will allow voters to more freely speak with their hearts and who they like instead of making decisions out of fear of another candidate being elected because they didn’t vote for a more widely known candidate.
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