Say No To Maritime Welcome Center, Electric Ferry: City Council Candidate

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Patch invited all candidates for Annapolis mayor and City Council to complete a candidate questionnaire. We are posting their responses verbatim before the primary election on Tuesday, Sept. 16, and the General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

We will share all of our candidate profiles and election news at this link. More election information is posted here.

Name: RON GUNZBURGER

Elected Office Sought: ALDERMAN, WARD 1

Political Party: DEMOCRAT

Profession: Attorney, consultant, and former law enforcement senior commander

Age On Election Day: 62

Website: https://ForAnnapolis.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RonForAnnapolis

What makes you the most qualified candidate for this position?

It seems at times like our wonderful hometown of Annapolis has lost its way and is off on the wrong path. Property taxes for homesteaded owners skyrocketed by an outrageous 44% over just the past eight years alone. Equally concerning, we have the slowest emergency response times in the city in Ward One because of a lack of adequate fire department staffing - and yet the city council refuses to staff the needed fifth rescue unit during the peak demand hours. We need to return the focus at City Hall away from costly, flashy pet projects, and get back to the basics: effectively delivering our core city functions well for the residents. My decades of professional, governmental, public safety, and community experience - the broadest experience of any candidate in the race - will make me an effective fighter for a better, safer, and more affordable Annapolis.

How will you approach the planned construction of City Dock Park?

The City Dock plans must be revisited. The likely loss of the federal funding requires a retooling, downscaling, and reimagining of the project. Shifting the entire $73 million total cost onto the residents via bonds (ie, higher future tax bills) was never envisioned, nor is it affordable or reasonable. Due to these new fiscal realities, let's focus on the essential resiliency aspects: higher sea walls, the raised greenspace park, and hydraulics. We don't need - and should cancel - the proposed Maritime Welcome Center. The MWC is too big, too expensive, and doesn't respect the special character of the Historic District. Let's instead rehab the existing Burtis House to become the new Harbormaster office and bathroom/shower facilities for boaters. On a related note: we do not need a 90+ slip private marina nor an inappropriately tall high-rise hotel at City Dock.

How will you address crime in Annapolis?

As a former law enforcement senior commander, I have a real understanding of what is needed to effectively fight crime. We have some great cops and detectives working on our streets in the City of Annapolis, and they have been getting good results. We need to always remain focused on locking-up violent criminals and burglars, as they provide the greatest direct threat to residents. To ensure continued police excellence - and to recruit and retain the most talented officers - we must be competitive with Anne Arundel County with salary parity for sworn police officers. Police leadership also needs to respect, and have the respect of, our rank-and-file officers working on the front lines. And we need to make sure our cops always stay on the cutting-edge of technology, equipment, and public safety training developments.

How will you address affordable housing and public housing in Annapolis?

Nearly a third of all rental housing units within the City of Annapolis are already classified as public housing, subsidized/voucher supported, or otherwise deemed affordable housing. That is why I am also fighting to extend housing affordability to Annapolis homeowners - who comprise over 60% of all city residents. Our forgotten middle class working families also need and deserve some financial protection in these tough economic times. Property taxes for homesteaded owners skyrocketed by an outrageous 44% over just the past eight years alone - more than double the rate of inflation. These tax hikes are unsustainable and unfair. I will always fight against any increases in our city taxes. And that means reducing the city's homestead assessment increase cap from 10% (the highest allowed by state law) down to just 2% (same protection everyone else in Anne Arundel County already enjoys). This will protect people from being taxed out of their own homes.

Everyone acknowledges there is no realistic place to fit affordable housing into downtown, as it is fully built-out. Yet that is where many jobs are. Instead, let's focus on getting people from where they already live to their jobs downtown and back home again. After consolidating mass transit into the County system, we should repurpose some of the current “City Circulator” buses into: (a) a 24-hour circulator route between downtown and the larger apartment complexes ringing the City where many of the service, office, and marine industry workforce already resides; and (b) a new regular service operating between a Downtown-Eastport-West Annapolis corridor and the New Carrollton WMATA Metro station during all Metro train service hours, so as to connect Annapolis residents to the DC metro area jobs and Amtrak/MARC trains.

How do you plan to balance development and historic preservation in the city?

I will always fight to protect the special character of our historic district. That means supporting the vital resiliency aspects of the City Dock project to stop the flooding, but killing the proposed costly and massive Maritime Welcome Center, and opposing a proposed 90+ slip marina there. It means rehabbing the historic Burtis House to become the new harbormaster office and boater facilities. It means opposing unwise spot-zoning requests from special interests to favor just a few wealthy, favored property owners. It means constantly seeking input from the residents and neighbors of the historic District, as they are the guardians of these incredible historic properties, and are the ones most directly impacted by proposed changes. It does not mean, however, opposing any new projects. Instead, I’d suggest we look to a historic and vibrant coastal community like Nantucket as a role model for how new projects can be added, yet added in ways that are harmonious in size and appearance to the historic community. There is no reason we cannot remain faithfully dedicated to historic preservation while also moving our community forward into the future, using this common sense approach.

How should Annapolis respond to the ongoing cuts to federal jobs and grants to local governments?

The significant reduction in expected and potential federal funds will impact the city budget as a whole. This is especially true as the Annapolis City Council has lost their way in recent years, chasing costly, ever-changing pet projects. We need to makes smart changes within our own budget to adapt. Let's start trimming with easy cuts: eliminate the proposed Maritime Welcome Center at City Dock (estimated savings: $12 million); and eliminate the proposed electric ferry boat system that would run just a few hundred yards between City Dock and Eastport (but cost us millions of dollars). Next, we need to consolidate services with the County, when possible, to cut costs and increase staffing/services through economy of scale. Top of the consolidation list should be transportation, public works, water, recreation, and permits/zoning. This could potentially produce significant financial savings.

What else should voters know about you and your platform?

This is my core campaign platform:

A BETTER ANNAPOLIS:
- Stop the flooding at City Dock. Focus on resiliency. Kill the massive, costly Maritime Welcome Center. Stop the proposed spot-zoning that lifts the current hotel height restrictions.
- Protect the special character of the Historic District.
- Repair streets and sidewalks.
- Fix the parking problems downtown.

A SAFER ANNAPOLIS:
- Staff a fifth emergency rescue unit during the highest demand hours to improve response times in Ward One.
- Recruit/retain the best cops and firefighters in the region.
- Complete needed bike lane connectors.

A MORE AFFORDABLE ANNAPOLIS:
- Fiscal responsibility with NO tax hikes.
- Reduce the City's annual 10% homestead assessment cap to 2% to stop skyrocketing property taxes on homeowners.
- Better use of tax dollars to save money. Cancel wasteful projects like the multi-million dollar plan for the City to buy/operate ferry boats on a route of just a few hundred yards between City Dock and Eastport (the City already wasted $2.9 million in public funds just to “study” the idea).
- Consolidate services like public works, permits/zoning, transportation, water, and recreation with the County, when possible, to cut costs, increase staffing, broaden programs, and improve services.

With your support, we can get Annapolis back on track. Learn more at https://ForAnnapolis.com