After Leaving City Council at End of 2025, Ross Arnett to Keep Fighting for Local Issues

Though he’s not running for re-election this fall after 18 years on the City Council, Ward 8 Alderman Ross Arnett, an Eastport resident, plans to stay involved in local issues, he assured the audience at ECA’s April 8 General Meeting. “I’m not going away.” 

Arnett, known for his strong work ethic, fiscal insights, and dedication to environmental and maritime issues, said that after leaving office he’s interested in serving on the Annapolis Planning Commission. He’d also like to organize a coalition of the 14 civic associations representing areas throughout the City, so that “where we have common views, we speak with a common voice.” Sometimes the City may overlook the complaints of one neighborhood, he said, but when all gather together, it has to listen.

When asked about his successes, Arnett said, “I feel very proud of the team-building I’ve done on the City Council.” He’s also proud of introducing key legislation and promoting open communication with Ward 8 constituents via regular emails and town hall meetings. City Council members really need to hear from the people they represent, he said. “Based on your feedback I have sometimes changed my vote.”  

But lack of dialog is an overall problem, not only between residents and the City government, but also among City departments, because the departments are “very siloed and cross-communication tends to be poor,” he said.

He’s seen several improvements over his tenure, including a requirement he initiated for holding pre-application meetings to acquaint the public with details of development proposals. Speaking candidly, Arnett said he favors a change in the City’s government to a council-manager form in which the elected City Council sets policy and a professional, certified, nonpartisan manager oversees operations. He’d also like to see “more consideration for residents. We live here, we pay taxes, we deserve to get [quality] services.”

Arnett noted that “the City needs a real mission statement and strategic plan.” He also voiced concern about racism he believes lingers in the City, rooted in the segregation of the past.

Issues specific to Eastport include threats to the Maritime Zones established in 1987 to protect waterfront maritime industries and to prevent hotels, high-rise complexes, and large restaurants from taking over the shoreline. Recent efforts to introduce stationary house barges along the waterfront as short-term rentals is a concern, he said, given the potential impacts on noise, parking, sanitation, slip availability for recreational boaters, and city services such as emergency response and waste removal.

Arnett gets annoyed when City Council members from other wards introduce proposals that affect only Eastport. “It’s my ward – why are they looking at changing the code for my ward?” he said. When regulations are introduced that affect only one ward, he’d like a requirement that it be co-sponsored by the alderman from that ward.

An Air Force veteran, Arnett’s entire career has been spent in public service, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. One of the biggest problems he sees today, he said, is that residents’ confidence in government at all levels has deteriorated. “We’ve got to do something to bring back constituents’ faith.”