Annapolis To Swear In Mayor, City Council At Ceremony Next Week

ANNAPOLIS, MD — The Annapolis election winners will get sworn in Monday during a ceremony downtown. The event starts at 1 p.m. with a short parade from Calvert Street onto West Street.

The procession will feature color guards, marching bands and the recently elected officials. A full list of participants is available here.

The parade will end at a stage on West Street where speeches, music and poetry will follow. Speakers include:

• U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin
• Maryland Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford
• Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman
• Hon. Carl Snowden
• Annapolis Poet Laureate Maggie Benshaw

After their remarks, Anne Arundel County Court Clerk Scott A. Poyer will swear in Mayor Gavin Buckley (D) for his second term. Buckley will then swear in these eight other Democrats before giving his inaugural address:

• Ward 1: Incumbent Eleanor Tierney
• Ward 2: Newcomer Karma O’Neill (Replacing Republican Alderman Fred Paone, who is retiring)
• Ward 3: Incumbent Rhonda Pindell Charles
• Ward 4: Incumbent Sheila Finlayson
• Ward 5: Incumbent Brooks Schandelmeier (Serving his first full term after he was appointed mid-way through the last City Council cycle)
• Ward 6: Incumbent DaJuan Gay (Serving his first full term after he won a special election mid-way through the last City Council cycle)
• Ward 7: Incumbent Rob Savidge
• Ward 8: Incumbent Ross Arnett

Editor's Note: Residents can see which ward they live in by using this search engine. A map of each district is available here.

The parade and the ceremony are public events that anybody can attend for free. There will be limited seating, however.

The festivities will cause some downtown road closures. Upper West Street will shut down between Church Circle and Calvert Street starting Sunday for the Chocolate Binge Festival. The closure will continue overnight. West Street will reopen Monday around 8 p.m. Calvert Street will also have brief and rolling closures as the parade leaves People's Park around 1 p.m. Monday.

The night will end with the One Annapolis Inaugural Ball. This private gala will run from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. inside the Annapolis Waterfront Hotel, located at 80 Compromise Street. Proof of vaccination or a negative coronavirus test within 48 hours is required.

This is a ticketed event. Entrance passes cost $100 to $200, and they are sold at this link.

At checkout, attendees can choose to buy a ticket for somebody who might not otherwise be able to come. Anybody interested in getting one of these sponsored tickets can email aoajayi@annapolis.gov.

Buckley said this initiative will help hundreds of residents overcome the price barrier of attendance. The mayor has already started gifting surprise tickets to Annapolitans who have made a difference in the community.

"None of the work we have done over the last four years would have been possible without people from the neighborhoods coming together to help each other," Buckley said in a press release. "I am happy that we are a community that rewards and honors that kind of civic participation. I am happy our One Annapolis Inaugural Ball will be a gala that celebrates the diversity of our amazing City!"

More information on the ball is posted here.

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