The Annapolis City Council voted down a measure Monday night that would have required the city to award major construction projects to firms that hire a majority of union workers.

The proposed ordinance, known as a prevailing wage law, failed along a 5-4 vote, and highlighted disagreement among the all-Democratic council members, even when it comes to supporting traditional Democratic causes like supporting labor unions.

The measure, which would have applied to all capital improvement projects of $100,000 and up, was sponsored by Ward 5 Alderman Brooks Schandelmeier, who thanked city staff members for working with him through eight amendments designed to make the bill more palatable to his colleagues. He was joined in support of the bill by council members DaJaun Gay and Rhonda Pindell Charles as well as Mayor Gavin Buckley, who is also a Democrat.

Ward 7 Alderman Rob Savidge led the way in opposing the measure, quoting statistics from the Mackinac Center, a free-market think tank in Michigan. Savidge strongly argued that passing a prevailing wage law could raise costs of upcoming capital projects.

“We have a big unknown as far as how much this would cost the city,” Savidge said. “I don’t think the risk is worth it.”

Other council members who voted against the ordinance said they would be open to adopting a prevailing wage law but preferred to wait and see how an Anne Arundel County law, adopted in October 2021, would affect the county’s ability to attract construction bids. The county law requires a prevailing wage be paid to workers on county-financed construction contracts and also adds local hiring requirements.

The prevailing wage rate is the rate paid for comparable work in the private sector within the county.

Ward 1 Alderman Elly Tierney, who has a background in construction, said she values the work of union laborers, but given the current construction worker shortage, adding a prevailing wage law could further limit the city’s options.

Tierney noted that only one contractor put in a bid to replace traffic signals at Church Circle, and the project came in way over budget.

“My question is timing. Why would we even want to entertain this right now?” Tierney said. “This would limit the bidding pool, that’s pretty clear. We would have a significant problem securing bid proposals.”

She also noted that any project receiving federal dollars — including the upcoming City Dock revitalization — would be subject to prevailing federal wage rules.

“Status quo is OK as far as the best union representation we can have,” Tierney said.

Five local union leaders attended the meeting and left disappointed, as did Schandelmeier.

“I am disappointed that the City Council chose not to implement prevailing wage,” he later wrote on Twitter. “Investing in our workers and communities is one of the most financially sound decisions we can make.”

Other business

Buckley announced that Michael LaPlace, the city’s director of Planning and Zoning, would be stepping down after just 11 months on the job. LaPlace came to Annapolis from Princeton, New Jersey, and would be returning there to spend more time with his family, Buckley said.

The council took a step forward in changing how local elections are conducted in Annapolis. Five people were appointed to a task force that will study city election laws, including possibly changing the cycle to align with state and county voting. Council members voted to accept Buckley’s recommendation for the task force, even though Ward 2 Alderwoman Karma O’Neill said she was surprised only two were city residents, and Gay expressed concern that several appeared to be lobbyists.

On first reader, the council accepted a revised ward boundary plan from the Redistricting Task Force. Three residents came to complain that proposed maps remove their Truxtun Heights neighborhood from Ward 1.

The council voted 8 to 1 to adopt a new Code of Civility modeled on a similar piece of legislation in Charles County. Gay and Schandelmeier unsuccessfully pushed for the code — guidelines for how council members and city staffers should treat the public and each other — to include a stipulation against spreading misinformation, a charge they have leveled against Savidge. That amendment was voted down, however, and the code was adopted with only Gay voting against it.

Buckley presented a special recognition to Carl Snowden, praising the civil rights activist for his lifetime dedication to equality. Snowden took the opportunity to criticize the council, which had opened the evening with a one-hour closed session described as an “Office of Law briefing.” “We’ve gotta do something with those lawsuits,” Snowden said, referring to several cases pending against the city and others the city opted to contest rather than settle, then lost. “We can use these dollars to make the city of Annapolis better.”