Alderman

Annapolis housing officials have confirmed that city Alderman Kenneth A. Kirby is not an approved tenant or visitor of a city-owned apartment where he was found during a drug raid earlier this month. Kirby faced questions about his residency after the Jan. 5 raid of two apartments, with housing officials investigating whether he was staying there in violation of a lease agreement. Police have said Kirby is not accused of any wrongdoing in connection with the drug raid. Housing Authority chief operating officer Joseph Johnson told The Capital in Annapolis that the agency's paperwork does not list Kirby as a tenant or visitor of the city-owned apartment in the Harbour House community.

Joe Budge has been a familiar face at Annapolis city council meetings, speaking out on issues related to downtown. Later this month, he'll move from the public microphone to the dais as he's sworn in as the council's newest alderman. Budge, 60, was selected by the Annapolis Democratic Central Committee on Tuesday to replace former Ward One Alderman Richard E. Israel, who stepped down in April because he planned to move out of the city and into an assisted-living facility. Budge joins the council at a busy time, as aldermen finalize the city's annual budget and prepare to deal with planning and rezoning issues for the City Dock area.

On December 9, 2004, HILDRA K. beloved wife of Johnny J. Alderman, devoted mother of James H. Alderman. Also survived by two grandchildren, James Alderman, Jr. and Mario Lewis, one great-grandchild and a host of other relatives and friends. Mrs. Alderman's remains may be viewed at the CHATMAN-HARRIS FUNERAL HOME, 5240 Reisterstown Rd., Sunday, 3 to 4 P.M. Further Services and Interment will be held in Tabor City, NC. Services in N.C. entrusted to the Westside Funeral Home, Tabor City, NC.

The newest alderman on the Annapolis City Council will be downtown resident and activist Joe Budge. The Annapolis Democratic Central Committee selected Budge on Tuesday night to replace former Alderman Richard Israel, who resigned earlier this month. Budge is a retiree and a 10-year resident of Annapolis who has frequently appeared before the City Council representing the Ward One Residents Asscociation. Budge earned votes from five of the nine members of the central committee.

Voters in Annapolis' Ward 2 are to cast ballots today in a special election for alderman. Three candidates - Karen Jennings, of the Green party; Fred Paone, a Republican, and Debbie Rosen McKerrow, a Democrat - are vying for the seat on Annapolis' city council. Republican Alderman Michael I. Christman resigned in late October, necessitating the special election. The winner will serve the remainder of Christman's term, which expires in 2009.

On October 22, 2004, MOLLIE BALL-ALDERMAN. On Wednesday, friends may call at the VAUGHN C. GREENE FUNERAL SERVICE, 5151 Baltimore National Pike, from 4 to 8 P.M. On Thursday, Mrs. Alderman will lie instate at Jones Tabernacle Baptist Church, 2100 W. Baltimore Street, where the family will receive friends from 10:30 to 11 A.M. with services to follow. Inquiries to (410) 233-2400.

On August 21, 2009 MR. ALDERMAN. Visitation Thursday 3:30 to 8 P.M. 2140 North Fulton Avenue. Services on Friday 11 A.M. wake, 11:30 funeral at Pennsylvania Avenue A.M.E. Zion, 1128 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Five Annapolis wards have contested races for alderman this year. (Wards 1, 2 and 4 are uncontested.) We asked the candidates to tell us in their own words why they thought they were the best person for the job: WARD 3 Classie Gillis Hoyle (D) I am the best person to represent Ward 3 on the City Council because I am accessible and responsive to constituents. I will bring experience and continuity to the next administration on issues such as financial management, city growth, economic stability, intergovernmental relations and transportation/traffic improvement.

A special election has been scheduled in Annapolis for the alderman's seat vacated by Michael Christman, Mayor Ellen O. Moyer said yesterday. The primary election in Ward 2 will be held Nov. 27, with the special general election Dec. 19. The winner will fill the final two years of Christman's term. The Republican, one of only two on the eight-member city council, was elected in 2005 but officially resigned last week, noting frequent travel for his job. His wife also recently accepted a job in Australia.

Tomorrow's special aldermanic election offers voters in Annapolis' Ward 1 a choice of two intelligent, articulate candidates to replace Republican John Hammond, who resigned become finance officer for Anne Arundel County. Interestingly, the Democratic candidate is Mr. Hammond's wife, Louise; the Republican is T. Sharyn Steffey, a real estate agent and activist. This is a difficult choice, but we endorse Mrs. Hammond.Her resume is not as impressive as Mrs. Steffey's. Mrs. Hammond is a homemaker whose civic activism revolves around her children's schools, YWCA plant sales and volunteer city gardening projects.

City of Annapolis Alderman Richard E. Israel announced this week that he's resigning from the City Council, effective immediately. Israel told the council he's moving out of his Shaw Street home into the Ginger Cove Community, a community in Annapolis that's not in the ward he was elected to represent. He said he's resigning now, rather than when he moves in May, so that his successor will be able to participate in upcoming city budget deliberations. Israel, who represented the city's First Ward, thanked his colleagues on the council, and also, "the voters of the First Ward for twice entrusting me with this office.

Carl O. Snowden, the former director of the Office of Civil Rights in the Maryland Attorney General's Office, has been ordered jailed for violating probation in an Anne Arundel County drunken driving case, according to court records. Snowden, 59, a longtime civil rights activist, was ordered Monday to spend 10 days in the Anne Arundel County jail, beginning April 12. Retired Judge Diane O. Leasure found that Snowden had violated probation in his 2010 drunken driving case because he had been convicted last year of possession of marijuana in Baltimore City, according to Henry P. Dove, chief trial counsel in the State's Attorney's Office in Talbot County.

During a quiet morning at his hardware store, owner Jared Littmann strolled down an aisle to chat up a regular customer who was looking at smoke alarms. "Good to see you. Let me know what you need," Littmann told Ben Derrick, a handyman for Annapolis Property Services, who was shopping at Littmann's K&B True Value hardware store in Annapolis. Though he's in the store almost daily, Derrick said he didn't know Littmann will soon be sworn in as the Ward 5 alderman on the Annapolis city council.

Annapolis Alderman Mathew Silverman resigned Friday, citing time conflicts with his job as a special agent at the U.S. Department of Justice, according to city officials. Silverman, a Democrat, was elected to the City Council in 2009 while he was an Anne Arundel County police officer. He subsequently took what he has called "a dream job" with the justice department. In a Friday letter to his council colleagues and Mayor Joshua Cohen, Silverman, 33, wrote that new job responsibilities require him to be on call 24 hours a day and may conflict with his city work.

The Annapolis City Council met in closed session Monday night to discuss the residency issues surrounding Alderman Kenneth A. Kirby, who is without a permanent home, but offered no new details on how the city would proceed on the issue. Annapolis Mayor Joshua J. Cohen said the council had a "candid and privileged" discussion with City Attorney Karen Hardwick. Cohen said he instructed Hardwick to draft a memo to address two issues: what the city code and charter say about residency requirements and what role the mayor and council play in determining that those standards are met. He set a two-week deadline.

It's nothing new for politicians' opponents to try to throw them out of office by claiming they don't live in the district they represent. But the effort to unseat Annapolis Alderman Kenneth Kirby comes with an unusual twist. Republicans have challenged Mr. Kirby's residency, and the mayor and the rest of the council are scheduled to take up the matter on Monday, not because he has moved somewhere else but because he is, effectively, homeless. Mr. Kirby says he stays with family and friends.

He promised downtown business owners that they would have a chance to voice their dismay for parking rate increases at a meeting of the finance committee, which he chairs. He told public housing officials that he would do "anything I can do" to help transition families out of public housing. And he voted "yes" to refer to a committee for further examination a bill that would annex the Annapolis Roads Golf Course into Annapolis. It was business as usual for Alderman Samuel E. Shropshire on Monday night, at the first Annapolis City Council meeting since he was charged last month with groping a Naval Academy midshipmen.

Tomorrow residents of Annapolis' Ward 1, which covers downtown and the historic district, will vote in a special primary to choose a replacement for Republican Alderman John Hammond. Mr. Hammond, who won a fifth four-year term last fall, has resigned to become budget officer for Anne Arundel County. This election is not about choosing a short-term fill-in; whoever wins will serve virtually an entire term, dealing with such critical issues as a proposed conference center, conflicts between businesses and residents, and transportation problems.

Annapolis Alderman Kenneth A. Kirby will appear Wednesday night before the city's election board as the panel investigates whether Kirby, who does not have a permanent home, is meeting residency requirements. Annapolis Mayor Joshua J. Cohen has asked for both the city Board of Elections and the Office of Law to issue opinions on whether Kirby, a Democrat, is required to live in the ward he represents. The inquiries will also seek to determine whether Kirby lives in the ward. Cohen, also a Democrat, said he received several inquiries on the matter from the public, including the city Republican Central Committee.

Every other Monday night, Annapolis Alderman Kenneth A. Kirby, dressed in a suit and tie, takes his seat on the dais at City Council meetings, discussing community issues and voting on legislation. Afterward, the others head home from City Hall. And Kirby wanders. Kirby, who grew up in public housing in the capital city, is without a permanent place to live. He stays with a network of friends and family who open their homes to him — a niece in public housing, a friend in Annapolis' moneyed downtown.