Harry Huntley takes over as the new Ward 1 alderman for Annapolis on Monday, completing the remainder of Elly Tierney’s term until the 2025 election.

Tierney, elected in 2017, announced in May that she was retiring from politics and moving to Massachusetts.

The Annapolis Democratic Central Committee, tasked with filling vacancies left by aldermen from the party, selected Huntley on Tuesday night after reviewing five candidates: Huntley, Genevieve Torri, Tom Sells, Tom Krieck, and Ron Gunzburger, a former official in Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration.

At 26, Huntley has received endorsements from Tierney, Ward 5 Alderman Brooks Schandelmeier, Ward 2 Alderwoman Karma O’Neill, Ward 6 Alderman DaJuan Gay, Ward 4 Alderwoman Sheila Finlayson, Ward 7 Alderman Rob Savidge and Mayor Gavin Buckley.

In her endorsement letter, Tierney described Huntley as dedicated to inclusive and transparent governance. She said he has the determination to turn his vision into action.

Schandelmeier said in an endorsement letter that Huntley is intelligent, thoughtful and energetic.

“Harry is an exceptional young leader who knows the Annapolis and Ward One communities and has the potential to spur dramatic improvements for our city,” Buckley wrote.

In a recent interview, Huntley shared his vision as the new alderman. Here’s what you need to know about him.

What is your political background?

I was treasurer and Ward 1 representative for the Annapolis Democratic Central Committee. However, my background is not so much in politics as in policy.

I work for the Environmental Policy Innovation Center. My expertise is in agriculture policy, which I think is really relevant to the City Council.

My current job is all about helping governments develop better ways to pay farmers to improve the environment. I can apply that to being on the City Council, to making sure the taxpayers are getting the best bang for their buck. Land use and cost efficiencies are the two most important things for city government.

Why did you want to be an alderman?

When Alderwoman Tierney announced her resignation, I spent a couple of months and many conversations trying to find a candidate other than myself who could fill the impressive shoes she was leaving.

First and foremost, they had to be a Democrat, the party of opportunity and abundance for all. But beyond that, I knew our ward needed someone who would focus on the biggest issues affecting everyday residents’ lives and who could bring together the best minds to develop out-of-the-box but sensible solutions to those problems.

When I couldn’t find someone who would live up to that bar, I faced two options: sit around complaining for the next five-plus years, or replace a lot of time that I could be using to enjoy our beautiful waterways and our charming bars with committee meetings, late-night constituent calls and dense briefing books. And as much fun as the former sounds, [the saying] “Leave the world better than you found it” told me I needed to choose the latter.

What are some ways the City Council can improve?

For the most part, I want to participate in (I’ve attended them before) at least one council meeting before I start critiquing it, but there are a few ideas I’d like to explore.

First, let’s consider restructuring our budget process to start with the outcomes we want to achieve and work backwards to the sums needed to do that — rather than starting with last year’s budget and just tweaking it. This is done mostly effectively with a two-year budget cycle.

I’m also partial to a suggestion I heard recently from a former alderman for the council members to elect a council president from their midst who could help coordinate the members. More staff support for the council would be a great investment.

And finally, I’m excited about the election improvements we have on first reader on Monday and I am looking forward to continuing the momentum of the election reform task force to strengthen our democracy.

(The City Council on Monday will do a first read on legislation to update the definition of an election and change a mail-in voting ordinance that replaces the city code chapter on absentee voting with state-required mail-in voting standards.)

What issues are you going to tackle first?

I really want to lead with values, and I want to lead with what matters to me. There are three big things I want to increase in politics — health, wealth and happiness.

That’s about making our city more walkable. It’s about bringing good jobs. It’s about just making city services more convenient and easier so that we can focus on really building community.

That’s the most important thing. Unfortunately, there are plenty of folks who are healthy, are wealthy, and still aren’t happy. I think the cure for that is being able to build community, making you feel like your neighbors are your family.

There’s a lot that city government, local government and your neighbors like me can do to build community spaces so that people can truly get to know their neighbors and have those strong relationships.

Also, Ward 1 residents need transparency in the city. They need an abundance of information, because we have the most civically engaged ward in the city. And folks want to know what’s going on in their city government. So, I really pledge an abundance of transparency in the city government.

Tell me about yourself. Where are you from?

I was born and raised in Baltimore. When I was 14, I got my first job working in a farmers market. I completely fell in love with it and figured I was going to be a farmer.

I went off to the University of Maryland to learn how do that and at some point, realized that I had an advantage in agriculture policy. I graduated with Bachelor of Science degrees in economics and agricultural science & technology. I worked for the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, the National Farmers Union and National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.

I currently live in Annapolis with my wife Sara Ramotnik and we have a corgi, Hobie. We got married at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in July.