William Cunha first thought about running for City Council when he was working on renovating his Annapolis home.

Cunha said it took about 4 1/2 months to get the permits needed, after purchasing the property in July 2023.

“I was talking to someone with the city who was inspecting it, and I said, ‘This process is broken,’ and they agreed with me,” Cunha said. “So I said, ‘Well, maybe I’ll run for alderman and try and fix it.’”

Cunha, who will be 37 on Election Day and owns Oscar’s Coffee, is running as an independent against Democrat Frank Thorp , a former president of the U.S. Navy Memorial, to represent Ward 8 in the Annapolis City Council. The ward’s current alderman, Democrat Ross Arnett , who was first elected in 2007, decided not to seek another term.

Cunha grew up in Tenness

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