Mayor Gavin Buckley today announced that he will nominate longtime Anne Arundel County Auditor Teresa Owen Sutherland as the City’s new city manager. If approved by the members of the Annapolis City Council during its April 9 council meeting, Sutherland would begin April 19. She would be the City’s first appointed female city manager. Former Assistant City Manager Virginia Burke served as acting city manager before Tom Andrews, current city manager assumed his duties. Mr. Andrews departs on March 22, 2018. Annapolis Fire Chief David Stokes is serving as acting city manager until Ms. Sutherland assumes her role.

Buckley discussed Sutherland’s appointment off the record in an interview with The Maryland Crabs.

“One of the greatest challenges facing the City of Annapolis is fiscal soundness. We are facing a structural deficit and there is no one better qualified to help guide the City through its budget process and identify areas to operate more efficiently than Teresa,” said Mayor Buckley. “After more than two decades of advising the Anne Arundel County Council on fiscal and public policy, we are looking forward to tapping into her experience to bring fiscal order and discipline and help us find ways to carry out new ideas within the structure of government. I believe she’ll be an outstanding advocate for the City of Annapolis on many levels.”

Ms. Sutherland is a licensed, Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Frostburg State University and a Master’s Degree in General Administration – State and Local Government Track from the University of Maryland University College.

Sutherland and Buckley may find some resistance on the Council as the code is specific to the requirements for a City Manager.

The city manager shall have had, prior to appointment, an advanced degree in business or public administration from an accredited college or university and at least eight (8) years’ experience in local government management. The city manager shall be thoroughly familiar with contemporary budgeting and accounting practices.

“Nobody knows how local government works better than Teresa,” said Councilmember Chris Trumbauer, Anne Arundel County – District 6. “Her knowledge of finance, government structure and policy is unsurpassed. She knows how to get things done and will have Annapolis running like a fine-tuned machine.”

Ms. Sutherland served as county auditor with Anne Arundel County from 1994-2016, where she was the lead public policy and financial advisor to the County Council.

For more than 20 years, she was a member of the Government Finance Officers Association and the Maryland Government Finance Officers Association. Ms. Sutherland currently is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants, and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Ms. Sutherland chaired Mayor Buckley’s Finance Transition Team and has volunteered in several capacities for the Hillsmere Shores Improvement Association, Inc., Start School Later, Inc., YWCA of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, Inc., Opportunity Builders, Inc., and the Bay Winds Band, with whom she plays alto saxophone.

Ms. Sutherland is a native Annapolitan who grew up in Homewood and attended Annapolis public schools. She lives in Hillsmere Shores with her son, Jack, who is a freshman at Salisbury University.

Listen to the full Maryland Crabs episode where Mayor Buckley lays out his visions for the future and looks back on his first 100 days in office.

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