Archive for October, 2010

At its Oct. 5, 2010 meeting, the Ann Arbor planning commission unanimously approved a proposed zoning ordinance that would regulate dispensaries, cultivation facilities and “home occupations” for medical marijuana. Six people spoke during a public hearing on the issue, and commissioners approved three amendments before voting on the ordinance. Action on the item had been postponed from the commission’s Sept. 21 meeting, in order to incorporate input from more than a dozen people who spoke during public commentary at that meeting. The current version included several changes from the previous draft – for example, the requirement for a 200-foot buffer zone between dispensaries and residential areas was removed.

This brief was filed immediately after the planning commission meeting. A more detailed account of the meeting will follow: [link] [Full Story]

At its Oct. 5, 2010 meeting, the Ann Arbor planning commission voted unanimously to reconsider a request for a special exception use that would allow for the expansion of Arbor Dog Daycare, a business located at 2856 S. Main St., near the corner of Eisenhower. The business owners told commissioners that they’d made adjustments since their request was rejected at the Sept. 21 planning commission meeting, due to concerns about noise generated by dogs using the outdoor dog run. After voting to reconsider, commissioners then tabled action until their Oct. 19 meeting.

This brief was filed immediately after the planning commission meeting. A more detailed account of the meeting will follow: [link]

The Ypsilanti District Library has posted a “library savings calculator” designed for users to figure out how much they would have paid for library services, if the services weren’t provided free of charge. A millage to raise additional operating funds for the library will be on the Nov. 2 ballot. [Source]

The Michigan Daily published a letter to the editor signed by 16 student leaders: “In light of recent events surrounding Michigan Student Assembly President Chris Armstrong, we as student leaders, would like to reaffirm our commitment to an inclusive and tolerant campus environment. Discriminatory and prejudiced acts of any kind are not acceptable at the University. Our university serves as a model to other institutions around the world due to our inclusive attitude and growth towards inter-cultural maturity. We, as a student body, have and will continue to stand together and uphold this valued sense of community.” [Source]

On Sept. 28, the League of Women Voters hosted a combined forum for candidates for Ann Arbor District Library board.

CTN producer Tim Nagae, standing, clips a microphone on Ann Arbor District Library board candidate Ed Surovell. Candidates Barbara Murphy, far left, and Jan Barney Newman participated in the forum, as did (not in this frame) Nancy Kaplan and Vivienne Armentrout. (Photos by the writer.)

Nancy Kaplan, Lyn Powrie Davidge and incumbent Carola Stearns are running for one two-year term. Vivienne Armentrout and incumbents Ed Surovell, Jan Barney Newman and Barbara Murphy are vying for three four-year terms. Five of the seven candidates attended the forum – Stearns and Davidge were out of town and unable to participate.

Terms for the three other current board members – Rebecca Head, Margaret Leary and Prue Rosenthal – expire in 2012.

The forum took place at Community Television Network studios and was recorded – it is available online through CTN’s video-on-demand service.

The hour-long event was moderated by Nancy Schewe, and questions covered a broad range of library-related topics, from the fate of the downtown building and thoughts on the next-door Library Lot, to issues of noise, security and technology. This report is presented in the order in which candidates responded. [Full Story]

At its Oct. 4, 2010 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council authorized issuance of $9 million in general obligation bonds in connection with the parking deck to be built as part of Village Green’s City Apartments project at First and Washington. The bonds could take the form of conventional tax-exempt bonds, or other bonds, depending on which are legally available and most advantageous to the city. In 2008 the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority passed a resolution authorizing that the bond payments be made from revenues generated by the city’s public parking system, which is managed by the DDA. The city council approved an extension to the purchase option agreement for the land at its Aug. 5 meeting.

This brief was filed from city council chambers. A more detailed report of the meeting will follow: [link] [Full Story]

At its Oct. 4, 2010 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council voted to discontinue a plan to turn off some streetlights in areas of the city which are “overlit” based on lighting standards. Lights that had been turned off as part of the pilot program will be switched back on. The decision was based on negative responses from residents in the pilot areas. The de-energizing of the streetlights had been part of the city’s plan to balance the FY 2011 budget. The $120,000 that the measure was intended to save will now be taken from the general fund reserves.

This brief was filed from city council chambers. A more detailed report of the meeting will follow: [link]

At its Oct. 4, 2010 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council postponed for two weeks changes to the city’s zoning code for areas outside the downtown, across most of the city’s zoning classifications. Not included in the changes to area, height and placement is the R4C zoning classification. The changes are intended to allow more compact use of land, preserve natural systems, accommodate new growth along transit corridors, and locate buildings to promote non-motorized access. Previous Chronicle coverage of the city planning commission’s deliberations on AHP changes: “AHP Zoning Revisions Go to City Council” The postponement came at the request of Marcia Higgins (Ward 4).

This brief was filed from city council chambers. A detailed meeting report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

At its Oct. 4, 2010 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council postponed consideration of a request to extend for five years the 2007 consent judgment it agreed to with Joseph Freed and Associates LLC, developer of the Glen Ann Place project. Glen Ann Place was a planned unit development (PUD) approved by the council in July 2005, but that did not win subsequent approval from the city’s historic district commission. Freed then filed suit against the city, the outcome of which was a consent judgment. Per the consent agreement, the height of the building was reduced from 10 to 9 stories. Glen Ann Place is planned to include retail and office uses on its first two floors, with residential on upper stories. The postponement was suggested by Tony Derezinski (Ward 2), who cited the absence of Sandi Smith (Ward 1) and Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2).

This brief was filed from city council chambers. A more detailed report of the meeting will follow: [link] [Full Story]

In the mayor’s race, Ann Arbor voters are offered a choice in the Nov. 2 general election between Democratic incumbent John Hieftje and independent candidate Steve Bean. On the last Monday in September, the League of Women Voters hosted a forum for the mayoral candidates. The mayoral forum took place at Community Television Network studios and was recorded – it is available online through CTN’s video-on-demand service.

In contrast to other members of the city council, which represent one of five wards in the city, Ann Arbor's mayor is elected by all Ann Arbor voters. Kudos to any reader who can recognize the location of this sign.

By way of general background, in Ann Arbor, the mayor is elected for a two-year term and is a member of the 11-member city council. The other 10 members of the council come from the city’s five wards – each ward has two seats on the council, one of which is elected each year for a two-year term. In addition to the rights and responsibilities of a councilmember, the city charter assigns the mayor other rights, including: a veto power, the responsibility to make appointments to committees, certain powers during emergencies, and the responsibility to preside over city council meetings. The management of the city is handled by a city administrator [Roger Fraser], who is hired by the city council. The mayor’s annual salary is $42,436.

Hieftje has served as mayor for the last 10 years, first elected in 2000 after serving half a term on the Ann Arbor city council representing Ward 1. At the League’s forum, Bean highlighted his own record of 20 years of service to the city on the energy and environmental commissions – currently chairing the environmental commission. Board and commission service for the city is not compensated.

The two men share many similar views – they occasionally expressed their agreement with each other’s views during the forum. They get along well socially – in fact, they carpooled together to the League of Women Voters event. Still, it’s possible to discern some differences between the two candidates on local issues as well as in their national perspective.

For example, Bean’s take on the proposed Fuller Road Station is that a citizen vote is needed and that the accompanying parking deck doesn’t move us in the right direction of alternative transportation. Hieftje, on the other hand, promoted the location as the best place in all of Michigan for a transit center. Hieftje’s focus on the city’s budget is to continue to find efficiencies to reduce expenses in the face of declining state and federal revenues, while Bean’s perspective seems to include more prominently the possibility of a severe national financial crisis that could be further complicated by declining world oil production capacity.

Bean and Hieftje’s responses are described in greater detail below. [Full Story]

In the race for the state House of Representatives District 53, which covers the majority of the city of Ann Arbor, and parts of Scio and Pittsfield townships, Republican Chase Ingersoll is running against Democrat Jeff Irwin.

Chase Ingersoll, Republican candidate for District 53 Michigan state representative, at the Sept. 28 League of Women Voters forum. Jeff Irwin, the Democratic candidate, did not attend. (Photo by the writer.)

At the Sept. 28 League of Women Voters forum, however, Ingersoll was the only candidate to appear, and after waiting 10 minutes past the scheduled start time, organizers decided to carry on without Irwin.

“We hope nothing untoward has happened,” said Sue Smith, League president. She noted that in Irwin’s absence, they’d be following the “empty chair” format, meaning that the timing for each question would be the same, and the forum would simply be half as long. It lasted 15 minutes.

Questions were selected by a committee from a pool of questions submitted by community members. The forum, held at the studios of Community Television Network, was moderated by Judy Mich. The event was recorded and is available online through CTN’s video-on-demand service.

Irwin later emailed The Chronicle saying he had apologized to the League – he had thought the forum was on the following night. Irwin’s views on some statewide issues can be found in a Chronicle report of a June 2010 candidate forum during the Democratic primary between Irwin and Ned Staebler. [Full Story]

Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education meeting (Sept. 29, 2010): Though Todd Roberts, outgoing superintendent of the Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS), sat in his regular seat at Wednesday’s school board meeting, there was also a newcomer at the end of the table. Robert Allen, AAPS deputy superintendent of operations, did not participate, but he sat with the board for the duration of the meeting. Roberts’ last day with the district will be Oct. 8, and Allen will be taking over as interim superintendent on Oct. 9.

From left to right, outgoing AAPS superintendent Todd Roberts, board president Deb Mexicotte, treasurer Irene Patalan, vice-president Susan Baskett, and Robert Allen, who will assume command of AAPS as interim superintendent on Oct. 9. (Photos by the writer.)

AAPS is hosting a public farewell reception for Roberts at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 7, at Skyline High School. Board president Deb Mexicotte quipped that the reception would be an opportunity for everyone to express good wishes or condolences to Roberts “as he moves on to accept a not-as-good position in North Carolina.” At Wednesday’s meeting, the board chose Ray & Associates, an executive search firm from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to help them recruit and select a new superintendent.

The meeting also served as the annual organizational meeting for the board, during which trustees elected three new officers, changed the composition of their standing committees, and set their meeting dates for the remainder of the school year.

The board also heard a first briefing on yet another high school option being developed county-wide – an international baccalaureate program. [Full Story]

Writing on the local Preserving Traditions blog, Emily Springfield reflects on the influence of celebrity chefs and cooking shows on TV, and how the emphasis is often on selling products: “Chefs even have their own lines of frozen food – a clear sign that we are encouraged to eat food prepared by professionals and we’re not really expected to try this at home. I think this professionalization of cooking does us all a disservice. At some level, we take in that if our food doesn’t look like theirs, it’s not good enough and we therefore shouldn’t even try.” [Source]

The Ann Arbor-based Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation released a report on Sunday showing that different regions in Michigan have a high degree of variation in the use of certain tests and procedures. An article in the Detroit Free Press quotes Marianne Udow Phillips, director of the center, who said the variations may reflect the fact that doctors’ treatment preferences are partly determined by how other physicians in that area practice medicine or by a community’s general beliefs and trends. [Source] [Link to the CHRT report]

Michigan’s aging population is the topic of an in-depth report in the Detroit Free Press, which quotes Alan Dengiz, a UM professor of geriatric medicine: “The way I teach it to the medical students and the residents (is, especially for the extremely old), ‘You focus on keeping the older individual as independent as possible and making them comfortable and functional. But you’re not focusing on curing, because you’re not going to cure a whole heck of lot at that point.’” [Source]

The Detroit Free Press reports on UM’s major breakthrough in stem cell research – creating the state’s first embryonic stem cell line. Gary Smith, a researcher who derived the line, says, “This is going from zero to 50 (m.p.h.).” In the past few days, scientists noticed that the embryonic cells continued to multiply, while staying in their embryonic state. “We’re almost teaching ourselves,” Smith said. “No one here has done that – derived their own stem cell lines.” The news coincides with Sunday’s start of the World Stem Cell Summit in Detroit. [Source]

[Full Story]

On the last Monday in September, the League of Women Voters hosted a forum of candidates for Ann Arbor city council at Community Television Network studios. Ward 2 and Ward 5 are the only two wards where more than one candidate is on offer to voters on Nov. 2. The respective incumbents in Wards 1, 3 and 4 – Sandi Smith, Christopher Taylor, Margie Teall, who are all Democrats – are unopposed. The Ward 2 and Ward 5 forum was recorded and is available online through CTN’s video-on-demand service.

City of Ann Arbor Ward 2 is the magenta wedge of the pie in this map on the east side of the city.

While the five candidates for the two wards participated in the same 45-minute forum, this report covers only responses to questions from Ward 2 candidates – incumbent Tony Derezinski, who is the Democratic Party nominee, and Emily Salvette, the nominee of the Libertarian Party. Responses from Ward 5 candidates Carsten Hohnke, John Floyd and Newcombe Clark are reported in a separate account.

As stipulated in the city charter, Ann Arbor wards divide the city into roughly pie-shaped wedges. Ward 2 is a wedge covering roughly the area between the 1 o’clock and 4 o’clock positions on the “city pie.” Each ward is represented on the city council in two council seats, one of which is up for election each year for a two-year term. Stephen Rapundalo serves in the Ward 2 seat that’s not up for election this year.

The four questions posed by the League were confined essentially to two topics: the budget and parks. Candidates uniformly identified the most important challenge facing the city as the budget, and that fit thematically with a specific question about the budget. The remaining two questions focused on specific parks: Huron Hills golf course, which is currently the subject of a request for proposals for private management; and Fuller Park, part of which is a proposed location for a new parking deck to be built primarily for the University of Michigan, and which has a possible future as a train station. [Full Story]

In Ann Arbor city council races for the general election, Ward 2 and Ward 5 are the only two wards where more than one candidate is on offer to voters on Nov. 2. On the last Monday in September, the League of Women Voters hosted a combined forum for all candidates for Ann Arbor city council. The Ward 2 and Ward 5 forum took place at Community Television Network studios and was recorded – it is available online through CTN’s video-on-demand service.

City of Ann Arbor Ward 5 is the yellow wedge of the pie in this map on the west side of the city.

The respective incumbents in Wards 1, 3 and 4 – Sandi Smith, Christopher Taylor, Margie Teall, who are all Democrats – are unopposed.

This report includes just the Ward 5 candidate responses – independent Newcombe Clark, Republican John Floyd and Democratic incumbent Carsten Hohnke. Ward 2 candidate remarks are reported in a separate acccount.

As stipulated in the city charter, Ann Arbor wards divide the city into roughly pie-shaped wedges. Ward 5 is a wedge generally covering the area between the 8 o’clock and 10 o’clock positions on the “city pie.” Each ward is represented on the city council with two council seats, one of which is up for election each year for a two-year term. Mike Anglin serves in the Ward 5 seat that’s not up for election this year.

The four questions posed by the League were confined essentially to two topics: the budget and parks. Candidates uniformly identified the most important challenge facing the city as the budget, and that fit thematically with a specific question about the budget. The remaining two questions focused on specific parks: Huron Hills golf course, which is currently the subject of a request for proposals for private management; and Fuller Park, part of which is a proposed location for a new parking deck to be built primarily for the University of Michigan, and which has a possible future as a train station.

The report is organized chronologically by candidate response. After the candidate responses, we offer some background on a few of the candidates’ remarks, including: the closure of one of the city’s fire stations, a tax “loop hole” identified by Newcombe Clark [about which he has issued a written clarificational statement], short- versus long-term public service, and participation in candidate forums. [Full Story]