Archive for May, 2012

Sandra Rupp, who has served as president and CEO of the United Way of Washtenaw County since late 2004, is retiring at the end of the summer. The news was announced Wednesday, May 16 by board chair Kristen Holt. According to a press release issued by the nonprofit, a search committee has been formed to select the next president, and Rupp will work with the board during this transition.

Rupp has led the organization during a period of economic challenges, including the departure of major employers in the county like Pfizer and the closing of local auto manufacturing plants. The nonprofit’s highest fundraising campaign (in 2000) raised $8.8 million. The 2011 campaign brought in $5.57 million.

One of the most significant changes during … [Full Story]

At its May 16, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board approved two key documents related to a possible transition to a countywide transit authority – a four-party agreement and the articles of incorporation of the new authority.

The board’s resolution did not try to resolve differences between the versions of the four-party agreement that have now been approved by the city councils of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. Instead, the board gave the four-party agreement its approval, contingent on resolution of the technical difference that has emerged between the Ypsilanti version and the Ann Arbor version – a difference that concerns a municipal service charge. The AATA board may need to vote again on the agreement, depending on how Ann Arbor … [Full Story]

At its May 16, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board approved a five-year contract totaling not more than $125,000 with Ecology & Environment Inc. for rideshare and vanpool matching software. The software will be paid for using existing and anticipated federal funds, provided to the AATA through the Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality (CMAQ) program.

The software comes in the context of the AATA’s planned entrance into the vanpool services market. On Sept. 15, 2011, the AATA board authorized a contract with VPSI to provide vanpool services, and on Jan. 19, 2012, the board authorized the purchase of up to 25 vans to provide the vanpool service.

According to a staff memo accompanying the resolution, a requirement of the software is that it … [Full Story]

At its May 16, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board approved revisions to the organization’s procurement manual.

According to the staff memo accompanying the resolution, revisions include: (1) changes in ethics policy to include annual disclosure requirements for board of directors, CEO, deputy CEO, senior staff and procurement staff; (2) addition of a vendor contact form as directed by the auditor, which requires a CEO or deputy CEO approval for all new vendors; (3) addition of MITN (Michigan Intergovernmental Trade Network) as a resource to maintain AATA’s current list of vendors; (4) addition of The Davis‐Bacon Act for construction projects – also a recommendation of the auditor; (5) inclusion of the AATA’s living wage policy, which was approved by … [Full Story]

At its May 16, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board authorized a $390,000 contract with Duo‐Gard Industries Inc. to manufacture and install around 60 bus shelters and 126 benches over a three-year period. There’s an option to extend the contract twice, for a year at a time. The AATA expects to use existing and future federal and state grant funds to pay for the shelters.

This brief was filed from the Holiday Inn Express, 600 Briarwood Circle, where the AATA board held its monthly board meeting, which it combined with a retreat. A more detailed report of the meeting will follow: [link]

AAPS Community Budget Forum (May 14, 2012): The Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) school board continues to solicit community input, as trustees plan for the approval of the district’s fiscal year 2012-13 budget by June 30. The district is facing a $17.8 million deficit, and is considering cuts to teaching staff, busing, music camp supports, and high school programming, among other areas.

Small group work made up a portion of the May 14 budget forum. (Photo by the writer.)

Attendance at the second community budget forum held Monday at Huron high school was lighter than at the first one, held a week earlier. Still, almost 40 community members and about a dozen staff members participated.

The two main themes that came out of the second forum were: (1) a desire to keep the cuts away from the classrooms (i.e. not cutting teaching staff or increasing class sizes); and (2) a concern that the cuts as proposed would disproportionately affect the most educationally vulnerable segments of the district’s population. Many participants also expressed concern that the timing of the proposed budget reductions would not allow for transition planning this late in the year, and that the district was not being sufficiently forthcoming with detailed budget information.

Trustees Glenn Nelson, Irene Patalan, and Christine Stead attended the May 14 budget forum. The board will hold a discussion on the budget during their next committee of the whole meeting to be held on Wednesday, May 16 beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Balas administration building’s main conference room. [Full Story]

Editor’s note: Nelson’s “In it for the Money” column appears regularly in The Chronicle, roughly around the third Wednesday of the month. 

David Erik Nelson

Mitt Romney and I went to the same high school – three decades apart. This would be immaterial, except the Washington Post just published a fascinating 5,500-word remembrance of Mitt Romney’s hijinks at Cranbrook, a high-pressure prep school in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

I attended this same school in the 1990s; it’s an architectural gem, the staff is excellent, the program an academic crucible. Later, as a University of Michigan student, I shared a broken-down house with three fellow Cranbrook alums. One was in a sociology class, and we were delighted when he revealed that his textbook listed Cranbrook as “one of the last vestiges of American aristocracy.”

Because Mitt and I attended Cranbrook exactly 30 years apart, we ended up standing back-to-back on a balmy June evening in 2005 – the same year Mitt received the school’s 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award. The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and I stood together at the lip of a deep, inset fountain, which gurgled contentedly, almost as though it was whispering ♪♫Daaaaave, I would be an excellent place for a GOP splaaashdown!♫ [Full Story]

At its May 15, 2012 meeting, the Ypsilanti city council unanimously approved a proposed four-party agreement which establishes a process to create a new countywide transportation authority in Washtenaw County. The new authority, tentatively named the Washtenaw Area Transportation Authority, would be incorporated under Act 196 of 1986, and would replace the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority – with a broader geographic base for its governance, services and funding.

The four parties to the agreement are the AATA, the city of Ypsilanti, the city of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County.

The Ann Arbor city council approved a version of the four-party agreement on March 5, 2012, after amending the version that the AATA had first presented. Amendments were made in several ways, and … [Full Story]

At its May 15, 2012 meeting, the Ypsilanti city council chose Ralph A. Lange as its next city manager, pending successful completion of negotiations between Lange and a three-person negotiating committee. The council’s selection of Lange was unanimous.

Since 2008 Lange has been executive director of the Henry County (Ohio) Community Improvement Corp. Lange was chosen over Brian P. Vick, former city manager of Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich., after a second round of public interviews Monday evening.

On Friday, May 11, the number of finalists dropped from three to two, when city clerk and interim city manager Frances McMullan withdrew herself from consideration.

Lange’s previous positions included managing director of the Monroe County (Michigan) road commission, 1999-2008; city administrator and director of … [Full Story]

Action on a site plan for a new DTE Buckler electrical substation at 984 Broadway near Canal Street was postponed by Ann Arbor planning commissioners at their May 15, 2012 meeting. City planning staff had recommended postponement to allow more time to review several outstanding issues. For example, staff has recommended that DTE seek a variance from the city’s zoning board of appeals for a 100-year detention requirement – the proposed site plan would require such a variance. The site is located within the Huron River’s 100-year floodplain.

The project also needs a variance to the 15-foot conflicting land use buffer requirements along the east side property line, adjacent to Riverside Park. DTE is requesting a variance that would allow 33 trees and 38 … [Full Story]

A site plan for remediation of the MichCon property at 841 Broadway was unanimously approved by the Ann Arbor planning commission at its May 15, 2012 meeting. The proposal was made in conjunction with a site plan for a new DTE Buckler electrical substation on the opposite side of Broadway. Planning commissioners voted to postpone action on that site plan at the same May 15 meeting. MichCon is a subsidiary of DTE.

The MichCon site plan approval is contingent on three things: (1) obtaining variances from the city’s zoning board of appeals (ZBA) to exempt MichCon from providing a new stormwater management system; (2) obtaining a Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) permit for work within the floodplain and Huron River; and (3) indicating water main … [Full Story]

At its May 15, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor planning commission unanimously approved an expansion to the Wintermeyer office parking lot at 2144 and 2178 South State St., south of Stimson and east of the University of Michigan golf course. The commission also voted to approve a landscape modification on the 1.8-acre site, contingent on administrative approval of relocated plantings between the site and a home to the north.

Two two-story office buildings are currently located on the site, along with an 85-space parking lot. The parcel is zoned O (office). After the expansion, there will be a total of 101 parking spaces on the site. A maximum of 111 parking spaces are allowed for the existing office development.

Modifications to the landscaping … [Full Story]

At its May 15, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor planning commission unanimously voted to grant a temporary retail sales special exception use for Phantom Fireworks, a firm based in Youngstown, Ohio.

According to a staff report, the business is proposing to put up a 40×40-foot tent and an 8×40-foot storage pod in the parking lot of Colonial Lanes at 1950 South Industrial Highway. The tent would be set back 25 feet from South Industrial and take up 24 parking spaces on 2.96-acre site, leaving 203 parking spaces for the bowling alley and Cubs A.C. restaurant.

The northeast, two-way traffic entrance would be temporarily closed by placing four orange traffic cones and yellow tape in the parking lot. The remaining four entrances to the … [Full Story]

Ann Arbor planning commissioners, following advice from city staff, voted unanimously to postpone action on a request from Knight’s Market. The rezoning and site plan proposal – which would allow the neighborhood market to expand and add a bakery – was on the agenda for the commission’s May 15, 2012 meeting.

Knight’s Market is located at the northeast corner of Spring and Miller. The market’s owner, Ray Knight, also owns two separate, adjacent parcels. (Knight is perhaps best known for his family’s restaurant, Knight’s Steakhouse, located at 2324 Dexter Ave.) The grocery store is on land zoned zoned C1 (local business) and M1 (light industrial). Another parcel at 306-308 Spring St. is zoned R2A (two-family dwelling) and M1, and contains two single-family … [Full Story]

The Ann Arbor park advisory commission recommended approval of a $39,575 contract with Terra-Firma Landscape Inc. for improvements to South University Park. The vote was taken at PAC’s May 15, 2012 meeting.

The project is funded by a $50,000 donation from Leslie and Michael Morris. News of their gift had been announced nearly a year ago, at PAC’s June 21, 2011 meeting. At that meeting, Leslie Morris – a former Ward 2 city councilmember – had explained how the couple had played a role decades ago in creating the park at South University Avenue and Walnut. The dynamics of the neighborhood have changed, and the park is in need of an overhaul to serve the needs of current residents.

Terra-Firma, based in Ypsilanti … [Full Story]

At their May 15, 2012 meeting, Ann Arbor park advisory commissioners passed a resolution recommending that the city pursue reconstruction of two tennis courts at Windemere Park, a nearly four-acre parcel on the city’s northeast side, north of Glazier Way between Green and Earhart roads. PAC had received a staff update on deteriorating conditions there at the commission’s April 17, 2012 meeting.

A letter from representatives of the Earhart Knolls Homeowners Association, as well as several speakers at the meeting, argued that the park is a focal point for the neighborhood, and that the tennis courts play an important role for the community. They urged commissioners to recommend replacement of the courts, in the same location. [.pdf of Earhart Knolls letter]

The … [Full Story]

At its May 15, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor park advisory commission recommended that the city council move ahead to incorporate 16 sustainability goals into the city’s master plan. [.pdf of sustainability goals]

PAC is one of several Ann Arbor advisory groups that have been working with city staff to develop a focused set of sustainability goals, drawing from more than 200 existing goals in city planning documents. The project began more than a year ago, after the city received a $95,000 grant from the Home Depot Foundation to fund a formal sustainability project.

The grant funded the job of a sustainability associate, a position held by Jamie Kidwell, who’s been the point person for this effort. Originally the effort involved four advisory commissions: park, … [Full Story]

Several additional candidates for Washtenaw County offices filed on May 15 before the 4 p.m. deadline, but several incumbents remain unchallenged in the Aug. 7 partisan primary.

Sheriff Jerry Clayton, county prosecuting attorney Brian Mackie, county clerk Larry Kestenbaum and county treasurer Catherine McClary – all incumbent Democrats – will not face primary challenges. However, all but Mackie will have a Republican opponent in the Nov. 6 general election. All of those elected positions are for four-year terms.

Running for sheriff as a Republican is Jeffrey R. Gallatin of Ann Arbor. Republican Stanley F. Watson of Ann Arbor Township has filed to run against Kestenbaum for county clerk, while Republican Marlene Chockley of South Lyon is running against McClary in the county … [Full Story]

Two of the four races for Washtenaw County districts in the Michigan House of Representatives will have challenges in the Aug. 7, 2012 primary, as last-minute filings before the May 15 4 p.m. deadline added candidates to the field.

Incumbent Democrat Jeff Irwin of District 53 will face Democratic challenger Thomas Partridge on Aug. 7. Partridge, who has unsuccessfully run for various public offices in the past, is a frequent public commentary at meetings of the Ann Arbor city council, Washtenaw County board of commissioners and other public entities. Also filing for that office is Republican John Spisak, who does not face a challenge in the primary. The district represents most of Ann Arbor, and has long been a Democratic stronghold.

In District … [Full Story]

Sarah Benoit – the city of Ann Arbor’s new market manager – was introduced to the city’s park advisory commissioners at their May 15, 2012 meeting. She replaces Molly Notarianni, who resigned from that position earlier this year.

Benoit grew up in Kalamazoo and earned an undergraduate degree in urban studies & European studies from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where she participated in a pilot farmers market on campus. After graduating, she spent a year in Ann Arbor, then moved to New York in 2010 to attend Fordham University. She received a masters degree in urban studies and completed a thesis on the role of seasons in local food education in New York City.

As Ann Arbor’s market manager, Benoit will … [Full Story]

For mayor and city council partisan primaries, the field in the Ann Arbor races appears to be set – now that the 4 p.m. May 15 filing deadline has passed.

Candidates in the August primary can withdraw from a race until 4 p.m. on May 18. After that, their names can’t be removed from the Aug. 7, 2012 ballot.

In the mayor’s race, incumbent John Hieftje will be unopposed in the Aug. 7 Democratic primary. Although Tom Wall, who’s previously run against Hieftje, pulled petitions, he did not file them. Unopposed in the Republican primary will be Albert Howard, assuming the signatures on his nominating petitions are verified. Howard turned in his petitions around 3 p.m. on May 15, and the city … [Full Story]

In a brief filed on finalists for the Ypsilanti city manager position, we incorrectly reported the first name of one of the finalists. While there were two other Brians in the brief – Robb (who is an Ypsilanti city councilmember, and Vick (who is the other finalist for city manager) – Lange’s first name is Ralph. So the two finalists for the position are: Ralph A. Lange and Brian P. Vick. We note the mistake here and have corrected the original item.

Larry Whitworth, former president of Washtenaw Community College, is a semi-finalist for the presidency of Edison State College in southern Florida, according to a report in the News-Press. Whitworth, 71, was WCC president for 13 years before retiring in August of 2011. He had announced plans to retire the previous year, and at the time said he planned to return to teaching. [Source]

At a session on Monday, May 14, Ypsilanti city council conducted its second hour-long interviews with the two final candidates for city manager. After appointing mayor Paul Schreiber, mayor pro tem Lois Richardson, and councilmember Brian Robb to conduct negotiations with the selected candidate, the council unanimously voted to put off the decision until Tuesday night, May 15, as part of its regular council meeting.

The two finalists are Brian Ralph A. Lange, currently the executive director of the Henry County (Ohio) Improvement Corporation; and Brian P. Vick, who from 2008 until February of this year was the city manager of Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich.

On Monday, May 14, two additional candidates have filed in races for the Washtenaw County board of commissioners. One day remains before the 4 p.m. May 15 filing deadline for candidates affiliated with political parties running in the Aug. 7 primary.

John Floyd has filed as the only Republican candidate in the new District 9 so far. Incumbent Conan Smith, who serves as the current board chair, is the only Democrat so far in that race. Floyd most recently was a Republican candidate in the 2010 Ward 5 Ann Arbor city council race, losing with 21.9% of the vote to incumbent Democrat Carsten Hohnke – in a three-way race that included Newcombe Clark, who ran as an independent. In 2008 Floyd had also challenged Hohnke, … [Full Story]

Editor’s note: Column author Bruce Laidlaw served the city of Ann Arbor as city attorney for 16 years, from 1975-1991. Starting with his service at chief assistant city attorney in 1969, he served the city for a total of 22 years. He defended the city in two elections that were contested in court, both involving the election of Al Wheeler as mayor in the mid-1970s.

Image links to the Google digital scan of the 1,204-page volume "Acts of the Legislature of the State of Michigan Passed at the Regular Session of 1859." The act in this screenshot amended the act that incorporated the city of Ann Arbor.

As this year’s May 15 filing deadline nears for Ann Arbor’s Aug. 7 partisan primaries, Laidlaw reflects on how it came to be that Ann Arbor’s local elections involve political parties at all. 

Ann Arbor was incorporated as a city 161 years ago, by a special act of the Michigan legislature in 1851.

At that time, special acts were required to incorporate cities and business corporations. So Act 101 of 1851, which incorporated Ann Arbor, was the original city charter. Subsequent Ann Arbor city charter amendments were also made by special acts of the Michigan legislature – in 1859, 1861, 1867 and 1889. Ann Arbor was governed under the 1889 special act charter until 1956.

The original Act 101 charter established the offices of a mayor, recorder, marshal, street commissioner, assessor, treasurer, three constables, four aldermen, two school inspectors, two directors of the poor, and four justices of the peace. [Full Story]

Ann Arbor Public Schools board of education (May 9, 2012): One of the major tasks of the board of education is setting the budget, the other is setting policy. The May 9 agenda was primarily policy-focused, but discussion on the budget found its way into most sections of the meeting.

Supporters of the Roberto Clemente Student Development Center filled the board room for the May 9 meeting. (Photos by Monet Tiedemann.)

Sentiments expressed during a heated public commentary section were later echoed during agenda planning, as two of the board trustees questioned administrative work being done behind the scenes to prepare for possible budget reductions. The budget does not need to be approved by the board until June 30. A second public forum on the budget will be held on May 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the Huron High School cafeteria.

Several speakers at the May 9 meeting thanked the community for passage of the technology bond millage two days earlier.

Also at the May 9 meeting, trustees considered approving two new easements with the city of Ann Arbor, and awarded a set of bids for physical properties work. They also took a first look at the district’s new anti-bullying policy, as well as a set of other policy updates presented by AAPS administration.

Finally the board reviewed the proposed 2012-13 budget of the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD), and shared its concerns about it. Local school boards are required by law to review the WISD’s budget, but have no vote in its actual approval. [Full Story]