Stories indexed with the term ‘What I Believe’

What They Believe: Ann Arbor City Council

This report begins with some sound bites from a recent Ann Arbor city council planning session.

Wordle word cloud based on Ann Arbor city councilmembers remarks in response to the assignment to speak about "What I Believe." It's offered for visual interest not as a meaningful analysis. The stacked arrangement of "even small change always still good" was generated by Wordles layout algorithm.

Wordle word cloud based on Ann Arbor city councilmembers remarks in response to the assignment to speak about “What I Believe.” It’s offered more for visual interest than as an analysis. The stacked arrangement of “even small change always still good” was generated by Wordle’s layout algorithm.

“That long-term commitment seems to be something that appears in the Midwest.” “There is nothing easy about democracy.” “A couple years back, my brain exploded.” “I sold Girl Scout cookies.” “The UM will never leave town, never shutter the factory…” “I also believe that the customer is usually right.” “We really need to listen harder to people who disagree with us.” “I had ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War.” “I believe that we rarely hear from those who think that we are on the right track and making the right decisions.” “I am the son of hippies.” “I look at Ann Arbor right now that is a more exciting place to be than it ever was before.”

Each of those snippets is taken from a different Ann Arbor city councilmember’s response to a homework assignment, given by facilitator Julia Novak a few days before the council planning session took place on Dec. 10, 2012. Councilmembers had been alerted by Novak to prepare a 3-5 minute talk, modeled on the “This I Believe” 1950s radio program hosted by Edward R. Murrow.

Councilmembers were asked to speak to the issue of what they believed about the future of the city – focusing on the statement of a core belief, sharing a story that illustrates how their beliefs were shaped, and emphasizing what they believe in, as opposed to things they don’t believe in. At the planning session, Novak stressed that the idea was to share “not what you’re against, not what you ran to stop, but what you believe.”

Councilmembers took different approaches to the assignment – some preparing remarks in advance and reading them aloud, others speaking from notes, while some spoke off the cuff.

In this report, councilmember remarks are presented after an introduction that summarizes some of their similarities and tensions.  [Full Story]