John Floyd
Republican for Council
5th Ward

My goal is to have a report published by week’s end.

Its only a hegemony as long as we tolerate it.

John Floyd
Republican for Council
5th Ward

Regarding the rest of your statement, a friend of mine refers to it as “The Hegemony”.

The first-time format was experimental, and designed to show off the candidate’s working skills, not their issue stances per se. Perhaps this process can evolve in the next election cycle.

Given that this format was explicitly, intentionally, NOT about issues or the electorate’s questions, the hunger that people displayed for “authentic” interactions between and with their representatives seemed all the more raw. The disconnect between our current council majority and the public goes deep.

I am more and more aware that many in Ann Arbor’s civc arena are contemptuous of the very idea of representing people; rather, it is the idea of ruling over them seems in vogue. In some cases, that impulse to rule people is prettied up as “Leadership”. My own revulsion at the Ruling Class’s various smug expressions of the perceived “dim bulb”-ness of the citizenry, the arrogance of presumed superior vision and insight, the weird and brittle desperation to keep this “superior” vision and insight secret from Ann Arbor’s Great Unwashed, and my curiosity about how we got to this place, were important elements in the thought process that led to me run, both in 2008 and 2010.

What is supposed to make America better than prior civilizations, and current rising nations such as China, is that we are a self-governing people. This is the basis for the rule of law, of civil society, of our economics. Besides being more aligned with the inalienable rights with which people are allegedly endowed by Their Creator, self-government was to better call forth, over time, the very creative and entrepreneurial energies Ann Arbor’s ruling class claim to seek.

The Chinese political class seems at present not to worry much about what “the little people” think, or about what conditions will call forth and maximize their creativity over time. “Thinking”, in the current Chinese system, is the job of the self-annointed political class. Much current discourse from our local political class mimics this mind-set: “we know best what is needed, your job is to either A) go off and die so that we may make room for people way cooler than you, or B) shut up and pay your taxes so that, like the Chinese, we can fund marginally productive capital projects”. Hard to see how this environment – no un-orthodox or differing opinions needed – would appeal to anyone who actually was creative. Hard to see how the impulse to burn cash on marginal capital projects would appeal to anyone who actually knew how to make money.

Ms. Armentrout,

FWIW, the issues I raise are the ones I would have raised under similar circumstances at an earlier age. The Tear-It-All-Down crowd includes a wide range of ages, many (most?) of its public faces are older than mine, and its zeitgeist* seems inspired by Sinclair Lewis. We all have our own perspectives; to me, the idea that this election is about a generation gap is not supported by the evidence. I get more the feel that the cry of “generation gap” is a device merely intended to further the Tear-It-All-Down agenda, much as our “lack of diversity” is apparently to be used.

Footnote to the end-of-event discussion: If we are about increasing density to attract new people, but are not about proportionately increasing Ann Arbor’s population, what portion of the city are we to abandon?

*per Mr. Hohnke’s Teeter, that means “Spirit of the Age”

Steve, in response to your question, what I learned about/from John is a lot more about who he is. The opportunity allowed us to talk as humans, discuss our area of disagreement, but ultimately find ways to compromise and get something accomplished. In front of cameras and an audience no less. It’s how government should work.

It’s been a pleasure to have at least one curious opponent who has been willing to engage the issues in creative ways. I would be honored to serve with him and the city would be lucky to have his service…but I’m still not voting for him.

Thank you John, and thank you Mary and Dave. What you pulled off was truely of value to the voters and our documentation of our city’s story.

Two different members of the audience came prepared to make their own points, with display boards. I guess that they were frustrated. But by separating the two candidates from the necessity of interacting with the audience (or, really, with the moderator), they were liberated to speak as human beings rather than as politicians.

Mr. Hohnke should have been there, with a third wheel there may have been more sparks.

@13, John, what did you learn from Newcombe? Newcombe, from John?

I enjoyed the event and would welcome the opportunity to participate in something similar with the mayor.