Mahler to Replace Nacht on AATA Board

Eric Mahler has been nominated by Ann Arbor mayor John Hieftje to replace David Nacht on the board of the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA). The announcement came at the council’s meeting that started on April 15, which did not conclude until nearly 3 a.m. the following day.

Nacht was not seeking reappointment to the board, having served two five-year terms, starting in 2003. Nacht’s current term ends on May 5, 2013, which makes the April 18 monthly board meeting his last one. Nacht had been a finalist to be appointed as one of two Washtenaw County representatives to the southeast Michigan regional transit authority (RTA) established by the state legislature in late 2012 during its lame duck session.

After a series of interviews of five candidates, he was a consensus choice to be one of the two representatives, but then-chair of the Washtenaw County board of commissioners, Conan Smith – who’s privilege it was to make the appointments – opted not to select Nacht. Smith announced on Dec. 31, 2012 that he’d appointed Richard “Murph” Murphy, a staffer with Michigan Suburbs Alliance – an organization that Smith leads – and Liz Gerber, a University of Michigan Ford School of Public Policy professor.

If confirmed at the city council’s May 6 meeting, Mahler would be appointed for a term on the AATA board starting May 6, 2013 lasting through May 5, 2018.

Mahler is currently an Ann Arbor city planning commissioner, near the end of his second three-year term, having first been appointed in 2007. At the city council’s April 15, 2013 meeting, Hieftje said that Mahler would serve through the end of his current planning commission term, which ends June 30, 2013.

This brief was filed several hours after the council’s meeting ended. A more detailed report will follow: [link]