Ward maps showing incumbents relative strength across precincts. The circles represent results of the absent voter count boards for each ward. (Image links to higher resolution file.)

In Ward 2, Stephen Rapundalo received 57% of the vote: 573 votes, compared with Tim Hull’s 420.

In Ward 3, Stephen Kunselman received 59% of the vote: 637 votes, compared to 389 for Ingrid Ault and 55 for Marwan Issa.

And in Ward 5, Mike Anglin received 66% of the votes: 1,088 votes, compared with Neal Elyakin’s 562.

Turnout was down in every ward compared to previous odd-year Democratic primaries. In Ward 2 only 6.39% of registered voters turned in a ballot. In Ward 3, only 8.84% of those who are registered actually voted. And in Ward 5, registered voters had a turnout of only 8.71%.

In the city’s other two wards, no Democratic primary was contested. No ward had a contested Republican primary.

In Ward 2, for the Nov. 8, 2011 general election, Rapundalo does not currently face a challenger. The deadline for an independent candidate to file is Aug. 15.

In Ward 3, Kunselman’s name will appear on the ballot along with Republican David Parker. In Ward 5, Mike Anglin will face Republican Stuart Berry.

In Ward 4, which did not require a primary election, incumbent Democrat Marcia Higgins will face Republican Eric Scheie in November. In Ward 1, incumbent Democrat Sabra Briere faced no primary challenger and will face no challenger on the ballot in November unless an independent files qualifying petitions by Aug. 15.

Ward 2: Rapundalo

Percentage-wise, Tim Hull had the strongest showing of challengers in the three contested wards, with 43% of the vote in Ward 2. Hull managed to carry precinct 2-5, with two-thirds of the vote. That precinct is home to Huron Hills golf course. Hull’s strong showing there suggests that voters may still be skeptical of Rapundalo’s commitment to preserving Huron Hills as a golf course.

For a table of results in Ward 2 by precinct, visit the Washtenaw County clerk’s website. Map A below shows Rapundalo’s relative strength by precinct. A darker (or “brighter”) shade of green indicates a higher percentage of the vote. Lighter (or “dimmer”) shades indicate a lower percentage of votes received by Rapundalo. The map shows that Rapundalo was strongest in the northern two precincts of the ward, which is consistent with his showing in past elections.

The circle indicates Rapundalo’s relative strength in the absent voter count boards, which were tallied separately from all in-person ballots. [Google Map of Ward 2 2011 Democratic Primary Results]

Map A. Ward 2 2011 Democratic primary results. The pushpin indicates Rapundalo's home. (Image links to higher resolution file.)

For a look at Rapundalo’s historical performance in Ward 2 city council races, see Chronicle coverage: “Ann Arbor Elections Past: Voting Patterns.”

Turnout in the last contested Democratic primary – a 2005 race between Rapundalo and Eugene Kang – was 7.35% (1,251 of 17,028 registered voters), compared with 6.39% this year (997 of 15,611 registered voters).

Rapundalo will be unopposed on the November ballot for Ward 2, unless an independent files by the Aug. 15 deadline.

Ward 3: Kunselman

In the Ward 3, three-way race, challenger Marwan Issa’s 5% of the total had relatively little impact on the overall outcome. That meant that Stephen Kunselman was able to record the largest statistical victory in his city council election career. His 59% gave him a majority of votes for the first time. In his previous two three-way race victories, the relatively even strength of the field had resulted in a victory for Kunselman, but with less than 50% of the vote.

For a table of results in Ward 3 by precinct, visit the Washtenaw County clerk’s website. Map B below shows Kunselman’s relative strength by precinct. A darker (or “brighter”) shade of purple indicates a higher percentage of the vote. Lighter (or “dimmer”) shades indicate a lower percentage of votes received by Kunselman.

The map shows that Kunselman was strong in every precinct of the ward, except for 3-3, which challenger Ingrid Ault was able to carry. That  is consistent with Kunselman’s showing in past elections.

The circle indicates Kunselman’s relative strength in the absent voter count boards, which were tallied separately from all in-person ballots. [ Google Map of Ward 3 2011 Democratic primary results]

Map B. Ward 3 2011 Democratic primary results. The pushpin indicates Kunselman's home. (Image links to higher resolution file)

For a look at Kunselman’s historical performance in Ward 3 city council races, see Chronicle coverage: “Ann Arbor Elections Past: Voting Patterns.”

Turnout in the last contested Democratic primary – the 2009 race between Kunselman, LuAnne Bullington and Leigh Greden – was 11.70% (1,415 of 12,093 registered voters), compared with 8.84% this year (1,081 of 12,223 registered voters).

Kunselman will face Republican David Parker on the November ballot for Ward 3.

Ward 5: Anglin

Mike Anglin was the strongest of the incumbents in the three wards, with 66% of the vote.

For a table of results in Ward 5 by precinct, visit the Washtenaw County clerk’s website. Map C below shows Anglin’s relative strength by precinct. A darker (or “brighter”) shade of blue indicates a higher percentage of the vote. Lighter (or “dimmer”) shades indicate a lower percentage of votes received by Anglin.

The map shows that Anglin was strong in every precinct of the ward, except for 5-7, which challenger Neal Elyakin was able to carry with 62.1% of the vote. That margin was diluted by the fact that only 29 people voted in the precinct. Anglin’s performance in 5-7 has shown an interesting pattern. In 2007, it was one of his weakest precincts, flipping to one of his strongest in 2009, and back to his weakest precinct in this year’s contest.

The circle indicates Anglin’s relative strength in the absent voter count boards, which were tallied separately from all in-person ballots. [Google Map of Ward 5 2011 Democratic primary results]

Map C. Ward 5 2011 Democratic primary results. The pushpin indicates the location of Anglin's home. (Image links to higher resolution file)

For a look at Anglin’s historical performance in Ward 5 city council races, see Chronicle coverage: “Ann Arbor Elections Past: Voting Patterns.”

Turnout in the last contested Democratic primary, the 2009 race between Anglin and Scott Rosencrans, was 10.84% (2010 of 18,538 registered voters), compared with 8.71% this year (1,652 of 18,963 registered voters).

Anglin will face Republican Stuart Berry on the November ballot for Ward 5.

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Stuart Berry received 2 votes – he was the only choice on the Republican side of the ballot.

File photo of sign marking a polling location.

For readers who are uncertain about which ward they live in or where their polling place is located, type in an address on the My Property page of the city of Ann Arbor’s website, and click on the Voter tab. Polls are open on Tuesday from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

In Ward 2, incumbent Stephen Rapundalo is challenged by Tim Hull. No Republican candidate filed for Ward 2. So unless an independent candidate submits qualifying petitions by Aug. 15, the only choice on the November ballot will be either Rapundalo or Hull.

In Ward 3, incumbent Stephen Kunselman faces challenges from Ingrid Ault and Marwan Issa. Whoever wins the three-way race will appear on the November ballot with Republican David Parker.

In Ward 5, incumbent Mike Anglin faces a challenge from Neal Elyakin. Either Anglin or Elyakin will appear on the November ballot alongside Republican Stuart Berry.

In Ward 1, incumbent Sabra Briere was not challenged for the Democratic nomination. So unless an independent candidate files by the Aug. 15 deadline, hers will be the only name on the ballot in November. In Ward 4, incumbent Marcia Higgins was not challenged for the Democratic nomination, but will appear on the November ballot alongside Republican Eric Scheie.

Chronicle coverage of the Democratic city council primaries includes two candidate forums per ward, plus an analysis of each incumbent’s past election performance, broken down by precinct, as well as a statistical and geographic overview of campaign contributions.

After the jump, we provide individual links to previous Chronicle coverage of the candidates and other election-related articles.

Ward 2

Ann Arbor Dems Primary: Two for Ward 2 – summary of remarks by Stephen Rapundalo and Tim Hull at a July 13 forum sponsored by the local League of Women Voters.

Ann Arbor Ward 2: Democratic Primary 2011 – summary of remarks made by Stephen Rapundalo and Tim Hull at a June 11 Ann Arbor Democratic Party event hosted at the Ann Arbor Community Center on North Main Street.

Campaign websites: Stephen Rapundalo, Tim Hull

Ward 3

Ann Arbor Dems Primary: Three for Ward 3 – summary of remarks by Stephen Kunselman, Ingrid Ault and Marwan Issa at a July 12 town-hall style meeting at the Malletts Creek branch of the Ann Arbor District Library.

Ann Arbor Ward 3: Democratic Primary 2011 – summary of remarks by Stephen Kunselman, Ingrid Ault and Marwan Issa at a June 11 Ann Arbor Democratic Party event hosted at the Ann Arbor Community Center on North Main Street.

Campaign websites: Stephen Kunselman, Ingrid Ault, Marwan Issa

Ward 5

Ann Arbor Ward 5 Dems in 100 (Or So) Words – summary of remarks by Mike Anglin and Neal Elyakin at a July 13 forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters.

Ann Arbor Ward 5: Democratic Primary 2011 – summary of remarks by Mike Anglin and Neal Elyakin at a June 11 Ann Arbor Democratic Party event hosted at the Ann Arbor Community Center on North Main Street.

Campaign websites: Mike Anglin, Neal Elyakin

All Wards

Ann Arbor Elections Past: Voting Patterns – a compilation of maps breaking down the performance of incumbents Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2), Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) and Mike Anglin (Ward 5) in their past city council elections.

Democratic Primary 2011: Mapping Money – a statistical overview of contributions to candidate’s campaigns and maps plotting out where the contributions came from.

The Chronicle relies in part on regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of elections to public bodies like the Ann Arbor city council. Click this link for details: Subscribe to The Chronicle. And if you’re already supporting us, please encourage your friends, neighbors and colleagues to help support The Chronicle, too!

Top: Stephen Rapundalo. Bottom: Tim Hull. (Photos by the writer)

Because no Republican challenger filed by the May deadline, the winner of the Ward 2 Democratic primary will likely be the Ward 2 representative to the city council. Some uncertainty surrounds that conclusion, however, because the filing deadline for non-partisan, independent candidates is not until Aug. 15. And Ward 2 has a recent election history that includes write-in candidate Ed Amonsen’s effort in the 2007 general election, which nearly won him a seat on the council. Amonsen’s write-in campaign earned him 790 votes (48.4%) to Rapundalo’s 843.

In their opening and closing statements, the candidates reprised the themes they’d introduced at a previous forum hosted by the Ann Arbor Democratic Party in June. Rapundalo stressed his experience and leadership as essential in trying economic times to find solutions in the area of cost containment and “revenue restructuring.” Rapundalo is president and CEO of MichBio, a biosciences industry trade association. First elected in 2005, Rapundalo is seeking a fourth two-year term on the city council.

For his part, Hull focused on budgeting that is based on community needs, not politics, and stressed that he would protect those things that make Ann Arbor unique. Hull is a programmer at the University of Michigan’s Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics. He serves as a member of the city’s taxicab board.

The two candidates dealt with the full range of topics covered by LWV questions – from public safety cuts to their thoughts on the hiring of the new city administrator.

The LWV forum was filmed at the Community Television Network studios on South Industrial Highway. After the break, The Chronicle presents paraphrases of questions posed to the candidates and their responses to them, as well as some highlights from the candidates’ remarks broken down in a bit more detail.

Do You Golf?

As put forward by the LWV moderator, the topic of the city’s parks included a specific question: Are city parks to be parks in perpetuity, or are they available for sale and lease?

Stephen Rapundalo was first to field that topic, and did so with a laugh: “That’s a loaded question!” Given the history of Ward 2 politics, Rapundalo’s assessment of the question was understandable.

That Ward 2 history also accounts for  the explicit and implicit emphasis in Tim Hull’s responses on the preservation of Huron Hills as a golf course. Hull’s general campaign talk (at the LWV event, as well as at a previous Ann Arbor Democratic Party event in June) includes his commitment to that which gives Ann Arbor it’s unique character – its neighborhoods, its parks and its natural beauty. That can be understood as an implicit version of the explicit statement he also makes as part of his campaign: He’s committed to preserving Huron Hills as a golf course.

In 2007, the perception among some Ward 2 residents that Rapundalo and other members of the council might be willing to sell either Huron Hills or the Leslie Park golf course nearly led to a loss by Rapundalo in the general election – against a write-in candidate. Ed Amonsen received 48% of votes, with Rapundalo avoiding defeat only through a decisive majority in his own neighborhood. That year, Amonsen’s nearly-successful write-in campaign was based in part on the fact that the city had hired a consultant to evaluate the city’s two golf courses, and one of the possibilities floated by the consultant was to sell one or both of the courses.

[The context of that year's Ward 2 election results is included in a recent Chronicle article, "Ann Arbor Elections Past: Voting Patterns." An understanding of  the geography of the ward and the golf courses as well as the result of the Rapundalo-Amonsen election can be gained from a Google Map of those election results.]

In an attempt to counter the perception that the sale of the courses was a realistic possibility, just before the election in late October of 2007 the city council passed a resolution asserting that “all the properties commonly known as the Leslie Park and/or Huron Hills Golf Courses will not be sold either in whole or in part for private development …”  The resolution approved by the council that year also included in a “whereas” clause the assertion that [emphasis added], “Some residents continue to misrepresent the facts and insist that a sale of golf course properties is imminent …” [.pdf of October 2007 city council resolution]

Accusations that people were misrepresenting facts on that issue continued the next year as part of the 2008 Democratic primary between Stew Nelson and Tony Derezinski. They were contesting the Ward 2 seat left open by Joan Lowenstein, who chose not to see re-election on the council. In an interview a few weeks after the August 2008 primary, which Derezinski won, Nelson described an off-camera Ward 2 candidate forum where mayor John Hieftje (not a Ward 2 resident) stood up and leveled an accusation at Nelson that Nelson had been misrepresenting facts:

… and somebody asked me a question – they asked me about the problem when the City was trying to sell part of Huron Hills Golf Course. And I gave them an answer, and I said, Yeah, I was very active in that. I said, I used to ride my horse over there on that property. …

I gave my explanation, and the mayor stood up and here’s what he said. And I’m going to quote the mayor. We thought he was going to ask a question. Folks, he said, I have been listening to this and I just have to say that what I have heard, the only word that I can use to describe it is, it’s a crock. And I thought, Well, okay. And he looked at me, and he said, Stew, you’re a smart guy, why do you continue to spread falsehoods? Well, there’s 40 people there in the room, and I used my best airline pilot cool, pretended like I had an engine failure …

… So I used my airline pilot cool and I just sort of sat there and smiled and listened. And once the mayor stopped beating up on me, then Derezinski got a little nasty, and then the moderator said, I thought he was asking a question, I probably should’ve slammed the gavel down on him. But he didn’t. Then they said maybe we better give Stew a chance to respond. …

And so I said, Mayor, we are going to disagree on this, but I have an aerial photograph that shows parcels of Huron Hills for sale, that we got from the City. I said, I have a copy of the appraisal that you had for the land appraised back there for sale. I have e-mails from Matt Warba, who is the head of golf courses, to Karla Henderson, who is second in command of Public Services, talking about the appraisal, and the sale of parts of land back there. And then when the golf course consultant was studying uses of that land there, we asked that they take off for consideration the sale of any land. And you and Councilmember Rapundalo adamantly refused to take it off.

And I said, What am I to assume? And I walked out the door.

In late 2010, the city ended an RFP process that had asked outside entities to handle golf operations at Huron Hills, ultimately deciding that the proposal selected as a finalist, from Miles of Golf, not be pursued further. In broad strokes, the city’s two golf courses have been performing somewhat better than projected over the last couple of years, based on implementation of a range of recommendations made by the golf consultant dating back to 2007. According to the city, the courses are not self-sustaining at this point.

Letters of support for Hull in this campaign imply that Rapundalo continues to be perceived by some residents as not committed strongly enough to the future of Huron Hills and Leslie Park as golf courses, despite serving on the committee that rejected the Miles of Golf proposal for further consideration.

What Is Your Experience?

Rapundalo has made his experience and his record of service a theme of his campaign. He can count his current service on council committees like the liquor license review committee, the budget committee, and the labor committee as examples, as well as past service as chair of the city’s park advisory commission before he was elected to the city council.

For his part, Hull is relatively new to public service, but does have the start of a record. His mayoral nomination to the city’s taxicab board came at the Oct. 4, 2010 city council meeting. Before that he had addressed the council and the board of the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority during public commentary time on a range of topics, including the need to hold the AATA more accountable. Hull cites his taxicab board experience on his campaign website, but didn’t make it a point of emphasis at the Ann Arbor Democratic Party candidate forum or at the LWV event.

Opening Statements

Each candidate was given a chance to make an opening statement.

Rapundalo’s Opening

Rapundalo thanked the league for the opportunity to speak. In making the case for himself, he stated: “Experience matters, as does leadership.” He argued that in the face of challenging economic times those are two key attributes. He said he’d been forging solutions to real problems for the last five years, and that he’d been doing so in a reasonable and disciplined manner. The key issues that he wants to continue to focus on relate to fiscal responsibility – cost containment and revenue restructuring.

[By "revenue restructuring," Rapundalo was referring implicitly to a city income tax. That's an idea that has surfaced from time to time, as recently as the city council's budget retreats in late 2010 and early 2011. See Chronicle coverage: "Engaging the FY 2012 Budget"]

He cited the importance of gaining concessions from labor unions on health care and retirement benefits for cost containment. He also said he wanted to work on delivery of better services. He concluded by saying he wanted to focus on economic development and smart growth.

Hull’s Opening

Hull began by saying that Ann Arbor is a great place to live. He said he wants to continue to improve the level of services and to focus on the things that matter most – public safety is not something to be sacrificed, he said. Budget priorities should be based on community needs, not politics. The possibility of short-term economic growth shouldn’t cause us to sacrifice Ann Arbor’s unique character, he said, and that can be seen in Ann Arbor’s neighborhoods, parks and natural beauty. Hull said he would fight to preserve what makes Ann Arbor unique. He said that at times the council is too caught up in politics to respond to the needs of the community, but that doesn’t have to be the case. He promised to be responsive to residents’ concerns.

How would you improve communication?

Question: [The LWV moderator referred to an article reporting that most Ann Arborites are still not following a new city ordinance that mandates stopping at crosswalks when pedestrians are present.] Taking this only as an example, would you please explain how the population is to know what laws have been passed or changed or what decisions have been made, without communication from the city to its citizens? What will you, as a member of the Ann Arbor city council, do to improve this?

By way of additional background, the pedestrian ordinance in question was given final approval at the council’s July 19, 2010 meeting. A further revision to the new ordinance was prompted on that evening of deliberations by a suggestion from Marcia Higgins (Ward 4). She suggested replacing somewhat vague language (“yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield,”) with the clearer directive to motorists to “stop and yield.”

Pedestrian safety traffic controls have been an ongoing issue at one intersection located in Ward 5, at Seventh and Washington streets. Upon installation of a traffic island and sign, motorists initially tended to drive right over the island and the sign. In recent months, reports of the sign’s recurring demise have ceased.

In Ward 2, a crosswalk issue was raised by resident Kathy Griswold over the period of a year starting in the fall of 2009 – she unsuccessfully lobbied the council and Rapundalo as Ward 2 representative to move the mid-block crosswalk in front of King Elementary School to the end of the block, where cars must already stop for the 4-way stop intersection.

Hull on Communication

Hull said engaging constituents regularly is important – through newsletters, public forums with councilmembers, advertising campaigns. The city should make use of the Internet, and perhaps revamp the city’s website. Community engagement is key, he said, and the connection between councilmembers and constituents is important.

Rapundalo on Communication

Rapundalo said the crosswalk ordinance is an interesting example, because he was driving the previous day down Plymouth Road, and noticed that some of the new crosswalks don’t have signage that says, “Stop for Pedestrians.” So the first step, he said, is to make sure that all the crosswalks have appropriate signage making it clear to drivers that they’re supposed to stop at those crosswalks for pedestrians.

He said that as Hull had pointed out, the city needs to engage the public better. The city’s already award-winning website could be improved. Engaging residents at the neighborhood level at association meetings is important, he said. Finding a means to get the information out through social media and other technology-based approaches is important, too, but it starts with the physical signage, he concluded.

City Parkland

Question: As a member of the Ann Arbor city council, how would you view and manage parkland? Are parks available for lease or sale as needed? Also, what are your thoughts on the quality of park safety and maintenance? How important is that, and whose responsibility is it?

Rapundalo on Parks

Rapundalo responded to the question with a laugh, saying, “Well, that’s a loaded question!” He stated that the fact of the matter is that the state statute and city ordinance are clear: parkland can’t be sold without putting it to a vote of the electorate. He said he didn’t think any current or future councilmember would contemplate doing that, especially for any of the city’s major parks. Parks are there for many generations to come. The issue of park maintenance is complex, he said, and that’s rooted deeply in the budget. But it starts with priorities – the council, the staff and the public need to decide what are the most important aspects of the park system to maintain.

Hull on Parks

Hull said he thinks parkland is public land that belongs to the public. It should not be sold or leased long-term without the consent of the voters. It’s definitely important to see what voters want from parks and to look at budget priorities. He called for taking a holistic approach and seeing where the parks fit into that. [The reference to long-term leases is likely an allusion to the proposed Fuller Road Station – the topic of the next question.]

Fuller Road Station

Question: Some very well-situated Ann Arbor parkland is being considered for the Fuller Road Station, which right now looks to be a very large parking structure on Fuller Road. The primary occupier of the proposed space is the University of Michigan. Please explain the current status of the Fuller Road Station project to our viewers and your arguments for or against its continued development.

By way of additional background, the introduction of the Fuller Road Station concept to the public can be traced at least as far back as January 2009, when the city’s transportation program manager, Eli Cooper, presented a concept drawing at a meeting of neighbors at Northside Grill. At the time, the city was trying to encourage the University of Michigan to reconsider its plans to build parking structures on Wall Street.

The city’s strategy was to get the university to consider building its planned parking structures on the city-owned parking lot, just south of Fuller Road, near the intersection with East Medical Center Drive. It would allow the university to participate in the city’s hoped-for transit station at that location. The university has leased that parking lot from the city since 1993.

The transit station is envisioned as directly serving east-west commuter rail passengers. A day-trip demonstration service that was to launch in October 2010 never materialized. But a recent announcement earlier this year, that some federal support for high-speed rail track improvements would be forthcoming, has shored up hopes by many people in the community that the east-west rail connection could become a reality.

The council has already approved some expenditures directly related to the project. It voted unanimously on Aug. 17, 2009 to approve $213,984 of city funds for an environmental study and site assessment. Of that amount, $104,742 was appropriated from the economic development fund.

On Nov. 5, 2009, on separate votes, the council approved additional money for the environmental study and site assessment and to authorize a memorandum of understanding with the University of Michigan.

The controversy on the project involves the status of the land where the proposed Fuller Road Station would be located. It’s designated as parkland, but formally zoned as public land (PL). In the summer of 2010, the possible uses for land zoned as PL were altered by the council, on recommendation from the city planning commission, explicitly to include transportation facilities. Any long-term use agreement with the university is seen by many as tantamount to a sale of parkland. A sale should, per the city charter, be put to a vote of the people.

The city’s park advisory commission has expressed some objections to the project, and has asked that the advisory body be kept informed as the project moves along.

Hull on Fuller Road Station

Hull described the project as a kind of a partnership between Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan – the city is paying 22% and UM is paying 78%, based on the split of the parking spaces to which each entity will have access. Phase 2 is supposed to be a transit hub with trains. But it is parkland, even though it’s been a parking lot for a while. The parking lot arrangement was intended to be temporary.

Hull said he thinks it needs a public vote. Also from a cost-benefit analysis, what benefit does Ann Arbor get from it? He also wondered about the likelihood of the trains starting expanded service using the station. He described himself as somewhat skeptical – he didn’t want to rush into it, without doing due diligence and getting public feedback.

Rapundalo on Fuller Road Station

Rapundalo noted, as Hull had pointed out, the land has been used as a parking lot and involved a land swap with the University of Michigan “way back when.” The whole discussion about a transit hub has been ongoing, he said, for a couple of years, and has not emerged just in recent months. There’s quite a bit of discussion that’s gone into it, he said.

A multimodal transportation hub is important for Ann Arbor’s future, Rapundalo said. That coincides with an image of Ann Arbor as a progressive city. We need to be able to move people around, particularly in proximity to the largest employer that the city has, he said, referring to the university and its large medical complex near Fuller Road. There’s already funding in place at the federal level, he contended, for many stages of the project and it “should be a go.”

Public Safety

Question: Budget cuts have also led to cuts in public safety – police and firefighters. How is tolerable risk determined? How can voters feel confident that their taxes are taking care of them, their children and their property?

Rapundalo on Public Safety

Rapundalo said that every member of council puts public safety as a highest priority. The question is how the city should deliver public safety services – do they have to continue with past service models or can they do it with other creative ways, where the same level of service can be provided more efficiently with less personnel?

Rapundalo said that despite budget cuts, the number of street cops has been maintained, so people should feel secure that the city is doing everything it can to ensure that they are safe. However, he said that costs have to be cut in all departments and not just in non-public safety departments. There is no more fat to cut, and public safety is 51% of the budget – and most of that 51% is personnel, he said.

Hull on Public Safety

Hull said the city needs to have a discussion about staffing levels. The police chief and the fire chief need to be active in that discussion. He said we can look at it in a better way. We need to take a broader view. There are so-called buckets, he said, and we need to look at which buckets can be changed in order to free up funds. We need to look at creative solutions working with the unions to reduce costs, he said.

Why you?

Question: What qualities and accomplishments make you the better councilmember for Ward 2? You’re running against an incumbent (or as an incumbent). Why have you chosen to do that? What advantages would you bring?

Hull on why he’s running

Hull said obviously there’s an incumbent. Even though people might be from same party, they might have a different perspective, or have different views. He’s running because he feels like he offers a different, fresh perspective for voters. He wants to be more active in seeking community input and looking to what the community wants. He said he would think outside box, and not get stuck in the council’s current way of thinking.

Rapundalo on why he’s running

Rapundalo came back to his remarks made in his opening statement – it comes down to experience and leadership. He described the breadth of his professional career and the kind of managerial skills he could bring and the kind of knowledge he’s accumulated over the years. He pointed to his service as past president of a neighborhood association, past chair of the of city’s park advisory commission, current chair of the city council’s labor committee. He concluded that the breadth and depth of his background is superior to Hull’s and is best suited to bring his skills to bear on the challenges that continue to face the city.

New City Administrator

Question: The city is hiring a new city administrator. The two finalists are two non-local candidates. Have you met them? Do you have a favorite? What difficulties will they face?

By way of additional background, the city council voted at its July 18, 2011 meeting to offer the position to Steve Powers, currently county administrator for Marquette County, Michigan.

Rapundalo on the New City Administrator

Rapundalo said he’d met both candidates – he participated in both sets of interviews that had concluded earlier that day. He described them both as competent and said they could both fulfill the role. At the work session following the interviews, he said, the councilmembers had highlighted strengths for both candidates – it’s a question of fit with the city’s sense of values, he said. There’s a frontrunner in his mind, but he would continue to ponder the choice.

Rapundalo on the New City Administrator

Hull said it’s definitely an important thing to think about – the city has to replace the outgoing city administrator. He had some concerns about the process, he said. The city brought in an outside search firm. People have cited issues with that search firm’s previous experience. He felt that maybe we should think about how that process was selected. We need to consider the candidates who are the finalists, but Hull wondered if the search firm could have produced a better candidate? The city has have gone through searches before and abandoned them when they don’t like the candidates.

What are the strengths and challenges of Ward 2?

Question: What challenges do you see as unique to the Second Ward? How do you propose to address them in the primary and general election campaigns, and then later as a member of the city council?

Hull on Ward 2 Specifics

Hull said there are a lot of issues. Some are shared across the city – like public safety. Others are more pertinent to Ward 2. Fuller Road Station may not be fully in Ward 2 – it’s right on the edge of Wards 1 and 2. Huron Hills golf course is right in the heart of Ward 2, he said, and that golf course is important to many people. He said he wanted to make sure it stays a golf course for public use. Ward 2 is quite diverse, with residents ranging from students to retirees. There’s dense housing and less-dense housing. He said he’d been talking to lots of people and getting different perspectives.

Rapundalo on Ward 2 Specifics

Rapundalo said that going back to when he was president of the Orchard Hills/Maplewood Homeowners Association for 10 years, in some respects not much has changed. [Rapundalo's immediate neighborhood has been crucial to his success in past elections.] Some issues will always be there. As Hull pointed out, Rapundalo said, the ward has some unique assets.

Rapundalo said he was in favor of preserving Huron Hills as a golf course, but no matter what, it will always be open space. The ward’s other big asset is the former Pfizer site – that’s two million square feet of real estate, which the university bought and is starting to re-populate. There’s opportunity for economic growth there, he said, particularly with the inclusion of private companies in an entrepreneurial environment. As that happens, he said, the traditional issues of traffic flow and neighborhood stability will arise.

Closing Statements

Each candidate was given the opportunity to make a closing statement.

Hull’s Closing

Hull told the audience he hoped the forum had given them a chance to get to know him better. Even though the economic times may be tough, we can weather the storm together, he said. Difficult budget decisions will be less painful, if we adequately prioritize what’s most important for the community.

As a councilmember, Hull said he’d work diligently to make sure that residents’ interests are represented in city decision-making. He said he’d work to protect Ann Arbor’s unique character – neighborhoods, parks and a sense of community. He allowed that he might be young, but contended that he has the resolve and dedication to work on the issues that matter to voters, so that Ann Arbor continues to be a great place to live.

Rapundalo’s Closing

Rapundalo returned to his earlier points on experience and leadership. He said his five years on the city council and his professional career have allowed him to bring a breadth and depth of skill sets that are needed at the council table. He said he’d assumed leadership roles on a number of issues and he would continue to do that. Given the number of issues facing the city, this is not the time to be facing a steep learning curve, Rapundalo said. He added that he’s a good listener and seeks input from all stakeholders.

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Summary plot of all local contributions to six candidates in Ann Arbor Democratic primary elections. The light blue areas are the wards in which the elections are contested. Each magenta circle indicates a contribution, placed on the map based on the address of the contributor and sized based on the amount of the contribution.

Six candidates filed the necessary paperwork, which is available from the Washtenaw County clerk’s office website. [Type in the candidate's last name for links to scanned .pdf files of campaign finance reports.]

For itemized cash contributions listed on Schedule 1-A, The Chronicle has compiled the data for all six candidates into a single Google Spreadsheet – in order to get a statistical overview of the candidates’ respective contributions and to map out the distributions of contributions geographically.

Ward 5 incumbent Mike Anglin’s total of $6,850 was the largest of any candidate. His challenger Neal Elyakin filed $5,923 worth of contributions.

In Ward 3, Ingrid Ault has raised $4,031, compared to incumbent Stephen Kunselman’s $2,750. According to Washtenaw County clerk staff on Tuesday morning, Ward 3 candidate Marwan Issa had not filed a contribution report by the Friday deadline. He’d also not submitted a waiver that can be filed if contributions total less than $1,000. The fine associated with not filing is $25 per day, up to a maximum of $500.

In Ward 2, incumbent Stephen Rapundalo filed $2,950 worth of contributions compared with $2,075 for challenger Tim Hull.

Collectively, the six candidates recorded $24,579 on their statements.

After the jump, we chart out the contributions to illustrate how candidates are being supported – through many small-sized donations, or by a fewer larger-sized donations. We also provide a geographic plot, to illustrate how much financial support candidates enjoy in the wards they’re running to represent.

Statistical Overview

Comparing the dollar-amount distribution of campaign contributions, incumbents Mike Anglin (Ward 5) and Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) show a similar pattern. Both candidates draw much of their support from contributions that are $50 or less. Anglin’s contributions show this more dramatically, with the $0-25 category receiving the most contributions of any category. All other candidates received the most contributions in the $51-100 category.

It is also striking that Anglin’s 91 contributions are nearly double the number of contributions of challenger Neal Elyakin and around triple (or more) the number of contributions of candidates in other wards.

Mike Anglin (Ward 5) received 91 contributions, averaging $75. Around half were $50 or less.

Neal Elyakin (Ward 5) received 48 contributions, averaging $123. About half were $100 or more.

Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) received 27 contributions, averaging $102. About half were $50 or less.

Ingrid Ault (Ward 3) received 35 contributions, averaging $115. About half were $100 or more.

Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2) received 21 contributions, averaging $140. About half were $100 or more.

Tim Hull (Ward 2) received 14 contributions averaging $148. About half were $100 or more.

Mapping

In each of the maps presented below, the magenta circles are centered on the address of a contributor. The size of the circle is proportional to the size of the contribution. The yellow border is the Ann Arbor city limit. The light blue area is the ward for which the candidate is seeking election.

The handful of addresses recorded as post office boxes were mapped to the center of the city – we did not attempt to identify a more precise location. The mapping of addresses to coordinates and the data plotting was done with GPS Visualizer. [Editor's note: GPS Visualizer depends in part on voluntary contributions to maintain the mapping tools as freely accessible and to make improvements to those tools. The Chronicle encourages its readers to support GPS Visualizer.]

Contributions from non-Ann Arbor addresses (typically from family members or business associates) are not depicted in the maps. We summarize non-Ann Arbor totals in the captions to each map. Incumbent Stephen Rapundalo in Ward 2 and challenger Neal Elyakin in Ward 5 each drew a bit more than one-third of their dollars from non-Ann Arbor addresses.

In terms of the amount of support within the ward to be represented, the mapped data shows that Ward 5 incumbent Mike Anglin enjoys more support inside his own ward than any other candidate. But he also has support throughout the city. In terms of relative amount of support inside the home ward compared with outside it, Ward 2′s Tim Hull appears to have an edge over other candidates.

Mike Anglin (Ward 5) 2011 Democratic primary campaign contribution plot. Of Anglin's $6,850 contribution total, $250 came from non-Ann Arbor addresses.

Neal Elyakin (Ward 5) 2011 Democratic primary campaign contribution plot. Of Elyakin's $5,923 contribution total, $2,250 came from non-Ann Arbor addresses.

Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) 2011 Democratic primary campaign contribution plot. Of Kunselman's $2,750 contribution total, $200 came from non-Ann Arbor addresses.

Ingrid Ault (Ward 3) 2011 Democratic primary campaign contribution plot. Of Ault's $4,031 contribution total, $686 came from non-Ann Arbor addresses.

Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2) 2011 Democratic primary campaign contribution plot. Of Rapundalo's $2,950 contribution total, $1,000 came from non-Ann Arbor addresses.

Tim Hull (Ward 2) 2011 Democratic primary campaign contribution plot. Of Hull's $2,075 contribution total, $150 came from non-Ann Arbor addresses.

The Chronicle relies in part on regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of elections to public bodies like the Ann Arbor city council. Click this link for details: Subscribe to The Chronicle. And if you’re already supporting us, please encourage your friends, neighbors and colleagues to help support The Chronicle, too!

Primary elections in the city of Ann Arbor this year fall on Tues. Aug. 2.

Ann Arbor residents are represented by the mayor and 10 other elected members on the city council – two for each of the city’s five wards. Each year, one of the pair of councilmembers stands for re-election to a two-year term. This year, three members of the currently all-Democratic council have contested races in the primary, which falls on Tuesday, Aug. 2.

In Ward 5, incumbent Mike Anglin is challenged by Neal Elyakin. In Ward 3, incumbent Stephen Kunselman is challenged by Marwan Issa and Ingrid Ault. And in Ward 2, incumbent Stephen Rapundalo is challenged by Tim Hull.

Each of the city’s five wards is divided into precincts.

In this article, The Chronicle takes a look at the incumbents’ performance in past elections, mapped out by precinct. Some descriptive generalizations are readily apparent in the data – the strength of incumbents has not been uniform across their respective wards.

And in some cases, it’s possible to offer a speculative analysis that could account for some of those patterns.

Ward 5

Ann Arbor’s Ward 5 covers the central, western part of the city.

Ward 5: August 2009 – Anglin, Rosencrans

Map A shows results for the 2009 Democratic primary election for Ward 5 between incumbent Mike Anglin and challenger Scott Rosencrans. [Washtenaw County clerk's office results] Anglin successfully defended his seat, winning the election with 65% of the vote (1,301 votes to 694). This map plots Anglin’s relative success in the 11 precincts of Ward 5. The pushpins indicate where each candidate lives, and the black lines mark the individual precinct boundaries of the ward.

Map A. Anglin-Rosencrans 2009 (Image links to dynamic Google Map)

The shade of blue corresponds to Anglin’s relative success in a precinct. A darker shade of blue means Anglin received a higher percentage of votes in that precinct. For example, Anglin performed strongest in precinct 5-10, located in the northwestern corner of the ward, where he received 78.9% of votes. So 5-10 is the darkest shade of blue on the map. For those lighter blue parts of the map, Anglin received a lower percentage of votes. He was least strong in precinct 5-8, receiving 52.5% of votes. So precinct 5-8, located directly below 5-10 in the western part of the ward, is the lightest shade of all the precincts.

Ward 5: August 2007 – Anglin, Woods

In the 2009 election, Mike Anglin was defending his seat on the council. But two years earlier in 2007, he was the challenger to Wendy Woods, who had been serving Ward 5 since 2001. Map B shows results for the 2007 Democratic primary election for Ward 5 between Anglin and Woods. Anglin defeated the incumbent, winning the election with 60% of the vote (989 votes to 671). [Washtenaw County clerk's office results] Like Map A, this map plots Anglin’s relative success in the 11 precincts of Ward 5. The pushpins indicate where each candidate lives, and the black lines mark the individual precinct boundaries of the ward.

Map B. Anglin-Woods 2007 (Image links to dynamic Google Map)

In the 2007 Democratic primary, Anglin performed strongest in precinct 5-2, the precinct in which he lives, receiving 66.9% of votes. So 5-2 is the darkest shade of blue on the map. He was weakest in precinct 5-7, receiving 21% of votes. Precinct 5-7, farthest south, is the lightest of all the precincts.

Ward 5: Descriptive Generalizations

In comparing the two elections, Anglin was not consistently strongest or weakest in the same precincts. For example, in the 2009 election against Rosencrans, Anglin won 78.9% of the vote in precinct 5-10, making it his strongest precinct. But two years earlier, against Wendy Woods, 5-10 was his second-weakest precinct, after 5-7. In fact Anglin lost precinct 5-10 against Woods, garnering only 44.6% of the vote.

Even though 5-7 was Anglin’s weakest precinct against Woods (21%), it was one of his three strongest precincts against Rosencrans. The relatively low total number of votes in that precinct (29 in 2007 and 50 in 2009) means definitive conclusions about reasons for the flip are difficult. But City-Data.com shows one-third of residents of that area of the city to be African American, compared with 6.5% citywide. To the extent that African American neighborhoods might tend to support an African American candidate, like Woods, her strong showing there could partly be explained.

In the 2009 contest against Rosencrans, the flip of 5-7 to one of Anglin’s strongest precincts could be accounted for by the overlap of an active neighborhood association with the precinct – Friends of Dicken Woods. The leadership of the association includes Jack Eaton, who supported Anglin’s campaign.

Where each candidate lived had a discernable impact in some cases, but did not seem to be a key factor determining the outcome of the election. In 2007, Anglin did fare best in his home precinct, receiving 66.9% of votes. But Anglin’s performance was about as strong in many other precincts. For example, he received 66% of the vote in precinct 5-11.

Anglin’s opponents also did not appear to enjoy enough of an advantage in their home precincts to have a clear effect on election results. In 2009, Anglin was weakest in precinct 5-8, where his opponent Scott Rosencrans lived – but Anglin still carried that precinct with 52.5% of the vote. And in 2007, one of Anglin’s strongest precincts was the home precinct of his opponent, Wendy Woods – in 5-5 Anglin received 63% of the vote.

Ward 3

Ann Arbor’s Ward 3 covers a wedge of the city starting near the center and widening out towards the southeast.

Ward 3: August 2009 – Kunselman, Bullington, Greden

Map C shows results for the 2009 Democratic primary election for Ward 3, contested by Stephen Kunselman, LuAnne Bullington, and incumbent Leigh Greden. At that time Kunselman had served on city council from 2006-2008, before Christopher Taylor defeated him in the 2008 Democratic primary.

Map C. Kunselman-Bullington-Greden 2009 (Image links to dynamic Google Map)

In 2009, Kunselman narrowly won back his seat, winning 511 votes (36.45%) to Greden’s 505 and Bullington’s 382. [Washtenaw County clerk's office results] The map plots Kunselman’s relative success in the nine precincts of Ward 3.  The pushpins indicate where each candidate lives, and the black lines mark the individual precinct boundaries of the ward.

The shade of purple corresponds to Kunselman’s relative success in a precinct. A darker shade of purple means Kunselman received a higher percentage of votes in that precinct. For example, Kunselman performed best in precincts 3-1 and 3-2, the two side-by-side precincts in the northwestern tip of the ward. Kunselman received 66% of the vote in the two precincts combined. [Note: Because the two precincts were recorded and reported together, the same percentage is assigned to both precincts.]

So precincts 3-1 and 3-2 are the darkest shades of purple on the map. For those lighter purple parts of the map, Kunselman received a lower percentage of votes. He performed weakest in precinct 3-3, receiving 27% of votes. So precinct 3-3, the precinct where LuAnne Bullington lives, is the lightest of all the precincts.

Ward 3:  August 2008 – Kunselman, Taylor

In the August 2008 Democratic primary, Kunselman was challenged and defeated by Christopher Taylor, receiving only 805 votes (36.7%) to 1,387 for Taylor. [Washtenaw County clerk's office results] Map D shows results for the 2008 Democratic primary between Kunselman and Taylor.

Map D. Kunselman-Taylor 2008 (Image links to dynamic Google Map)

Like Map C, the shade of purple corresponds to Kunselman’s relative success in a precinct. A darker shade of purple means Kunselman received a higher percentage of votes in that precinct. So the darkest shade of purple on the map is in Kunselman’s home precinct, 3-6, where he received 57% of the vote. Other precincts in the southeastern end of the ward are also relatively darkly shaded. Kunselman received 55% of the vote in 3-5 and 52% in 3-9.

The map shows the lightest shades of purple in precincts 3-3 and 3-4, where Kunselman polled only 19% and 25%, respectively.

Ward 3: August 2006 – Kunselman, Ralph, Meyers

Map E shows results for the 2006 Democratic primary election in Ward 3 between Stephen Kunselman, Alice Ralph, and Jeff Meyers. Kunselman narrowly won the three-way race, getting 663 votes (36.8%) to Ralph’s 634 and Meyers’ 505. [Washtenaw County clerk's office results] The three were contesting the seat left open by Jean Carlberg, who decided not to seek another term.

Map E. Kunselman-Ralph-Meyers 2006 (Image links to dynamic Google Map)

Like Maps C and D, the shade of purple corresponds to Kunselman’s relative success in a precinct. A darker shade of purple means Kunselman received a higher percentage of votes in that precinct. Kunselman was strongest in precinct 3-6, his home precinct, receiving 54.9% of the vote. So precinct 3-6 is the darkest shade of purple on the map. He performed the weakest in precinct 3-3, receiving 20.7% of votes. So precinct 3-3, the precinct where both Alice Ralph and Jeff Meyers live, is the lightest of all the precincts.

Ward 3: Descriptive Generalizations

In comparing the three elections, Kunselman’s weakest precinct was consistently 3-3. In every election, precinct 3-3 was home to at least one of Kunselman’s opponents – in 2006, both opponents lived in 3-3. That may help to explain Kunselman’s weak performance in that precinct.

Kunselman’s very strongest precinct has varied. In the combined results of 3-1 and 3-2 in 2009, Kunselman polled 66%. Even though those two precincts combined offered only 68 total votes, the election was decided by just 6 votes. So the strength of his showing there, in predominantly student districts, may have been decisive in his victory.

Consistently strong for Kunselman has been his home precinct of 3-6. He’s carried the 3-6 precinct in all three elections, even in 2008, when he lost 3-3 with only 19% of the vote (in a two-person race) in that precinct.

The contrast between 3-6 and 3-3 is likely not just a matter of their geographic proximity to Kunselman and his opponents’  home neighborhoods. According to City-Data.com, the median household income in 2009 for the North Burns Park chunk of precinct 3-3 was $109,000, and for another chunk of it, south of Burns Park, the median household income that year was $91,000. In contrast, precinct 3-6 includes large blocks where the 2009 median household income ranges between $40,000-$55,000.

In this year’s candidate forums, Kunselman has spoken as a point of emphasis about his support throughout the entire ward.

Ward 2

Ann Arbor’s Ward 2 covers the northeast part of the city.

Ward 2: November 2007 – Rapundalo, Amonsen

The most recent Ward 2 election in which incumbent Stephen Rapundalo was challenged took place in the general election of 2007 – he wasn’t challenged in the Democratic primary that year, nor was he challenged in 2009. Ed Amonsen was a write-in candidate for the 2007 general election.

Map F. Rapundalo-Amonsen 2007 (Image links to dynamic Google Map)

Map F shows results for the 2007 general election for Ward 2 between Stephen Rapundalo and Ed Amonsen. Rapundalo successfully defended his seat, winning the election with 51.6% percent of the vote – 843 votes to 790. [Washtenaw County clerk's office results] This map plots Rapundalo’s relative success in the nine precincts of Ward 2. The pushpins indicate where each candidate lives, and the black lines mark the individual precinct boundaries of the ward.

The shade of green corresponds to Rapundalo’s relative success in a precinct. A darker shade of green means Rapundalo received a higher percentage of votes in that precinct. For example, Rapundalo performed best in precinct 2-2, the small precinct in the western part of the ward. Rapundalo received 100% of votes – but only two people voted in that precinct.

A more relevant example of his strong performance is precinct 2-9, located in the northern tip of the ward, where he received 80.3% of votes. Of the precincts that had any kind of voter turnout, 2-9 is the darkest shade of green on the map, followed by 2-6. For those lighter green parts of the map, Rapundalo received a lower percentage of votes. He performed weakest in precinct 2-5, receiving 25.1% of votes. So precinct 2-5, located in the southeast corner of the ward, is the lightest shade of all the precincts.

Ward 2: November 2005 – Rapundalo, Bourque

While Stephen Rapundalo successfully defended his seat in 2007, he first ran for city council in 2005. Map G shows results for the 2005 general election for Ward 2 between Rapundalo and Republican Thomas Bourque. Rapundalo won the election with 1,574 votes (52%) to 1,436. [Washtenaw County clerk's office results] This map plots Rapundalo’s relative success in the nine precincts of Ward 2. The pushpins indicate where each candidate lives, and the black lines mark the individual precinct boundaries of the ward.

Map G. Rapundalo-Bourque 2005 (Image links to dynamic Google Map)

As in Map F, the shade of green corresponds to Rapundalo’s relative success in a precinct. A darker shade of green means Rapundalo received a higher percentage of votes in that precinct. Rapundalo performed best in precinct 2-2, located in the western corner of the ward, receiving 80% of votes. So 2-2 is the darkest shade of green on the map. He performed the weakest in precincts 2-3 and 2-4, receiving 40.8% of votes. So precincts 2-3 and 2-4 – Bourque’s home precinct and its neighbor to the west – are the lightest shades of all the precincts.

Ward 2: August 2005 – Rapundalo, Kang

Rapundalo contested the August 2005 Democratic primary with Eugene Kang, who was then a University of Michigan student. That was five years after then-Republican Rapundalo contested the 2000 mayoral race against John Hieftje. Rapundalo lost that race.

But Rapundalo won the 2005 Democratic primary race, 575 votes (54.5%) to 480. [Washtenaw County clerk's office results] Map H shows results of that 2005 primary. As in Maps F and G, the pushpins indicate where each candidate lived, the black lines mark the individual precinct boundaries of the ward, and the shade of green corresponds to Rapundalo’s relative success in a precinct.

Map H. Rapundalo-Kang 2005 (Image links to dynamic Google Map)

The darkest precincts are 2-6 and 2-9, where Rapundalo made his strongest showing – 73% and 71% respectively. In the middle three precincts – 2-1, 2-8 and 2-7 – his support was weakest, ranging from 36% to 45%. The southern precincts – 2-3, 2-4 and 2-5 – were fairly evenly split between Kang and Rapundalo and are thus a medium shade of green. In fact the result in 2-4 was a dead heat, with Rapundalo and Kang getting 77 votes apiece.

Precinct 2-2 is completely transparent, because no one voted for Rapundalo there – but that is because no voters showed up in that precinct.

Ward 2: Descriptive Generalizations

While precinct 2-2 was percentage-wise Rapundalo’s strongest in November 2005  and August 2007, in both of those elections, the precinct also had an inordinately low number of total votes – two in August 2007 and fifteen in November 2005. And in August 2005, no one from that precinct showed up to vote. So precinct 2-2 does not factor prominently in the patterns of Ward 2 elections.

The most striking pattern in assessing Rapundalo’s support is how consistently dominant he is in precincts 2-6 and 2-9, which are both in Rapundalo’s immediate neighborhood – Rapundalo lives right on the boundary of the two precincts, in 2-9. In the 2005 primary, Kang was stronger through the middle of the ward, and the candidates were about even across the southern precincts, so those two northern precincts made the difference in the outcome for Rapundalo.

Also in the 2007 and 2005 general elections, those two northern precincts were crucial for Rapundalo. In both of those elections (against Amonsen and Bourque, respectively), if the result had been based just on other precincts, Rapundalo would have lost both elections. Especially in the 2007 race against Amonsen, the southern precinct 2-5 was weak for Rapundalo. That was not just because it is Amonsen’s home precinct. It’s also home to Huron Hills golf course. A perception at the time was that the city was possibly planning to sell the golf course, and that’s what in part prompted Amonsen’s write-in campaign.

It was crucial in both of those elections not just that Rapundalo carry his home precincts, but that he carry them with a high plurality.

Rapundalo’s strength in those precincts is not just a matter of living in the neighborhood. He’s a past president of his homeowners association – the Orchard Hills/Maplewood Homeowners Association – and remains active with the group.

In a 2005 interview, about two months after the election, Bourque reflected on the strength of neighborhood connections and why voters choose one candidate over another:

But they also had to have some kind of personal knowledge or at least try and find out if anybody knew me. I think that’s why Stephen Rapundalo probably won. Because he knew a whole bunch of people in his neighborhood. …  And that’s where, from a vote standpoint, he killed me. In his neighborhood he essentially beat me 2-to-1. And that makes sense. A lot of people knew him and said, I know this guy and I can trust him.

… And you kind of wonder how much of it was the ‘D’ [Democrat] influence and how much was the people he knew. There’s no way to know that. There’s no way we’ll ever know it. Actually other than me and maybe him …. no one will really care!

About the writer: Saline resident Hayley Byrnes is a Chronicle intern. The Chronicle relies in part on regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of elections to public bodies like the Ann Arbor city council. Click this link for details: Subscribe to The Chronicle. And if you’re already supporting us, please encourage your friends, neighbors and colleagues to help support The Chronicle, too!

The first took place at the Malletts Creek branch of the Ann Arbor District Library, organized by the Third Ward Committee of the Ann Arbor Democratic Party. The second was hosted by the local League of Women Voters and filmed at the Community Television Network studios on South Industrial Highway. The winner of the Ward 3 Democratic primary will face Republican David Parker in November.

Ward 3 Democratic primary candidates at the CTN League of Women Voters forum on July 13 (top to bottom): Stephen Kunselman, Ingrid Ault, Marwan Issa. (Photos by the writer.)

The Malletts Creek event was conducted in a town hall format, with questions asked straight from the audience (not written down on index cards). The sequence of questions was determined by moderator Carl Akerlof, who picked members out of the audience.

Due to that format, the Mallets Creek forum may have more accurately reflected what issues are on Ward 3 voters’ minds – though there was considerable overlap between the two forums. This report focuses mostly on the Malletts Creek event.

Before the questions started, the candidates mingled with attendees and with each other. Issa sought some insight from Kunselman on the ins-and-outs of campaign yard sign placement. They can’t be in the right-of-way, Kunselman explained – that’s probably why some of Issa’s signs had been removed by the city. Ault asked Kunsleman: “Do you want to work on the reunion with me?” The two graduated 30 years ago in the same class from Pioneer High School.

Their ties to the community was a theme of all three candidates’ opening and closing statements, which also included other themes familiar from a candidate forum in June hosted by the Ann Arbor Democratic Party.

Kunselman stressed a focus of local government on the basics of health, safety and welfare, as opposed to economic development. That contrasted with Ault’s emphasis on her experience working with small, locally-owned independent businesses as executive director of Think Local First – she said she felt that government has a role to play in that. Marwan Issa allowed that he was young (27 years old) and it was his first time running for office, but stressed that he would bring a new vision, and a sense of urgency and energy.

The topics of questions from attendees ranged from garbage collection, to the city’s pension system, to the use of city-owned real estate. For this report, we’ve pulled out some of the highlights.

Opening and Closing Statements

In the time allotted for opening and closing statements, the candidates all stressed their connection to the community.

Ingrid Ault described herself as a townie who grew up in Ann Arbor and who used to walk into town to visit the Quality Bakery. She said she had a long record of service and is currently working for Think Local First, a nonprofit that supports local, independently-owned businesses. [link to Nonprofit Enterprise at Work directory listing for TLF]. She said that government has a role to play in that. She cited communication as a strength, saying she would take everyone’s comments seriously. She promised she would respond to every email that she gets. She told audience members that they are the under-tapped resources of the community.

Ault said she understands the issues that small businesses and homeowners face, and is interested in thoughtful discussions about solutions. She said she fears that safety services will decline unless the city finds solutions. She told the audience, “I’m your visionary.” She said she was tired of hearing that “We can’t do that, because of X, Y or Z,” and wanted find ways to move at least one little step forward.

Stephen Kunselman thanked his challengers for making it a race, noting that it’s his fourth election campaign. [His previous experience in three-way Ward 3 races is 2-0. He won the 2006 primary, also contested by Jeff Meyers and Alice Ralph. And he won the 2009 primary, contested by LuAnne Bullington and incumbent Leigh Greden. His one defeat came in a two-way race against Christopher Taylor in the 2008 primary, which accounts for his one-year hiatus from council council.]

Kunselman allowed that his status as a seasoned veteran could be considered a negative by some people, but concluded, “It is what it is.” He stressed the need to continue down a path of health, safety and welfare. He felt the city had gotten a bit off track by trying to engage in economic development activity as opposed to health, safety and welfare. He feared that as bad as the cuts to city personnel were this year, next year will be worse. He stated that the cuts in the fire and police departments shouldn’t have to happen. He pointed to the $140 million worth of debt that is recorded on the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority’s annual report, saying “We’ll be paying for that.” That debt drags down the city’s ability to pay for personnel and fix streets, he said.

Kunselman called himself an independent voice on the council. He said that in years past, he’d heard the perception that decisions had already been made before they reached the council table – that’s not happening any more, he said.

Marwan Issa told the audience he was truly honored to be running to represent “this great ward.” He said he was running because of a concern for transparency and accountability. He wanted to know who’s in charge. Like Kunselman, he pointed to the $140 million of debt recorded on the DDA annual report and asked, “Who’s accountable for that?”

Countering the possible perception that he is not experienced enough, Issa stated, “I know I’m young,” but went on to talk about bringing a new vision, a sense of urgency and energy. Issa said he understands what it would take to make Ann Arbor the best place it can be.

Topic: Land Use

The use of land – particularly city-owned land – found its way into several questions from the audience. Candidates fielded a general question on parks, a specific question on Fuller Road Station (a large parking structure, bus depot and possible train station that’s proposed on a parcel currently designated as part of the city’s park system) and the future of the Library Lot (the top of the underground parking garage currently under construction on South Fifth Avenue.)

Land Use: Parks

Ault said she was a huge supporter of parks, she uses them, they’re a treasure. She told the audience they could count on her to continue support for the parks. There had been talk about rolling general fund support for parks into the parks millage, she noted – she was not sure that’s a good idea, and said she was undecided on that.

By way of background, the talk to which Ault alluded was the result of an information request from Marica Higgins (Ward 4) made at a May 9, 2011 city council work session on parks funding. The work session covered much of the same ground as a park advisory commission meeting held on April 26, 2011. Both the council work session and the advisory commission meeting reviewed how the administrative policy on parks funding works, which was approved by the city council in 2006 as part of the pitch to voters for a renewal and combination of two separate parks millages. That combined parks maintenance and capital millage was approved for six years. It would need to be renewed on the November 2012 ballot to continue longer than that.

In broad strokes, the 2006 administrative policy stipulates that general fund support for parks will not be diminished disproportionately, relative to other areas of the city budget. So Higgins’ inquiry about the millage level required to support parks entirely through that millage is essentially a question about a scenario that would render the 2006 policy moot. As a follow-up to the city council request for information, Colin Smith – the city’s parks and recreation manager – gave park advisory commissioners an update at their May 17, 2011 meeting:

[city parks and recreation manager Colin] Smith also reported on an item related to current budget talks. At a May 9 city council work session, some councilmembers had asked what the parks budget would look like if all operations were funded by a millage. It would take roughly $9 million – about twice what the current millage covers. This gives the council an idea of the scope of parks operations, and Smith said he only mentioned it to PAC as a point of information. He said he was sure there’d be more questions regarding that in the future.

At the Malletts Creek forum, Kunselman noted that he had served as the council’s representative to the park advisory commission for a brief time. He’d helped with the skatepark effort at that time. Kunselman noted that Washtenaw County is helping with that project. [Recent Chronicle coverage: "Plans for Skatepark, Recycling, Mental Health"] He said he’s a big proponent of active recreation, because that translates into opportunities for youth. The city needs to make sure the parks are maintained, he said. The millage should only be used to pay for parks, not police, he concluded.

Issa observed that neighborhood parks are not as clean as they should be. When it comes to funding for the parks, a millage is a good way to provide for it, but the city shouldn’t try to use the millage for other purposes, he said.

Land Use: Fuller Road Station

The introduction of the Fuller Road Station concept to the public can be traced at least as far back as January 2009, when the city’s transportation program manager, Eli Cooper, presented a concept drawing at a meeting of neighbors at Northside Grill. At the time, the city was trying to encourage the University of Michigan to reconsider its plans to build parking structures on Wall Street.

The city’s strategy was to get the university to consider building its planned parking structures on the city-owned surface parking lot, just south of Fuller Road, near the intersection with East Medical Center Drive. It would allow the university to participate in the city’s hoped-for transit station at that location. The university has leased that parking lot from the city since 1993, though the land has been considered part of the parks system.

The transit station is envisioned as directly serving east-west commuter rail passengers. A day-trip demonstration service that was to launch in October 2010 never materialized. But a recent announcement earlier this year, that some federal support for high-speed rail track improvements would be forthcoming, has shored up hopes by many people in the community that the east-west rail connection could become a reality.

The council has already approved some expenditures directly related to the project. It voted unanimously on Aug. 17, 2009 to approve $213,984 of city funds for an environmental study and site assessment. Of that amount, $104,742 was appropriated from the economic development fund. Per the city charter, as a budget appropriation, the measure required eight votes. Kunselman was not a member of the council at that time.

On Nov. 5, 2009, on separate votes, the council approved additional money for the environmental study and site assessment and to authorize a memorandum of understanding with the University of Michigan. Kunselman was also not yet a member of the council at that point – his first meeting of his current term was Nov. 16, 2009.

The controversy on the project involves the status of the land where the proposed Fuller Road Station would be located. It’s designated as parkland, but formally zoned as public land (PL). In the summer of 2010, the possible uses for land zoned as PL were altered by the council, on recommendation from the city planning commission, explicitly to include transportation facilities. Any long-term use agreement with the university is seen by many as tantamount to a sale of parkland. A sale should, per the city charter, be put to a vote of the people.

On the Fuller Road Station, Ault said she was undecided on the issue. She’s still gathering input, she said, including talking to the Sierra Club about the issue. [The city council has been addressed on multiple occasions over more than a year by representatives of the Huron Valley Chapter of the Sierra Club, including recently on June 6, 2011 by Nancy Shiffler, who's currently president of that group.] Ault said that mass transit is key to growth. She expressed concern that the city’s youth will leave unless transportation amenities are available. She mentioned that Sylvan Township is excited about the prospects of countywide transportation.

Kunselman said he’d love to have a train station, but wanted to know how the city is going to afford it. A parking structure, he said, is not mass transit. The University of Michigan should be taking care of its own project. [Kunselman is employed by UM as an energy conservation liaison.] Kunselman was critical of the fact that the project is divided into phases – he contended that the master plan for the whole project in all of its phases is not there. In addition, he said, he had no idea where the $10 million city of Ann Arbor share for the initial phase is coming from. At the League of Women Voters forum the following night, responding to a question about parks, Kunselman said he felt that if the project was so wonderful, it should be put to the voters.

Issa responded to the Fuller Road Station issue by saying that morning traffic is very congested. He felt the project will alleviate some of the traffic. If it works out that more people can be brought into the city with fewer cars, then he’s for it.

Land Use: Municipal Airport

An extension of the runway at Ann Arbor’s municipal airport has been included in the city’s capital improvements plan (CIP) for the last two years, but has been amended out by the city council before its approval both years. [Chronicle coverage: "Ann Arbor Airport Study Gets Public Hearing"]

Kunselman said he’s been opposed and will always be opposed to the extension. The airport is functioning just fine and he sees no reason to extend the runway. Federal money for the project is not free, he explained, saying that it comes with an obligation to keep the airport open long into the future.

Issa allowed that he loves to see big planes land and it’s great to see them fly, but feels that the 10-minute drive to Willow Run airport is not too far.

Ault expressed no enthusiasm for an extended runway, and suggested that what it boils down to is the ability for big jets to land bringing in guests for University of Michigan’s football games.

Land Use: Greenbelt

Candidates were asked for their thoughts on continuing the city’s greenbelt program. By way of brief background, the 0.5 mill levy for the city’s greenbelt program, lasting for 30 years, was approved in 2003. The strategy is to preserve open space by purchasing land or acquiring development rights. The use of the funds is overseen by the greenbelt advisory commission and subject to the city council’s approval. [The Chronicle offers regular coverage of the city's greenbelt advisory commission.]

Kunselman described the greenbelt program as having been very successful so far. He noted that the recent decline in property values has meant that there is more opportunity to buy land. He explained to the audience that the city council’s role in the program is vote on properties that are recommended by the advisory commission. One of the important considerations is to make sure other municipalities are participating in the acquisition of land.

Issa alluded to the perceived balance by some voters who supported the greenbelt millage – between preserving open space outside the city and increased density inside the city. The increase in building inside the city is not happening fast enough, he contended. The city needs more of a vibe and needs to attract more businesses.

Ault noted that the city actually offers a tour of the greenbelt properties, which she had taken. Some of the properties, she said, you can go visit and be a part of. It’s actually for the public, and the public has a chance to use it. [Greenbelt properties typically remain private land and are open to the public only on certain occasions, such as the tours that Ault described. Greenbelt funds are generally used to buy development rights to the land – not the land itself. Chronicle coverage of a 2008 version of the greenbelt bus tour: "View from the Bus: A Tour of Protected Land" ]

Land Use: Library Lot

The Library Lot, despite its common name, is not owned by the Ann Arbor District Library. It’s city-owned land, just north of the library, on which a roughly 640-space underground parking garage is currently under construction. The result of the city’s request for proposal process (RFP) to develop the top of the structure was terminated by the council in April of this year – without selecting any one of six proposals for the lot. At that same meeting, the council approved a resolution directing the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority to organize a public engagement process that would lead to alternate uses of some city-owned parcels, including the Library Lot. [Chronicle coverage: "Ann Arbor Council Focuses on Downtown" and "Downtown Planning Poised ... to Pause"]

Issa stated that the use of the city’s property is up to the citizens. The Library Lot is a great opportunity, he said, to make office space for a kind of business start-up hub. It would help Ann Arbor be more welcoming to new businesses by offering competitive office space rental rates in the downtown.

Ault noted that the land itself is extremely valuable. She said that in the downtown area, retail businesses continue to close. She also cited Dobson McComber as an example of a business that has left the downtown area. [The locally owned company was sold to the Hylant Group several years ago and moved out of its offices at Main and Miller. The business is now located at the Domino's Farms Office Park.] There’s been an erosion of business from the downtown, she contended. She suggested that whatever is built on top of the parking structure, retail should go on the ground floor.

Kunselman responded with a theme he’s consistently repeated while serving the council: Local government shouldn’t be picking winners and losers in the private market place. As a graduate of the University of Michigan’s master of urban planning program, he said he could appreciate good urban design. He suggested taking the example of Tuebingen in Germany. [Tuebingen is a sister city to Ann Arbor. Several officials from that city recently visited Ann Arbor through the sister city program – Kunselman hosted a planning official from Tuebingen during that visit.] That means having a master-planned site that includes the mass and scale of the structure to be built there. The city should simply put deed restrictions on that site and let the market determine what goes into the building, Kunselman said.

Collaboration

One question from the audience was about collaboration among community stakeholders – the Ann Arbor District Library, Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, Ann Arbor Public Schools, University of Michigan, etc.

In his response to that question, Stephen Kunselman wrapped the Library Lot back into his remarks. Kunselman said it’s important to look at the role of each of the entities. It’s not possible sometimes to “just collaborate.” There’s a lot of overlap between city interests and university interests, he said, but the university doesn’t have water mains or sanitary sewers. As far as collaboration with the public library, he said there’s an opportunity to build a new library on top of the Library Lot. The library could then sell its property to the private sector and add to the tax base.

Marwan Issa wondered why the city wasn’t working harder with the University of Michigan. He suggested that as a first step, representatives from the city need to sit down with the university and say, “Listen guys, we need to work on making Ann Arbor better, bringing in more organizations and businesses into the city.” There needs to be better coordination.

Ingrid Ault said that collaboration is imperative and stated that it’s something she does all day long in her capacity as executive director of Think Local First. She said it’s important to figure out what person is important to put in the room. She spends a lot of time cataloging issues. She said that not any one person has the answer – it’s the community.

Downtown Development Authority

Candidates were asked what change is needed in the city’s relationship to the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority. By way of very broad strokes background, the city and the DDA recently agreed to a new contract under which the DDA continues to manage the city’s public parking system. It was a difficult negotiation lasting well over a year. It resulted in an 11-year deal that gives the city 17% of gross revenues from the public parking system.

However, the DDA’s raison d’être is not to administer the public parking system, but rather – according to the DDA’s mission statement – to make “public improvements that have the greatest impact in strengthening the downtown area and attracting new private investments.” The streetscape improvements that are currently nearing completion on Fifth and Division in downtown Ann Arbor are one example of the kind of projects the DDA can undertake.

The funding mechanism for those improvements is tax increment finance (TIF) capture in the downtown district. In broad strokes, the taxes on an increment – between the initial value of a property and the value after new construction – are captured by the DDA, instead of being distributed to the authorities that levy the taxes. Those taxing authorities include the city of Ann Arbor, the Ann Arbor District Library, Washtenaw County and Washtenaw Community College.

This spring, city staff noticed that the ordinance establishing the Ann Arbor DDA provides a kind of cap on the amount of taxes that the DDA is allowed to capture in its TIF district. Up to this point, that cap had not been observed. When that aspect of the ordinance was highlighted, it resulted in a repayment by the DDA of over $400,000 to other taxing authorities. That repayment could increase, depending on how the ordinance is interpreted. [See Chronicle coverage: "Column: Tax Capture Is a Varsity Sport"] The newly observed cap, plus the conditions of the new parking agreement – which call for transferring 17% of gross public parking revenues to the city of Ann Arbor – have put the DDA under considerable financial stress.

Stephen Kunselman has campaigned partly on the idea of increased oversight of DDA finances – as a result of his pressing the issue, the DDA has published past annual reports that it was required to publish by state statue. He objected to the inclusion of a provision in the city-DDA parking contract that provided for the DDA’s control of parking rate setting without city council veto, and has called the DDA a “shadow government.”

At the Mallets Creek event, Kunselman began by saying that the DDA board members are all very nice people. But over the years, he said, they’ve become insular and prone to “group think.” He noted that they are appointed by the mayor [subject to city council approval]. The DDA is spending money based on a future 10-year plan. In contrast, he said, the city is not able to predict two years out. So that’s a big gamble, he cautioned.

In his turn, Marwan Issa continued the criticism of the DDA. Issa contended the DDA board members can do whatever they want, because they’re appointed, not voted into office. So they’re not held accountable, he said. It’s too much power for the DDA if they can decide on future projects. The responsibility should fall back on the city council. About city councilmembers, he said, “If they screw up, we can boot them out.”

Ingrid Ault stated that she has applicable experience – she served as interim executive director of the Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority. Responding to Kunselman’s poo-pooing of the DDA’s 10-year plan, she stated that the DDA has the expertise to put together a 10-year plan. She allowed that there’s room for improvement. But she said the downtown looks different and better than it did 20 years ago. Twenty years ago, the parking decks were crumbling, she said, but now a good parking system is in place. The DDA has been doing a good job, she said. [In late 2009, Think Local First, the organization that Ault leads, received a $6,000 grant from the DDA to study the feasibility of introducing a local currency in Washtenaw County.]

Pension Plan

Candidates were asked a general question about the city’s pension obligation. A follow-up question on pension issues by another attendee was overruled at that time by the moderator – he said he wanted to cover as many different topics as possible. That decision was met with a few hisses from the audience.

Stephen Kunselman noted that the city’s unfunded pension liabilities had gone up with the market crash in 2008. [Some Chronicle coverage from that era: "Fiscal Restraint Required in Light of Sinking Asset Values"] The city council is not directly involved with labor negotiations, but the staff is negotiating with unions. He allowed that there’s a lot he does not know, but said that the city doesn’t have as many people paying into the pension system as it previously had – due to reductions in staff numbers.

Marwan Issa stated that the city needs to take a serious look at this. He noted that private businesses are switching from pension systems to 401(k)-type plans.

Ingrid Ault told the audience that it’s good news that the city’s pension system is now back up to 90% funding. She also pointed to the city’s A++ bond rating as a positive point. But the city does have challenges, she allowed. Everybody needs to be participating. She wants to talk about what’s possible, not what can’t be done. The city will succeed with citizen involvement and hearing citizen participation, she said.

Transparency

A question from the audience addressed an issue that Stephen Kunselman has championed over the last two years – getting the city attorney, Stephen Postema, to make public his legal opinions, in accordance with the city’s charter. [Chronicle coverage: "Getting Smarter About City Charter"]

Ingrid Ault said she found the lack of transparency troublesome. Many times, she said, the public is informed too late on important matters. She then turned her response to an implicit criticism of Kunselman for not keeping constituents up to date, by pointing to Christopher Taylor’s emailed updates as the kind of model she would follow. [Taylor is the other representative of Ward 3 on the city council.] She said she would also emulate Sabra Briere on the council and would like to hold a coffee hour – she’d try to hold a coffee at two different locations. [Briere – who represents Ward 1 and is not challenged in this year's primary, or as yet in the general election – holds a weekly coffee hour at Northside Grill, when constituents can meet with her.]

Kunselman focused on the original question of the attorney’s opinions, not the issue of constituent updates that Ault had introduced. He told the audience he was intimately aware that the city attorney has not been making public his written opinions. [Kunselman has pointedly and publicly asked for an opinion to be made public on the legality of the city's public art program, for example.]

Kunselman observed that there might be an opportunity with the hiring of the new city administrator. Kunselman felt that if the city administrator were to ask explicitly for an opinion from the city attorney, then there would be no question that the city charter requirement would be triggered, which stipulates that the opinion would need to be filed with the city clerk’s office. He ventured that it might be necessary to take a vote of the city council directing the city attorney.

Marwan Issa said that if the council is not holding the city attorney accountable, then they need to do that. As for the city administrator hire – the original question from the audience had alluded to that – Issa said he was sad to see the search did not look inside Ann Arbor. That’s a big mistake, he said.

Solid Waste

More than one question concerned solid waste – recycling and trash.

Solid Waste: Curbside Trash Collection

On July 11, the city council held a work session on the possibility of reducing the solid waste millage and franchising out residential trash collection. The uniform and unambiguous response from councilmembers on that occasion was that they were not interested in pursuing that proposal. But they were somewhat amenable to the possibility of maybe exploring different tweaks to the way that trash carts are set out.

One of the questions asked at the Mallets Creek forum expressed some worry about one of those tweaks – the idea that all carts would be placed on one side of street. What about those who have mobility issues? What about icy roads in the winter?

Stephen Kunselman stressed that these are just ideas. Yes, the city staff are putting ideas out for the city council to chew on. But he stressed that it’s only when those ideas come to the council table for a vote that it gets serious. He noted that the projections on the city’s solid waste fund show an $0.5 million deficit by 2017. At the forum, Kunselman echoed the general sentiment from the council’s work session, which was that this does not represent a dire situation requiring urgent action.

He drew a comparison of potential changes in trash collection to the way a proposal to turn off some streetlights had been handled [as part of the budget the city council approved in May 2010 for FY 2011]. He’d voted against that proposal, he said. [His wardmate Christoper Taylor had voted for it.] And when the initial pilot program was met with strong resistance, the council voted to reverse course and not pursue the streetlight program.

Marwan Issa said that whether it’s trash collection or streetlights, it all needs to be be more transparent. The council needs more information and there needs to be transparency. The city staff need to be held accountable, he said.

Ingrid Ault described the city council role as very important. Decisions like those on trash collection need public input, she said. She added that she would hear the smallest voices. Transparency is needed, she said. Public discussion is a starting point. She told the audience they could count on her to hear their voice.

Solid Waste: Recycling

The city’s recycling program has received heavy coverage in recent weeks, because a proposal that would have increased the value of the contract held by Recycle Ann Arbor for curbside recycling was initially rejected by the council, but then taken back up for reconsideration and postponed. The council will again consider that issue at its Aug. 4 meeting, after the primary election.

As basic background, the city began a single-stream recycling program in July 2010, using an expanded set of materials and large, wheeled carts that can be emptied with an automatic arm. It replaced a dual-stream system using 11-gallon tote bins, and is the piece of the recycling program handled by Recycle Ann Arbor. A couple of months later, a coupon incentive program launched under a contract with a different vendor, RecycleBank.

Chronicle coverage of the council’s July 18, 2011 meeting includes the presentation of data strongly suggesting that the increase in the total amount of recycled material collected is mostly due to the larger carts and expanded set of materials, not the coupon incentive program, which has relatively low activity among residents.

Based on councilmember comments at that meeting, it appears likely that the council could end the RecycleBank contract and re-allocate money from that contract to Recycle Ann Arbor’s contract.

In response to the question about the recycling program, Marwan Issa said it was not perfect, but more people have become aware of it. The more people that become aware of it, the more of a difference it will make, he said.

Ingrid Ault said the single-stream recycling system has some wonderful benefits. She allowed that it’s not perfect and there’s room for improvement. The coupons that residents can earn through the incentive program are a benefit, she said. She has used them at the People’s Food Co-op.

Stephen Kunselman explained that the recent issue the council has been dealing with is that the projections for the increase in materials collection were overly optimistic. [Recycle Ann Arbor is paid in part based on total tonnage collected.] Kunselman reminded the audience that he’d voted against the contract for the coupon incentives. He said if the city needs to save $200,000, then one place to look is the $200,00o annual contract for the coupon incentives.

Working with the Group

Candidates were asked how they would work with the  group serving on the council to make progress on the projects they want to bring forward.

Marwan Issa responded by saying that sometimes there may be a sense of being bullied to vote one way or the other – that is, either join the party or look like the crazy guy. He included in his response a criticism of the new parking contract between the city and the DDA: Who thought it was a good idea to give the DDA full authority to raise rates, he asked?

Ingrid Ault said it’s important to keep an open mind. You have to be willing to listen to others. She said that her stances have changed. Sometimes people hear someone’s first statement and then stop listening. She promised she would not do that. She’d listen that way with the city staff, other councilmembers and constituents.

Stephen Kunselman said the biggest thing is to have trust and respect for those with whom you’re cooperating – whether it’s spending money, setting policy or laying people off. You have to be honest and forthright as you explain yourself, he said. He said he felt he’d done well in being an independent voice and expressing an independent viewpoint on the council. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he doesn’t, he said, but it’s important not to hold grudges.

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Top 100 word frequency clouds for Ward 5 city council candidates. (Image links to high resolution .pdf. Clouds from Wordle.net)

This report focuses on Ward 5, where incumbent Mike Anglin is seeking re-election for his third two-year term on the city council. [See also previous Chronicle coverage of the 2011 Democratic primary: "Ann Arbor Ward 5: Democratic Primary 2011"]

Anglin is retired from a teaching career, and is now an owner of a bed and breakfast on the city’s Old West Side. He was first elected in 2007 after winning a Democratic primary against incumbent Wendy Woods. Neal Elyakin, an administrator in the Washtenaw Intermediate School District, is also seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination. The winner will face Republican Stuart Berry in the Nov. 8 general election.

In response to the alternating questions offered by the LWV moderator, neither candidate offered comments that were terribly dramatic.

Anglin took the occasion to talk about a familiar range of topics: the smaller issues he enjoys helping residents solve; his opposition to the proposed Fuller Road Station; his belief that parks need to be defended against their possible sale; his criticism of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority as a non-elected government entity; and his view of Ann Arbor as a small town that happens to be home to the University of Michigan.

Elyakin spoke of retaining the small-town feel of Ann Arbor (describing specific parks where his children used to play) while at the same time envisioning responsible, reasonable growth that would rely on a regional approach, investments in transportation systems, and an important planning role for the DDA.

After the jump, our coverage includes: an annotated verbatim transcript of the candidates’ remarks at the LWV debate; paraphrases of the questions posed to them; and some highlights from the candidates’ remarks broken down in a bit more detail.

The transcript formed the basis of the top-100 word-frequency analysis shown in the Word Cloud 1 and Word Cloud 2. Close observers of Ann Arbor city politics may be able to match candidates with clouds, without scrolling past the jump.

Implicit Critique

It’s not typical for candidates at the Ann Arbor League of Women Voters debates to criticize each other in any explicit way.

But Elyakin’s characterization of his own strengths could be understood as an implicit criticism of Anglin’s recent performance at the city council table. In response to a question about why he, as a loyal Democrat, would be challenging the incumbent, Elyakin included among his reasons [emphasis added]: “… I believe I can be very well-prepared when sitting at the council table to make decisions that are thoughtful, that are future-oriented, that help the city move forward, in real and intentional, productive ways.”

At the council’s July 5, 2011 meeting, Anglin essentially conceded that he had not been well-prepared at the council’s previous June 20 meeting. At that meeting he’d voted – along with the rest of the council – to approve a $1,216,100 construction contract to Hoffman Brothers Inc. That project involves relocating a sanitary sewer south of Fuller Road, and east of the Maiden Lane and East Medical Center Drive intersection. Anglin indicated he had not realized at the time of the original vote that the site of the planned sewer system work was the same site as the planned Fuller Road Station, which he opposes.

So on July 5, Anglin asked his colleagues on the council to reconsider that previous vote – which is an allowable parliamentary step. Councilmembers – all fellow Democrats – voted unanimously to go along with Anglin’s request to rediscuss the issue, but no one was willing to change their vote.

Sabra Briere (Ward 1) is often an ally of Anglin’s on council. But on that occasion she made clear how she felt about being asked to reconsider her vote: “I knew what I was doing,” said Briere.

The re-vote on the sewer project was recorded as 8-1 (two councilmembers were absent), with Anglin’s vote the sole voice of dissent.

Implicit Defense

The fact that he sometimes finds himself in a small minority position was acknowledged by Anglin at the LWV debate, when he said in his opening statement: “And at times my decisions have not been with the majority of people on council, but I think they have expressed a strong rational minority position that many people do agree with.”

Because explicit criticism is rare at LWV debates, candidates will sometimes offer implicit defense against non-explicit criticisms made at the debate or heard elsewhere. One criticism of Anglin that has begun to trickle through Ward 5 is that Anglin, in his nearly four years of service on the council, has simply registered dissent without successfully getting traction at the council table to convert his position into the majority that’s needed to affect an outcome on policy issues. At the LWV debate, that criticism could be heard in Elyakin’s statement: “A few naysayers – while I applaud every person’s right to speak up and speak out – should not hold the city hostage, whether they are in the audience or sitting on council.”

Anglin’s remark about having a rational minority position could be understood as an implicit defense to that critique. Later, in his closing statement, Anglin focused on his role of simply bringing ideas forward – as opposed to taking those ideas and translating them into successful policy initiatives. “And I feel that I am just their voice, trying to listen to them …”

When Anglin did discuss a translation from input into action, it was essentially in the councilmember-as-community-ombudsman role: “… taking phone calls and working with people for some of their smallest items that they bring forward … I think some of the most satisfying part of my service on city council is working with the residents and trying to work on their particular issues.”

Anglin is not unique in identifying that ombudsman role as essential and enjoyable. At the Ann Arbor city Democratic Party forum in June, Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2) described some of his strongest supporters as those whom he’s helped with their “end-of-the-driveway-type issues.” In a 2008 interview, Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) talked about solving issues one-on-one with constituents as a satisfying aspect of his council service.

Past Attendance Issue

Anglin contended at one point during the LWV event that he’d served on almost every commission in the city. (The claim, given the roughly 90 different boards and commissions that exist in the city, is likely somewhat overstated.) His contention, together with a light-hearted turn by Anglin about attending the city council’s meetings (“I attend them all the time”) may have reminded some in the audience of an issue in the 2009 Democratic primary, which was contested between Anglin and Scott Rosencrans.

That year Rosencrans accused Anglin of failing to attend any meetings of the park advisory commission (PAC) – a body to which Anglin had been appointed to serve as an ex-officio council representative. Anglin then produced attendance records that showed Rosencrans had vastly overstated the case – up to that point, Anglin had attended 11 out of 16 PAC meetings. And for regular council meetings, to that point, Anglin had missed only one out of 41 meetings.

However, Anglin’s attendance for two other council committee appointments was not up to the same standard: 3 out of 10 Washtenaw Area Transportation Study meetings; and 1 out of 5 city environmental commission meetings. That attendance rate was low enough that the council’s administration committee privately chastised Anglin about his poor attendance and impressed upon Anglin the importance of attending those meetings – according to Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2), in response to a Chronicle query at the time. As a result of his poor attendance, according to Rapundalo, Anglin was not reappointed by the council to the environmental commission.

At the LWV debates, Anglin’s mention of his attendance at council meetings came in the context of a question about how to improve communication from the city to the citizens. He suggested that people watch city council meetings as one means of learning what’s going on at the city. “I know they are very interesting – I attend them all the time,” he quipped.

Opening Statements

Each candidate was given a chance to make an opening statement. Their statements and responses to questions are provided here verbatim, in the order in which they answered.

Elyakin’s opening

Yes, thank you. Thank you, everybody, for being here. Thank you to the people who are watching on television.

I especially want to thank Mike for sitting with me here at the table. This is a forum for the city council and I’m running for the Fifth Ward.

I believe in this city – I believe in Ann Arbor. And I have a passion and I care very deeply about the future of this city. I care about our collective future and what our future is going to look like. I believe in certain things and will get into them as I answer the questions later on. But I believe in reasonable growth in the city, to be able to look to economic stability and the future of our city. I believe in regional leadership.

I believe in transportation and mass transit. I believe in bringing business into the city. I believe in protecting our city and keeping our city safe, and keeping our children safe.

I believe that partnerships should be developed with the city, whether they are to help benefit our city or benefit the region in general. I’m sure we’ll get into more later, but I just saw my [timekeeping] sign go up.

Anglin’s opening

Welcome to the citizens of Ann Arbor and thank you to the League of Women Voters for having us here this night for this brief debate.

When we look at the principles that guide the city, the health, safety and welfare of the city should be a primary umbrella that we put over all the issues that we face as a city. And in light of that through my experience on the city council for the last four years, I have used that as a guiding principle. And that principle is to have those as the guides for every decision that I make.

And at times my decisions have not been with the majority of people on council, but I think they have expressed a strong rational minority position that many people do agree with. I’m a business owner, so I know the business, the obstacles that the business community affects and I have also been in the public sector. So using that experience I bring to council.

How would you improve communication?

Question: [The LWV moderator referred to an article reporting that most Ann Arborites are still not following a new city ordinance that mandates stopping at crosswalks when pedestrians are present.] Taking this only as an example, would you please explain how the population is to know what laws have been passed or changed or what decisions have been made, without communication from the city to its citizens? What will you, as a member of the Ann Arbor city council, do to improve this?

By way of additional background, the pedestrian ordinance in question was given final approval at the council’s July 19, 2010 meeting. A further revision to the new ordinance was prompted on that evening of deliberations by a suggestion from Marcia Higgins (Ward 4). She suggested replacing somewhat vague language (“yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield,”) with the clearer directive to motorists to “stop and yield.”

Pedestrian safety traffic controls have been an ongoing issue at one intersection located in Ward 5, at Seventh and Washington streets. Upon installation of a traffic island and sign, motorists initially tended to drive right over the island and the sign. In recent months, reports of the sign’s recurring demise have ceased.

Anglin on communication

I think there’s many means that the citizens can use to find out information about the city, and I think the most important one is the money that you all spend as taxpayers on the television, the CTN [Community Television Network, which broadcasts many public meetings], and as well as the city website. Going to that will often keep you informed as to what the city has been doing.

In addition, if you were to watch the council meetings – I know they are very interesting, I attend them all the time – and I’m sure that if other people continue to watch them, they will find that they’ll learn the characters, they’ll learn the issues relatively quickly. And I think that’s the most important way that the message goes out, including the newspapers. I would not go into a crosswalk unless I made eye contact with the driver. I would caution people that while we get this new law, be cautious about it.

Elyakin on communication

Yes, thank you. I believe communication is the foundation of how we operate as a city. I believe that having excellent communication skills and excellent customer-service skills is what the city should be about. And I use the word “excellent” purposefully. I believe that looking at enhancing the website – it is a little difficult to wade through that website sometimes to find things. I believe in looking at customer-service training for people who work in our city and for our city, as well as for city councilmembers. I believe it’s never too late to have some professional development in being able to be a good communicator.

I do agree that sometimes communication is a lack in the city. And I believe that some people feel as if the city doesn’t communicate at all with them. I believe that having ward-level meetings using social media – you know, this is the 21st century. We’ve got to look at new ways to be able to communicate with all of our residents.

Does the DDA benefit the city?

Question: What is the role of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority? Would you please explain its relationship with the city council and with the Ann Arbor citizens. Are the DDA members volunteers or paid? How are they chosen? Who’s in charge? Is the DDA a net benefit to the community?

By way of additional background, the Ann Arbor DDA has been the focus of heavy Chronicle coverage over the last year, including recent months. One reason for that focus is the recently renewed contract between the city and the DDA, under which the DDA manages the city’s public parking system. That’s a contract that was negotiated in public view for over the last year and finally ratified in May 2011.

However, the DDA’s raison d’être is not to administer the public parking system, but rather to make “public improvements that have the greatest impact in strengthening the downtown area and attracting new private investments.” The streetscape improvements that are currently nearing completion on Fifth and Division in downtown Ann Arbor are one example of the kind of projects the DDA can undertake.

The funding mechanism for those improvements is tax increment finance (TIF) capture in the downtown district. In broad strokes, the taxes on an increment – between the initial value of a property and the value after new construction – are captured by the DDA, instead of being distributed to the authorities that levy the taxes. Those taxing authorities include the city of Ann Arbor, the Ann Arbor District Library, Washtenaw County and Washtenaw Community College.

This spring, city staff noticed that the ordinance establishing the Ann Arbor DDA provides a kind of cap on the amount of taxes that the DDA is allowed to capture in its TIF district. Up to this point, that cap had not been observed. When that aspect of the ordinance was highlighted, it resulted in a repayment by the DDA of over $400,000 to other taxing authorities. That repayment could increase, depending on how the ordinance is interpreted. [See Chronicle coverage: "Column: Tax Capture is a Varsity Sport"] The newly observed cap, plus the conditions of the new parking agreement  – which call for transferring 17% of gross public parking revenues to the city of Ann Arbor – have put the DDA under considerable financial stress.

DDA board members are nominated to four-year terms by the mayor, and must be confirmed by the city council.

Elyakin on the DDA

Downtown Development Authority. I believe that the Downtown Development Authority has been around since the early ’80s. I have not looked into the history of it, but I do believe that it serves an enormous function in the city – in looking at how we develop our city and how we look at the importance of development in our city. The fact that the DDA operates the parking lots or the parking structures is a small part of what they do – and I believe that we get caught up in a little controversy, without looking at the larger issue.

And one of the larger issues that the DDA can help the city with is the idea of reasonable, intentional, measured, future-oriented growth of the city. We can do that without losing the small town sense of what Ann Arbor is. But we have to work together. Again, going back to communication, going back to how we communicate between the authority and the city council and the rest of the city.

Anglin on the DDA

The DDA, its mission is to promote businesses and economic development within their geographical area. When the council did establish the DDA, they turned the parking lots, which is city assets, over to them. And in return they run them for the city, giving us $2 million a year plus about 16% of the revenues. [Editor's note: The DDA was not assigned responsibility for the city's parking system until 1992, 10 years after it was established. The new contract calls for a transfer of 17% of gross revenues to the city. In the prior contract, there was a provision for a "meter rent" payment of up to $2 million per year.]

What the public needs to know is that all new building that takes place in the DDA area is subject to a TIF – tax increment financing – so the amount of money that is collected in the DDA area for additional taxes stays with the DDA for future projects that they have. And from that, the TIF is actually taken from education – Washtenaw Community College – things that we support as a community. So in turn while we develop our downtown, we are also developing a base of a different type of government, a non-elected government.

City parkland

Question: As a member of the Ann Arbor city council, how would you view and manage parkland? Are parks available for lease or sale as needed? Also, what are your thoughts on the quality of park safety and maintenance? How important is that, and whose responsibility is it?

Anglin on parks

I serve on the parks advisory commission and have since I have been on city council for the last four years. I think the running of the parks and the safety that exists in the parks is outstanding. We passed as a city, our idea was to not sell parkland. [Editor's note: This is a reference to a city charter amendment, passed in 2008, stipulating that the sale of parks would be subject to a vote of the general electorate.] Now, part of that agreement that we made with the public was not to sell the parkland, but also “reuse” I think might have been implied in that vote that the people did take. So I am not one wanting to repurpose the parks for other reasons.

I think if it is done, that has to go to a vote of the people. And we have seen that happen with the Huron Hills Golf Course this year. We have seen it happen with Argo Pond. And now are seeing it happen at Fuller Park also. [Editor's note: What Anglin means by "we have seen that happen" is not that voters have weighed in on the sale or reuse of a park. Rather, these are cases in which some residents felt the city was moving effectively to sell parkland, without putting the question before voters.]

So I would be very hesitant about moving forward with that, because it does contribute so much to the community’s health through recreation and things of that sort – relaxation and a thing of beauty. We’re very lucky to have our parks. It has taken all these years to develop them.

Elyakin on parks

Thank you. I love our parks. I was so excited to see West Park reopen. It’s in our ward – it’s a beautiful, beautiful park, and it looks beautiful now. I encourage you all to go out and visit West Park. But that’s not the only park we have. My children used to go and walk around the neighborhood and go down to Mixtwood Park and hang out in a little tiny – I guess some people call it a pocket park. It’s a very small park, right in the neighborhood – it’s lovely. People are always there walking their dogs past it. [Editor's note: Mixtwood Pomona is a lesser-known park: Google Map provided by city of Ann Arbor of all city parks]

It’s right near a few homes, and the parents are always out watching the kids. The parks are our treasures – we should protect our parks. We should keep them for as long as we can possibly keep them. In tough economic times – and people will say this – everything needs to be on the table. And I understand that everything needs to be on the table in tough economic times. But I would love to be able to protect all of our parks in perpetuity, if we can.

Fuller Road Station

Question: Some very well-situated Ann Arbor parkland is being considered for the Fuller Road Station, which right now looks to be a very large parking structure on Fuller Road. The primary occupier of the proposed space is the University of Michigan. Please explain the current status of the Fuller Road Station project to our viewers and your arguments for or against its continued development.

By way of additional background, the introduction of the Fuller Road Station concept to the public can be traced at least as far back as January 2009, when the city’s transportation program manager, Eli Cooper, presented a concept drawing at a meeting of neighbors at Northside Grill. At the time, the city was trying to encourage the University of Michigan to reconsider its plans to build parking structures on Wall Street.

The city’s strategy was to get the university to consider building its planned parking structures on the city-owned parking lot, just south of Fuller Road, near the intersection with East Medical Center Drive. It would allow the university to participate in the city’s hoped-for transit station at that location. The university has leased that parking lot from the city since 1993.

The transit station is envisioned as directly serving east-west commuter rail passengers. A day-trip demonstration service that was to launch in October 2010 never materialized. But a recent announcement earlier this year, that some federal support for high-speed rail track improvements would be forthcoming, has shored up hopes by many people in the community that the east-west rail connection could become a reality.

The council has already approved some expenditures directly related to the project. It voted unanimously on Aug. 17, 2009 to approve $213,984 of city funds for an environmental study and site assessment. Of that amount, $104,742 was appropriated from the economic development fund. Per the city charter, as a budget appropriation, the measure required eight votes. Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5) and Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) were recorded as absent at that meeting, leaving only nine councilmembers in attendance. If Anglin had been able to persuade one other colleague on the council to vote with him against the expenditures, that part of the project would not have gone forward that evening. However, Anglin voted with the other eight councilmembers to approve the expenditure.

On Nov. 5, 2009, on separate votes, the council approved additional money for the environmental study and site assessment and to authorize a memorandum of understanding with the University of Michigan. Anglin was among the councilmembers who voted unanimously to approve those resolutions.

The controversy on the project involves the status of the land where the proposed Fuller Road Station would be located. It’s designated as parkland, but formally zoned as public land (PL). In summer 2010, the possible uses for land zoned as PL were altered by the council, on recommendation from the city planning commission, explicitly to include transportation facilities. Any long-term use agreement with the university is seen by many as tantamount to a sale of parkland. A sale should, per the city charter, be put to a vote of the people.

The city’s park advisory commission, on which Anglin serves as an ex-officio member, has expressed some objections to the project, and has asked that the advisory body be kept informed as the project moves along.

Elyakin on Fuller Road Station

As I said in my opening statements, I truly believe in mass transit and public transportation. I believe that the city of Ann Arbor will only be enhanced by an enhanced transportation system – a regional transportation system that includes transportation hubs throughout the city that allows people into and out of the city in an easy way. Wouldn’t it be fabulous if we could go from the city out to another area of our county to spend the day without using our vehicles, without engaging in a – increasing our carbon footprint? [Editor's note: A countywide transit master plan has been adopted by the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, which is working to expand bus and other transit services throughout Washtenaw County. The master plan includes development of east-west rail service.]

I believe that the Fuller Transit Center is situated for the future to be a great resource to our city in bringing people into the city, allowing people to leave the city. I believe that with the right level of support and with the regional future looking, I think we could do a really, really good job in expanding our transportation system in the city and in the region.

Anglin on Fuller Road Station

When this was first thought of years ago, back as early as ’06, the city was starting to take appraisals on that property. So this has been around for some time – this idea of either the university purchasing it, etcetera.

I like to explain it as we have a four-page document in front of us. The first two pages deal with the university’s parking structure. Those are full. That means, they are written. The next two pages are the transit center. They are blank. On page four you are asked for your signature of approval. In your personal life, you would not sign page four unless pages three and four were filled in. That’s where we are now.

There are promises, there are hopes, but the money isn’t there. So I would recommend that we move cautiously. We do have a train now, it services us to Chicago, and there will be improvements on the trains. I would put my money more on the AATA as we expand.

Downtown: Design Review Board

Question: Recent proposals for a private university dormitory – The Varsity at Ann Arbor – were presented to a new city design review board. Can you tell us and your viewers your thoughts on the purpose and function of this new entity? For example, are members paid or volunteers? Are they decision-making or advisory? What are your thoughts on the contribution the design review board makes to the city.

By way of additional background, the design review board (DRB) was established at the council’s June 6, 2011 meeting. Review by the DRB of new projects in the downtown area will come prior to a developer’s meeting with nearby residents for each project. The meeting with residents is already required as part of the city’s citizen participation ordinance. While the DRB process is required, conformance with the recommendations of that body is voluntary.

Anglin on the Design Review Board

Since I’ve been on council, one of most important things we’ve been trying to do, led by council member Marcia Higgins, was to work out new zoning for the city, which we have spent a great deal of time on, with a great deal of citizen participation. We now know what we want our downtown to look like – at least we know zoning-wise what we’d like it to look like.

As part of that, there was concern that should we have a mandatory or voluntary design review board. And this was mostly brought up by the architects and engineers and city planners, and these are all volunteers who give their time to Ann Arbor for that purpose. The developer enters freely into this discussion, and therefore starts to receive an idea of how we are going to proceed, what is expected of them, before they go through a process and find out to their chagrin that other things were expected of them and they’re disappointed and so are we.

Elyakin on the Design Review Board

Yes, thank you. I was talking with a resident a while back, who was complaining that he was trying to repair something on his house. And he kept getting information that was contradictory from various different people when he called the city. And was complaining. And one of the things that struck me as he was talking to me was, wouldn’t it be great if the city had a manual, a brochure, something that they could give out to people when they purchase property in the city so that they know what is expected of them. The design review board is what that is.

It allows our developers, it allows people who are coming in to come up with ideas for the city, to know in advance what we are expecting, to know in advance what the outcomes are going to be, to know in advance, so that no surprises are going to come up. I think it’s a great idea. I applaud the volunteers who work with it. I applaud the idea.

Why you?

Question: What qualities and accomplishments make you the better council member for Ward 5? You’re running against an incumbent (or as an incumbent). Why have you chosen to do that? What advantages would you bring?

Elyakin on why he’s challenging

Okay. I am a challenger. I’m running against a very nice fellow here, who has been in office for four years as a councilmember. My opinion is that I can represent the ward and be a responsible city councilmember who is very pro-Ann Arbor, working for the future of the city in very positive ways.

I support regional transportation. I support a dense downtown. I support possibilities based on futures for our city. I believe I can be very well-prepared when sitting at the council table to make decisions that are thoughtful, that are future-oriented, that help the city move forward in real and intentional, productive ways.

Anglin on why he’s earned another term

During the past four years, I have been very heavily involved in ward issues of all kinds, supportive of taking phone calls and working with people for some of their smallest items that they bring forward.

We deal with issues, we get phone calls about barking dogs, we get phone calls about serious things like flooding conditions. We get phone calls about police protection. I think some of the most satisfying part of my service on city council is working with the residents and trying to work on their particular issues. I’ve always believed that a strong neighborhood and a strong community makes a strong town.

It’s a fabric that’s woven together and it’s very delicate. We shouldn’t alienate any citizen or make them feel that they’re not part of this city and appreciated. The more we do that, the stronger we will have a town that adheres to its fundamental principles.

What are the strengths and challenges of Ward 5?

Question: What challenges do you see as unique to the Fifth Ward? How do you propose to address them in the primary and general election campaigns, and then later as a member of the city council?

Anglin on Ward 5 specifics

The strengths of the Fifth Ward are its citizens. We get a heavy volunteerism and involvement in the city. The problems of the Fifth Ward have to do with maintaining diversity of those types of populations that live in the Fifth Ward. How do we keep the prices of things down and make the city affordable as we move forward? You can expect progress, but it comes at a price. And the price will be that people who can’t afford it may have to leave. That may not be something that we as a city want to encourage, strongly encourage.

This is a small Midwestern town with a big university with it – that’s how I view our area and the Fifth Ward. The biggest problem ecologically is the Allen Creek, and the flooding conditions, and the Gelman pollution in the Fifth Ward. All those things are serious issues which we have worked on for the last four years and continue to address council, making them more aware to the rest of council that these still exist and we need to move forward on them. [Editor's note: Allen Creek runs through the Fifth Ward – a citizens group mobilized several years ago to push for a greenway that roughly follows the creek, which now primarily flows underground through drainage pipes. A task force formed by the city in 2005 issued a report on the greenway in 2007. "Gelman pollution" refers to 1,4 dioxane underground contamination from a former Gelman Sciences manufacturing plant in Scio Township, subsequently purchased by Pall Corp. For recent Chronicle coverage of the cleanup efforts, see "Residents Frustrated by Dioxane Decision"]

Elyakin on Ward 5 Specifics

I have been a Fifth Ward resident for 26 years, first living on Maple Ridge right by West Park and now living up near Forsythe school. I have a list of things that I think resonate with me and with people that I have spoken with, as I have walked around the ward and learned more about some of the pockets of beauty that exist in our area. Our parks – we have lots of parks in the Fifth Ward and they are beautiful. I would want to save them, I would want to keep them vibrant, I would want to keep them accessible to all of our children.

The Old West Side, the homes – where Mr. Anglin lives – they’re beautiful homes. They are absolutely gorgeous. I would want to keep them in a way that benefits all of our city. The businesses on Stadium and Maple, the Maple/Jackson traffic flow – we’ve got to do something about that corner. The Jackson corridor – I would like to be able to help that Jackson Road corridor that goes out from Mallek’s out to that area. Street repairs, crosswalks – those kinds of things are important to our ward.

Closing Statements

Each candidate was given the opportunity to make a closing statement.

Elyakin’s closing

First I want to thank everyone who is here. I want to thank Mr. Anglin. I want to thank you all at the League of Women Voters and especially the people who are watching this, whether it is live now, streaming on AnnArbor.com – thank you very much, AnnArbor.com – or taped. I know that we can keep the small-town feel.

Neal Elyakin

I know that we can keep that homey Ann Arbor attitude and still have the big-city infrastructure that attracts world-class opportunities. There is absolutely no reason why we can’t move forward, based on a shared vision of this city, one that we get through active participation of our citizenship. A few naysayers – while I applaud every person’s right to speak up and speak out – should not hold the city hostage, whether they are in the audience or sitting on council.

I believe that the city needs visionary work – people who can build a vision through collaborative cooperation and move toward it. We have serious issues out there. Michigan is not recovering quickly enough. It may never fully recover. For us to think that we can rely on anyone but ourselves and our partnerships that we can build and attract to keep this city vibrant. I am running now because I believe my skills in thinking creatively about the future, my skills and understanding and working with a diverse set of people will be crucial on the city council as we move ahead in these uncertain economic times, developing new revenue ideas and expanding our regional approach as needed, to keep Ann Arbor thriving economically.

We need a future economy here in Ann Arbor that supports job creation and economic growth, so our kids can plan on building their future here. I would love it if my daughter, who starts college next year, could decide to relocate back to Ann Arbor, when she is done with college. We need to have those opportunities for the next generation so we don’t lose them to other places.

Anglin’s closing

My time on city council is limited, like all of us who serve in the public for the public.

Mike Anglin

Keep in mind that our town is a combination of 150 years of others like myself and Mr. Elyakin, who are serious about making this town wonderful – we are just part of it. And as we move forward to the challenges that are particular to our time, to approach those challenges with openness and with a great deal of discussion amongst the community as to how we should move forward, rather than timelines guide us, decisions should be made based upon good fact and good information. And I see that happening all the time in Ann Arbor. I am very pleased with the things we do.

I live here, I love the town. I have been very happy since 1992 when I came here, and my family has prospered here, and I have made many friends. In the past four years I have made more friends. I’m surprised there are so many people I meet in the community who I respect a great deal, and they are as passionate about their town as the people who are elected officials. And I feel that I am just their voice, trying to listen to them, the business community, the judicial community, police department, so many different factors come into it, many of which I was not aware of when I started council.

I’ve served on almost every commission there is in the city – one that even spoke of regional cooperation, which is the most difficult thing we have here in Michigan – cooperating regionally. These are goals that we are always striving toward, and as time goes by, maybe we will get closer to them. But again, it’s a process, and I’m pleased with what the present council has done, and I am very proud of the city, and I thank the League of Women Voters and others who have given us this opportunity.

[Word Cloud Note: Cloud 1 is Elyakin. Cloud 2 is Anglin.]

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Sabra Briere (Ward 1) at the June 11 forum hosted by the Ann Arbor Democratic Party. (Photos by the writer.)

But unless an independent candidate files by Aug. 15, Briere’s path to re-election is completely free of opponents.

Still, the Ann Arbor Democratic Party invited all Democratic candidates to a forum on Saturday morning, June 11. Unlike primary elections themselves, which cost the city about $7,000 per ward to administer, the only additional cost to the extra invitations was two minutes of the public’s time.

The forum was held in the context of the Ann Arbor Democratic Party’s regular monthly meeting at its usual location in the Ann Arbor Community Center on North Main Street.

At the forum, the seven Democratic candidates in those wards with contested primary races were asked to respond to a series of questions from party co-chair Mike Henry. Briere and Higgins were also invited to deliver some remarks at the conclusion of the event. Higgins was not able to attend, but Briere accepted the invitation.

After the break, we summarize what Briere had to say in her allotted two minutes, after she listened to the other candidates respond to questions posed by Henry. We also provide a sampling of photos from Saturday’s event. Summaries of responses made by candidates for seats in Ward 2, Ward 3 and Ward 5 are presented in separate articles.

It’s also worth noting that the last day to register to vote for the Aug. 2, 2011 primary is July 5.

Sabra Briere’s Remarks

Briere said she was honored to be asked to speak, because she does not have a contested primary. And unless something happens between now and August, she won’t have a challenger in November, either.

There are good things about not having a challenger, but there are bad things as well, she cautioned. One of the bad things is that as a candidate you don’t get as many opportunities to express your views. You don’t get an opportunity to go out and meet people and have them happy to see you at the door – because really, all you are doing is interrupting them.

She’d listened to all the other candidates speak about how to set priorities for the budget. The council has wrangled with that, she said, since she’s served on the council. [Briere was first elected in 2007.] She said she didn’t think the council has a good prioritization system: We want everything; you want everything, she told the audience. The result is a little nibbling away at everything, she said – it’s never because we’ve all decided this is the direction we want to go in.

On the topic of agreements and disagreements, she said that councilmembers don’t all agree. But she said that Mike Anglin, in his remarks, was right in pointing out that 99% of the council votes are unanimous – those are the votes where there’s no controversy. When there is controversy, she said, there’s disagreement. It depends on councilmembers’ ability to reflect their constituents’ needs. Some will fall on one side and some on the other.

The good news is that councilmembers are all colleagues, she said. They collaborate when they need to. It’s that collaboration that allows the council to do its work, Briere concluded, and it’s the controversy that makes things interesting.

Ann Arbor Democratic Party Candidate Forum: Photos

Mike Henry, Ann Arbor Democratic Party co-chair, moderated the June 11 forum.

Anne Bannister, Ann Arbor Democratic Party co-chair, handled some regular routine business at the start of the meeting.

Susan Baskett was not swearing to keep time with the clock in her hand, but the Ann Arbor Public Schools board member was in fact recruited to handle timekeeping chores.

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The forum was hosted by the Ann Arbor Democratic Party for all city council candidates in contested wards for the Aug. 2 primary election. The event was held in the context of the Democratic Party’s regular monthly meeting at its usual location in the Ann Arbor Community Center on North Main Street.

Ann Arbor's Ward 5 is the yellow highlighted wedge on this city map. The image links to the city of Ann Arbor's My Property page. Type in your address for definitive information about which ward and precinct you live in, along with other information.

The winner of the Ward 5 primary will face Republican Stuart Berry in the general election on Nov. 8. Currently, only Democrats serve on Ann Arbor’s city council.

Republicans have also filed in Ward 4 (Eric Scheie) and Ward 3 (David Parker). In Ward 2, the lack of a Republican challenger means that spot is almost sure to be decided in the Aug. 2 Democratic primary. For the open Ward 1 seat, currently held by Sabra Briere, no partisan challenger filed. Independent candidates have until Aug. 15, 2011 at 5 p.m. to file petitions to run in November.

The last day to register to vote for the Aug. 2, 2011 primary is July 5, 2011.

In this report, we give paraphrased summaries of responses from the Ward 5 candidates. Summarized remarks made by candidates for seats in Ward 2 and Ward 3 are presented in separate articles.

Other Attendees, Logistics

Before getting into the candidate responses, we’ll briefly describe the June 11 gathering. By way of background, the Ann Arbor city council consists of the mayor plus two representatives from each of five wards, who serve for two years each. That means each year, one of the two representative seats for each ward is up for election.

Saturday’s Democratic Party forum was attended by five out of 11 current councilmembers: Mike Anglin (Ward 5), Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) and Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2) all participated in the candidate forum. Sabra Briere (Ward 1), whose Democratic primary race this year is uncontested, was invited to make remarks at the end of the forum, which she did. Marcia Higgins (Ward 4) – who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary, but who faces a Republican challenge in the fall – was extended the same invitation as Briere, but could not attend due to a family commitment.

Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5), who was first elected in November 2008, was re-elected last year. His seat is not up for election again until 2012, but he attended the forum.

Party co-chair Anne Bannister called attendees’ attention to other elected officials in the audience as well. They included county commissioner Yousef Rabhi and state representative for District 53 Jeff Irwin – both Irwin and Rabhi are Ann Arbor residents. As the room was surveyed for other elected officials, attendees got a reminder that the boards of the Ann Arbor District Library and Ann Arbor Public Schools are also elected positions. So Nancy Kaplan (AADL board) and Susan Baskett (AAPS board) were also recognized.

Baskett was recruited to keep time – it was rarely an issue for candidates. Party co-chair Mike Henry moderated.

The Chronicle counted around 50 people in the audience.

Opening Statements

Candidates were given two minutes to make an opening statement. We present candidate responses in the order they were given. First chance to respond rotated down the table of the seven participants in the forum.

Opening Statement: Mike Anglin

Anglin thanked those who organized the forum, and as well as those who are supporting the candidates. Grass roots is fundamental to good government, he said. There are so many people in the room, he said, that it’s indicative of the Democratic umbrella. We’re all here with different ideas, where we discuss things, and the more of that we have, the better off we are as a community, he said. We need this discourse.

He said he would speak to just a single aspect of being an elected official due to the time constraints: Why did he enter politics?

He said he had a masters degree in American history and a masters degree in special education. He’d always had a service component to his life, he said. During college he worked in the D.C. public schools teaching kids to read as a volunteer. Later he worked at Boys’ Village in Cheltenham, Maryland. He began teaching in New York at junior high schools. He finished his career in Montgomery County in a special school for handicapped, emotionally disturbed children.

When Anglin came to Ann Arbor, he got involved in politics because he realized there were issues he wanted to be involved with, like the environment. So he’d started working with the Allen Creek greenway. He’d joined the Kiwanis Club – he schedules Route #9 for Meals on Wheels for that organization. He said he is very heavily involved in the community, and he likes to listen to people, because the first job of government is to provide services to the community.

Opening Statement: Neal Elyakin

Elyakin thanked the Democratic Party for bringing everyone together. These kinds of forums are very important, he said, for the democratic process. Why am I here? he asked rhetorically. First, because of civic responsibility, and also because of the expertise he can bring to the city council.

He noted that he and Anglin had a lot in common. They’re both New Yorkers, both from Brooklyn. He’d grown up there riding the trains and the subway. He said he’d become a special education teacher and had been in teaching administration for many years.

His expertise, he said, is in visioning and futuring and looking at process – making sure we’re looking in the same direction and staying in that direction once a decision has been made. He’s experienced in nonprofits and civic organizations, locally, statewide and nationally, which will help him bring people together who are diverse, to build consensus.

He’s served on Ann Arbor’s human rights commission, and with that work has learned about city government and the importance of building consensus, so that you can make a decision, debate the issues, and move things forward. “I am here to help government, I am here to help you be a part of the government.”

Question: Budget – Public Art

The state and the city face budget challenges and constraints. Many governments are going through a cost-cutting process. How would you prioritize cutting items from the budget? Please speak specifically to the question of whether public art in buildings should be prioritized at times when we are cutting police and firefighters.

Mike Anglin: Budget – Public Art

Mike Anglin said if you look at growth areas of the city budget, in just the general fund, which pays for public safety, it’s based on property taxes. There’s a continual drain on that fund, he said. We need to find a way to push more money in that direction. One area he’d identified that needs to be decreased is the amount of “administration” in the city. Administration seems to be growing, he said, but delivery of services is not. We’re getting a higher, broader, and deeper administration, but fewer services coming into the community, he said. So we see police layoffs, when we should instead look at other staff besides safety services, who should be reduced.

Neal Elyakin: Budget – Public Art

Neal Elyakin said the issue concerns decision-making, and he does have experience looking at the macro issues and looking at the process by which we make decisions. Decisions need to be made based on a “futures orientation” – based on what we want our city to be and to look like for all of its citizens 10-20-30 years from now. We need to “stay on those decisions.”

Whether to make decisions based on art or parks should be built into that vision you have of the city, Elyakin said, and how you’re going to get there. We need to list the priorities clearly and stay on message, and on target. That’s part of the process. “How are we going to fix it right now, this second? I don’t know.” But he said he did know that moving forward, the process by which we make decisions will affect the future of the city.

Question: Budget – Areas to Cut

In his response to the first question about the budget, Anglin identified “administration” as an area that he thought could be reduced. Moderator Mike Henry followed up by asking candidates to name one or two areas that they think are prime for cutting.

Mike Anglin: Budget – Areas to Cut

Anglin said we need to watch the IT (information technology) fund. Though it’s important to have an IT department, as it gets larger, it’s important to keep an eye on it. The other area Anglin would look at would be the city attorney’s office. There are 10 attorneys on staff and he felt that we could take a look at that to see if they are all necessary. [The city attorney's office employs eight attorneys, an office manager and  four legal assistants.]

Neal Elyakin: Budget – Areas to Cut

Elyakin came back to the idea of process: The city needs a process to figure out where and what they should look at with respect to city services. Where are the extra people? He said he did not believe that there were that many “extra” people at the city. He said city employees do a fabulous job to help make the city the best it can be. But there needs to be a regular process, he said, that is followed by the city and by the citizens to help develop those priorities.

Question: Campaign Support, Candidate Comparison

Who is supporting you and why do they have confidence in you? Why do you think you’re a better than those running against you?

Mike Anglin: Campaign Support, Candidate Comparison

Anglin said since he’s been on the city council, he’s tried to listen attentively to the public. They are the ones who are paying the bills and who want to make this town their home. So they are the ones who’ll give direction to the government, he said.

Ward 5 is diverse – there are a lot of different income levels. The people who support him are those he responds to “at the lower level of things” – people who are on a fixed income, people who cannot continue to live in the city if we add more and more burdens to them. The city sometimes pushes things that look small to us but are large to the people they affect, he said – for example, the $45/month garbage cart collection that was added to the set of fees approved by the council this year. All these little expenses add up, he said. As for the people who are supporting him, they’re listed on his website – some are county representatives and people he supported in their elections. He said his support was citywide.

Neal Elyakin: Campaign Support, Candidate Comparison

Elyakin said he is new to the process of running for office. There are a number of people listed on his website as supporting him. He said he’s been knocking on doors of his neighbors and others who live in Ward 5, he’d eventually get to all of the doors in Ward 5.

He said he has friends in the city who’ve told him they believe in him and his ideas and priorities. He’s having conversations with residents of Ward 5, regional leaders, councilmembers, state representatives, county commissioners and others who have leadership roles in the community. He invited people to look at his website and learn who’s supporting him as well as his priorities for the city.

Question: Disagreement

Who would you say you disagree with most often on the city council – please be specific. How would you work to bring yourselves to agreement?

Neal Elyakin: Disagreement

Elyakin said that this may depend on the particular issue. He said he could not be specific about who he might disagree with. As you look at the process of decision-making, you may disagree on a piece of legislation, but on another piece of legislation you might be right on board with that person. The beauty of the process is working together to one end, he said.

Consensus is a way to say, once all the information is gathered, and all the input has been collected, that you make a decision, stick with that decision and live with that decision, Elyakin said. Building a consensus in a political environment is just as important as in the private world, he said.

Pressed by the moderator to talk more about disagreement, Elyakin said he would bring up the Library Lot as an issue. [The city issued an RFP (request for proposals) for development atop the city-owned Library Lot, where an underground parking structure is being built. A conference center/hotel project was initially identified as the preferred proposal, but city council called off the process this spring.] It was a process disagreement, he said, as opposed to a disagreement with a person or a group of people. He said he disagreed that the process followed was an effective process. Moving forward, when making decisions like that, we have to make them more intentionally, with a clearer view of what the future will be, he said.

Mike Anglin: Disagreement

Anglin said the city council agrees on 99% of everything it votes on. Where they disagree are projects that start and still have a life after two or three years. If the city has a good IT department, he said, the city could move towards transparency by posting drafts of documents. If a committee is working on something, the committee should post a draft. It would not be the final resolution, and we wouldn’t hold people’s feet to that draft in February if by October the committee has changed its mind, he said.

An intelligent man changes his mind, but a fool does not, Anglin said. He thanked Stephen Rapundalo – a Ward 2 councilmember – for his cooperation on the budget votes. He noted that he and Rapundalo agreed on many things – they worked together on the liquor license review committee. On the budget this year, there was a $90,000 amendment in support of the parks budget. The amendment needed Rapundalo’s vote and he gave it, so he was very appreciative of that, Anglin concluded.

Question: Library Lot

What would you like to see on the Library Lot? [The Ann Arbor DDA is moving forward with a process that would essentially restart a look at alternate uses of several downtown city-owned lots, including the Library Lot on South Fifth Avenue, where a 640-space underground parking structure is being built. See Chronicle coverage: "Ann Arbor DDA Continues Planning Prep." An RFP process for development atop the Library Lot site was terminated this spring, after a conference center/hotel project was initially identified as the preferred alternative among the six proposals submitted.]

Mike Anglin: Library Lot

Anglin said he would like to see the number of stakeholders increase and wanted to see that the public occupied at least “40% of the voting seats.” A community commons and the library could exist together, he said. People volunteer in massive numbers in the community, he said, giving the Water Hill Music Fest as an example.

Any time there’s an event, people will be drawn to it and that will develop economic strength, Anglin said. They’ll love the downtown and want to come downtown. Don’t put up a big building that will isolate people, he cautioned. We need to get the library to buy in – they’re part of the public. [The Ann Arbor District Library's downtown building is located adjacent to the city-owned Library Lot, immediately south of that South Fifth Avenue site.] The library board needs to weigh in. Individuals from the library have spoken, but the board has not, he contended. It’s important to understand who is speaking for whom. The University of Michigan has no interest in a hotel or conference center on the Library Lot, Anglin said.

Neal Elyakin: Library Lot

Elyakin said it goes back to a process issue. When you think about the process by which we got to where we are today, it was a flawed process, he said. His reading of this over a period of time in the media was that it was a flawed process. We didn’t take into account all the necessary stakeholders in thinking about how we could use that property and the property around it. Entering in partnerships to create an event around what is now a “big hole” – that’s the beauty and power of visioning. You come up with something that the entire community can get behind.

Question: Conference Center

Do you think Ann Arbor needs a conference center anywhere? If so, should public dollars be used to support it?

Mike Anglin: Conference Center

Anglin said he didn’t see the need for a conference center. While the community discussion about the Library Lot was going on, he said, he’d met with the owners of some of the local hotels. Weber’s Inn and the Four Points Sheraton are both offering conference facilities, he said. Between them they had $13 million invested, so the city needed to be very careful in how it invested public money.

For the project at the First and Washington site, he said, the city had started in 2005 working to get the site developed, but if you go by the site, it’s still just a place to park a car. There would be a huge discussion on that site as well, he said, because it’s an environmental issue. [The planned development by Village Green on that city-owned site has already received approval by city council. Called City Apartments, the project is a 156-unit residential planned unit development with a 244-space parking deck as the first two stories of a 9-story, 99-foot-tall building. At its most recent meeting, on June 6, the city council unanimously approved a reduction in the purchase price from $3.3 million to $3.2 million, for the deal that is supposed to finally go through sometime in August.]

Neal Elyakin: Conference Center

Elyakin said whether public money gets used is a decision that comes out of the process of determining what our vision is for what we want our community to look like. Looking at partnerships and how we develop partnerships, there could be validity in coming up with a public-private partnership, but it needs to be wrapped around a vision and the potential for revenue back to the city.

Question: University of Michigan, Washtenaw County

How would you characterize the relationship between the city and the University of Michigan? How would you characterize the relationship between the city and Washtenaw County?

Mike Anglin: University of Michigan, Washtenaw County

Anglin led off his response with an apparent allusion to the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority’s current effort to expand its transit service countywide. He said as services are needed by surrounding municipalities, and as gasoline is getting more expensive, the AATA is expanding into the county because people in the rest of the county also want the AATA’s services. Cooperation is also happening in Ypsilanti with Ann Arbor SPARK, he said, referring to the area’s economic development agency.

All this would ultimately lead to an income tax, Anglin contended, which he would not support, because it would not help the community. But what the county could do is pass a millage on their residents and then they would have that money to pay for services that originate in Ann Arbor. Anglin criticized the fact that water rates charged by the city of Ann Arbor for some of the townships is only 3% more than the cost charged within the city of Ann Arbor.

We need more cooperation, but we’ll get it only if people see a need for it, he said. For the university, he said, a PILOT [payment in lieu of taxes] program should be in place. He felt that the city would probably finally get to that point. He said he was disappointed that the university didn’t help with the East Stadium bridges replacement. It really helps the university to have that bridge there in the middle of the campus, he said. The university should have simply stepped forward, but the city didn’t push very much, he concluded.

Neal Elyakin: University of Michigan, Washtenaw County

Relationship building is a skill he could bring to the city council, Elyakin said. His conversations with city leaders and state-level leaders showed him that building bridges between entities on the city level and the state level and the regional level will help our city revenue streams. It will help eliminate redundancies, and these things are all mutually beneficial. Part of regional leadership is that this city can become a regional leader in working collaboratively with communities around us, he said.

Question: Economic Development

Describe the Ann Arbor that you would help to create if you’re elected. What are your priorities for economic development?

Mike Anglin: Economic Development

Anglin asked how Ann Arbor is different from other towns – other towns also have small shops and coffee shops, too. What we have that makes us different, he said, is the values of the community that are expressed in the priorities that we’re willing to spend money on. To date, we’ve done a good job, but we’re starting to lose some traction on that. We can bring it back, he said. We have a can-do attitude about this, he said.

Anglin said he agreed that service delivery is very important. You like to live in a town because you like the way you were treated the one time you called city hall. When you call city hall and all you get is transfered around, people hear about that – one bad thing goes around 100 times. When that happens, you have a festering and a discontent in the town. He said he felt like we’re now on a better track.

Neal Elyakin: Economic Development

Elyakin said he felt like he probably sounded like a broken record, but visioning for the city is very important. A multi-year budget process is something we could engage in with citizens in a real sense. We could get more direct input from citizens not just to the city council, he said, but to other city leaders. He’d like to see more permanent solutions – dumping loose asphalt into a hole doesn’t necessarily create a permanent solution, he said. He said he loved the idea of more green development and converting city buildings to be more green. He wanted more accountability in our governance as well.

Closing Statements

Each candidate was given two minutes for a closing statement.

Mike Anglin: Closing Statement

Anglin said he didn’t think the council went for consensus. That a misconception, he said. A consensus is one opinion. And one opinion wouldn’t go very far. We all have something to bring to democracy and the more voices we have, the better the solution will be. He’s a hard worker, he said, and tries to build relationships.

Over the course of four years of service he’s established valuable relationships, Anglin said. Some of those are not in his own ward but apply to the whole city. Working to save Huron Hills golf course, he said one of the most important things that was said was by a little man who never even played golf, but who said that one of the most tranquil times of the day is driving past the course in the morning and at night. We all get something different from this town, Anglin continued. Have your voice heard, because that’s what it’s all about. An example of that was preserving Argo Dam for the rowers. He said he’s always on board to vote for infrastructure.

He likes the idea of a community commons [on the Library Lot site] because it will promote democracy. If you see someone sitting there you could go up and talk to them and find out that they have very different views. That avoids a situation where the same discourse goes around and around like a washing machine. We don’t have a community commons that is the center of the city. With three minutes during public commentary at the city council, you don’t feel you’ve been heard, Anglin said.

Neal Elyakin: Closing Statement

Elyakin said he grew up in New York in a big family and learned early the importance of democratic values living with his relatives. He understood the value of how a city can take care of its less able folks. His family was not wealthy by any means, he said, and they relied on public assistance to make ends meet. So he understood clearly the democracy of the country we live in. It’s there to help all the citizens, no matter what they are or who they are or how they behave or what their needs are.

That came with him to Ann Arbor, he said, after living overseas and learning that some democracies are different from U.S. democracy. He learned the importance of listening to everyone and to what people say. He does believe that consensus can work, because it’s a way of building relationships with people so that we can all move forward in a comfortable way. He’s learned that through his work with nonprofits, through his work as an administrator with the Washtenaw intermediate school district (WISD), with civic organizations in the city, at the state and with international nonprofits.

In his job, he works enormously hard building consensus with families and school districts, employers and neighborhoods, Elyakin said, to move forward with a vision for a particular young man or woman with a developmental disability so that they can be all they can be in their community. He feels he can bring that skill to city council that is good for all the citizens.

Elyakin concluded by thanking the audience for their time and the Ann Arbor Democratic Party for creating the forum. He invited the audience to learn more about all of the candidates before making a decision on Aug. 2.

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