From left: Republican Stuart Berry and Democrat Chuck Warpehoski are candidates for Ward 5 Ann Arbor city council. (Photos by the writer.)

The Ward 5 seat is currently held by Democrat Carsten Hohnke, who did not seek re-election for another two-year term. Vying for the opening are Democrat Chuck Warpehoski and Republican Stuart Berry. The two candidates answered questions about their background and vision for the community at an Oct. 10 forum organized by the League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area.

Berry stressed the importance of basic services, and advocated for giving power back to the people. In general, he indicated a belief that government at all levels has overstepped its bounds.

Citing his experience as executive director of the nonprofit Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice, Warpehoski emphasized his skills as a listener and in bringing together people with different perspectives. Warpehoski also provided written answers to a set of questions on the league’s Vote411.org website. The site indicated that Berry did not participate.

Both candidates highlighted the challenge of providing services at a time when budgets are tight.

The Oct. 10 candidate forum was held at the studios of Community Television Network in Ann Arbor, and is available online via CTN’s video-on-demand service. The forum also included candidates for Ann Arbor mayor – Albert Howard and John Hieftje. The mayoral portion of the forum is reported in a separate Chronicle write-up.

Information on local elections can be found on the Washtenaw County clerk’s elections division website. To see a sample ballot for your precinct, visit the Secretary of State’s website.

Opening Statements

Each candidate was given the opportunity to make a one-minute opening statement.

Chuck Warpehoski: He thanked the league, noting that this event is important to give viewers a better understanding of the candidates. He believes he brings important skills that are necessary to serve the community. He cited the past 10 years of experience he’s had as executive director of the Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice. In that role, he said he’s gained important experience in how to listen to constituents and bring people together across their differences to address their concerns. This is an important skill for serving the community, he said. Warpehoski’s work has also given him experience in balancing a budget and meeting payroll. Those are hands-on leadership skills that a councilmember needs, he said. He directed viewers to his campaign website to learn more, and he asked for their vote on Nov.6.

Stuart Berry: He also thanked the league for hosting the forum. He first came to Ann Arbor in the late 1960s to help his father, a Scottish immigrant, deliver milk to Ann Arbor families. It was hard work – and his father worked six days a week, 52 weeks a year, but was glad to do it because he came to America knowing that hard work paid off, Berry said. During those years, Berry said he witnessed the building of many great neighborhoods, commercial areas and parks in Ann Arbor. The city was changing then to redefine itself. Now, Ann Arbor must face new realities if it is to remain great. When he returned in 1989 to live and work here for the University of Michigan city services were very good. Over the years, declining revenues have forced some tough choices, and the city council has not always been wise in making those choices, he said. The council has chosen to reduce basic services, he noted, and to fund many projects of questionable value and benefit. He looked forward to discussing his concerns and solutions.

Challenges

What are the biggest challenges that the city faces over the next two years, and how would you act on them?

Stuart Berry

Stuart Berry: The biggest challenge relates to basic services. Police and fire protection have been cut back, and it’s impacting the safety of the citizens and taxpayers, he said. Another basic service is the roads, which continue to be in poor shape. The city needs to improve the roads, he said. As he goes throughout Ward 5 knocking on doors, people are questioning why the city eliminated a fall leaf collection program, saying that many people feel that is a hidden tax – because they now have to spend money and time on it themselves. The city council needs to redefine itself so that it better provides the basic services of Ann Arbor, he concluded.

Chuck Warpehoski: Many of the challenges will be budget-related, he said. It isn’t always a choice between a good thing and a bad thing, he noted. Often it’s a choice between multiple good things, or the difficult choice of making cuts. The city has faced significant challenges. It lost property tax revenue when Pfizer left town, he said. Property values have declined, so the revenues from property taxes have declined. The city has lost several million dollars in state revenue-sharing, he said. So continuing to provide services and balance the different needs of constituents is a vital challenge.

Warpehoski said there are a couple of things he can bring to meet that challenge. With his background in listening and bringing people together, his goal is to have a participatory process that will bring people into that discussion. As they move forward in that process – having made cuts in the past – part of the challenge is how to look for alternative revenue sources to help fund community needs, he said.

Relationship with the DDA

Are you satisfied with the relationship between the city and the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority? What are your thoughts about the DDA’s Connecting William Street project?

By way of background, in 1975 the state legislature authorized the Downtown Development Authority Act (Act 197 of 1975), which enabled cities to set up DDAs with the purpose of protecting and revitalizing their downtowns. The Ann Arbor DDA was established in the early 1980s, and renewed by city council in 2003 for another 30 years. It is governed by a board that’s appointed by the city council, based on nominations by the mayor, who by statute also serves on the board. The DDA is funded by tax increment financing (TIF) – that is, it “captures” a portion of the property taxes in a specific geographic area that would otherwise be collected by taxing authorities in the district. The tax capture is only on the increment in valuation – the difference between the value of property when the district was established, and the value resulting from improvements made to the property. In Ann Arbor, the DDA also operates the public parking system under contract with the city.

Earlier this year, the city council also directed the DDA to embark on another project – now called Connecting William Street – focused on developing a plan for five city-owned properties along William Street, between Ashley and Division. Four of the parcels are surface parking lots; the fifth is a parking structure at Fourth & William. For more background, see Chronicle coverage: “PAC: Downtown Park, More Input Needed” and “Planning Group Briefed on William St. Project.”

Chuck Warpehoski: The downtown is part of what makes Ann Arbor great – that, plus the city’s dynamic neighborhoods, he said. As he hears people discuss the downtown and the DDA, he hears that some people are unhappy with the DDA’s administration, that it’s taking too many resources. But he also hears people argue on the other side – for example, that the DDA gave too much away when it negotiated with the city for the most recent contract to manage the city’s parking system, and that as a result the DDA is not able to fully fulfill its mission. He thinks the DDA is important for maintaining the downtown’s vibrancy. There are continuing discussions about how they can best do that. He hears a lot about the importance of making the community accessible to all residents. When the DDA puts in ADA-compliant curbcuts downtown, that’s a good investment, he said. The downtown is important, but it’s also important to make sure that the partnership with the DDA works for the community as a whole, he added.

Stuart Berry: He agrees that the downtown is very vibrant. People come in and spend their money, and pay a lot of money for parking, Berry said. The money that the DDA handles is, in effect, taxpayer money, he said, and the DDA’s board is unelected. He’d rather see more oversight over the DDA, because that’s the role of the city council – to make sure that the money collected by the DDA is properly handled. Ultimately, the city council is responsible for those dollars, he said, because councilmembers are the ones who are elected.

Traffic & Population Growth

Is the city’s planning for traffic growth keeping up with plans for the growth in population, with respect to parking, safety and other aspects?

Stuart Berry: Traffic in any city is a real concern, especially in Ann Arbor. The city is growing, but the infrastructure is shrinking, he said. The city is on a path to put all the pedestrians, bicyclists and cars in the road at the same time. It’s a prescription for a bad thing – and he’s concerned about that. The city has to find a way to get people into Ann Arbor, to move around safely, then get them out of Ann Arbor if they’re not residents here. Ultimately, the city needs more people and businesses to move in so that the city can grow, he said. To do that, the traffic situation needs to improve.

Chuck Warpehoski: Having a balanced and multi-modal transportation system is very important. Over the last five years, the city has seen almost a doubling of bicycle use, he said. So they need to look at a variety of factors when trying to manage mobility. Some people will drive to shop or work downtown, so the city needs to provide those driving and parking options. Some people will take the bus. Expanding options like park-and-ride lots will get people to the edge of the city so that they can take the bus, which will result in less congestion and less demand for new parking. It’s important to make sure that roads are safe for pedestrians, and that the city’s pathways are safe for cyclists. “It’s a matter of balancing all of these factors.” Overall, the city’s transportation planning has been good, Warpehoski said, given the constraints. Can it do better? Absolutely, he said – and he’s looking forward to helping find options for all of the city’s transportation needs.

Nonpartisan Elections

Should Ann Arbor follow the lead of many other municipalities and abandon partisan tags for mayor and city council, particularly to take top vote-getters in a nonpartisan August primary and into the November general election?

For background on this issue, see “Column: Ann Arbor – A One-Party Town” and “Column: Let’s Put Life into City Elections.”

Chuck Warpehoski

Chuck Warpehoski: There are arguments on both sides, he said. He noted that The Ann Arbor Chronicle published a column on this issue that made some good points. A proposal for nonpartisan elections might be something to bring to the voters. The advantage of a partisan election is that the party label gives voters an indication of things, he said. In the Nov. 6 election there are a lot of races. The League of Women Voters has been doing a great job of helping to educate voters, he said. But it’s very difficult to give attention to all the ballot initiatives, and all the races, to make sure people are really informed. The advantage of the current system is that when people go to the polls for the primary election – which ends up being the real race  for many elected positions in Ann Arbor – there has been a lot of attention specifically on that race. The challenge of getting more attention for the general election and creating an educated populace is something that needs to be worked on, if the city moves forward with nonpartisan elections, he said.

Stuart Berry: Nonpartisan elections would be a very good idea for Ann Arbor, Berry said. The town has a majority of Democrats, so running as a Republican, Berry said it’s hard for him to get his points across to voters on their doorsteps. Many Democrats don’t want to listen to what a Republican has to say. But the ideas in Ann Arbor are not necessarily Republican or Democrat, he said. We need to work toward improving the city, and the way to do that is to have all ideas heard. With partisan elections, the real election is in the August primary. It tends to bring out the more partisan part of the voting block, he noted. It would be very good to move from partisan elections to nonpartisan elections.

Long-Term Goals

Looking ahead 10-20 years, highlight one or more projects that you’d like to initiate or support now to achieve your future vision of Ann Arbor.

Stuart Berry: He’d like to see city council devote more time to basic services. The council has gotten too far afield in addressing all sorts of issues that are not necessarily the jurisdiction of the government, he said. There are a lot of things that the council does that they could investigate “transitioning back to the people.” Churches, community organizations and fraternal organizations used to be very strong, he said. As the government takes hold of all the services in the community that those organizations used to provide, those organizations tend to suffer. The church he attends is always looking around for things to do, he said, but there are not as many avenues for them as there were in the past. “Let’s transfer the power back to the people.”

Chuck Warpehoski: As he looks ahead 10-20 years, Warpehoski said he certainly would not want to erode Ann Arbor’s social safety net or try to cut funding for those services that make sure the community is responsive to all of its members. One thing that would really strengthen the community is to take a more regional approach to transportation, he said. The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority concluded its 30-year master plan after extensive listening and feedback from community members, elected officials and others across the county to help create a vision, he said. Nationally, communities that have the strongest transportation systems are also those that have the strongest job growth. It’s good for the economy. For him, as a Democrat, he cares deeply about our national heritage. Public transportation is good for the environment. And as someone who’s concerned about people who can’t drive because of income, disability or other reasons, he thinks it provides more opportunity for them.

Open-Ended Question

What question wasn’t asked tonight that you’d like to address?

Chuck Warpehoski: As he’s been going door-to-door, one question he’s heard a lot is about shaping the future of downtown. People are on both sides of the issue. The city has taken important steps in trying to envision what the downtown should look like, he said, but there’s still more work needed. He’s heard some concerns about some of the designs of buildings that are going up. There’s an existing downtown design process, he noted. Does that meet the city’s needs? Is it giving us the quality of buildings that the city should expect in a great community like ours? If not, how can that process be strengthened? Ann Arbor is a great town and should expect great buildings, he said. The city’s zoning and design process should give us that.

Stuart Berry: He believes in the power and creativity of the people. Government at all levels should allow the people to do what’s necessary to create community and keep that community thriving. He doesn’t put as much credence in an elected body to plan and design and make sure a city goes from A to B. It’s the people who should do that. “We know what needs to be done. We’re out in the neighborhoods and in the downtown every day.” The city government needs to allow an atmosphere where people can come and take risks with their capital to improve what’s going on. That’s what really brings people to Ann Arbor, he said – the creativity and talent of the people. “We, the people, make that happen.”

Closing Statements

Each candidate had the opportunity to make a two-minute closing statement.

Chuck Warpehoski: He thanked the league and viewers, and said he’s running because he wants the opportunity to serve the community he loves. He has a small daughter, and wants to make sure that the community she grows up in is one that’s as great as it can be. The city has tremendous assets – a fantastic parks system, wonderful neighborhoods, a downtown that draws people from all over. The challenge facing the city council now and in the future is how to keep this community great. For him, an important part of that process is listening. That’s what he does every day with his work at the Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice – figuring out how to bring together people from different backgrounds and perspectives. That’s a commitment to listening, inclusion and bridge-building that he said he’d also bring to city council.

Warpehoski described himself as a proud Democrat, and he holds those Democratic values of an inclusive community with a strong social safety net and strong environmental protections – he’d bring those values to his council service too. He thinks those resonate with Ann Arbor voters. Finally, he believes he has the leadership experience serving as a nonprofit director, handling the difficult balancing act in his day job or at council, whether it’s budget deliberations, how to use public lands, or other decisions. He asked for people’s vote on Nov. 6, and pointed viewers to his campaign website for more information.

Stuart Berry: Thanking the league, Berry said the “good people of Ann Arbor deserve more than the city council has been giving us.” He’ll focus on improved basic services – police and fire protection, good roads, timely snow removal, maintaining city parks. He said he’d provide oversight of how hard-earned taxpayer dollars are spent. He’d work for a climate change that promotes business growth in Ann Arbor. The growth he witnessed while lugging milk to Ann Arbor families was good for the city at that time, he said. Today, it appears to him that private-sector growth is resisted and blocked at too many opportunities. The paradox is that taxpayer-funded development is promoted at every opportunity, he said.

The purpose of the government is to do the things that citizens should not do – because those things are either too hard to do, or too dangerous. Examples of things that are too hard are building roads, sewer and water systems, or trash pickup. Examples of duties that are too dangerous are police and fire protection. He endorses a refocus of the city council onto its managerial role. Council has a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that tax dollars are spent wisely and appropriately. When he’s on doorsteps, he said he often gets asked “What are they doing, and when will it end?” He’ll promote a council that devotes its time and energy to serving the citizens of Ann Arbor, not on how it can expand. “I have no special interests and no hidden agendas. I support liberty, freedom, and responsible, limited government.”

He told viewers that they can help bring equitable, enthusiastic, efficient leadership to Ann Arbor, and he asked for their vote. He looked forward to representing everyone in the Fifth Ward. “I want to let Ann Arbor be what it can be, not what a few think it should be.”

The Chronicle would not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of local government – we hope you elect to subscribe. 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!

Candidates for Washtenaw County prosecuting attorney, from left: incumbent Democrat Brian Mackie and Libertarian Justin Altman. (Photos by the writer.)

At a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters on Oct. 11, the candidates fielded a range of questions – covering basic biographical background, their approach to customer service, and their views on discretion. Discretion came up in several ways – regarding victimless crimes, sentencing, opposition to parole, and the role of successor judges in granting parole.

Altman is a recent law school graduate who passed the state bar exam in 2011. At the forum, he made his Libertarian values at least an implicit part of his response to several questions asked by the league moderator. He raised the specter of law enforcement officials getting special treatment from the prosecutor’s office. He also questioned whether a prosecutor should use the force of law against defendants who’ve committed victimless crimes.

The only example of victimless crimes Altman gave at the forum related to marijuana, and that led Mackie at one point to wonder what crimes Altman was actually talking about. Mackie said his office spent relatively little of its time with those types of offenses, and he characterized the sentencing for such matters as light. Mackie highlighted the child support orders that his office obtains for 500-600 children every year, and his office’s prosecution of serious crimes. He characterized prosecution as serious work “for serious people.”

Both candidates for county prosecutor alluded to the vice presidential debate – between Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Paul Ryan – that was taking place on the same evening. Mackie referred to the debate in order to make a point about relative importance: For many individuals – like victims of crime – the office of prosecuting attorney is more important than the office of vice president. Altman’s reference to the vice presidential debate was in the context of thanking the LWV for including him in the debate, noting that the vice presidential debate did not have a third-party voice represented.

Altman and Mackie have also given responses to five questions on the league’s Vote411.org website.

The office of county prosecutor handles all felonies and misdemeanors charged under state law. The office also is responsible for juvenile delinquency proceedings, terminations of parental rights in the case of child abuse and neglect, and mental health commitments. The elected position has a four-year term.

The Oct. 11 candidate forum was held at the studios of Community Television Network, and is available online via CTN’s video-on-demand service. Information on local elections can be found on the Washtenaw County clerk’s elections division website. To see a sample ballot for your precinct, visit the Secretary of State’s website. The  Vote411.org website also includes a range of information on national, state and local candidates and ballot issues, and a “build my ballot” feature.

Opening Statements

Both candidates had an opportunity to give a one-minute opening statement.

Brian Mackie: He began by thanking the League of Women Voters and Community Television Network for several years of educating voters – nothing could be more important than that work, he said.

He began his substantive remarks by saying, “I love my job as prosecuting attorney.” The case for his continuing in that office is made by the great, hard-working and ethical staff, he said, which is an outstanding group of public servants that he has assembled. As a team, they protect the rights of the accused, and they support and protect victims of crime. And they protect children in abuse and neglect proceedings. Every year they obtain child support orders for between 500 and 600 children in Washtenaw County. Mackie said that he and his staff worked diligently to help make this a just and safe community.

Justin Altman: He also began by thanking the league and CTN. He allowed that Mackie has made great strides in protecting and representing victims, and also in the family division of the office. But Altman is running for the position of county prosecutor because he contends that Mackie has somewhat of a “blind spot” with respect to “victimless crimes” that are being prosecuted aggressively in the county. Medical marijuana dispensaries are being threatened by an order from the state attorney general, he noted. But luckily the dispensaries have not been shut down, he said. That is one major issue on which he and Mackie would differ, he said. He concluded by thanking everyone and asking people to consider voting for him as prosecuting attorney.

Background

What professional experiences have led you to seek the office of prosecuting attorney? Why do you feel that you are the best candidate for the position?

Brian Mackie.

Brian Mackie: He began by saying that it’s a question of life experience. He’s been a prosecutor, and before that an assistant prosecutor, he said. Before that he was a defense attorney and practiced some civil law. His defense work included defending people charged with a variety of crimes. He noted that several of the assistant prosecutors in his office have also done defense work. As an assistant prosecutor, he tried every kind of case, he said. That included murder and criminal sexual misconduct cases. About 40% of the more than 200 felony cases that he tried as an assistant prosecutor were criminal sexual misconduct cases – which he characterized as some of the most hideous and worst cases that are seen. “I’ve done a good job as prosecuting attorney,” he concluded.

Justin Altman: While still in law school, he worked with the office of the Washtenaw County public defender, he said. He enjoyed working with criminal defendants – trying to make sure that justice was served. He also has a lot of personal experience with the philosophy of liberty, he said, noting that he is running on the Libertarian Party ticket. Part of that philosophy is the non-initiation of aggression. Currently, the government has the rule of law behind it, he said, to use force against “victimless criminals” – people who have not created a victim – and the government uses that power. As a defense attorney, he was able to “swat down” those attempted aggressions one by one, like a bullet from a gun, he said. As a county prosecutor, however, he would use the office and the excellent staff there, to stop shooting those bullets at victimless criminals in the first place.

Prosecutor’s Customers

Customer service is the business of government. Who do you see as your customers, and how can you serve them in the prosecutor’s office?

Justin Altman.

Justin Altman: The basic customers are all the people in the county, he said. Not everyone might use the office of the county prosecuting attorney on a regular basis, he allowed, but everyone expects the prosecution of violent criminals. And he would absolutely use the resources of the attorney’s office to go after those violent criminals to make sure that the community is safe.

More specifically, the prosecutor has customers in the form of the victims of crimes, he said. Resources that are currently devoted to the prosecution of victimless crimes could be redirected to protecting victims and making sure that whatever they’re faced with in court proceedings, they’re well represented, and that victims receive justice.

Brian Mackie: Customer service is absolutely crucial, he began. We have to remember who it is that we work for, he continued. Some people who call up say they pay his salary, and he allowed that it is absolutely true. Everybody in the county – all 347,806 people – are customers, Mackie said, and that includes not only victims of crime, but also those who are accused of crime.

The first line of defense for those who are accused of crime is the prosecutor, he said. In that way, the prosecutor functions as an important defense attorney. The prosecutor makes determinations about what charges, if any, should be brought. And in about 20-25% of the cases where charges are requested based on a police report, the prosecutor’s office denies those charges – because the prosecutor’s office doesn’t think the charges are appropriate, he said. Sometimes that decision could be based on an unconstitutional taking of a confession, or some other irregularity, Mackie explained. But the prosecutor’s office needs to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt, before it will even charge somebody with a crime, he said.

Prosecutorial Discretion

Do you believe that truth-in-sentencing laws ought to be required to provide more prosecutorial and judicial discretion?

Brian Mackie: “Absolutely not,” Mackie stated. When you talk about sentencing, he said, that’s a very large issue. Despite what you hear, he said, the rate of sentencing to prison in Michigan is low. “Truth-in-sentencing” means that somebody who is sentenced to prison must do their minimum term, he explained. That is to say, there is truth in the sentencing. That’s unlike the old days when a judge and probation officer in the court had no idea what that sentence meant. If we think that sentences are too high, then we should lower them, he said. But truth-in-sentencing applies to a very small percentage of those who are convicted of crime, he noted. Truth in government at every level, including sentencing, is a must.

Justin Altman: He felt the truth-in-sentencing laws are trying to fix a problem, but missing the point. When people are sentenced to prison, they might be reformed within the stated sentencing time – but they might not be. Truth-in-sentencing laws make sure that they serve their sentence – but the laws do not focus on rehabilitation of the criminal or restitution for victims. Altman would like to see a system where people who are sentenced to crimes – if they can prove that they’ve been rehabilitated and made restitution to their victims – should be eligible for early release. But as a secondary concern, once people are sentenced, truth-in-sentencing laws should stay as they are, he concluded.

In what types of cases do you believe such enhanced discretion would be most warranted?

Justin Altman: He indicated that he would use discretion in all cases where there is no victim. If someone does not harm another person – even though they may have broken a nominal law on the books – it’s not a good use of the prosecutor’s resources or the court’s resources to actually bring that case to court and to seek fines, jail time, or prison time, he said. Instead, we should focus on making sure that people have the help they need, if they have serious problems, and making sure that we focus on using discretion in a negative sense – to bring the best charges that we can bring against those who are violent actors in our society.

Brian Mackie: Prosecutors and judges have tremendous discretion now, he noted. As to victimless crimes, the only victimless crime he’d heard mentioned so far involved marijuana – so he didn’t know what other crimes Altman was talking about. For those types of crimes, he characterized the sentencing as low, with opportunities to have no conviction. He characterized the criminal justice system as “not harsh in Michigan, and certainly not in Washtenaw County.”

Plea bargains are by far the largest detriment of prison sentences. What is your view of the appropriateness of incarceration versus community treatment programs for people arrested for victimless crimes?

Brian Mackie: He again noted that it’s important to know which victimless crimes are actually being talked about. Prison is a myth for many people, he said. Why does Michigan have such a high number of prisoners? It’s because Michigan is the most violent state in the Great Lakes region, Mackie said. Michigan has fewer crimes solved than any other state in the Great Lakes region. Michigan has fewer police officers per capita. Michigan has four of the most violent 10 cities in the United States, he said: Detroit, Flint, Saginaw and Pontiac.

We have a real crime problem – and that’s why prisons are crowded, Mackie said. The prison commitment rate in Michigan has crept up. Washtenaw County has traditionally been the second lowest sentencing county in the state, he noted. You have to murder, rape or rob somebody to go to prison. Or if it’s another kind of crime – like stealing cars continually – you have to be a career criminal to go to prison, he concluded.

Justin Altman: For victimless crimes, Altman did not feel that either one of those options – incarceration or community treatment – is appropriate. Forced treatment programs are demonstrably failing at rehabilitating people, he said. People don’t seek rehabilitation or succeed at it until they are ready, he said. He thinks that plea bargaining is an important tool to make sure that justice is served in the quickest, cheapest, most efficient way possible. But for the most part, for charges brought against someone who is a violent criminal or who is a career criminal, then they need to go to court – and as a prosecutor, you need to bring the best case that you can against them, he said. In court, the prosecutor needs to prove his case or the defendant needs to prove his. He did not think that people should be sentenced to prison by signing away their rights.

Parole

In Michigan, successor judges have veto power over the parole board on the parole of lifers. Do you favor proposed legislation that would end this veto power? [A successor judge is one who assumes responsibility for a case, if the trial judge dies, resigns, or leaves office for some other reason before making all judgments in the case.]

Justin Altman: He described it as an issue that he’s not entirely familiar with. He does think that judges should have a say in whether a prisoner should have parole granted. But it’s the people who are working with the prisoners – the parole board, prison staff, guards and warden – who have the best opportunity to tell whether any individual prisoner has been rehabilitated and should be released to society.

Brian Mackie: He opposes the legislation. Judges use prison as a last resort, he said. A sentence of life generally means you’ve committed a very serious offense – murder, generally. The successor judge, in his experience in Washtenaw County, takes the responsibility very seriously. They read everything available about the crime, and they read all the appellate material. They have access to anything in the prison records that they want. He thinks it’s appropriate for judges to use that discretion to look out for the interests of their community.

What do you see as your appropriate role in the parole process? When would you see prosecutorial intervention as warranted?

Brian Mackie: He said there’s a wide disparity of views on the topic. In Michigan, he felt that most prosecutors agree with him – and they only sparingly object to granting parole. There are counties where they object to every parole as a matter of course – and as a result, those counties are not listened to, Mackie contended. If his office objects, then it’s because they know the offender, the defense, and the victims, and there is a reason for it. His office has had tremendous success when they have objected, and they’ve made their case to the parole board for why somebody should not be granted parole. It’s used sparingly by his office, he said. It’s his office’s responsibly to review the list every month of who is being paroled and it’s passed around the office. Someone might remember who had the case, he said – noting that people tend to stay employed in the office a long, long time. The staff look at the case and decide if there’s something special about that person. Generally, if his office objects to the granting of parole, it’s about someone that his office knows will re-offend.

Justin Altman: He called Mackie’s answer very appropriate. He agreed that prosecutorial intervention should only come when there’s a firm belief that the person who is up for parole is going to re-offend and has not “learned their lesson.” It has to be clear and convincing evidence before that action is taken, he concluded.

Open-Ended Question

Ask yourself the one question that you would have liked us to ask you.

Justin Altman: Altman wanted to be asked what his role is as prosecutor in keeping public officials accountable. A lot of cases are brought to court by the prosecutor’s office against people who are trying to hold their bosses accountable in public office, he said. There are also times when police officers get let off easy, he contended, when charges are not brought against them – possibly because they are police officers. He thinks everybody in public office should be first and foremost accountable to the people of the county, and the prosecutor’s office should not look the other way.

Brian Mackie: On hearing Altman’s response, Mackie was mildly animated: “My answer has changed in the last 60 seconds!” The question now, Mackie stated, is “What do I think of Mr. Altman’s answer?” He would agree with Altman that everybody should be treated the same, and everyone should be treated fairly. The accusation that some police officer has gotten a break because they are police officer “is ridiculous,” Mackie said. He said that police officers disagree with his decisions all the time. But in his office they never make decisions about charging someone or not because of friendship or animosity. His office does what it does, based on the law and the evidence, he said.

Closing Statements

Each candidate had the opportunity to give a two-minute closing statement.

Brian Mackie: At the moment the forum was being broadcast, he observed, the candidates for vice president of the United States are debating the future of the country. And that is tremendously important, he allowed. But he assured everyone that there are people in Washtenaw County – especially victims of crime – for whom the prosecuting attorney can be paramount in their lives. The prosecutor’s office sees people on some of the very worst days of their lives. They are people who need tremendous support, and they’re people whose whole lives have been turned upside down. Providing leadership in law enforcement has been something that he’s always believed in and has done.

Prosecution in general is serious work, he said, for serious people. Dealing with so-called victimless crimes is not much of what the prosecutor’s office does, he said. The time-consuming cases are “the cases that you can’t get out of your head,” which involve rapes and murders and terrible assaults on people. Or abuse and neglect proceedings where sometimes the drastic step is taken of removing the child from a home away from their parents so that they can have a chance in life. He reiterated the fact that his office establishes paternity and orders child support payments for 500-600 children in Washtenaw County every year. One way he fights crime on a personal level is to promote quality preschool for children in Michigan. He’s built a good office, he said, with a great staff: “We’ve done good work for the people of this county.” And he deserves to continue in the office for that reason, he said.

Justin Altman: While Mackie had contended that the victimless crimes are a small portion of what the prosecutor’s office spends its time on, he felt that it’s still a waste of time – no matter how small it is. If you go to court on any day when trials and pre-trial hearings are being held, many of those cases are for victimless crimes, he contended. It’s a waste of resources that could be better spent going after the murderers and rapists. He disagreed with Mackie’s assessment of sentencing for victimless crimes, saying he did not feel it was light. When you charge those people, and you waste their resources and take money from them, it wastes their resources that could be spent helping them have a better life despite their problems. Prosecuting them simply compounds their problems, Altman said.

The bigger point, he said, is that he is running for prosecuting attorney as a Libertarian. He thanked the League of Women Voters for inviting him to the debate. He noted that there’s a debate currently going on between the vice presidential candidates [Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Paul Ryan] – and there is no third-party voice on stage for that debate. So he was honored to be there as a third-party candidate, and he hoped that people listening would consider him, even though they might typically vote Democrat or Republican. The changes he wants to make in the prosecutor’s office are small, but would be very impactful, he said. He doesn’t want to change anything about how the office goes about going after child support payments. He wants to change how violence is used by the prosecutor’s office in the name of law, to go after people who are not creating victims.

The Chronicle would not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of local government – we hope you elect to subscribe. 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!

From left: Incumbent Ann Arbor mayor John Hieftje and Albert Howard, who is running as an independent. (Photos by the writer.)

The two men answered questions at an Oct. 10 candidate forum moderated by the League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area. Issues ranged from the city’s relationship with the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority – which Howard described as a “shadow government” that he would dissolve – to nonpartisan elections, current challenges and a long-term vision for the community.

Howard repeatedly criticized Hieftje for a lack of transparency and fiscal responsibility, and for not focusing on public safety issues. He supported moving to nonpartisan elections, and for a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) program for the University of Michigan.

Hieftje, who was first elected mayor in 2000, defended his view that the city is one of the safest and most robust in Michigan. He said that he personally has been “extremely approachable” and that the city government itself is open and accessible. He advocated for an expanded transit system, and a focus on quality-of-life issues.

The office of mayor has a two-year term. In Ann Arbor’s council-manager system, the mayor is the eleventh member of the city council, with limited responsibility beyond that of a city councilmember. The mayor enjoys a power of veto over council actions, which can be overridden with an eight-vote majority. The mayor also makes nominations for most city boards and commissions, which then require confirmation by the council. The mayor has certain powers during emergencies, and serves as the ceremonial head of the city. Day-to-day management of the city is the responsibility of the city administrator – currently Steve Powers – who is hired by the city council.

The Oct. 10 candidate forum was held at the studios of Community Television Network in Ann Arbor, and is available online via CTN’s video-on-demand service. The forum included candidates for Ward 5 Ann Arbor city council – Stuart Berry and Chuck Warpehoski. The Ward 5 portion of the forum is reported in a separate Chronicle write-up.

Information on local elections can be found on the Washtenaw County clerk’s elections division website. To see a sample ballot for your precinct, visit the Secretary of State’s website.

Opening Statements

Each candidate was given the opportunity to make a one-minute opening statement.

Albert Howard: He looked forward to the opportunity for viewers to vote for him on Nov. 6 as the 61st mayor of Ann Arbor. There are three issues that are paramount with the current mayor’s administration, he said: A lack of transparency, a lack of fiscal responsibility, and a lack of taking initiative on immediate priorities. He wanted to bring light to the fact that even though the 60th mayor was sitting to his right, the language of Hieftje’s administration – especially in “referendums and addendums” – is not advantageous to the people. There’s more hidden behind this protocol than we know, he concluded.

John Hieftje: The city is doing well, he said, considering that it’s coming out of one of the worst financial climates since the 1930s. Ann Arbor has made it thus far by increasing efficiencies, he said. Unlike many cities, Ann Arbor hasn’t raised taxes – except for what he characterized as a very small increase so that the city could take over sidewalk maintenance. Otherwise, the city has maintained all services, he said. There’s low unemployment and new companies are coming to the city, he said – and there’s very robust job growth in the city’s future, according to UM economists. When you talk about things like local government, you need to look deep down and see what’s actually been going on, Hieftje said. He encouraged viewers to look at the city’s website. “Everything is out there,” he said – about the city’s budget and other information. The city does everything they can to make sure they are approachable and open to all citizens regarding anything that’s going on at city hall, he concluded.

Challenges

What are the biggest challenges that the city faces over the next two years, and how would you act on them?

John Hieftje: Certainly the budget will continue to be a priority – it will continue to be a priority for a very long time, both for Ann Arbor and every city in the state and nation. He said he would not trade Ann Arbor’s budget position with any other city, particularly in Michigan. Ann Arbor continues to do very well and has a solid budget position. As far as basic services, he noted that Ann Arbor is in the top 20% of safe communities in the United States, based on FBI statistics. He pointed to a December 2011 article in the Ann Arbor Observer with the subhead “Crime Is Down – Way, Way Down.” If you look at it over decades, crime is going down – Ann Arbor is one of the safest cities of its size, he said.

Talking about leaf pickup, the city still picks up leaves, Hieftje noted, but not in the same way that it used to. [Stuart Berry, the Republican candidate for Ward 5 city council, had earlier in the forum mentioned that residents were upset that the city had stopped leaf pickup. The city previously designated two days on which residents could sweep their leaves into the street, and they would be collected using converted street sweepers, front loaders and large-capacity trucks. The city now uses a "containerized" approach that's integrated with the weekly compostables pickup.] There were some problems with the previous approach, he said, and almost every city in Michigan has moved away from doing it that way. It was a good decision, he said. In looking back, there were choices that had to be made as budgets were cut, but that was a choice that stood out as a simple one.

Albert Howard: It’s vital that the current administration and the next mayor not hide by using the language of subliminal, subtle signals, he said. The current mayor has had more Freedom of Information Act requests from the media than other mayors. The mayor rarely issues press releases, Howard said, and has never vetoed an action by city council during his administration.   Alluding to Hieftje’s mention of FBI statistics, Howard said that the local 911 dispatchers are the people who handle calls about crime – and they make the determination about whether that crime will be in a particular category. The current mayor must be held accountable for transparency, he said, and for creating statistics that aren’t relevant to the city’s condition.

[That Hieftje has never exercised his veto power is a common belief – one held even by many long-time political insiders. The Chronicle is not aware that Hieftje himself has ever challenged this notion when it's been mentioned publicly – and he did not dispute it at the candidate forum. However, based on city council minutes from early in his tenure as mayor, Hieftje once vetoed a change to the ordinance that regulates the city employees retirement system. The change involved a calculation of final average compensation. The council subsequently overrode that veto. Minutes indicate that the council voted for the ordinance change on April 16, 2001, the mayor vetoed it on April 23, 2001, and the overriding vote came at the council's May 7, 2001 meeting.]

Relationship with the DDA

Are you satisfied with the relationship between the city and the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority? What are your thoughts about the DDA’s Connecting William Street project?

By way of background, in 1975 the state legislature authorized the Downtown Development Authority Act (Act 197 of 1975), which enabled cities to set up DDAs with the purpose of protecting and revitalizing their downtowns. The Ann Arbor DDA was established in the early 1980s, and renewed by city council in 2003 for another 30 years. It is governed by a board that’s appointed by the city council, based on nominations by the mayor, who by statute also serves on the board. The DDA is funded by tax increment financing (TIF) – that is, it “captures” a portion of the property taxes in a specific geographic area that would otherwise be collected by taxing authorities in the district. The tax capture is only on the increment in valuation – the difference between the value of property when the district was established, and the value resulting from improvements made to the property. In Ann Arbor, the DDA also operates the public parking system under contract with the city.

Earlier this year, the city council also directed the DDA to embark on another project – now called Connecting William Street – focused on developing a plan for five city-owned properties along William Street, between Ashley and Division. Four of the parcels are surface parking lots; the fifth is a parking structure at Fourth & William. For more background, see Chronicle coverage: “PAC: Downtown Park, More Input Needed” and “Planning Group Briefed on William St. Project.”

Albert Howard is running for Ann Arbor mayor as an independent.

Albert Howard: The DDA is part of a “shadow government” that the current mayor has established, Howard said. The DDA board is selected by the mayor, he said. It needs to be dissolved, Howard said, adding that he would work with city council to shed light on this shadow government that is taking taxes away from the city. The DDA is getting the benefit of the city, but is a separate entity – and it’s not healthy for the city, he said. Howard said that the original architect of the DDA, Louis Belcher, now says contends the way the DDA is currently operating was never the way he intended for it to be run. Belcher stated this on AnnArbor.com, Howard said. [He was referring to the transcript of a radio interview with Belcher conducted by Lucy Ann Lance, which was written up as a post on AnnArbor.com.]

John Hieftje: Responding to a previous statement by Howard, Hieftje said the FBI statistics are reported by the police department at the end of each year, and it’s a duty that’s taken very seriously. Regarding the DDA, he noted that such authorities exist across the state and were established so that downtowns had a way to renew themselves and make themselves vital – as shopping malls became more prevalent. Ann Arbor has done a tremendous job of keeping its downtown vital, he said. It’s probably the best downtown in the state or maybe the Midwest, Hieftje noted, and the DDA has played a very strong role in that. “There’s nothing shadowy about the DDA,” he said. Downtown development authorities exist in other cities and states. Northfield Township has a DDA, he noted – they are very common. All you have to do is visit downtown Ann Arbor and compare it with other downtowns across the state. That’s one of the great things that people cite about the city as a reason for living here, he said.

Traffic & Population Growth

Is the city’s planning for traffic growth keeping up with plans for the growth in population, with respect to parking, safety and other aspects?

John Hieftje: The population has been stable for quite a long time, he said, although he believes it’s starting to grow a little now. [The 2000 census recorded Ann Arbor's population at 114,024 compared to 113,934 in the 2010 census.] There’s been a lot of growth outside the city, he added. But the city is growing jobs, and the community will continue to do that. So the city needs to make a decision, he said – do we want to continue to grow jobs? If so, then there will be increased traffic congestion, pollution and the need for more parking structures. But the answer to that is more transit, he said. The city needs to expand transit – otherwise, the trade-off is traffic, pollution and congestion. It’s a simple equation and something that’s being looked at very closely, he said, adding that it’s something the whole community is engaged in right now. The question is how to expand transit. Is it bus or rail? Everything the city can do to get commuters out of cars and on foot, on a bike, a bus or train – all of those things will help avoid a future of traffic congestion, he concluded.

Albert Howard: A woman was recently riding a bicycle, he said, and was hit by a vehicle – so she was in intensive care. It was because of a local law that was set up by the current mayor, he contended. This woman was hanging on for life, he said. Now, the city has traffic growth and population growth, but what about the safety of the citizens? Howard asked. Did the current city administration conduct an investigation with the state regarding the city’s crosswalk laws? This is now being considered for revamping, he said. The population is growing, but the safety of the citizens is a priority, he said.

John Hieftje: Later in the forum, during his time allotted for another question, Hieftje responded to Howard’s comments. He noted that the woman – who he described as “tragically hit on her bicycle” – was on a road controlled by the Michigan Dept. of Transportation. That accident had nothing to do with the local crosswalk law, he said. If you’re in an intersection and are hit by a car, particularly on an MDOT-controlled road, that’s always been a traffic problem, he said. People need to be responsible for the people in front of them “and put the brakes on.”

Albert Howard: During his closing statement, Howard responded to Hieftje’s remark by saying MDOT is not responsible for the woman being hit. The mayor set up a unique system of crosswalk paths – that was done by this administration, he said.

Nonpartisan Elections

Should Ann Arbor follow the lead of many other municipalities and abandon partisan tags for mayor and city council, particularly to take top vote-getters in a nonpartisan August primary and into the November general election?

For background on this issue, see “Column: Ann Arbor – A One-Party Town” and “Column: Let’s Put Life into City Elections.”

Albert Howard: The current mayor has been in office for 12 years, and the system needs to change. Hieftje has taken advantage of the system, he said, and the system needs to be revamped. If there’s a mayor who’s been in office for 12 years, then something needs to change. A lot of people he speaks with – including a lot of Democrats – describe Hieftje as a “word mayor,” but not an effective leader, Howard said. The voters are consistently unhappy with the majority of things that the current administration is doing. When the system changes, the mayor will change, he said. The mayor is in the system because the system has not changed, Howard concluded.

John Hieftje: Party labels give voters a really good starting place and a good road map to begin assessing candidates, he said. There are basic values that people are looking at in candidates, and party labels are helpful in that. Ann Arbor happens to be a Democratic town, he said, but for most of its history, it was a very, very Republican town. “Perhaps someday it will switch back that way.” It’s been in this cycle since about 1990, he noted, but in the city’s history, very few of its mayors have been Democrats.

Long-Term Goals

Looking ahead 10-20 years, highlight one or two projects that you’d like to support now to achieve your future vision of Ann Arbor.

Incumbent Ann Arbor mayor John Hieftje, a Democrat, is running for re-election.

John Hieftje: With ever-rising fuel prices and rising carbon levels, transit is the thing that the city needs to plan for now, he said. It takes decades sometimes to put proper transit systems in place, and the city needs to work at that.

Not all of the city’s workers or residents will be able to afford a $30,000 hybrid in order to keep up with rising gasoline prices, Hieftje said. It’s vital to look at long-term transit issues. At the same time, the city also needs to protect the environment in other ways, he said. Ann Arbor is known as one of the greenest cities anywhere, and we need to continue to work on that, he said. We need to keep Ann Arbor clean – noting that Ann Arbor has the cleanest urban river in the state. Focus needs to remain on quality-of-life issues, he said, because in today’s economy, that’s what attracts the businesses of the 21st century to the city.  Ann Arbor needs to continue to be the award-winning city that it is by concentrating on the environment, transportation and quality of life – bringing all that together to make it a place where people want to continue to live and visit, he concluded.

Albert Howard: He’d like to see the relationship between the city and the University of Michigan become closer. He’d like to see payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) program. He said that the university has $11 billion worth of property. Howard noted that the billionaire Sam Zell, who spoke recently at UM, said the university should consider privatizing so that it would pay taxes that the city rightfully deserves. There should be some closer relationship so that the city will be fruitful and profitable, Howard said.

Open-Ended Question

What question wasn’t asked tonight that you’d like to address?

Albert Howard: The mayor should be accountable for the words that come out of his mouth. Howard would like to see accountability with the statistics that the mayor cites. He’d like to see more transparency – not making the media file Freedom of Information Act requests, not a mayor who’s been in office 12 years without issuing a veto, and not a mayor who only rarely issues press releases. The people want a mayor who is approachable, who goes to town hall meetings and who holds town hall meetings, he said. “This mayor has not had any town hall meetings – he always sends other people.” The people want face-to-face meetings. The mayor is a very intelligent man, Howard said, but he needs to be accountable and approachable.

John Hieftje: Hieftje responded that he’s had open office hours almost every week he’s been in office, except for a few when he’s been out of town. He said he attends meetings for any and every group who’d like him to come. He’s attended several town hall meetings, including some regarding the budget. “I think I’ve been extremely approachable.” If someone can’t come to his office hours, he said he’ll make arrangements to meet at another time to hear their concerns. That’s very vital to city government, he said. The mayor and councilmembers need to be “just what they are – which is your neighbors, the person who’s in the same boat as you are.” He said he learns so much from talking with residents and neighborhood groups. He said he’d be attending another neighborhood meeting the following night. He’s happy to meet with people anywhere in the city, “whether it’s by ones or twos, or tens or twenties.”

Closing Statements

Each candidate had the opportunity to make a two-minute closing statement.

Albert Howard: He said he wanted to talk about the current mayor and the administration that the mayor is responsible for. It’s important to bring transparency, fiscal responsibility and a focus on immediate priorities – the city’s public safety, the proper amount of police and fire personnel and equipment. The administration should be open and accountable, he said. The mayor has to realize that the picture he’s painting is not a realistic picture. The statistics he talks about aren’t realistic. There was recently a sexual assault downtown near campus, Howard said. The week before that, a woman was raped in her bed. The mayor is not being realistic – the numbers don’t match, and the words don’t connect. He needs to be held accountable.

Regarding the DDA, Howard reiterated an earlier point about Lou Belcher, who was mayor when the DDA was originally established. Belcher has  said the way that the DDA is operated now is not the way it was intended to operate. The current mayor needs a reality check, Howard said – and Hieftje’s words are going to catch up with him. The city is unsafe because the priority of the city is not paramount, he added. This can’t be ignored – and a light needs to be shined on it. Howard urged viewers to visit his campaign website: AlbertHoward.org.

John Hieftje: He began by noting that a recent article in the press had the title “Why does Ann Arbor continue to win so many awards?” Certainly that has a lot to do with the way the city is run, he said, and it has a lot to do with being one of the safer cities in North America. It also has a lot to do with the city’s beautiful park system, a vibrant downtown, and the fact that the city is fixing all of its roads and bridges now, with the most robust road repair program in memory underway. That road repair will continue in the next building season, he said, adding that the East Stadium bridges will be opening next month.

So many things are moving forward as we come out of the greatest recession and economic downturn since the 1930s, Hieftje said, and he’s very excited. When you talk about why Ann Arbor wins awards, you also have to look at the people. There are so many people engaged, he said. People at the Rotary Club who plant 1,000 trees each year. People in nonprofits who work hard to make sure the community is providing services to those who need them the most.

Ann Arbor is one of only two communities in Michigan that continues to contribute general fund dollars to pay for human services, and that will continue, he said. The city’s human services funding has not gone down during the Great Recession, he said. The city is moving forward in many different areas. In the last few months, the city has hired 13 new police officers. Hieftje described them as young officers who are eager to work in this city and who are excited about what they can do.

Hieftje noted that Howard had mentioned a couple of recent crimes. For one, a suspect has been arrested, Hieftje said – it had been reported in the printed press on Sunday. For the other sexual assault, some believe that it might not have occurred. [The UM Dept. of Public Safety later issued an update stating that the incident did not occur.] In general, sexual assault is down this year and it was down the year before, he said. We have a very safe city and Ann Arbor continues to be one of the very best cities to live in North America, Hieftje concluded.

The Chronicle would not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of local government – we hope you elect to subscribe. 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!

From left: Democrats Andy LaBarre, Yousef Rabhi, and Conan Smith await the start of the Oct. 10 League of Women Voters candidate forum. The Republican candidates for Districts 7, 8 and 9 in the Washtenaw County board of commissioner races did not attend the event. (Photos by the writer.)

Due to redistricting that takes effect this election cycle, the county board will shrink from 11 districts to 9. Ann Arbor is currently represented by four commissioners, but will have three main districts – 7, 8 and 9 – in the newly constituted board starting in January 2013. [.pdf file of 9-district county map] District 2 will also include a small portion of Ann Arbor, but the incumbent in that district, Republican Dan Smith, is unopposed in the Nov. 6 general election.

In District 7, Andy LaBarre won the Democratic primary and will face Republican David Parker in November. The incumbent, Barbara Bergman, is not seeking re-election.

The incumbent in District 8, Democrat Yousef Rabhi, is running against Republican Joe Baublis and seeking his second term in office. And in District 9, Conan Smith – a Democrat who was first elected in 2004 and has served as board chair over the past two years – faces Republican John Floyd.

In various ways, the Ann Arbor Democrats running for the county board expressed their views that government can be a positive force in people’s lives. LaBarre stressed support for human services, parkland and public transit, while Rabhi emphasized the importance of building a resilient, sustainable community. Smith cited the role of the county board as a convener of community leaders, bringing together people throughout the county to tackle problems like the “human and economic calamity” in Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township. Smith also noted that he expects the new board for the first time will have a majority of commissioners under 50 years old, and will be a “majority minority” board – with more racial diversity than in the past.

All terms for county commissioner are for two years, beginning in January of 2013. Several other district races are contested for the county board, but the League of Women Voters forum included only the Ann Arbor districts. That’s a function of the venue. The forum was held at the studios of Community Television Network in Ann Arbor, and is available online via CTN’s video-on-demand service. Information on local elections can be found on the Washtenaw County clerk’s elections division website. To see a sample ballot for your precinct, visit the Secretary of State’s website.

Opening Statements

Each candidate was given one minute to make an opening statement.

Andy LaBarre: He began by thanking the league and noting that the district he’s running to represent (District 7) includes portions of eastern and northern Ann Arbor. He cited three main reasons for running. The first is to try to improve on the county’s human services system. The second reason is to build on the county’s work in preserving its green spaces, and to ensure that people have access to vital parkland throughout the county. The last reason is to ensure that the county has a budget that continues to reflect the values of residents in Washtenaw County. He’s a native of the county and grew up here. He hopes to give back to the community.

The three main Ann Arbor districts in the new district map of the Washtenaw County board of commissioners, which was adopted by the county apportionment commission last year. This is the first election cycle for the redistricted county board, which will drop from 11 to 9 districts.

Yousef Rabhi: He also thanked the league and viewers, saying it’s important to be informed about how local government works. A lot of important decisions  are made at the local level. He was born in Ypsilanti and grew up in Ann Arbor, and has lived here his whole life. He’s seen the community’s many strengths, and in this tough economic time, he saw the community come together to make some tough decisions. The county went through a strenuous budget process, he said, and the board ended up balancing a budget that had originally projected a $17 million shortfall for this year. The unions came together, the different departments came together, the entire community came together to make that happen, he said. He’s proud of the accomplishments they’ve made, and he hopes the voters of District 8 will return him for a second term.

Conan Smith: Smith echoed the comments of thanks to the league. He described the county level as a somewhat invisible layer of government, noting that it’s important to understand what values drive the decisions that are made at the county board of commissioners. He’s also a lifelong resident of Washtenaw County, and said he hopes to die here – he lives in his grandparents’ house. He said he’s been honored to serve as chair of the board for the last two years, and to have chaired the budget committee for two years before that, as the county first began its serious struggle with the declining economy. Throughout that process, he said he helped the county maintain a keen focus on human services, protecting our environment and rebuilding prosperity through economic development programs. “We’ve got a long way to go yet,” he added, and he hoped they would be able to talk about some of those issues later in the forum.

Experience

Why have you chosen to run for county commissioner? What education and experiences make you well-qualified for this position?

Andy LaBarre, candidate for the Washtenaw County board of commissioners in District 7, representing parts of northern and eastern Ann Arbor.

Andy LaBarre: He said he liked to think his undergraduate degree, with a major in political science, and his master’s degree in public administration help qualify him from an educational standpoint. For six years he worked for Congressman John Dingell, including two years as his district administrator running the Michigan offices. Now he’s the vice president for government relations at the Ann Arbor Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce. He again cited his three reasons for running: Strengthening human services, protecting the environment and parkland, and ensuring that the community’s values are promoted in the county budget. He felt that Conan Smith had said it well when Smith had described county government as often invisible – but it’s very important. The county does a great job, LaBarre said, and he thinks they can do an even better job in the future.

Yousef Rabhi: Having grown up in Washtenaw County, Rabhi feels he knows this region and the people here. He has a passion to serve locally. When he contested his first primary in 2010, he won by one vote. It shows the passion with which people participate in democracy, he said, and he’s proud to represent this city and county, because they can do so much great work. He’s running because he believes in sustainability. That doesn’t just mean the environment, he added. It also means building a resilient economy in the county – it means economic development. It also involves civil liberties and equality. Those are the values of this community, he said, and the values that he promotes on the county board. He’s had a wonderful first term, and he hopes to come back.

Conan Smith: Saying he loved Rabhi’s story about winning by one vote, Smith noted that his own grandfather – Al Wheeler – won the Ann Arbor mayor’s race in the 1970s by a single vote. [Wheeler was the city's first, and only, black mayor, and was elected in 1975. But it was his re-election in 1977 that resulted in the single-vote victory over Republican Lou Belcher. The election was challenged in court and ultimately led to a special election in 1978 that Wheeler lost to Belcher.] As a young boy at the time, Smith said, that was the beginning of his training in public service.

Smith noted that his family has been in elected office in Washtenaw County for generations. His mother, Alma Wheeler Smith, served as a state senator and state representative, and his wife, Rebekah Warren, is a current state senator representing Ann Arbor. He has served on the county board for six years. As far as education, he has a humanities background, majoring in creative writing at the University of Michigan. He’s now doing master’s degree work at Wayne State University in conflict resolution. The county board is a place with the potential to bring together a variety of diverse perspectives to tackle complex problems, Smith said, whether that’s homelessness, economic decline, or other issues. He believes his skill set around negotiation and building consensus can serve the whole of Washtenaw County.

Duties of the Job

Explain the responsibilities of the job and describe the perfect county commissioner.

Washtenaw County commissioners, from left: Democrat Yousef Rabhi and Republican Dan Smith. Smith, who represents District 2, is unopposed in the Nov. 6 general election and was simply attending the Oct. 10 candidate forum as an observer.

Yousef Rabhi: The main role is to balance the county budget, he said – that’s the first and foremost responsibility. Beyond that, commissioners must ensure that the county provides services that are mandated by the state. But in Washtenaw County, commissioners have taken on a slightly different role, he said. There’s what they have to do, but also what they can do – because the values of this community are such that they want to provide extra human services, and to be at the forefront of sustainability. So the core function of county government is to balance the budget, he said, but it can be done in a responsible way, and in line with community values.

Conan Smith: There are two things that make a perfect county commissioner, he said. The first is the capacity to bring your values to the table. And as Rabhi had indicated, Smith said, commissioners really need to understand the people they represent and the community at large. The second attribute is the capacity to come with an open mind. That includes listening carefully to the professionals on staff, to the community members who are experiencing challenges that the board is trying to resolve, and to the colleagues who bring different perspectives from a whole array of experiences – so you can work collectively to find the best solutions to those problems. It’s been his long belief that the board is stronger and smarter when they work together, and that no single commissioner has the answer. When they work as a team and learn from each other, Smith said, “we can do amazing things.”

Andy LaBarre: He said that Smith and Rabhi had given great answers. Not having served on the board before, he said he could imagine that the perfect county commissioner would be someone who does the things that have been highlighted in terms of the duties of the job and bringing an open mind to it. He would add that the best thing a commissioner can do is to remember that they represent their district at the county – they don’t represent the county to the district. They serve as a conduit of information to the county and to constituents, not one way or the other all the time.

Customer Service

The role of the government is to provide customer service. What services does the county provide, and how can its service be improved?

Conan Smith: The county is a vast system and provides services across an incredible array of areas, he said. For example, the county is the arbiter of building inspections and health code, and provides services like the jail and corrections through the sheriff’s office. There’s a long list of services that the county provides, he said. But he described the county’s main role as facilitating and convening. The service that county commissioners provide is bringing together local government officials, business and civic leaders into a place where people can decipher problems and resolve them collectively.

Andy LaBarre: All units of government can always do a better job with customer service in terms of listening to citizens and constituents, he said. If you were to judge Washtenaw County against any other county in the state, you’d find that Washtenaw does a remarkable job. So we can build on those existing strengths, he said, and realize that the county government has a “pretty terrific” workforce that excels at what they do and are true professionals. Commissioners can talk to the staff about ways they think that they can provide even better customer assistance.

Yousef Rabhi: He said that LaBarre is right – the basis of good customer service is having staff on the ground who know what they’re doing, who are dedicated and passionate. People don’t work for the county because of the big paychecks, he said. They do it because they’re dedicated to public service. The people working for the county are phenomenal, he said. The county provides excellent service, but there’s always room for improvement. But it’s the staff on the ground who know the best ways to provide even better customer service, he said. “We have dedicated folks working for the county, and I trust them.”

Collaboration

If elected, how would you work with other units of government to reduce redundancies and costs?

Andy LaBarre: He suggested approaching every conversation as a possibility to do that, and keep an open mind about the needs of specific units of government. He’d try to put himself in other people’s place, to the degree that he can, and understand their concerns. You’d keep that issue at the forefront of every conversation. Openness and a willingness to listen will also help, he said.

Incumbent Conan Smith, candidate for the Washtenaw County board of commissioners in District 9, representing western Ann Arbor and parts of the city’s north and south sides.

Yousef Rabhi: There’s a lot that the county has already done, he noted. When he first ran for county commissioner, foreseeing that there would be a large budget gap, he was amazed to see what was already being done. During his first term, it’s been amazing to see the work that the county has done to address this issue. One example is the sheriff’s office consolidating the county’s dispatch operations with the city of Ann Arbor. That saved Ann Arbor taxpayers a half million dollars just in the first year, Rabhi said. So they’re working on making government more efficient, consolidating services that will better serve the residents of Washtenaw County.

Conan Smith: Looking at redundancies and costs might be the wrong approach, he began. We ought to be looking at the outcomes that we’re seeking as a community. For example, in land use planning there is a high level of redundancy across all local units of government. The reason is that it’s a very community-centric set of decisions that need to be made, he noted, so that’s OK. Because there is that duplication, it costs more, but it actually serves the people better. The question that we have to ask ourselves always is this, he said: How do we deliver a service in the optimal way that satisfies the citizens? So in the case of dispatch consolidation, that’s an excellent example, he said – better service is being provided through that consolidation. The best decisions – about when to cut, when to invest more, and what services to deliver at what level – are made by keeping the citizen in the forefront, he concluded.

Goals for Next Term

Complete this sentence: If I could achieve one goal in my upcoming term, I would like to …

Yousef Rabhi: He would like to try to eliminate the county’s energy and heating budget. The county government spends about $1 million each year on heating and powering its buildings. The county can make a significant step to reduce the county’s carbon footprint and help balance the budget – if they start investing in renewable energy and in creative ways to bring down that $1 million cost. He realized that eliminating the cost probably isn’t possible, but there’s a lot they can do. Any step the county can take to make its buildings more energy efficient – to install solar hot water heaters or solar panels on the buildings – that will all make a dent, and will have an impact on the budget in the long term, he said. When he ran for office the first time, he said, he talked about the future of Washtenaw County. His decisions on the board aren’t just about today, he said – they’ll also affect the county in 10 or 20 years.

Conan Smith: His single biggest goal is to see the board become a consensus leadership organization. He noted that commissioner Dan Smith, a Republican from the northern part of the county, was in the audience at the CTN studio that night. They come from different value perspectives and experiences, he said, but they have found ways to work together on a number of complex policies. The board hasn’t had enough time to develop “holistic solutions that all the residents of Washtenaw County can see themselves in,” he said. He’d like to see the board work as a team more aggressively on that kind of leadership, so they can present a united front against problems – like poverty on the east side of the county, the environmental issues that Rabhi has raised, and the economic issues that LaBarre had mentioned.

Andy LaBarre: He’d like to try to put in place slight reforms to the way that the county budgets for human services, so that it covers a longer timeframe or broader set of circumstances. For a generation, this county has routinely dedicated funds, time, and resources to human services. Those services are important to the county government and the citizens it serves. In his first term, he’d like to see if the county can provide that service better, more efficiently, and in a way that helps more people get the outcomes they seek.

Fracking

Fracking has come to Washtenaw County. What role should the county play in addressing this issue, in terms of information, regulation and protection for current residents and those in the future?

Background: Fracking is a term used to describe the drilling technique of hydraulic fracturing, used to extract gas and oil. Concerns have been raised recently about the practice coming to Washtenaw County, though it has not yet been used here. See Chronicle coverage: “County Board Tackles ‘Fracking’ Concerns.” The county does not have jurisdiction to regulate the practice.

Conan Smith: The county’s regulatory framework is fairly limited, he said. Smith added that he’d defer to Rabhi, who he said is more versed on this topic. The county’s major role can be around convening community leadership and educating folks about the issues involved with fracking. It’s an obviously destructive practice, he said, and one that perpetuates a carbon-based economy that people are trying to get away from. Anything that can be done to bring alternative practices into play is a big step forward, he said. Reducing reliance on natural gas and oil by increasing the availability of renewable energy in the community and the government’s use of renewables is one good step, for example. Also, he added, the county can help funnel citizens and civic leaders to the appropriate people at the state level who have the tools to address these issues.

Yousef Rabhi, incumbent Democrat for District 8, brought a copy of the county’s budget summary to the Oct. 10 candidate debate. District 8 includes much of central Ann Arbor.

Andy LaBarre: The county board should act as a way to get information out, he said. Fracking is remarkable in that liberals, conservatives and people all across the political spectrum don’t want it happening locally, he noted. It’s the wrong way to go in terms of energy development, he said – doing what’s been done for 150 years, but expecting new results. The county can funnel pressure on people in the state house and senate to act on the issue, he said. He said he knows there are some legislators who recognize fracking for what it is and are looking to put an end to it. He joked that he had a sneaking suspicion he was sitting at the table with someone who’s married to such a legislator. [Conan Smith's wife is state Sen. Rebekah Warren.]

Yousef Rabhi: Saying he agreed with LaBarre and Smith, Rabhi said that if the county did have a role in setting policy, he’d be in favor of banning fracking in Washtenaw County today. It’s not a good practice, and isn’t good for the future of the world, he said.

Michigan is guardian of the world’s largest fresh water supply, he noted, so it’s not good to be using fracking as a practice that’s so destructive of the water supply. Unfortunately, at the county level not much can be done from a regulatory perspective, he said. But they can do a lot in terms of educating the citizenry about the effects of fracking. It’s come to light is that companies that are trying to frack are going door-to-door and handing people checks in exchange for mineral rights. The county needs to let people know the effects that this will have in the future. He noted that as chair of the board’s working session, he convened a session about fracking earlier this year. He brought in four representatives from different sectors to discuss the issue. It’s an ongoing issue, and the board needs to keep the discussion going, he concluded.

Regional Efforts

What’s the county’s role within southeast Michigan? What does Washtenaw County have to give or gain from regional relationships?

Andy LaBarre: We have a lot to give, he said. It was heartening to see Conan Smith at this summer’s Mackinac policy conference, he said, representing Washtenaw County at the table with Macomb County, Oakland County, Wayne County and Detroit. Southeast Michigan won’t prosper without Washtenaw County’s involvement, he said. The county brings brainpower, a willingness to work – a lot of unique things to the region. The more that Washtenaw County can engage the region, and the more that others in the region can participate in that, “the better off we’ll all be.” It could be specific projects like the Detroit Region Aerotropolis or public transportation, or it might be things like how to share educational resources among the various communities. Washtenaw County must assert itself in a good way as a full and valued partner, he said.

Yousef Rabhi: If you look at a density map of the region, you see the cities of Detroit and Ann Arbor are the two core urban areas of the region, Rabhi said. That should be very meaningful. As the county participates on a regional scale, “we have to understand that our values aren’t going to be the same values as the folks we’re participating with,” he said. “It’s going to be a struggle – it has been a struggle.” But as long as Washtenaw County representatives can stand up for their values and participate in the regional process, he added, they can help impact the whole region. If they can be leaders and teach people about the priorities of this county – things like alternative transit and green infrastructure – that will help move this region forward. Those are the things we’re doing well in Washtenaw County, he said, “and we need to share that with the rest of the region.”

Conan Smith: This issue is one that he’s been proud to see Washtenaw County grow over the last three or four years. The county was an outlier for metro Detroit for a long time, and now they’re at the center table or center stage, in some cases. Washtenaw County really is the crucible of talent for metro Detroit, he said. The University of Michigan draws young, brilliant people from all over the country here, and trains them to be the best in the world for their field. Then because of the lack of connectivity to the rest of the metro area, he said, those kids move off to Austin or Chicago, San Francisco or Miami – “anywhere but Detroit, unfortunately.” So Washtenaw County’s connectivity to Detroit is all about keeping talent here. That talent turns the county into a regional and state “prosperity center,” he said, and it translates the state of Michigan and the metro Detroit area into a national and global economic powerhouse.

Open-Ended Question

What question wasn’t asked tonight that you’d like to address?

Yousef Rabhi: He wanted to pose this question: How can we continue to provide excellent human services in Washtenaw County? The answer is by continuing strong partnerships with the local nonprofit service providers, he said. For every dollar of county resources that is spent or contributed to nonprofit service providers, the county can make $12 of services available. That’s a great investment in the community, he said, and a great partnership that’s been going on for a long time. Those partnerships need to be built even stronger, and he hopes to continue that effort. The county has an integral role in helping provide those human services to county residents. He noted that his opponent in the election believes that the private sector is the best way to deal with human services. “I think that’s absolutely false,” he said. The private sector is profit-driven. How can you make a profit off of homelessness or hunger, off of people who are struggling? That’s not the right route, he concluded.

Conan Smith draws a number to determine the speaking order of the candidate forum. To the left is Yousef Rabhi.

Conan Smith: How do we tackle the “intensifying human and economic calamity” that’s happening on the east side of Washtenaw County? In the city of Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township, there have been massive job losses and incredible declines in property values, he noted. The ability of those communities to provide the core services that people have come to rely on has been nearly obliterated. The county has a very important role in convening the forces that can turn that boat around, Smith said. It might mean leveraging the county’s own human services investments around poverty and hunger, or pulling together the economic development expertise at Ann Arbor SPARK or the downtown development authorities. It might mean just being an ear for folks who are having serious problems, he added, and connecting them to resources that all units of government – national, state and local – have to offer.  Smith said we’ve got to put more of our energy, resources and attention toward those two communities, “which are in very, very dire straits.”

Andy LaBarre: He wished he’d been asked if he were a supporter of countywide transit. “I would have said yes, I am.” He also highlighted what Smith and Rabhi had said in terms of the community’s needs, and the ability to build up the economy on the county’s east side and in other areas. Part of the solution involves a viable countywide transit system, he said. “That’s something worth fighting for.” It’s worth talking to the public about the benefits and costs, and why it’s an investment worth making. He hopes to get a chance to help do that as a commissioner.

Closing Statements

Each candidate had the opportunity to make a two-minute closing statement.

Andy LaBarre: If you watched the entire forum, you would have seen a lot of agreement between him and the incumbents. That’s not to say that they won’t have disagreements in the future, but one common bond they have is a belief that county government can be a very positive force in people’s lives. It can help them do great things as a county and as a community, he said. He’d work hard to make sure that happens. As a county commissioner, he wants to be someone who’s approachable to residents, who listens to them, and always tells them the truth – “even when it’s something that perhaps they don’t want to hear.” When it’s the truth, it needs to be said.

He looks forward to the last month of this campaign. “I look forward to the day after the campaign very much as well.” Between now and then, he hopes to talk with more voters, explain his positions, hear their thoughts and concerns. If he’s successful, he hopes they’ll look back in a year or two and feel they made the right choice in electing him.

Yousef Rabhi: For his first term, Rabhi said he’s been humbled to serve the people of his district. It’s been a phenomenal experience, he’s loved it and he hopes to come back for another two years. He noted that in his opening statement he talked about sustainability, and he wants to continue that theme, and also about what makes a resilient community. An earlier question asked how his educational background applied to the job of county commissioner. He said he didn’t answer it then because he wanted to save it for his closing statement.

Judy Mich with the League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area moderated the candidate forum.

He studied at the University of Michigan, focused on the environment, “so I studied sustainability every day. “But it wasn’t just about the science of sustainability. It was about the social science and the humanities behind how we create a sustainable future.” He learned that there are three pillars to sustainability: economic, environmental and social. That’s at the core of why he’s running. He hopes to create a more resilient community through economic development, investing with funds from Act 88, developing strong economies on the county’s east side and in the county’s agricultural communities.

Regarding environmental sustainability, the county can invest in green energy and alternative energy installations on county buildings. And social justice means making sure that the county provides equal services to all residents in the county. At this forum, he noted, three people are running for county commissioner – who come from different backgrounds. LaBarre works at the chamber, coming from an economic development background. Rabhi cited his own background in sustainability, and pointed to Smith’s background in the humanities, a perspective on human services and social justice. “This is a great group of people,” Rabhi said, and he hoped residents in their respective districts would consider supporting each of them.

Conan Smith: Smith began by saying it’s always great to be on stage with Rabhi. “He is a real gentleman.” Smith is finishing his eighth year on the board, and said he’s hopeful that he can come back and be a part of the next board. It will be a very different board of commissioners, he noted. The group is certain to lose Leah Gunn and Barbara Bergman. Both women have given more than a decade of service to the board, and are not running for re-election. He described them as extraordinary women who have provided leadership through the hardest times. For the first time, to his knowledge, the board will have a majority of commissioners under the age of 50, he said, and it will be a “majority minority” board. It will be a very different set of perspectives brought to bear on the issues that the board has been grappling with.

That said, he added, the board is shaping up to be an extraordinary set of leaders that he’s eager to be a part of. Both LaBarre and Rabhi have a great vision of what Washtenaw County can be as a government and as a facilitator, he said. They share a core set of values that’s echoed by Democrats and Republicans alike on the county board, as it relates to taking care of people who are most in need throughout the county. He’s been impressed by his colleagues over the past two years, and expects even more from the board next year. He hopes to be among them, and asked residents on the west side of Ann Arbor for their vote.

The Chronicle would not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of local government – we hope you elect to subscribe. 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!

Democrat Jeff Irwin, incumbent for District 53 in the Michigan House of Representatives. (Photo by the writer.)

Republican candidate John Spizak, who will also be on the Nov. 6 ballot, did not participate. The 53rd District covers most of Ann Arbor, and the winner of the election will serve a two-year term.

At the forum, Irwin fielded questions on basic biographical background, voter registration laws, partisanship, the state retirement system, and women’s reproductive health. He stressed three areas of focus: education, environment, and equal rights. He’d continue to work on those areas, he said, even if Democrats remain in the minority in the house after the Nov. 6 election. He’s working to shift that balance, however, “so we can help Governor Snyder govern as the moderate he ran as.”

Irwin’s responses to three other questions are included on the league’s Vote411.org website.

The Oct. 11 candidate forum was held at the studios of Community Television Network in Ann Arbor, and is available online via CTN’s video-on-demand service. The forum included candidates for the 55th District – Republican Owen Diaz, Green David McMahon and Democrat Adam Zemke – whose responses are reported in a separate Chronicle write-up.

Information on local elections can be found on the Washtenaw County clerk’s elections division website. To see a sample ballot for your precinct, visit the Secretary of State’s website. The league’s Vote411.org website also includes a range of information on national, state and local candidates and ballot issues, and a “build my ballot” feature.

Opening Statement

The candidate was given the opportunity to make a one-minute opening statement. Irwin said that if he is re-elected to the Michigan legislature, there are three issues he would continue to work on – education, environmental protection, and equal rights.

We need to make sure that the money we pay into the school aid fund goes to support K-12 schools, Irwin said. And we need to make sure that our colleges and universities are well-funded.

Michigan has some unique and special assets that need to be protected – for the long-term and also for our current needs, he said. Additionally, the Great Lakes are a unique resource that bring economic prosperity as well as recreation and enjoyment to our citizens here today.

Michigan will be the best state it can be, when we provide equal rights to all of our citizens – regardless of where they come from, he said. We need to open arms to the world and welcome the economic growth and development that can come from folks who come from other cultures and ways of life, he concluded.

Qualifications

What in your experience and education makes you the best-qualified candidate for this position?

It’s challenging in a community like Ann Arbor where there are so many qualified people, Irwin said, so it’s a tremendous honor to be able to represent this community in the legislature. Other candidates who are running for the 55th District [and who participated in the same forum], told their stories about growing up here in the area, Irwin noted. But his own story does not start in Ann Arbor – he’s not Washtenaw County born. He’s from the Upper Peninsula, he said.

He came down to Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan, precisely because he has a passion for public service and a passion for getting our government running, he said. There are so many things we can do to improve how the government works for people, he said, and that’s why he had come to the University of Michigan – to study political science and American government.

After studying those subjects deeply for a number of years, he realized he had some ideas to offer at the local level. So he ran for local office and served 11 years on the Washtenaw County board of commissioners – including a stint as chair of the board. He was proud of the board’s accomplishments during the period he served. He’s also served as a legislative aide, and as an advocate for clean air and clean water with the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. So he has a number of different areas of experience in public work, and he hopes to bring that back to Lansing, he concluded.

Partisan Divide

If elected to the House, name one or two goals that you hope to achieve. How would you work to accomplish these goals, given the current partisan divide?

Alluding to the election campaign, Irwin said his number one goal for the next month is to try to change the partisan divide. He has served as a minority in the legislature, he pointed out, and he is working hard with fellow Democrats across the state, “so we can help Governor Snyder govern as the moderate he ran as.” Gov. Snyder has been dragged to the right by his party and hard-line right-wingers in the legislature, Irwin said.

Republicans have slashed funding for schools, attacked a woman’s right to choose, Irwin said, and have shifted the burden of taxes from businesses and the wealthiest people in our state to low-income workers and seniors. So he’s working to change the partisan divide, in order to make the biggest difference possible. After Nov. 6, however, if he finds himself in the minority again, he will be eager to work across the aisle – as he has for the last two years. He said he’ll try to build alliances to try to sell ideas and specific amendments within particular bills to improve those bills and make them better for our citizens.

Access to Voting

What is your opinion of recent House legislation attempting to create tighter controls on voter registration? What changes would you like to see in Michigan voting laws?

Irwin has a very low opinion of efforts in the legislature to suppress voting and to make it more difficult to vote. Numerous studies have been done on the issue, he said, and despite the Secretary of State’s protestations, voter fraud is not an issue in Michigan. If we are concerned about fraud in elections then we need to be concerned about election fraud that is engineered by politicians, not by voters, he said.

The issue dovetails into what can be done to expand the franchise and to expand the opportunity for voting, he said. One of the issues he’d taken up early in his service in Lansing was an attempt to eliminate some partisanship and expand the opportunities for absentee voting. In most states, he said, it’s possible to vote absentee if you simply request an absentee ballot. In Michigan you have to have a “reason” – like saying that you’re incapacitated, or ill, or expect to be gone on election day. He’s introduced a no-reason absentee voting bill. He’s proud to be working with the League of Women Voters on it because it’s good policy, he concluded.

Women’s Reproductive Health

Do you support recently proposed House legislation related to women’s reproductive health, such as House Bill 5711, which would severely limit Michigan women’s access to safe abortions as well as birth control services?

Irwin opposes the bill and he has been opposing it in all kinds of ways, he said. He spoke against it on the floor of the House, and he even danced on the capitol steps to try to bring some attention to the issue. He’s willing to do anything to try to stop these bills – because they’re really damaging, he said.

Republicans have made very clear that the point of these bills is to drive health clinics out of business, he said. If there is a health clinic that performs abortions in Michigan, Republicans want to drive it out of business – with additional regulations and requirements for training. They even want to measure the size of the closets in the surgical facilities. It’s a problem in Michigan, he said, and it’s going to create more unsafe conditions for Michigan women. That is why we need to work together to reduce unwanted pregnancies, Irwin said. He has introduced a bill supporting comprehensive age-appropriate sex education, he said. If we want to reduce abortions in Michigan, the best way to do it is by providing healthcare, by providing counseling, and by providing sex education.

Retirement System Costs

What ideas you have to control retirement costs in the state of Michigan?

It’s a big topic that can’t be covered in a minute, Irwin said. But he did want to talk about something the legislature has done over the last two years that has exacerbated the problem. One thing that’s happened in a very aggressive way is the privatization of public education, he said. The cap has been lifted on charter schools, and new charter schools are opening all over Michigan, he said. That takes life out of the system, by removing payers and leaving payees in the system.

The state has also created a “best practice” for school districts to privatize – their custodians, their transportation workers, clerical staff, everything except for administration. Now, there’s new legislation for cyber schools that the Republicans have passed, he said, where children attend school via computer. And school aid fund money will go to the companies that run the computer-based schools. We need to make the system healthier, by putting the legs back underneath it, he concluded.

Redistricting

The League of Women Voters is very concerned about the highly politicized process for redistricting legislative districts, which takes place every 10 years after the U.S. census. What ideas do you have to make redistricting a more open democratic process, which would benefit the citizens and not the political parties?

“Redistricting is a pretty wild process,” Irwin began. And as a result of the most recent process, he had lost the opportunity to represent a bunch of people on the north side of Ann Arbor, he said. He would miss representing them, but said that they could still call his office and he would do his best for them. He thinks we need to strike now, as soon as the election is over. We need to start a community conversation about the issue. If we wait until eight or 10 years from now, partisanship will necessarily be all wrapped up in it. But if we start a discussion now about how we can have a reasonable, nonpartisan process for redistricting – separated by enough time from the political process – hopefully the two parties can let go enough to have a reasonable, nonpartisan process for redistricting that keeps communities together in logical ways.

Closing Statement

Irwin was given an opportunity to give a two-minute closing statement. He thanked voters for sending him to Lansing for the last two years to focus on what he thinks are the community’s top priorities. He reviewed those priorities – education funding, environmental protection, and equal rights.

It’s been frustrating to Irwin to see $1.5 billion raided from the public schools – taxes that we pay that are supposed to go to schools. That drives class sizes up and frustrates people left to serve on school boards, and who teach in our schools, and children who attend the schools. He’s hoping to get back to work to put that back on track, he said, to make sure that all of the school money goes to schools. He feels there are some opportunities to work across the aisle to improve opportunities for early childhood education and also for universities and community colleges. There’s a real opportunity to turn that around in the next couple of years and make education a priority again in Michigan, he said.

Irwin is also excited about working on environmental issues. We have tremendous opportunities in Michigan to leverage the Great Lakes, he said – both as recreation and as economic opportunities. But he also wants to continue his work on clean energy. We need to solve the problem of how we power our lives – without poisoning the planet and without hurting our neighbors, and without bankrupting ourselves in the process. We have unique opportunities in Michigan with wind and solar energy, he said. And for everybody who doesn’t think the sun shines enough in Michigan to support solar energy, Michigan is one of the leading manufacturers in the world of solar panels, he said. So there are huge opportunities in the clean energy sector, he maintained.

Irwin also wants get back to work on equal rights and civil rights, and civil liberties. That’s fundamental to our politics here in America, and we need to keep our focus on our rights, he concluded.

The Chronicle would not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of local government – we hope you elect to subscribe. 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!

Washtenaw County sheriff Jerry Clayton, a Democrat, is running for a second four-year term. He is running against Republican Jeffrey Gallatin, who did not attend the Oct. 10 candidate forum. (Photos by the writer.)

Clayton, a Democrat, is running against Republican Jeffrey Gallatin, who did not attend the Nov. 10 forum.

First elected in 2008, Clayton said his goals coming into office had been ambitious and weren’t yet completely achieved. He highlighted partnerships that his office has strengthened with other law enforcement agencies, and an approach that emphasizes pro-active ways to address the root causes of crime, such as substance abuse and homelessness.

The sheriff’s office is responsible for a broad range of public safety services, including management of the jail, 911 dispatch, and police services throughout the county. He said he’d led the process that resulted in new contracts with several local municipalities for sheriff deputy patrols, consolidation of 911 dispatch operations with the city of Ann Arbor, and a proposed cost structure for animal control services.

Like other offices led by elected county officials, the sheriff’s office is an independent unit within the county government, but its budget must be authorized by the county board of commissioners. The county’s $97.7 million general fund budget for 2012, approved by the board late last year, included $23.965 million for sheriff office operations, $19.448 million for corrections, and $2.534 million for emergency services.

The Oct. 10 candidate forum was held at the studios of Community Television Network, and is available online via CTN’s video-on-demand service. Information on this and other local elections can be found on the Washtenaw County clerk’s elections division website. To see a sample ballot for your precinct, visit the Secretary of State’s website. Local candidates also were given the opportunity to answer questions for the League of Women Voters Vote411.org website. Clayton responded to four questions on that site, but Gallatin did not participate.

Opening Statement

The candidate was given one minute to make an opening statement.

Clayton thanked the league, and said it’s important for the residents of Washtenaw County get every opportunity to hear from the people who are running for office. Noting that he assumed the office in January 2009, he said “it’s been a very interesting four years.” He and his staff have made tremendous strides in building partnerships and positioning the office to provide public safety services for all county residents and visitors, Clayton said. It’s been a strong four years, he said, but he had a very ambitious set of goals coming into office and “we’re not quite halfway there.” So he asked voters to re-elect him for another four years, because there’s still a lot to do.

Experience

What professional experiences led you to run for county sheriff, and what was the most significant in preparing you for this job?

Before being elected sheriff four years ago, Clayton said he served in the sheriff’s office for 20 years. He started as a part-time employee and worked his way through the ranks. He served at different levels – front-line staff, mid-level supervisor, and part of the executive team for a prior sheriff [Ron Schebil]. Because he served in most of the functional areas, Clayton said he has a lot of experience with what’s required to run the day-to-day operations of the sheriff’s office. The other qualification he cited relates to leadership. It’s one thing to think you know what leadership is required in the sheriff’s office, he said, “but it’s another thing to sit in the seat.” Having done that for almost four years, he said he’s a lot more seasoned and educated in terms of what needs to happen moving forward.

Values, Beliefs

What values or beliefs do you hold that would influence your conduct as sheriff, or impact the choices you’d make on behalf of your constituents and the state of Michigan?

Those values and beliefs are spelled out in the mission statement of the sheriff’s office, he said, adding that it comes from the values he holds in terms of public office and service. The mission is to create public safety, which occurs in partnership, he said. The sheriff’s office can’t do it alone – he values partnerships. The other part of the mission statement is to provide quality service, he said. His staff talks a lot about leadership. Are they being leaders in the organization and in the community? If you think you’re a leader, he said, the other question is “Are you prepared to serve?” If you’re not prepared to serve, you can’t provide effective leadership. That’s another value he holds.

Clayton said the most important thing is what the office can provide to the community – it’s not about him as sheriff. That’s the final part of the office’s mission statement: to build a strong and sustainable community. Public safety is a key to that, he said. It’s not the only piece, but it’s key. He said he’s spent 24 years in the sheriff’s office because he values providing that kind of service.

Reducing Crime

Tell us how the work of the sheriff’s office reduces crime.

It’s really related to the approach that the staff takes, Clayton said. The first core strategy is community leadership – finding ways to engage the community other than arresting people and locking them up, though he noted that the staff is excellent at that part too, doing it in a humane, safe, and secure manner. But the other piece is this, he said – let’s break the cycle of insanity in criminal justice, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. “We should be addressing root cause,” he said, whether it’s substance abuse, education, homelessness or anything else. The sheriff’s office of today sees that as a significant value, he said.

The office’s second core strategy is building collaborations and partnerships, Clayton said. That’s done with several different stakeholders, including the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, mental health professionals, other law enforcement agencies. “We don’t see ourselves doing it by ourselves,” he said.

Working with Other Law Enforcement Agencies

Describe the relationship between the sheriff’s office and other local law enforcement agencies – the Ann Arbor police department, the University of Michigan department of public safety, and others.

The sheriff’s office has jurisdiction throughout the entire county, Clayton explained, so the staff is authorized to go throughout the county and enforce the laws of the state. But they’re very respectful of their criminal justice partners, he said. He feels the different agencies work very well together.

Washtenaw County sheriff Jerry Clayton, right, talks with county commissioner Yousef Rabhi during a break between candidate forums on Oct. 10 at the CTN studios on South Industrial.

Clayton described local law enforcement officials as among the best in the state, if not the nation. “They’re smart, they’re dedicated, they’re not driven by ego,” he said. They’ve broken down a lot of barriers between the agencies, and spend a lot of time looking for ways to partner to provide more effective services.

As an example, he noted that a few years ago, there were four SWAT teams in Washtenaw County, operated by different law enforcement agencies. Today there’s one. That’s because nobody cared what it was called or who led it, he said. All that the law enforcement officials in this county cared about was how to gain efficiencies in delivering services, he added, and how to be better stewards of taxpayer dollars. They’re trying to reduce redundancies and gain efficiencies, and that’s to the credit of all law enforcement agencies in the county, he said.

County Jail Conditions

Are you satisfied with the conditions for inmates in the county jail?

Addressing all the residents of Washtenaw County, Clayton called it “your jail, not my jail.” “You paid for it, you elected me four years ago and hopefully you’ll elect me for four more years,” he said. The sheriff’s office has a strong philosophy about how they manage inmates, he said. It’s called inmate behavior management, and is recognized throughout the state, he said. The U.S. Dept of Justice and the National Institute of Corrections also support this approach.

It’s really about changing expectations, he explained. In the traditional setting, everyone expects people to come into the jail and act up, he said. Jails were built with that expectation in mind. Now, “we’ve turned that on its head,” Clayton said. They expect people who come into the jail to behave like normal adults. If they don’t, the jail is set up to manage people, he added. But if the staff sets up the expectation that people will act like normal adults, “then I think people do.” That positions people, when they return into the community, for a smoother transition, he said.

The jail provides good medical care, Clayton said. It’s not over the top, but it meets all of the basic needs. Programs are put in place to help address root causes, and to help inmates transition back into the community. People need to remember that “it’s our jail,” Clayton said. Most of the people who end up in jail are residents who come back into the neighborhoods. “We should do the things that are necessary to help re-integrate them back into the neighborhood and be productive citizens,” he concluded.

Jail Overcrowding

What are your solutions to overcrowding in the county jail, and what effect will these solutions have on the county budget?

Clayton said he thinks they’ve already implemented the best solutions to overcrowding. The state has a jail overcrowding act. The county is bound by that statute, but in the past there weren’t a lot of pro-active measures taken, and they reached the point where overcrowding occurred. Now, the sheriff’s office has a jail population management plan, he said. They work in partnership with the rest of the criminal justice system – local judges, probation officers, the community corrections division, which is part of the sheriff’s office. “We look for alternatives to incarceration,” he said.

The goal is to keep the county safe – but people who don’t need to be in jail shouldn’t be in jail. So they have a strategy to address jail overcrowding before it occurs, he said. They identify people who are risks to the community and keep them in jail. But those who don’t pose risks are put into appropriate programs, he said. “We’ve been very successful in not having to declare overcrowding.”

[By way of background, jail overcrowding was a chronic issue during the tenure of the previous sheriff, Dan Minzey. The jail – located near the intersection of Carpenter and Hogback roads – was expanded to add 112 beds to the previous 332-bed facility. That expansion was already underway when Clayton took office in January of 2009 and was completed in 2010. The county makes $800,000 annual bond payments related to the roughly $37 million project, which included a new 14A-1 District Court facility. For additional background, see Chronicle coverage: "Panel Sheds Light on Washtenaw Jail" and "More Funds Requested for County Jail, Courts."]

Closing Statement

Clayton was given two minutes for a closing statement. He described the four years that he’s been sheriff as the best four years of his professional career, and he’s been with the sheriff’s office for 24 years. He believes he has the leadership skills necessary to keep moving the office in the right direction. The willingness to work in partnership with the rest of county government, with township officials, with the sheriff’s office staff means that everyone is moving in the same direction. The sheriff’s office staff is smart about what they do, he said, and they recognize that the best solutions come in partnership with others, not in conflict with others. “We can continue to make Washtenaw County a great place – I want to be part of that.”

Clayton said he hoped that it’s clear over the past four years that he’s done at least one smart thing – putting in place the best executive staff that anyone in his position could have. He praised undersheriff Mark Ptaszek, chief deputy Rick Kaledas, commander of police services Dieter Heren, corrections commander Sherry Woods, and director of community engagement Derrick Jackson. All of them are very qualified in their functional area, he said, and also great leaders. The mark of any good leader is someone who’s at least smart enough to surround themselves with good people, he said. The executive staff are good people and good leaders, he said, and as a result of that, the office has turned a corner.

Earlier in the day, the office held its awards banquet, he noted. Over 80 of their staff were recognized for the work that they do – some of it very heroic, he said, like pulling people out of burning buildings. But some of them were recognized for things that are just a part of their job. You have to recognize and honor people for doing their job. The event lasted three hours, and they still didn’t recognize everyone, he said. He hoped the voters of Washtenaw County would return him to office for a second term because he’s extremely proud to be part of the organization, and proud to lead the men and women of the sheriff’s office.

The Chronicle would not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of local government – we hope you elect to subscribe. 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!

Candidates for the Ann Arbor District Library board, from left: Lyn Davidge, Rebecca Head, Nancy Kaplan, Margaret Leary, Prue Rosenthal. (Photos by the writer.)

The five women presented their views at an Oct. 9 forum moderated by the League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area. They are vying for four non-partisan seats on the AADL board, with four-year terms. The incumbents are Rebecca Head, Nancy Kaplan, Margaret Leary and Prue Rosenthal. [Other board members, whose terms end in 2014, are Barbara Murphy, Jan Barney Newman and Ed Surovell.]

All candidates expressed strong support and affection for the library system, and stressed the library’s critical role in the community. Two candidates – Davidge and Leary, the board’s current president – are former librarians. Head, Rosenthal and Kaplan highlighted their professional and volunteer experience. Several candidates cited their work on boards for other organizations.

Positions on the bond proposal for a new downtown library revealed the greatest difference between the incumbents and Davidge. All of the incumbents argued strongly in favor of the proposal, citing deficiencies in the existing building at 343 S. Fifth and a desire to accommodate growth in programs and services.

Saying she wasn’t running against anyone, Davidge felt she’d bring a fresh perspective to the board and challenge the status quo. She believes the case hasn’t been fully made for a new library at the time, and that the public hasn’t been as engaged as it should be in the decision.

For more background on the downtown library proposal, see Chronicle coverage: “Library Bond Moves Toward Nov. 6 Ballot,” “Campaign Launches for Library Bond,” and “Third Group Forms to Oppose Library Bond.” The Chronicle also covers the board’s monthly meetings.

The Oct. 9 candidate forum was held at the studios of Community Television Network, and will be available online via CTN’s video-on-demand service. Information on this and other local elections can be found on the Washtenaw County clerk’s elections division website. To see a sample ballot for your precinct, visit the Secretary of State’s website. 

Opening Statements

Each candidate was given one minute to make an opening statement.

Prue Rosenthal: She said she’s delighted to be running for the board. She listed her experience over the last four years as treasurer and vice president of the board, and chair of the board’s facilities committee. She loves the job, and hopes to be able to continue doing it. The library is an incredibly important part of the city, she said, serving the whole community. It provides extensive services to children, parents, grandparents, people from different countries. Books are available in eight different languages. You can get CDs and movies, attend lectures, learn a language or how to operate a computer – all of these things happen at the library, she said. The board takes pride in running a fiscally sound organization that’s attentive to the needs of the community, Rosenthal said, and is careful with revenue from the community.

Margaret Leary: She described the library as about the most important civic, cultural and educational institution in the city. It’s fiscally responsible, yet always growing. It’s a separate legal entity with its own taxing authority, she explained. It’s not part of the city, the county, the public schools or the Downtown Development Authority. The AADL has a permanent millage, but currently levies less than the full authorized amount, which saves taxpayers $1.6 million a year, she said. [The library levies 1.55 mills, but is authorized to levy up to 1.92 mills.] The library has built three new branches in the last decade – on time and on budget, she noted. The library serves all ages, all economic groups, and is the one public place where everyone can come for free to learn, whether with a book, electronically or in a group. Last year, AADL held 2,000 computer classes, had 80,000 attendees of programs, a quarter-million Internet sessions, 1.6 million visits and 9 million circulation transactions. Leary concluded by asking voters for a third term on the board.

Nancy Kaplan: Her reasons for running are the same as when she first ran two years ago, Kaplan said. The library is an essential community resource. Her goal is to contribute to its innovative growth and development, while being fiscally prudent. She’s committed to representing patrons of all ages, socio-economic levels and capabilities. The library is at an important juncture, she said. With an excellent record of fiscal responsibility, the library now wants to invest in its future. “The decision is yours, and the opportunity is yours,” she said. Whatever the next steps, Kaplan said she welcomes the public’s input. She was honored by the voters’ confidence and trust in her two years ago, and has been pleased with the exchange of ideas since then. She’d like to continue to represent residents, and asked people to vote for her.

Rebecca Head: The AADL is an outstanding library system, she said, and she’s honored to serve and to run for re-election. Serving on the board has allowed her to hear from the community, from all the residents, and to work to meet their needs. AADL provides services, programs and tools for every community resident in a manner that “exemplifies its democratic nature – it is open to all.” Head said she’s committed to provide to community members the constant, careful support for all issues facing AADL and the community. She hoped people would vote for her.

Lyn Davidge: She described herself as the “renegade” of the group – the only non-incumbent running for the board. She emphasized that she’s not running against anyone. “I am running for our fabulous library, and its users and constituents.” She believes she has something to offer by bringing to the board some questions and perspectives that might challenge the status quo, but also fuel some new ideas. She’s eager to give back to her hometown and to what’s been her public library for most of her life. She’d be honored to serve on the board and participate in the critical decisions at this important time.

Experience

What professional experiences led to your run for the library board, and what was the most significant in preparing you for this office?

Lyn Powrie Davidge.

Davidge: She said she’s a librarian by profession, retired from the University of Michigan library. She also worked for 12 years as a substitute librarian for AADL, and has had some experience in school media centers. Right out of college, she also had four years of teaching experience. All of that experience makes her very familiar with both the library and education worlds, Davidge said. She’ll draw on those experiences to help shape the future of AADL and she’s excited by the prospect of doing that.

Head: She has served on local, state and national boards, and has also served as staff for various boards – so she sees both sides. She understands that a board works on policy and helps set the direction for an organization, as opposed to doing the work of staff. Her professional experience as a manager and a board member in other arenas helps her be a good library board member, she said.

Kaplan: As former director of a department of physical therapy, Kaplan said that gave her experience dealing with a budget. She also had to interact with people at UM and St. Joe’s, so she learned how to work with people and to reach compromises for a result. Besides that professional experience, Kaplan cited her volunteer work for Washtenaw Literacy and Jewish Family Services as giving her insight into what other people might need, and how the policy of the library might be helpful to them.

Leary: She is trained as a librarian, with a master’s degree in librarianship and a law degree. Her professional work has been as a librarian – for about 25 years she was director of the University of Michigan law library, which had a $7 million budget and 40 full-time-equivalent employees. Leary also cited her experience on boards of other organizations, and agreed with Head’s statement about a board being a policy-making body and not necessarily dealing with day-to-day work. She has served as president of the 5,000-member Association of American Law Librarians, which gave her experience as a board member for a large organization.

Rosenthal: In addition to serving on many boards, Rosenthal said she’s been a user of libraries, which has led her to understand their significance. She said she’s been a board member of museums, schools and the AADL, and has also served as chair. She understands the role involved in leadership as well as compromise and working with staff members, the director and chief financial officer of the library. It’s important to understand where another person is coming from, she said, as well as to work on policy, and to influence how the library moves ahead.

Downtown Library

Do you support the $65 million bond proposal to build a new downtown library?

Head: She supports the proposal because the current library building as it’s configured and constructed doesn’t really meet the needs of the current residents, and she doesn’t believe it will meet the needs of the future. It’s a poorly constructed building, she said, adding that the library staff does a wonderful job of keeping it in good shape. It has had in the past year 600,000 visits, she noted, and those keep growing. But it has a lot of problems. She cited the thick cement floors that prevent the library from expanding its technology infrastructure. If they continue in the current building, she said, “it’ll be a band-aid effect.” And from an ecological and environmental point of view, the building needs to become energy efficient and water efficient, she said – a building of the future.

Rebecca Head.

Kaplan: The board vote to put the bond proposal on the ballot was a unanimous one, Kaplan said, and she supports it. The library needs to move into the future, and the current building won’t accommodate future needs. One of the major issues is compliance with the ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act], she said. The ADA took effect after the building was constructed, she said, and right now there’s only one bathroom that’s compliant. The whole building should be compliant, she said, whether you’re a mother with a carriage or an elderly person with a walker – “the building should feel comfortable and accessible to all.” Also, the building’s sight lines should be set up to make everyone feel safe, Kaplan said. The building should be lighter and brighter, she added, as well as being able to accommodate technology infrastructure.

Leary: She described herself as a very enthusiastic supporter of the bond proposal. The current building is really three buildings, she noted, “and all three of them are worn out.” They weren’t put together correctly, she said, so they can’t be made much more efficient. There will soon be the need for expensive repairs. The board has studied this issue for a long time, she said. They engaged in a very thorough review four years ago, and again reviewed that information this spring, she said. A complete renovation of the building up to current standards would cost 90% of what it would cost to have a completely new building that’s even bigger than the current one, she said. Now is the time to do it, Leary added, when there are low interest rates and low construction costs. The project would provide jobs for the community. The demand for use of the downtown building exceeds the supply of space. “It’s time for a new building,” she concluded.

Rosenthal: The library has outgrown the downtown building, she said. The town has grown, and library usage has grown 12% in the last 10 years. They need to double the available space. It’s not ADA compliant. The building needs more bathrooms, more spaces for people who are not capable of going up and down stairs easily, more elevators. Meeting rooms are used beyond capacity. “We turn people away constantly.” They need an auditorium where everyone can see and hear presentations, that includes facilities for the handicapped. Half the people who come to events have to watch on a TV in another room, she said. She said patrons need better access to the Washtenaw Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled, which AADL manages. Researchers need access to the Ann Arbor News archives. A quiet room is needed for uninterrupted study and reading.

Davidge: “Well, I said I was the renegade,” Davidge began, “and I am not in favor of this particular proposal at this particular time.” That’s not to say that she’d never be in favor of a new library, she added. But right now, the case hasn’t been fully made. The community doesn’t feel particularly well-engaged with the process. She’s concerned that there hasn’t been any preliminary plan. She understands the need not to spend a lot of money before funding is approved, but there is no real specific plan for a new building. There are a lot of unanswered questions. She said she’s looked at the statistics for the meeting space – known as AADL Freespace – and it appears to be very much underutilized. She’d like the board to take a step back and look at a few of these things before moving forward. The public should also be involved in a better way.

Library Branches

In your view, what’s the reciprocal relationship between the downtown library and the AADL branches?

Kaplan: The downtown library is the main branch for a reason, she said. About a third of the system’s visits are to the downtown location – of the total 1.7 million annual visits to all branches, about 600,000 of those are to the building at 343. S. Fifth. The majority of AADL’s resources are downtown. In contrast, neighborhood libraries are just that, she said. They are meant for the neighborhoods. If you want to do major research, you’d probably come downtown. The downtown building is also on the bus line, she noted. People come downtown for many reasons, and one of those reasons is to use the library.

Nancy Kaplan.

Leary: The downtown library is the “mothership” of AADL’s system, Leary said. It’s the place where most of the librarians are, where most of the collection is. It has the largest meeting rooms and is the place that can provide the most to the person who comes there. The branches are intended to be conveniences, she noted, and to bring the library as close as possible to neighborhoods. The locations of the branches have been carefully planned to be spread around the city so that they serve residents equally. With technology, the library system can take good advantage of the branches, she said. For example, you can request a book online and pick it up at any of the branches or downtown. The spending on the branches is proportional, she said. AADL has done a great job of building three new branches. Leary noted that eventually it’s hoped a new west branch will be built as well.

Rosenthal: The downtown location is the central library, where most of the collection is, where most of the staff is, where they hope to house the Ann Arbor News archives. and where the Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled is currently located. It’s a center where people come and meet – most of the evening programming is located there, and people can use the bus to get there. It’s the most convenient place, she said. Rosenthal noted that the library is very fiscally responsible. The three new branches were built using the fund balance. They hope to provide the same kinds of services that are now at the branches to the downtown library “in a major way.”

Davidge: She joked that by this point – after others had addressed the question – there isn’t a lot to add. She agreed that the downtown location is the flagship. It’s the original library, and at one point was the only library. People get very possessive of their neighborhood branches, she noted – because they love them. The branches are a great convenience and a great way for the library to reach out into the community in new ways. As the board and staff plan for the downtown library – whatever it might be – it’s important to keep the fund balance in mind, and to do what they can within the current budget, she concluded.

Head: As the mother of a 17-year-old daughter, Head said her family loves all the branches. But they really enjoy going to the downtown location – because after they’re finished there, they can go someplace else downtown. It’s very convenient. There are about 500 events just at the downtown library each year. It says a lot that people come to those events and clamor for more, she said. Having an efficient, larger downtown library will serve the city well, Head added. Having that anchor for the citizens as well as for a vibrant downtown is really critical.

What If the Bond Proposal Fails?

What’s your Plan B if voters don’t approve funding for a new downtown library?

Leary: It’s critical for the bond proposal to pass, Leary began. But if it doesn’t pass, the board will have to decide what to do next. That will depend on the conditions, she said. It’s one situation if the proposal fails by just a little bit, and another situation if it fails by a large margin. If the bond proposal fails and the board doesn’t try to put it on the ballot again at a later date, the library will spend more of its operating budget on maintaining the inadequate building, she said. “We will spend good taxpayer dollars after bad taxpayer dollars.” They’ll need to replace an elevator for $1 million. They’ll have to replace a roof, and repair damage done from internal leaks. They’ll need to replace parts of a heating/ventilating/air conditioning system. “The building is worn out, and it wasn’t that good to start with,” she said. “We really need a new one, and that will be my focus, even if the bond fails – to figure out what to do next.”

Margaret Leary.

Rosenthal: The library has a fund balance, she said, and board members are very proud of that because it allowed them not to charge the community the full millage rate for the last four years – when people were having a tough time because of the economy. The library levies 1.55 mills instead of 1.92 mills. That fund balance will get very quickly swallowed up if they have to take a building that’s three buildings in one and cobble it together with the community’s best interest in mind, she said. They’d have to spend money on the kinds of things that Leary had mentioned – a new elevator, new roof, new wifi and computers – instead of providing programs and other opportunities for the community. “Our community deserves wonderful, fabulous library and does not deserve a patched-together, efficient but not prime-material building.”

Davidge: If the proposal fails, that’s a signal to the board to take a step back, a deep breath and a closer look at things, she said. It means the community doesn’t have enough information and is not ready to move forward. She said she’d advocate to find creative ways to reach out to the community, to get the maximum amount of community input – perhaps through citizen advisory committees, perhaps through “snail mail” to people who don’t have computers and Internet access – and really involve the public in looking at the situation. That doesn’t mean it should take a lot of time, she said. But the board would need to really find out why the proposal failed and what they should do in the future. That might mean remodeling, Davidge said.

Head: “I’m hopeful that the bond vote will not fail,” Head began. The building has a boiler from 1958 that doesn’t simply need replacement – it needs an entire new HVAC system, she said. The library needs an environmentally sensitive, appropriate, efficient building to save operating costs in the future. For about a dollar a week, she said, or $56 per year, the owner of a $200,000 house can get a new library. “That’s pretty good.” If this fails, the library will use dollars that would otherwise be used for services and programs, she said, and that would be unfortunate. “We have such a sterling library system – I’d hate for it to go downhill.”

Kaplan: She agreed with what the other current board members had said. It would be a shame to take funds from the operating budget to repair and maintain the existing building, and not use the money for programs. AADL has a good track record, Kaplan said. The district library has built three neighborhood branches that are loved and used – within budget, on schedule – and that says something. The library system is an independent unit. It’s not part of any other government unit. The district library is very fiscally responsible, she said, and she hopes that will be considered when people vote. She hopes people feel they can trust the library to use their money well and that taxpayers will be making an investment in the future.

Closing Statements

Each candidate had the opportunity to make a two-minute closing statement.

Kaplan: The role of the library is evolving and growing, she began. “We are books, and so much more.” Story hour remains an essential ingredient in a preschooler’s life. Computers and computer training sessions have grown, reflecting their importance in society, she noted. AADL has successfully taken over the Washtenaw Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled, and the Ann Arbor News archives. Diversity is fundamental to the library’s community outreach. As examples, Kaplan cited the library’s cooperation with the prisoner re-entry program, with the University of Michigan’s English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) family tutoring program, lectures on a variety of topics, and programs with the Ann Arbor public schools.

Excellence in service is the library’s goal, Kaplan said, which means moving into the 21st century with the newest technology, while keeping the comfort and pleasure of the book in a truly barrier-free environment that welcomes all. She encouraged viewers to attend board meetings and speak during the time for public comment. [The next board meeting is on Monday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. in the downtown library's fourth-floor conference room, 343 S. Fifth Ave.] It’s an excellent opportunity for the board to hear what’s on the public’s mind. “This is your library, and we want to hear from you.” She’d like the opportunity to continue on the board, and she asked people for their vote. She concluded by directing viewers to her campaign website for more information.

Head: One of her priorities is for the district library system to remain robust and relevant for the current population, and in the future as well. It’s important to offer AADL’s amazing services, materials and programs, Head said. She’s proud of what the library does, and proud to say she’s on the board and serving everyone in the area. It’s important to have a library. She promised to strengthen the already solid community partnerships. The library is great at collaborating, she said, and she gives a lot of credit for that to the library director, Josie Parker, and to staff.

She said she’s committed to continue providing careful fiscal oversight and to seek input from community members. Now, there are challenges with the downtown building. There are also challenges as print media is being phased out into electronic media, and in figuring out how as a library they can work with that change, she said. AADL is on top of that issue, Head added, and she’s proud to be on a board that supports it. She also encouraged people to come to the board meetings, to tell the board what they think, and to be part of the community.

Prue Rosenthal.

Leary: If she’s elected to a third term, Leary promised to continue AADL’s two traditions. One is fiscal responsibility, and the other is to continue to expand services and collections. She brings to the board her experience as a librarian and lawyer, her experience directing UM’s law library for 25 years, a decade on the Ann Arbor planning commission, and her work with the Institute of Continuing Legal Education, Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley, and the United Methodist Community’s Heritage Foundation board. She’s lived in Ann Arbor since 1973, and has been a homeowner since 1976. Libraries are a key component of the educational system, including lifelong learning, literacy and computer access. They are also a key component of democracy, she said.

The downtown library is the mothership, and must be kept strong to keep the entire system strong. “We need a new building downtown,” Leary said. The board has studied this for several years. She noted that there’s a huge amount of information on the AADL website, and on the Our New Downtown Library website. The library held three public forums, she said, and has received comments on the AADL director’s blog. Now is the right time for a new downtown building, with low construction costs, and to avoid the need to put more money into a bad building. Ann Arbor uses the library, Leary said. Compared to five peer libraries in university towns, AADL has more than twice as many circulation transactions – in total and per capita – than the library that’s second to AADL, she said. Among the 12 public libraries in southeast Michigan, AADL is third from last in total revenue per capita. “We might have less money, but we do a lot more.” She asked for people to vote for her, so that she could continue serving them on the library board.

Rosenthal: She moved to Ann Arbor in 1977, “and I’ve used the library since probably the second day I was here.” She had young children at the time, and they’d all go down to the library and get books. The children were delighted to know that although everything else was new and different, the library was essentially the same as it had been in Boston, where they’d previously lived. She hopes to continue leading the AADL into the 21st century. The library wants to expand services, work with the community to find out what they want, and to help the public know what the library can do for them. As libraries expand and change, it will be an evolving, changing experience for everyone in the community. “We’ll all be learning together about the new things that technology can bring to the library.”

She cited her experience working with other boards, and said she enjoyed the collaborative experience of working with staff and AADL leadership. Libraries are the heart of the community. The AADL serves as a national leader, she said, providing valuable services and innovative programs, providing tremendous value to citizens and taxpayers. The current downtown facility is no longer adequate, with structural shortcomings, capacity limitations and foundational inefficiencies. Rebuilding now is a wise investment, Rosenthal said, as interest rates are at an all-time low, and construction costs are very competitive. The AADL leadership has demonstrated strong fiscal stewardship of tax dollars, responsiveness to the community’s needs, and has built several successful satellite branches on time and within budget, she said. Ann Arbor deserves a great library, and now is the time to invest in this critical resource for the community. Rosenthal asked for the public’s vote so that she can continue to work with this community to make that happen.

Davidge: “You may vote yes on the library bond proposal, and vote for me,” Davidge said. “You may vote no on the proposal, and vote for me.” It’s not about where any of them stand on that issue – it’s about what happens next, she said. If elected, she’d take office in January of 2013, and by then the next steps will be underway, she noted, whatever they are. It would be her responsibility to support the decision of the voters. She’d plan to get up to speed and jump into it as quickly as possible. She’d ask questions, offer new perspectives and “certainly give my opinions.” But her goal would be for everyone to move forward in the most effective, responsible way possible. Whether the library is then planning a new downtown building or a renovation of the existing one, she’d advocate for extensive community input. This will be the time for everyone who loves the library to come together, share their views, work diligently to make the downtown branch to come, to learn, to read and to grow.

As virtually a lifelong resident, Davidge said, she knows the Ann Arbor community, and the district library as well. [Her father, Emerson F. Powrie, served as deputy superintendent for the Ann Arbor Public Schools in the 1970s when the library was part of the school system, and the library director reported to him.] As a career librarian, she said she knows the library world. And as a former employee and longtime cardholder at AADL – since 1946 – she has particular knowledge of the library, its climate and its culture. She’s excited at the prospect of being able to come full circle and give back to the library as a board member. She said she’ll approach the job with integrity, enthusiasm and openness to the best of her ability. Davidge concluded by asking viewers for their vote.

The Chronicle would not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of local government. We hope you elect to subscribe. 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!

From left: Democrat Evan Pratt and Republican Eric Scheie at the Oct. 8 candidate forum for the Washtenaw County water resources commissioner. (Photos by the writer.)

Scheie, who ran for Ward 4 Ann Arbor city council last year but was defeated by incumbent Marcia Higgins, is concerned that environmentalists have prioritized water over people. He said he’s against water pollution, but thinks that in some cases the government goes too far in over-regulating. He also took issue with the approach of current water resources commissioner Janis Bobrin, saying he’d heard “horror stories” from some farmers who think there’s a plot to push them off their land.

In contrast, Pratt has worked closely with Bobrin and he highlighted her endorsement of his candidacy. He stressed his experience in working on public infrastructure projects as a civil/environmental engineer, as well as his work with the Huron River Watershed Council, the Ann Arbor planning commission and other local entities.

Both candidates have more information on their websites. Scheie’s site includes a description of his philosophy, including a reminder of the position’s origins as drain commissioner. Pratt’s site includes a list of supporters, which he also highlighted during his opening statement. Scheie and Pratt also supplied brief answers to five questions about their background and approach to the job for the League of Women Voters Vote 411 website.

The water resources commissioner is an elected position with a four-year term. Bobrin has served in that role since first being elected in 1988. She was instrumental in broadening the focus of the job – as well as its title – from drains to water resources. Bobrin decided not to run for re-election this year. She endorsed Pratt in both the Aug. 7 primary, when he defeated fellow Democrat Harry Bentz, as well as in the Nov. 6 general election against Scheie, who did not face a Republican primary challenger.

The Oct. 8 candidate forum was held at the studios of Community Television Network, and will be available online via CTN’s video-on-demand service. It was the first of three forums on Monday evening. Others covered the races for county treasurer and county clerk/register of deeds. The full schedule of candidate forums this week is on the league’s website. The forums are broadcast live on CTN’s Channel 19 starting at 7 p.m.

Information on local elections can be found on the Washtenaw County clerk’s elections division website. To see a sample ballot for your precinct, visit the Secretary of State’s website. The league’s Vote411.org website also includes a range of information on national, state and local candidates and ballot issues, and a “build my ballot” feature.

Opening Statements

Each candidate was given one minute to make an opening statement.

Pratt: He explained that the water resources commissioner is responsible for over 500 county drains, stormwater management systems, flood control systems and lake-level management systems. He directed viewers to his campaign website for more information, and to look at his list of supporters to see if there’s someone they know and trust on the list. He said he stands for running a fair and transparent office operation, as well as a lean, financially prudent organization focused on water resources management. He cited his experience leveraging taxpayer money, saying that he’s assisted the current water resources commissioner in obtaining over $17 million in grants.

Scheie: The original purpose of the drain commissioner – the original title for this job – was to put people first and get rid of water, he said. Maybe that was going too far, he noted. There are now additional responsibilities, but he thinks the office now goes too far in putting water first. He’s seen a lot of extravagant projects. One example is Malletts Creek, which used to have a nice forest where he walked his dogs. It’s been clear cut and now has stagnant water in pools, he said – the water isn’t flowing well. Scheie also cited problems with the stormwater management project at West Park in Ann Arbor. These are examples of things he’d like to look at, he said. You have to consider the budget and everyone, not just water, he concluded.

Job Responsibilities

Explain the primary duties of the county water resources commissioner.

Pratt: As laid out in the drain code [Public Act 40 of 1956] the job duties are to deal with water quality and quantity, Pratt said. That’s one reason why the position’s title has been changed to water resources commissioner. He said when he’s talked to people about flooding problems, or when he’s investigated water quality or quantity issues, it comes down to two things. It’s like what Walt Kelly said, Pratt noted: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Most people say there was a problem on their property when they bought it, or that someone else did something and caused the problem. Most flooding and water quality problems are caused by human interaction with the existing environment. So it’s not really true that it’s a choice between water and people, Pratt said. You need to see what the water’s doing first, before you develop and build things, because there’s definitely going to be an impact.

Scheie: Saying he wasn’t speaking of Pratt, Scheie said there are a lot of people in the environmentalist movement who think that people are the enemy of nature. The current water resources commissioner has a reputation, he said. He’s talked to farmers and landowners who really feel threatened. One man told him that a drain hadn’t been maintained – it hadn’t been cleared since 1937 – and it has turned the land into unusable wetlands “and now he’s in trouble.” The office needs to be more considerate of people who’ve been here a while, Scheie said. They’re not going to be able to turn Ann Arbor into what it originally was, but sometimes he wonders if that’s the philosophy of some of the environmentalists. He hoped that’s not Pratt’s philosophy.

Experience

What professional experiences led to your run for water resources commissioner, and what was the most significant in preparing you for this office?

Scheie: He said he’s a licensed attorney in California – he’s not practicing in Michigan. He’s been a local volunteer. He was a police review commissioner for the city of Berkeley, so he has administrative experience in government, though not elected experience. When he was running for a seat on the Ann Arbor city council, “water kept coming up in a strange way.” [Scheie ran in Ward 4 against incumbent Marcia Higgins in November 2011, but lost.] People were up in arms about the city’s footing drain disconnect program, he said. That’s a major issue now, and it’s a question of drainage. As another example, County Farm Park is one of his favorite parks, he said, but he watched it become defoliated [because of the Malletts Creek restoration project]. These things have led him to look critically at what’s going on, and that’s why he’s running.

Pratt: He’s spent 25 years of his professional career working in water resources and other public infrastructure work. It’s been interesting to learn how government processes work, he said, and to understand how people need to have a say in projects that impact them. He’s also served on the Huron River Watershed Council, and gained understanding of why it’s important to protect natural resources. Certainly there can be situations where a drain hasn’t been cleaned out, he said, but sometimes trees grow into drains – and if you want a drain cleared, you sometimes have to cut down trees so the water can flow. That’s probably the reason why trees were cut down in County Farm Park, he said. Pratt says he brings 25 years of construction experience on public projects. That will help him manage the fine line between helping people and damaging the environment.

Values, Beliefs

What values or beliefs do you hold that would influence your conduct as water resources commissioner, or impact the choices you’d make on behalf of the office?

Pratt: It’s critical to be fair, open and honest in these projects that are being considered. Projects done under the drain code are different from work done on streets, sewers or water mains, he said. The water resources commissioner is not involved unless people have a problem and want to get the office involved. Landowners have to make a petition, and there’s a specific process to involve those landowners in the decisions that are made, he said. The people who live in an area know a lot about what’s going on there, he said, and it’s important to listen to them. That value or belief would guide him the most, Pratt said. From the financial or fiscal side, he said, it’s cheaper to dig a ditch than to lay a pipe, and the ditch is more environmentally sound. So in simple terms, it pays to be environmentally aware.

Eric Scheie, Republican candidate for Washtenaw County water resources commissioner.

Scheie: Philosophically, he said, he’s not comfortable with the idea of central authoritarian figures telling people what to do. That’s why he as a problem with top-down micromanagement telling people that they can’t do certain things or farm certain land.

The stories that farmers have told him have horrified him, Scheie said. The state Dept. of Environmental Quality has told farmers that any drain at all – even tile in a drainage ditch – is a navigable waterway.  He said he’s as much against water pollution as anyone else. He grew up in Philadelphia, where there was real water pollution with industrial waste. It’s a much cleaner situation here, he said, and he’d like to keep it clean. But he doesn’t like the idea of ordinary roof runoff being treated as pollution – he thinks it’s going a little too far. “We do have a city here,” he said.

Neighboring Communities

Since water resources are affected by policies of surrounding communities, what are your plans for working with neighboring communities?

Scheie: He’d like to become as informed as possible – and he said he suspects that Pratt is a bit more informed about these issues. The water resources commissioner does interact with Ann Arbor a lot, he noted, although Ann Arbor has its own policies. The water resources commissioner doesn’t have a lot of power beyond what’s allowed by state statute, he said, which is to maintain the drains and keep them running, as well as to manage soil erosion and sediment control. But other than contacting people for input, the office doesn’t really have a lot of say-so in the rest of the state, he said. It’s a big job here, so he’d keep focused on that, though he said he’d also try to do as much outreach as possible within the limitations of the office.

Pratt: This question applies to three levels, he said – drainage, water quality, and pooling resources. The last category includes things like sharing equipment for cleaning, mowing and tree-cutting – whatever can be done to minimize the cost. Many public works departments already work together on this, he said. Regarding water quality, the current water resources commissioner is involved in the Middle Huron initiative, which focuses on pollution in the section of the Huron River where the MDEQ has found that E.coli is above legally allowable limits and substantial work needs to be done to cut that. There are other orders from the MDEQ that are being worked on as well, he said.

Future Challenges

What challenges are facing the office in the next two years, and what are your priorities for managing them?

Pratt: It’s the same challenge that all agencies have been facing for five or six years, he said – how to manage increasing responsibility with declining budgets. He said he’s given presentations on this topic in Michigan, Tennessee and Ohio. There’s a lot of work to do – not just footing drain issues, but other flooding problems too – but there hasn’t been money to solve them. So dealing with those fiduciary issues is the main thing, he said. That’s why it’s useful to have his experience bringing grants to projects that qualify for grants. It’s an important skill, he said – taking a project that’s needed and that people want, and shaping it into something that fits into a grant mold. He’s worked with a number of communities that have taken this approach.

Scheie: It’s a big enough job just to manage and take care of the drains, he said. With the additional responsibility of soil erosion and sediment control, it’s probably twice as big. He said he’s visited the website of the water resources commissioner and there’s more about the issue of soil erosion and sediment control than about drains. What bothers him is that the county has fewer resources. While the drainage systems tend to pay for themselves – because the drain commissioner has the power to impose taxes for such projects – some of these other projects, like Malletts Creek and West Park, are very expensive multi-million dollar projects, he said. Scheie said he’d want to look at how much of that is needed, and whether there are diminishing returns. He realizes that Malletts Creek has some problems, like a deficiency of macroinvertebrates, but how far do you go? Do you want to make a pristine stream? Scheie said he didn’t think it’s ever going to be pristine again.

Allen Creek Greenway

What are your thoughts and preferences for the Allen Creek greenway?

Scheie: He’s visited one of the city of Ann Arbor properties where the road commission was previously located and where there’s now a big surface parking lot [415 W. Washington]. He doesn’t think anyone objects to that property being turned into something else – because right now it’s an eyesore. If the voters like the plan, he’s all for it – this is a democracy, he said. But he’d be very wary about the cost. Sometimes you get into complex mistakes that have to be dug up and redone, he said. People in Ann Arbor are fed up with traffic associated with endless construction projects, he said. And a lot of people are upset about the character of Ann Arbor being altered by tall buildings and other things. As far as creating a nice park, he said he doesn’t have a problem with that, but he’d want to look at the money involved very carefully.

Pratt: It’s a two-fold issue, he said. Some people think more about Allen Creek, but others think more about non-motorized transportation. He defined the corridor as running from where the creek flows to the Huron River just downstream from Argo Pond, up to the area around Michigan Stadium. He said he’s met with people who serve on the Allen Creek Conservancy board and talked to them about their vision. He thinks they’re open to the idea that the project could be a number of different things. It’s hard to say that he’s for one thing or another, because there isn’t a specific proposal yet. It would be great if there’s a cost-effective way to restore Allen Creek and to include a greenway. It’s fairly common to have a low-lying flooding area used for non-motorized transportation. The city of Austin, Texas does a great job of that, he said.

Long-Term Vision

What’s your long-term vision for this office? What projects would you like to start now for the next 10-20 years?

Evan Pratt, Democratic candidate for Washtenaw County water resources commissioner.

Pratt: He said he’d like to work on a program more than a specific project – a program that would lead toward his children not having to stay out of the Huron River for 48 hours after it rains, which is the current situation. You’re not supposed to have full body contact during that period, because of what’s in the river. The situation is better than it was, he said. He’s seen photos from the 1950s and ’60s. There were tanneries in the area near the area where DTE now operates. Cleanup is happening there now, and you can see oozing black tar coming out. He’d love to see that site cleaned up, and a mix of uses there – parkland as well as a nice place where he could go have dinner with his family. He wants to do things that enhance the river so that people won’t turn their back on it. In a totally different category, he said, he’d like to help out farmers with their agricultural drainage fields, which relates to an entire different set of needs.

Scheie: It matters what the local community wants, not what he would want. There are a lot of arguments, especially in Ann Arbor, over things like the removal of the Argo Dam. He’d like to see some effort to have community consensus so that people don’t feel that projects are rammed down their throats. A lot of people feel that way now, he said. A project starts and people start asking questions about why it’s happening. He’s like to see projects like this brought to a vote, perhaps by amending the city charter in Ann Arbor and looking at what the whole county thinks. There’s too much acrimony, he said, and he’d like to try to reduce that.

Open-Ended Question

What question wasn’t asked tonight that you’d like to address?

Scheie: He said he hasn’t really talked about some of the horror stories he’s heard from farmers. The further you get outside of Ann Arbor, you get the picture that it’s really scary. Some farmers think there’s a plot to push them off their land, he said, to take their land away inch by inch – by restricting what can be done on the land. One thing that bothers him is that you have to go through the water resources commissioner just to get a building permit for almost any exterior work. That doesn’t seem right, he said. There’s too much government, and he’d like to have some discussion of that.

Pratt: He would liked to have been asked what people are talking to him about. In general, people are telling him that they don’t want water pushed their way. A lot of times when someone wants to fill in a low-lying area or put something on their land, they aren’t thinking about the fact that water gets stored there. If you fill a low-lying area where water gets stored, that becomes someone else’s problem. That’s why there’s a drain commissioner, he said, dating back to 1847. He said he explains to people that the drain code is set up not to push anything onto people, but to offer people the opportunity to have at least five landowners petition the drain commissioner to help them fix a problem that they can’t solve themselves.

Closing Statements

Each candidate had the opportunity to make a two-minute closing statement.

Scheie: He thanked the league for hosting this forum – it’s good for Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County. He’s running for an office that most people he talks to have never even heard of. He points out to them that this office has more power than the governor, in terms of the ability to impose taxes unilaterally. When there’s a drain put in, the office has the statutory power to levy taxes. A lot of people don’t think about these things. He’s concerned that there’s too much emphasis on putting water first. He said he goes swimming in the Huron River and cares about water quality. But in a populated area, you have to balance things. That’s why he’s running. Things have gone too far in the direction of over-regulation.

Pratt: He also thanked the league and the viewers. It’s not just the water resources commissioner, but many others who work hard to help out people. Water is our most precious resource, he said, and he’d like to continue a career of protecting this valuable resource for his young children and everyone else in Washtenaw County. He noted that the retiring water resources commissioner, Janis Bobrin, has worked hard to improve water quality and address flooding issues, and she supports him. Pratt read a quote from her stating that he’s the most qualified candidate.

He’s a licensed engineer in Michigan and a graduate of MIT’s civil engineering program. He cited his community experience relative to water resources, including nine years on the Huron River Watershed Council, eight years on the Ann Arbor planning commission, and service on the Washtenaw County planning advisory board. He said he also brings experience as a treasurer for “two relevant nonprofits and a $20 million private corporation.” That gives him a proven record of success in financial oversight for multimillion-dollar budgets and projects, he said. Pratt asked voters to consider these qualifications when they go into the voting booth on Nov. 6. People shouldn’t have to pay for something that they don’t need or want, he said. He’s committed to protecting water resources, listening to people, and finding that right balance between a project’s benefit and cost.

The Chronicle would not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of local government – we hope you elect to subscribe. 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!