Precincts are shaded by strength of each candidate. Kunselman (red), Taylor (green), Briere (blue) and Petersen (orange).

Incumbent mayor John Hieftje is not seeking re-election, and there is no Republican candidate. Taylor will face independent Bryan Kelly in the Nov. 4 general election.

Some observers felt the four-way race could be won with as little as 35% of the vote. Taylor achieved a near majority, but fell a couple of percentage points short of 50% citywide. Taylor received 7,070 votes (47.6%) compared to Sabra Briere’s 2,967 (20%), Stephen Kunselman’s 2,447 (16.5%) and Sally Petersen’s 2,364 (15.9%).

The 16,591 ballots cast translated into a turnout of 16.67% registered voters citywide.

The ranking and clustering of the four candidates was roughly consistent with the amount of money each campaign raised in the pre-primary period – if the self-funded portion of Petersen’s campaign is discounted.

The rank order and clustering of candidates was also consistent with the results of a poll conducted by Public Policy Polling about a week before  the election. That poll also showed Taylor as a clear favorite over the other three candidates, who were grouped significantly behind, with Briere slightly stronger than Kunselman and Petersen.

Outgoing Democratic mayor John Hieftje never lost any of the city’s 48 precincts in seven election cycles. Taylor prevailed in 39 precincts. Briere won seven of them, while Kunselman won his home precinct in Ward 3. Briere and Petersen tied for most votes in one precinct – splitting the two votes in the lightly voted Precinct 1-1.

Taylor had the highest vote totals in each of the city’s five wards, with a majority of votes in three of them. In Ward 3, Ward 4 and Ward 5, Taylor received 50.4%, 52% and 50.6%, respectively.

All four candidates did best on their home turf – Briere in Ward 1, Petersen in Ward 2, Kunselman in outer Ward 3. But Taylor was strong not just in the Burns Park neighborhood of Ward 3, but also citywide, achieving better than 50% in 13 of 48 individual precincts, while winning 39 of them.

Charts of results by ward, as well as dynamic color-coded maps for each mayoral candidate, are presented below.

Charts by Ward

Ward 5 mirrored the citywide trend and rank order of candidates. Ward 4 and Ward 3 were similar – except that Kunselman did slightly better than Briere in both of those wards. The results in Ward 2 showed Petersen ahead of Briere and Kunselman but still behind Taylor. And in Ward 1, Taylor only narrowly outpolled Briere – by 29 votes.

           W1     W2     W3     W4     W5
Briere    740    384    467    389    987 
Kunselman 239    447    703    437    621 
Petersen  260    949    355    329    471 
Taylor    769  1,363  1,551  1,254  2,133

-

Chart 1: By ward including total citywide. (Chart by The Chronicle with data from Washtenaw County clerk’s office.)

Chart 2: By ward only. (Chart by The Chronicle with data from Washtenaw County clerk’s office.)

Dynamic Maps

Maps for each candidate are colored by precinct based on percentage of the vote they received.

Maps: Briere

Maps: Kunselman

Maps: Petersen

Maps: Taylor

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Based on Ann Arbor’s population of about 114,000, that works out to about $1.35 per resident.

Plots of campaign contributions for four candidates in the Ann Arbor mayoral primary.

All four mayoral candidates currently serve on the Ann Arbor city council: Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Sally Petersen (Ward 2), Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) and Christopher Taylor (Ward 3).

Raising by far the most of any candidate was Christopher Taylor with $75,198. (The campaign reported a total of $75,698 in its filings, but that amount was $500 more than the contributions calculated by The Chronicle, based on the campaign finance itemized list.) [link to WC clerk filing by Christopher Taylor] Taylor’s total came from 365 contributions, with an average contribution of $206.

Next was Sally Petersen with $44,495 from 133 contributions for an average contribution of $334 per donation. Petersen’s total was boosted with a $10,000 contribution of her own and $15,000 from her husband. The $2,000 limit does not apply to candidates themselves or members of their immediate family. [link to WC clerk filing by Sally Petersen] That total does not include a $5,000 late contribution filed by Petersen, bringing the total she and her husband contributed to $30,000.

Raising $26,680 was Sabra Briere. That total came from 204 contributions, for an average contribution of $130. [link to WC clerk filing by Sabra Briere]

Raising $7,474 from 59 contributions for an average donation of $126 was Stephen Kunselman. He had been the first to announce his candidacy for mayor – before current mayor John Hieftje decided that he would not be seeking an eighth two-year term. [link to WC clerk filing by Stephen Kunselman]

By way of comparison, when Jane Lumm raised roughly $18,000 for her pre-general election race for Ward 2 council in 2011 and then raised $20,000 for the same period in 2013, those totals were considered remarkable.

Here’s a read-only link to the shared Google Spreadsheet used by The Chronicle to generate charts and maps: [2014 Mayoral Campaign Finance: Ann Arbor]

Below we present charts and maps to illustrate the distribution of donations by amount and geography.

Charts

Below are frequency distributions of donations grouped by size of the donation. In the last few years, winning campaigns for city council races have been characterized by distributions that skewed toward smaller donations.

Taylor raised $75,198, which came from 365 contributions. The mean contribution to Taylor’s campaign was $206. The median contribution was $100.

Sally Petersen raised $44,495 from 133 contributions for a mean contribution of $334 per donation. The median contribution was $100.

Sabra Briere raised $26,680. That total came from 204 contributions, for mean contribution of $130. The median contribution was $50.

Stephen Kunselman raised $7,474 from 59 contributions for a mean donation of $126. The median contribution was $75.

Maps

The first map below, using red dots, plots all mayoral campaign contributions from the pre-primary filing data.

Maps: Taylor

Christopher Taylor’s contributions are plotted in purple. They show a clear cluster in and around the Burns Park neighborhood where he lives (Ward 3). An additional high-concentration area of contributions is the central western part of town (Ward 5).

Maps: Petersen

Sally Petersen’s contributions are plotted with yellow dots. They show a clear concentration north of Washtenaw Avenue in the general vicinity of the Huron Hills golf course, where Petersen lives.

Maps: Briere

Sabra Briere’s contributions are plotted with green dots. The pattern is not dominated by clusters so much as stronger distributions in some parts of the city – the west (Ward 5), the north (Ward 1) and the southeast (Ward 3). Missing from that distribution are the southwest (Ward 4) and northeast (Ward 2) – areas that have historically had the strongest Republican support citywide.

Maps: Kunselman

Stephen Kunselman’s contributions are plotted with blue dots. The distribution is sparse, with no discernible clusters, but relatively even citywide, with the exception of the northeast (Ward 2).

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The Delonis Center on W. Huron Street is, for many, the face of Ann Arbor’s effort to shelter the homeless.

Competition for the Democratic Party’s mayoral nomination is a four-way race: Stephen Kunselman, Sabra Briere, Christopher Taylor, and Sally Petersen. All candidates currently serve on the Ann Arbor city council. Kunselman and Briere are in the middle of their two-year terms, while Taylor and Petersen have chosen to run for mayor instead of seeking re-election to their Ward 3 and Ward 2 council seats, respectively.

The topics of homelessness and affordable housing have come up at previous mayoral forums – such as those hosted by Literati Bookstore, the League of Women Voters and the Ann Arbor Democratic Party. Here’s an .mp3 file from the Dems forum that includes just candidates’ responses to a question about affordable housing: [.mp3 of responses on affordable housing]

Tonight’s forum will be moderated by Julie Steiner, former executive director of the Washtenaw Housing Alliance. Candidates will have five minutes to talk about addressing homelessness and increasing affordable housing in Ann Arbor. Candidates will then respond to questions prepared by local advocacy groups, service providers, and faith communities. Questions from the audience will then be answered.

Listen to the forum live in the embedded audio player below.

Under the audio player are two text boxes with identical content, which The Chronicle will use to provide notes to listeners. The first box scrolls automatically to the bottom of the file, while the second box requires manual scrolling. After the forum, we will replace the embedded audio player with an .mp3 recording of the event.

[July 15, 2014 Genesis Homelessness Forum Part 1]

[July 15, 2014 Genesis Homelessness Forum Part 2]

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All the mayoral candidates participated in Ann Arbor’s Fourth of July parade. Clockwise from upper left: Sabra Briere, Stephen Kunselman, Christopher Taylor, Sally Petersen.

Competition for the Democratic Party’s mayoral nomination is a four-way race:  Stephen Kunselman, Sabra Briere, Christopher Taylor, Sally Petersen.

The scheduled broadcast start time on CTN is at 8 p.m. today (July 9) and can be viewed as a live video stream in the embedded player below.

The relatively large field this year is due to the fact that there is no incumbent in the race. Current mayor John Hieftje announced last year that he would not be seeking re-election to an eighth two-year term. No Republican stepped forward to run. Although one independent candidate, Bryan Kelly, has submitted some petitions to appear on the November ballot, he has not yet filed a sufficient number of signatures to qualify. The winner of the Democratic primary has a strong likelihood of election in the fall, regardless of other candidates who might qualify.

All four mayoral candidates are current members of the city council. Briere and Kunselman are in the middle of their two-year terms and will continue to serve on the council, even if they don’t prevail in the mayor’s race. Taylor and Petersen are at the end of their terms and will not continue their service on the council unless they are elected mayor.

CTN has pre-recorded some comments from candidates in all races. [link to CTN video-on-demand for mayoral candidate comments ]

And the League of Women Voters provides written candidate profiles with responses to questions on its Vote411.org website. [Mayoral Vote411.org profiles]

For a Chronicle column on the mayoral campaigns, see: “Mayoral Folk, Easy Listening”

If you’re not sure whether you’re registered to vote or you’re not sure which ward you live in, Michigan’s Secretary of State website offers an easy way to check.

If you don’t think you’ll be able to make it to the polls on Aug. 5, an application to receive an absentee ballot can be downloaded from the city clerk’s website. [.pdf of absentee ballot application form]

Completed applications can be mailed or hand delivered to the clerk’s office on the second floor of city hall, 301 E. Huron St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104. The applications can also be scanned and emailed to cityclerk@a2gov.org.

Watch the mayoral candidate forum below.

Under the video player are two text boxes with identical content. They embed the file that The Chronicle will use to “voice write” the LWV candidate forums in real time. The top box forces the view to the bottom of the file, so that the forum can be viewed hands-free. The bottom box does not force the view to the bottom of the file.

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Four quotes from four candidates for mayor in the Ann Arbor Democratic primary.

The fact that all of the primary candidates are current city councilmembers does not in my view reflect positively on Ann Arbor. In a city that prides itself for its diversity, are there really no others beyond established political personalities who’d be willing to serve the community as mayor?

Putting aside that lament, the upside is that all four candidates have been recently vetted by the local electorate. And council service can be a useful common denominator for contrasting the four candidates. Over the last few weeks, they have appeared at several forums, fielding questions in a variety of formats. And the candidates have attempted to contrast themselves with each other. But on occasion that contrast has been hard to hear – because it has been oblique or offered quickly in passing.

The Chronicle has broadcast live audio from three candidate events, hosted by the Ann Arbor Democratic Party, Literati Bookstore and the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber. We wanted to provide that service, because those events would otherwise have been inaccessible – except for those physically present. And even those who were physically present might want to check their recollections against the actual audio recordings.

During these forums, it has been interesting for me to listen to the range of ways that candidates have tried to distinguish themselves from the others. I think in some cases those attempts have not been necessarily conscious and deliberate. And in some cases those attempts rely on lumping other candidates together.

Based on these candidate forums, here’s how I see the most salient aspects of the mayoral campaign strategies – listed in the order that candidates announced their intention to run.

Stephen Kunselman is asking voters to cast their ballots for him the person: A vote for Kunselman is a vote for integrity and dignity, and for someone who was born and raised here.

Christopher Taylor is inviting voters to identify him with the city of Ann Arbor itself in broad terms: If you think Ann Arbor is basically a great place, on the right track, and you’d like it to stay on track, then vote for Taylor.

Sabra Briere is asking voters to notice that she has accurate knowledge of the issues: If you want a mayor who is willing to work down in the weeds on policy questions, and get something done based on analysis of those policy questions, vote for Briere.

Sally Petersen has absolutely pounded the theme of economic development in her campaign messaging: If you want a mayor who will develop a strategy to pay for all the things people say they want, and won’t get distracted from that plan by factional squabbles on the council, vote for Petersen.

Those summaries are a bit one-dimensional. And I’m sure that the candidates themselves would argue that there is much more to their campaigns than that. And there is, of course. But I’d like to share in a bit more detail how I arrived at those summaries.

Kunselman: A Person to Vote For

At the Ann Arbor Democratic Party forum, Kunselman made an overt effort to contrast himself with the other candidates – by contending that he was the only one of the four who was not looking for votes from supporters of outgoing mayor John Hieftje. That was the choice being offered to voters, he contended. That choice is somewhat supported by the fact that Kunselman is endorsed by four other councilmembers who might be fairly characterized as Hieftje’s political opponents: Sumi Kailasapathy (Ward 1), Jane Lumm (Ward 2), Jack Eaton (Ward 4) and Mike Anglin (Ward 5).

Stephen Kunselman at the Literati Bookstore mayoral forum on June 25.

But that was not the contrast that was most evident throughout that particular forum: Kunselman was the one candidate among the four who shared specific details about his personal self with the audience – not just during his opening and closing statements, but sprinkled throughout his remarks. From that forum you knew that Kunselman was married – to Letitia, who he called “the dynamo behind my politics here in Ann Arbor. Without her, I would not have the courage to stand before all of you.”

You learned that Kunselman has a stepson – who had flatted out on his bicycle twice recently on Ann Arbor’s roads. You learned that Kunselman grew up in Ann Arbor, attending Pittsfield Elementary, and that his grandparents were founding members of St. Francis Catholic Church. You learned that he was raised by a single mother, and that they lived adjacent to the Library Lot for a time.

Kunselman also managed to work in the fact that he still holds a certified water distribution system operator license from the state of Michigan – from his days as township planner and supervisor in Sumpter Township.

From the Dems forum alone, attendees could not have learned much of anything about the other candidates’ personal backgrounds: Are they married? Do they have kids? Where in the city do they live? Briere did quip, “I don’t know that man,” when her husband Dave Cahill rose to speak and cheerfully admonished those audience members standing in the back to “sit down…and shut up.” But to get the joke you had to know already that Briere and Cahill are a couple.

At the Dems forum, Kunselman identified himself in his closing statement as a common-sense, fiscally responsible Democrat, who lives in a low- to moderate-income neighborhood, not an upscale neighborhood – a precinct where there’s a mobile home park. The attempted contrast was apparently to neighborhoods where Petersen and Taylor live, which feature median home values of something like $370,000 and $440,000, respectively. Even though it was Petersen and Taylor who were probably being lumped together, it was Briere who was stirred to respond. In her closing statement, she said she wouldn’t talk about her economic status, but anyone who’s been to her house knows she’s not living in a posh neighborhood. “The idea that we play against each other that way strikes me as absurd, because we’re not here to work for ourselves and we’re not here for any other reason except to represent you,” Briere said.

Kunselman also highlighted his personal self at the Literati Bookstore forum. At the Literati forum you learned that Kunselman worked as a roadie in the past. From that forum, you also learned that he grew up in Ann Arbor and had an acquaintance with a police officer: “And I remember the beat cops. I remember Officer Blake. We got to know them as teenagers. … I won’t tell you why! From that experience, as a teenage rebel growing up in Ann Arbor, I have great admiration for the police force as an adult. Because I understand the difficulties that they have to deal with, I understand the clientele they have to deal with, and I think that’s the number one issue.”

Briere played off Kunselman’s vignette a bit later at the Literati forum and got a laugh line out of it: “I remember beat cops too, although I was not a troubled teenager. I wasn’t a rebellious teenager, either!” If it was not clear from that follow-up that Briere was in some sense chiding Kunselman for talking too much about himself, then it was possibly more apparent later on when she gave her closing statement: “I didn’t talk a lot about myself, I talked a lot about what I think and what I believe and what I have done. … That’s what I bring to this – a skill set …”

It’s not as if Kunselman talked only about his person at the Literati forum. He did talk about things he’s done – like his vote against the original A2D2 zoning for downtown. That vote was taken in late 2009, so it served to contrast him with Briere and Taylor, but not with Petersen, who was not a member of the council at the time. And at the Dems forum, Kunselman contrasted himself with Taylor by talking about something he would not do: He doesn’t work on something then plop it on the council table – after the city attorney’s office has been told not to communicate it to other councilmembers.

That was an allusion to the approach that Taylor reportedly took to his development of a charter millage question on public art, which the council put on the November 2012 ballot. Voters rejected it. Responding to a Chronicle query about whether he’d asked assistant city attorney Abigail Elias not to talk about the millage question before he unveiled it, Taylor at the time refused to answer the question, but stated: “It strikes me, therefore, that the attorney who declines to speak with one council member about legal advice given to another council member does so in the public interest.”

But at the chamber forum, Kunselman seemed to take a cue from Briere – by talking more about what he has done and was doing on the council. On balance, Kunselman’s prepared remarks at the chamber forum highlighted more of those things he considered to be his accomplishments on the city council than his personal background. Those included: leading the effort to amend the ordinance regulating the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority tax capture; opposing the countywide transportation initiative in favor of a more limited expansion like the one that was eventually ratified; eliminating the city’s Percent for Art funding mechanism; advocating for the sale of the former Y lot, which led to its sale; and advocating for preserving Argo Dam and for building a new skatepark – both of which were successful.

And a question from Sean Duval – founder and CEO of Golden Limousine International and chair of the chamber’s executive board – allowed Kunselman to talk about some of his council work that he’d done that very morning, as a representative to the taxicab board. Duval’s question was about Uber and Lyft, which have entered the Ann Arbor market – so Duval wanted to know what Kunselman would do as mayor to regulate those companies. Kunselman told Duval that the taxicab board was already addressing the issue – by considering a recommendation on a draft ordinance that would require all drivers for hire – including those for Uber and Lyft – to be registered with the city.

But the chamber’s forum also showed that in impromptu settings, Kunselman is among the candidates probably the most inclined to share anecdotal vignettes about his personal background. After his prepared remarks, responding to a question about the condition of local roads, Kunselman included his skateboarding as a youth in his answer: “I’ve been the most consistent councilmember, the most consistent politician focusing on those things because of my work history, and because of the community that I grew up in. I remember when our roads were in great shape, because I was a skateboarder and didn’t have to worry about any potholes.”

Taylor: Embodiment of the City of Ann Arbor

Taylor has identified himself in the role of the city of Ann Arbor itself in a few different ways. At the Ann Arbor Democratic Party forum, he led off in his opening statement like this:

I sorta think that … we’re goin’ in the right direction. You know, we’re far from perfect. It’s not Elysium, it’s Ann Arbor, we live in Michigan. But I think we’re doin’ the right things for the most part. We have improvements, but we can be confident that we’re doin’ all right. If I’m elected mayor I’d like to work on two piles of things, broadly speaking. Number one is all the basic stuff ….

The first way Taylor identifies himself with the city is to stress that our current direction is basically right and should not change much. The sentiment of “We’re doin’ all right” was one he also highlighted at the chamber forum. So Taylor is not a candidate who perceives a need for radical reform or change from the current course. This is a well-known and established successful campaign strategy in American politics. Taylor has essentially invited voters who look around the city and ask themselves if they are content and comfortable with what they see, and then vote for the candidate they think is most likely to continue the existing quality of life they enjoy. Taylor has made an explicit effort to make voters think of him in that context.

Christopher Taylor at the Literati Bookstore mayoral forum on June 25.

A second way Taylor has identified himself with the city of Ann Arbor is to highlight the role of the mayor as the city’s external representative. Just by way of background, the mayor, of course, represents the interests of all city residents in the context of our internal local governance. That’s the mayor’s role as a member of the city council. The mayor is, in some sense, merely an at-large city councilmember with only a few extra powers – most notably to preside at council meetings, to nominate members of boards and commissions, and to veto legislation. Somewhat remarkably, at the Dems forum, not one of the four candidates mentioned the power to nominate members of boards and commissions when asked to name a key distinction between a councilmember and the mayor. The mayor is also described in the city charter as being the “ceremonial head” of the city.

So, when asked at the Dems forum how the roles of mayor and councilmember are different, the point that Taylor highlighted was the role of ceremonial head. Specifically, he highlighted the mayor’s role in representing the city to third parties – like the state, the county, and the university. He called this role the “head of state” or “secretary of state” for the city.

And at the chamber’s forum, Taylor misspoke in a way that I think is, if not revealing, then at least interesting in this context. He began by saying he was running for the city of Ann Arbor – then realized he’d misspoken, and joked that he knows the chief executive embodies the city, adding “but I think that’s getting a little grand.”

So Taylor is inviting voters to weigh the question of which candidate would seem more mayoral in a context where the person is supposed to be the embodiment of the city. That plays to Taylor’s advantage, because Taylor is the candidate I think more voters would cast in the role of mayor in a movie, compared to the other three. He simply looks the part. That’s not just because he’s always well-mannered and neatly pressed, but because he is significantly taller. There’s at least some research to suggest that taller candidates win elections more often than shorter candidates. Taylor’s exact height (6′-6″) is a fact about himself that he volunteered at the chamber forum – as a time filler, waiting for someone to ask a question. He also managed to work his height measurement into his remarks delivered at the recent grand opening of the new skatepark.

Taylor has implicitly invited voters to identify himself with the city – not just as an abstract institution, but also as a kind of synthesized amalgam of the entire populace of the city. His speech patterns at recent forums have often been those of an everyman, alloyed with an aspiration to erudition – even if that alloy is not always perfectly forged. The opening passage above is a typical example. Taylor drops his g’s like a regular guy – unlike a former law review editor, and unlike the councilmember most likely to sprinkle his speech with gratuitous Latin phrases or technical vocabulary. Then, Taylor tosses in a reference to Elysium – a somewhat jarring juxtaposition, to my ear at least – but nevertheless more consistent with the persona he’s cultivated over the past six years of his city council service.

As the city’s head of state, speaking to different groups who might have different expectations or backgrounds can require some adjustment in presentation, even at the level of word choice. And Taylor has demonstrated during the campaign that he is capable of adjusting his lexical choices to suit an audience. For the general audience of the Dems Taylor offered [emphasis added], “If I’m elected mayor I’d like to work on two piles of things,” and to the general audience at Literati Bookstore, ”If I’m your mayor I’m gonna work on two big piles of things.” But for the members of the chamber – a possibly somewhat more buttoned-down crowd – Taylor was slightly more refined: “If I’m elected mayor, I’d like to work on two big sets of things.”

The two sets of things that Taylor wants to work on are (1) basic infrastructure and services, and (2) those things that make Ann Arbor more than just a basic city. This second set of things – consistently recited by Taylor at forums – has included affordable housing, parks, mitigation of climate change and mass transit. While voters will likely differ slightly on various details for policy implementation in those topic areas, these are all topics that resonate strongly in the community. More than 70% of voters supported the recent transit millage earlier this year. And on the National Citizen Survey conducted in Ann Arbor last year, 50% of those surveyed rated Ann Arbor’s parks as “excellent” – top of the scale. Another 40% gave parks a “good” rating for a total of 90% rating Ann Arbor’s parks as good or excellent.

So Taylor is linking his candidacy not just to a general contentedness with quality of life in Ann Arbor. It’s linked to specific areas in which many residents take pride.

Briere: Action Based on Sound Policy Knowledge

Candidates at the Literati Bookstore forum were asked to comment on how they saw the downtown and Ann Arbor in general five years from now. Briere pivoted away from the five-year time frame by focusing on the much longer-term, which depends on sound basic policies:

I don’t really like speaking in five-year increments. I know a lot of plans do that but the truth is we should really be talking about 40 years. We should be talking about 40 years, because the changes we make today are still going to be with us in 40 years.

And Briere highlighted longer-term planning in her remarks at the chamber’s forum, saying that more than just two-year or five-year planning is necessary, because just doing a street project can take five years of planning. It doesn’t make sense to talk about how much difference one person is going to make in a two-year term, she said, because it can take two years to get an ordinance passed – from the time that you think about it, until it’s approved by city council and implemented. That doesn’t even factor in evaluating it to see if it’s been done correctly, she noted.

Sabra Briere at the Literati Bookstore mayoral forum on June 25.

Beyond a focus on the longer-term effects of policy choices, Briere seems to have made a conscious attempt to convey her mastery of factually accurate detail, related to specific policy areas.

The Literati forum provided an opportunity for candidates to talk about public safety. With respect to public safety and police staffing levels, Briere’s embrace of factual detail took the form of an allusion to technology that the police department has implemented – which automates the measurement of how officers are spending their time. ”For the past year the city police chief has been looking at what the police do. And looking at what the police do, he’s discovered that he had a lot of slack time that he could reassign. He reassigned police to traffic enforcement, he reassigned people to walking downtown. This process of looking at our expectations and how well we can meet them is a much more effective way to convince me how many more police we need and what we need them to do.”

Action based on knowledge of policy was evident at the Literati forum, when Briere said that she would, no matter what the outcome of the election, work to incorporate into the zoning regulations requirements for protected pedestrian walkways during downtown construction. At the Dems forum, Briere conveyed her command of factual detail related to zoning policy considerations by outlining the way development incentives work in the downtown, describing the by-right 400% floor-area-ratio (FAR), and how building residential units (as opposed, say, to office units) can result in an additional 300% premium, for a total of 700% FAR.

That sort of wonky command of zoning regulations is in Briere’s wheelhouse – as the city council’s representative to the planning commission. Taylor, at the Literati forum, expressed his view of the problem with residential premiums, by saying that the residential premium tended to encourage 6-bedroom units, which were marketed primarily to students.

But Briere subsequently countered Taylor’s characterization with some factual detail: “Almost all of the buildings that have been built under D-1 zoning, the modern zoning, don’t have six bedroom units. They have one-, two- and three-bedroom units. I think that’s important to keep in mind, because honestly the people who can afford to live in those buildings don’t want to live with five other students. The other thing to keep in mind is that not everybody who lives in those buildings is a student. There are a lot of people who live in those buildings who work downtown. It always surprises me, but it is just true.”

The way Briere concluded that statement – “… it is just true …” – is another way of saying, “What I’m telling you is factually accurate.” Another variant Briere sometimes uses to convey the same idea is to introduce a statement with: “The truth is …”

And Briere will sometimes correct factual errors made by other candidates – which might come across as pedantic to some listeners, especially when the point seems to be minor or inconsequential. But in the case of such a correction made by Briere at the Literati forum, the end result was, I think, an amplification of part of Briere’s implicit message – that she knows what she’s talking about because she works hard at it.

The factual point in question was a passing comment from Petersen to the effect that all four mayoral candidates had served on a joint committee of councilmembers and DDA board members. Briere interjected that she had not served on that committee. Petersen gracefully walked back that minor factual mistake like this: “You attended the meetings, it felt like you were there. Thank you for attending.” Petersen had made Briere’s point for her: Briere puts in the time and the effort to keep informed – showing up when she’s not required to. And that supports Briere’s campaign theme of having mastered the material, because she’s put in the necessary homework.

A question about city income tax was posed at the chamber forum, which is a topic that has not been an active part of community debate for at least three years. But Briere gave a decent general summary of some of the issues at stake, including the fact that in Ann Arbor, the charter prevents adding a city income tax layered on top of the existing operating millage. That is, we could levy a city income tax or a general operating millage, but not both. More telling than the basic competence of the answer was, I think, the way Briere responded initially to the person who asked the question, local attorney Scott Munzel. As he was introducing the topic, Briere said: “Oh, really, Scott – are you going to bring that up?” That quip had about the same effect as if she’d said, “I know this topic cold, folks, so if you want to ask about the city income tax, well, take your best shot.”

So one of Briere’s basic themes is that she has a factually accurate mastery of policy issues. Put crassly, that could translate as: “I have studied things, and I am right about things.” At the Literati forum, that theme was both highlighted (by way of contrast) and hedged with some humility by Briere’s mention of a book, “Being Wrong.” That mention came as candidates were asked to talk about what book they were reading currently: “And you may think ["Being Wrong"] is an odd thing for somebody to read. But first it is a fast read, second it is a comprehensive read, and third, it reminds us that we all make decisions based on just inadequate information from time to time. And as we talk about being wrong we also talk about how to be right. But how to admit you made a mistake is a really important part of my life. And it’s a really important part of city government.”

Petersen: A Way to Pay

Anyone who has listened to the mayoral forums and has not heard a main theme of Petersen’s campaign as “economic development” has not been listening very closely.

Sally Petersen at the June 25 Literati Bookstore mayoral forum.

During the Literati forum, the word “economic” was uttered 12 times total. Of those 12 mentions of the word “economic,” Petersen accounted for 11 of them. The other one came from the moderator. So it’s not just that Petersen talked explicitly and often about local economic development at that forum – it’s that other candidates seem content to allow Petersen complete ownership of the topic.

That can’t be chalked up an unwillingness to step on each other’s toes. Candidates are not in general squeamish about adopting each other’s talking points when the situation demands it. For example, at the Literati forum, Taylor stated: “We will have a new mayor, we will have a new university president, we have a school district that is, candidly, in trouble …” Those who listened to the Ann Arbor Democratic Party forum will have heard Petersen say something similar: “They’re [University of Michigan] going to have a new president. We’re going to have a new mayor. It’s time for a new attitude to really balance the town-gown relationship.” Just barely on mic, Petersen’s reaction to Taylor’s remarks at Literati was this: “Where have we heard that before?”

On that occasion, Taylor had brought up the university’s change of leadership in response to a question about the city’s possible role in the K-12 public schools. But as part of Petersen’s campaign, the university fits into the priority that she’s placing on economic development. And in that context, Petersen does not want to dwell on the fact that the University of Michigan does not pay property taxes.

So a key part of her economic development strategy is better cooperation between the city and the university – through regular conversations at the top levels of leadership.  In her formal response to Taylor’s comments at the Literati forum, she stated: “And I will finish Christopher’s statement that, yes, the university will have a new president and the city will have a new mayor, and it’s time for a new town-gown relationship. The city and the university don’t have a strategic dialogue on a regular basis at the top, and this needs to happen. The city for too long has been resentful, not just the city government, but there are plenty of residents who are resentful towards the university for not paying property tax, and we need to get over that.”

The first part of Petersen’s economic development strategy, as articulated at the Dems forum, is to grow jobs in Ann Arbor. An economic outlook report for Washtenaw County states that 12,500 jobs are coming to the county in the next three years: “I want those jobs to come to Ann Arbor – but where are we going to put them?” Her economic strategy would include a plan to redevelop the downtown and business corridors in ways that preserve the community’s character and heritage. The point of Petersen’s emphasis on economic development is to make sure there is sufficient revenue to the city to pay for those things that are priorities: better roads, more beat cops downtown, and safer mobility for motorists, pedestrians, cyclists and runners.

Petersen is able to pivot from pretty much any topic to the general question of economic development strategy and increased revenue. At the chamber forum, responding to a question about road repair, Petersen acknowledged that roads are one of the key pieces of infrastructure that the city needs to improve. The city has a revenue problem, she said, and without an economic strategy, “I don’t know how we’re going to solve that revenue problem.”

Petersen helped establish economic health as a council priority at the council’s December 2012 retreat. And she’s made into a campaign resume point an economic collaborative task force she led the council to create. At the chamber’s forum, she gave some detail about the work of that task force, describing it as taking inventory of several economic development activities. Gaps were identified, she said. While the DDA focuses on downtown Ann Arbor and SPARK’s focus is countywide, no entity is solely focused on economic development throughout the city, outside of the downtown. For example, she noted, the city recognizes the need to encourage redevelopment of areas like the North Main corridor and South State Street, which are major gateways to the downtown. The task force recommended continuing its work after a new mayor is elected, with additional stakeholders including UM, Washtenaw County, and potentially the chamber of commerce. [.pdf of economic collaborative task force report]

Also at the chamber’s forum, she more narrowly focused a strategy she’d used at the Dems forum to address a possible perception about a lack of experience on the city council. [Petersen's nearly two years of service is at least four years less than other candidates' time on the council.] At the Dems forum, she invited attendees to focus not on her shorter experience on the council, but rather on her full scope of experience: She’s lived in Ann Arbor 18 years, and has held leadership positions in the private sector, the nonprofit sector, and now the public sector. But at the chamber forum, she highlighted the parts of her background related more to economic development, like her private sector experience and her business degree. Petersen noted that she’s the only candidate with an MBA. She also cited her work in senior-level positions at CFI Group, ABN AMRO Mortgage Group and HealthMedia.

Another part of Petersen’s campaign message is that she’s not a part of  factional politics on the city council. At the Dems forum she characterized  the council’s factions not in terms of  personal politics, but rather in terms of pro-neighborhood versus pro-downtown. She described herself as aligned with neither of those factions. Separate from those remarks, she also noted that she’d been elected to the council as a “supposed outsider” – which helps support her contention that she’s not a part of a council faction.

Coda

It’s worth repeating an observation from the beginning of this column: No doubt the candidates and their supporters would argue that there’s much more to their campaigns than those aspects of their remarks that I’ve highlighted here.

I’d encourage you to listen for yourselves – either to the audio recordings that The Chronicle has provided of the Ann Arbor Democratic Party, Literati Bookstore and the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber forums, or to upcoming forums or city council meetings. Three forums will take place in the coming weeks:

• Wednesday, July 9, 8 p.m.  The League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area is hosting a weeklong series of candidate debates. Space for a limited live audience is available at the Community Television Network studios at 2805 South Industrial Highway. The forums will be broadcast on CTN Channel 19, which is also streamed live over the Internet.
• Tuesday, July 15, 7 p.m. A group of faith organizations is hosting a forum on homelessness at the St. Clare of Assisi Episcopal Church and Temple Beth Emeth, co-located at 2309 Packard Road.
• Saturday, July 19, 1-5 p.m. Hosted by the Ann Arbor Ypsilanti Black Chamber of Commerce, this event will provide a 3-minute opportunity for candidates running in mayoral, city council, and judicial races. This event will be held in the Morris Lawrence Building at Washtenaw Community College.

The next city council meeting takes places on Monday, July 7 starting at 7 p.m. You can watch it in person at city hall, 301 E. Huron, as broadcast on Channel 16, or streamed online by Community Television Network.

You might hear things differently than I do.

But because the outcome of the Aug. 5 Democratic primary will almost certainly determine the next mayor of Ann Arbor, now’s a good time to start listening.

The Chronicle could not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of local government. We listen to every word, so that you don’t have to. 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: Ann Arbor mayoral candidate Sabra Briere, Ypsilanti mayoral candidate Amanda Edmonds, and Debbie Dingell, who is running for Congress in District 12, a seat currently held by her husband, John Dingell. All three candidates are Democrats and attended the June 26 A2Y Regional Chamber event at the Ann Arbor Regent Hotel on Carpenter Road.

The four Ann Arbor Democratic candidates for mayor attended: Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Sally Petersen (Ward 2), Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3), and Christopher Taylor (Ward 3). They all currently serve on the city council. Both the mayor and city councilmembers serve two-year terms.

There are three Ypsilanti mayoral candidates: Tyrone Bridges, Amanda Edmonds, and Peter Murdock. All are Democrats, but only Murdock currently serves on the city council. Bridges did not attend the June 26 event.

No Republicans are running for mayor in either city for the Aug. 5 primary. More candidates than usual have entered the race at least in part because the incumbent mayors – Democrats John Hieftje of Ann Arbor and Paul Schreiber of Ypsilanti – are not seeking re-election.

This report focuses on the Ann Arbor mayoral race. Each candidate was given five minutes to make a statement and spent another five minutes answering questions from the audience. Questions covered a variety of topics, including regionalism, public transportation, road repair, the possibility of a city income tax, downtown parks, and the regulation of drivers for hire. Taylor was asked specifically about his job as an attorney, and whether he’d continue working in that capacity as mayor. He indicated that he would.

This report includes written summaries of the Ann Arbor candidates’ responses, as well as audio clips from The Chronicle’s live broadcast of the event. (Remarks by the two Ypsilanti mayoral candidates will be reported in a separate article.) Several other forums are planned in the coming weeks, leading up to the Aug. 5 primary.

The June 26 event was held at the Ann Arbor Regent Hotel and moderated by chamber president Diane Keller, with audience questions moderated by Andy LaBarre, the chamber’s vice president of government affairs and administration – who also serves in elected office as a Washtenaw County commissioner. It was followed by a mixer for chamber members and other candidates for local, state and federal offices.

Opening Statement: Sally Petersen

Sally Petersen introduced herself as a current city councilmember representing Ward 2. When Mary Sue Coleman took the job as president at the University of Michigan 10 years ago, she said she didn’t come to the university to maintain the status quo, Petersen noted. Coleman wanted the university to continue to find ways to excel. Petersen said this statement epitomizes her own campaign. She’s running for mayor to bring new leadership, skills, knowledge and abilities that the city needs now, in order to find new ways to excel.

Sally Petersen.

As mayor, Petersen hopes to transform three things for the city – the economy, the city’s relationship with UM, and the quality of civic engagement.

Regarding the transformation of Ann Arbor’s economy, Petersen noted that she’s the only candidate with an MBA. Her years of leadership in the private sector – including work in senior-level positions at CFI Group, ABN AMRO Mortgage Group and HealthMedia – have prepared her well to lead an economic strategy that leverages future growth into revenue that will pay for the city’s priorities, she said. Those priorities include better roads, more police, and safer mobility for motorists, pedestrians, cyclists and runners. “We cannot expect to restore our infrastructure without an economic strategy.”

When Petersen was elected to city council two years ago, she quickly realized that while economic development is a budget priority, the city has no economic development staff and only a $75,000 contract with Ann Arbor SPARK to support economic development. “I was astounded at the city’s lack of leadership in this regard.” So she proposed an economic development collaborative task force, which included SPARK and the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority.

The task force took inventory of several economic development activities, Petersen said, and realized there were major gaps. While the DDA focuses on downtown Ann Arbor and SPARK’s focus is countywide, no entity is solely focused on economic development throughout the city, outside of the downtown. For example, she noted, the city recognizes the need to encourage redevelopment of areas like the North Main corridor and South State Street, which are major gateways to the downtown.

The task force recommended continuing its work after a new mayor is elected, with additional stakeholders including UM, Washtenaw County, and potentially the chamber of commerce. [.pdf of economic collaborative task force report] This expanded task force would have the power to transform Ann Arbor’s economy as it evaluates the policies and tools available to leverage new revenue to pay for the city’s priorities. New approaches might include public, private and civic partnerships, Petersen said.

As leaders in the business community, Petersen hoped that chamber members would recognize the opportunity to demonstrate corporate responsibility by thinking critically about ways to work with all stakeholders, to improve the local economy for all citizens, customers, employees, the community and the environment.

Regarding UM, the university is an engine for Ann Arbor’s economic success and a natural strategic partner, Petersen said, “but they do not fill our potholes.” Ann Arbor is electing a new mayor at the same time the university is getting a new president, she noted. “It’s time for a new attitude toward town-gown relationships.” A more equitable relationship through collaboration in areas of mutual interest would benefit both campus and the community. Those areas include transportation, job creation and quality of life, she said.

Petersen also stressed the “need to repair relationships and get beyond the polarization that currently saddles our city governance.” The polarization is characterized as those who want a vibrant downtown against those who want better services for neighborhoods. It’s a barrier to achieving both of those desirable goals, she said – a vibrant downtown that belongs to everyone, and better prosperity for the neighborhoods. “I am the mayoral candidate in the best position to unify these goals, because I’m not exclusively associated with either faction.”

She said her voting record shows that she votes for what’s best for Ann Arbor as a whole. Her leadership in the private, public and nonprofit sectors brings new knowledge, new skills and critical thinking, and new resources to bring people together to achieve a common vision, Petersen said. She closed by answering a question that she’s been asked frequently over the last several months: Why does she want to run for mayor? “I want to be mayor because I want to lead the city away from the status quo, and achieve new ways for the city to excel in the long term.” It’s an ambitious agenda, she added, but she’s confident that through better collaboration, Ann Arbor can be transformed in these important ways.

As she’s knocked on doors and spoken to other community leaders, she’s heard that people want a mayor who’s open and inclusive, who stands for the homeless and the housed, regardless of ability or political party. They want a mayor who’s unencumbered by bias, who is fair-minded and trustworthy, she said. “I will be that mayor.”

Q&A with Sally Petersen

Three questions asked of Sally Petersen touched on issues of regionalism and transportation.

Question: What are some better ways that the city can promote collaboration between itself and other municipalities?

Petersen: The notion of regionalization is becoming more popular. Ann Arbor is the center of Washtenaw County, in terms of being the county seat. Finding ways to collaborate beyond our business borders into the next town is obviously something that benefits everyone, she said. Petersen likes the idea of having the economic development task force to include members of the local chamber of commerce – to include representatives from Ypsilanti and hopefully Pittsfield Township. “What benefits outside of Ann Arbor also benefits downtown Ann Arbor,” she said.

Sally Petersen, left, talks with Ann Arbor SPARK CEO Paul Krutko and fellow Ward 2 councilmember Jane Lumm.

Petersen noted that Ann Arbor SPARK is agnostic about where companies locate, as long as it’s within Washtenaw County. But she’d like companies to be taxpayers in Ann Arbor. Petersen said that Paul Krutko, SPARK’s CEO, tells her that even if companies are located outside of Ann Arbor, the employees still shop, dine and use resources in the city. Petersen recognizes that development outside of the city benefits Ann Arbor as well.

In particular, she’s watching with “cautious optimism” the redevelopment of Detroit. People talk about improved train service from Chicago to Ann Arbor, but she’d like to see more connectivity to Detroit as well. “I think we can benefit along that I-94 corridor – not just within Ann Arbor, but from the outskirts as well.”

Question: Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti voters overwhelmingly said that public transit is important. How should the city council and the next mayor help the southeast Michigan Regional Transit Authority (RTA), especially since it seemed like the city was reluctant to join?

By way of background, on May 6, 2014, voters in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township passed an 0.7 mill tax to increase public transit service of the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority. The millage, which was put on the ballot by the AAATA board, passed with 70.6% approval.

Separately, Washtenaw County is part of the RTA. The four-county area of the RTA includes the counties of Washtenaw, Wayne, Macomb and Oakland as well as the city of Detroit. It was established by the Michigan legislature in December 2012. That same month – at a Dec. 10, 2012 special meeting – the Ann Arbor city council voted unanimously to ask that the RTA legislation be amended to exclude Washtenaw County. The Washtenaw County board of commissioners had passed a similar resolution, but neither body had any authority over that decision, and the county was included in the RTA. The chair of the county board of commissioners is allowed to appoint each county’s two members to the RTA board. Currently, the RTA board members for Washtenaw County are University of Michigan professor Liz Gerber and former state legislator Alma Wheeler, who is also the mother of county commissioner Conan Smith.

In addition, the AAATA’s CEO, Michael Ford, was recently offered the job as CEO of the RTA. Ford has not yet confirmed whether he has decided to accept that offer, however.

Petersen: The city was initially reluctant to join the RTA, Petersen said. This community will see the benefits of the RTA in five or 10 years, and right now, the city is focused on the recently passed AAATA millage. She said she was grateful that the millage had passed, to focus on improved transit along the urban core, “which is something I was very much in favor of.” Beyond that, a light rail or commuter rail between Ann Arbor and Detroit should be taken one step at a time. The city should encourage good analysis to be done, she said, and certainly shouldn’t be a barrier to its development.

Question: Roads in other states – from the mid-Atlantic up to New Hampshire – are so much better than in Michigan. With no hope from Lansing at this point, how is the city going to address this? It looks like the possibility of a local road millage has been shelved at the county level. What are we going to do about this?

Petersen: Roads are one of the key pieces of infrastructure that the city needs to improve. The city has a revenue problem, and without an economic strategy, “I don’t know how we’re going to solve that revenue problem.” The city can use general fund dollars to fix the roads, but the staff and council need to figure out where those dollars will come from. UM economists are forecasting that 12,500 new jobs will be coming to the county. Property values are going up 6.5% in Ann Arbor. “I’m encouraged that there’s economic prosperity out there, but we need a mayor who’s going to intentionally lead the effort to develop a strategy to transform that growth into more revenue for the city.”

She said she doesn’t have a quick or easy answer as to where those revenues will come from, but the city needs to start thinking about it strategically, and that hasn’t happened yet. “We’ve sort of relied on UM to be our economic engine, but they don’t fill our potholes.” The city needs to work with all of its stakeholders to make the most of this improving economy and turn that into more dollars that the city can then spend on infrastructure, like roads.

[.mp3 of Sally Petersen's remarks and answers]

Opening Statement: Sabra Briere

Since she began serving on city council in 2007, many of the things she’s focused on have been the small, iterative changes that make big differences in people’s lives. Those issues include traffic calming, getting snow plowed, filling sidewalk gaps and getting sidewalks repaired in an equitable and reasonable fashion. “Those are quality of life issues that help move us toward a future that really improves the life of everyone living in Ann Arbor today and the lives of all the people who come visit tomorrow – and for that matter, the lives of the people who will be living there in the future.”

Sabra Briere.

Briere said she plans long-term. It doesn’t make sense to talk just about a two-year plan or a five-year plan, because just doing a street project can take five years of planning. It doesn’t make sense to talk about how much difference one person is going to make in a two-year term, because it can take two years to get an ordinance passed – from the time that you think about it, until it’s approved by city council and implemented. That doesn’t even factor in evaluating it to see if it’s been done correctly, she noted.

Briere believes in long-term goals, with iterative changes to achieve those goals. So as the city works toward safe streets, for her that means not just paving them but also coming up with a plan to repair the potholes before they happen. It means not just improving sidewalks, but also thinking about how people use those sidewalks – where they’re going and why they’re going there, and what are the destinations that the city wants them to reach, or destinations that they want to reach but can’t.

If there’s a park that people can’t reach because there’s no sidewalk, that’s a problem in the city’s planning. If there’s no sidewalk to reach a school, that’s a planning problem. Her goal is to plan properly and make the changes that are needed.

All of this leads to stronger neighborhoods and a more resilient community. A strong neighborhood is one where people talk to each other. For example, someone can borrow a chainsaw from a neighbor to deal with a branch that fell on their sidewalk. Strong neighborhoods are also places where people know who to call to get city services, she said, “and they know that they’re going to get a response from city hall. Neighborhoods and neighborhood leaders are city hall’s partners.” It’s the responsibility of the city’s employees and elected officials to respond to those requests.

As Ann Arbor changes – and Ann Arbor will change, she said – it’s important to talk about retaining things that make Ann Arbor special, “the things that made us stay here.” But it’s also important to become a community that can meet the challenges of the future. Those challenges include changes in technology and changes in the economy, from improving the transit system to dealing with where cars should park. As the city talks about increased jobs, it’s also important to talk about increased traffic and increased wear-and-tear on the city’s infrastructure. All of that requires better long-term planning, Briere said.

“If there’s one thing besides my ability to work with everyone on council and my record of true independent thinking and of not being part of any clique or group, one thing that I bring to this race that is unique to me is my ability to see a future, and to look at the ways and steps it will take for us to get there,” Briere concluded.

Q&A with Briere

The two questions to Sabra Briere covered a city income tax and downtown parks.

Question: Regarding tax revenues, the city has occasionally talked about the idea of a city income tax. What are your thoughts on that? Would it be beneficial to the city, or detrimental – in terms of regionalism and for the city itself.

The question was posed by local attorney Scott Munzel, who serves on the chamber’s public policy committee. Before answering the question, Briere laughed: “Oh, really, Scott – are you going to bring that up?”

Steve Kwasny, a volunteer for Sabra Briere’s mayoral campaign, is interviewed by WEMU’s Andrew Cluley.

Briere: For people who didn’t know how income taxes work, she said, if the city were to ask voters to approve an income tax, the revenue from that tax would be offset by a decrease in the base property tax rate. The goal is to keep the impact to the property owners neutral. But there are always barriers to an income tax, she said, and there are reasons why the city hasn’t pursued it.

One reason is that the city hasn’t figured out a way to impact the people who make the most and live away from the city, Briere said, in a fashion that doesn’t discourage them from working in the city. There’s no way to guarantee that businesses won’t move five feet outside the city’s borders. In addition, “we haven’t figured out a way to ensure that the people who get paid the least, suffer the least. If they’re commuting to the city, what is the economic impact on their lives if we try to institute a portion of a percent of a mill.”

These issues haven’t been discussed in a way that leads to the decision to put an income tax proposal on the ballot, Briere said. If councilmembers aren’t convinced that an income tax would benefit the city’s bottom line and the citizens who live here, “then it becomes harder for us to sell.”

The reason that this idea keeps coming up is that people want to make certain that “if the university won’t pay its fair share, as it were, of the cost of doing business in Ann Arbor, then the people who work at the university should be forced to pay. And that is a barrier that none of us have quite been able to overcome. It hasn’t gone on the ballot. Anything can happen in the future.”

Question: The city has about 158 parks and 15 parks facilities. Can you talk about why there’s a need for another park, specifically in the downtown area?

Briere: People in Ann Arbor are fortunate that the city embraces the idea of as much natural area and recreational area and community gathering area as possible. One of the challenges that any downtown faces – anywhere in the country – is that there needs to be respite from construction and hardscape, she said. While it’s not always possible to guarantee, as Ann Arbor creates a dense downtown, the city will confront the need of people who live and work and visit downtown to have a break from the buildings and hardscape. That’s the purpose of a downtown gathering space or park.

The truth is that there are several places downtown, which are all small pocket parks, Briere continued. But there’s no coherent plan yet for how to use space on the Library Lane lot. The top of that underground parking garage was intended to hold a park, but not a building, in certain areas, she said. The city needs to address the needs of the community, how that park is designed, and what it does – and that can’t be done in isolation, she added. Ann Arbor embraces its open space, and when people come to visit Ann Arbor or decide to live here, part of the reason is because of its parks. “I wouldn’t give up a single one, but we’ll always have a challenge of paying for the ones we have.”

[.mp3 of Sabra Briere's remarks and answers]

Opening Statement: Stephen Kunselman

Stephen Kunselman began by thanking the audience for considering his candidacy, saying he was honored that they were interested in his policy positions and his record as an elected official.

Stephen Kunselman.

As a three-term councilmember representing Ward 3, he said he’s held a position of dignity, respect and honor, and he’d continue to do so as mayor. He’s been a strong and effective voice for all Ann Arbor residents, using common sense and fiscal responsibility as the basis for governing. “I believe in fairness and equity in the distribution of the city’s limited financial and staff resources, and have been a consistent advocate for investment in our infrastructure, funding of our parks system, and the rebuilding of our public safety department.”

Kunselman described how he grew up in Ann Arbor, and attended Ann Arbor public schools beginning with kindergarten at Pittsfield Elementary. He also attended King Elementary, Wines Elementary, Forsythe Middle School, Community High and graduated from Pioneer High in 1981. He got a bachelor of science degree in natural sciences with a major in forestry from the University of Michigan, and went on to obtain a masters degree in urban planning and landscape architecture, also from UM.

His career has been primarily in the public sector. He was an intern with the city of Ann Arbor’s forestry department, and a driver for Recycle Ann Arbor. He worked in local government for over 10 years, serving as an environmental planner in a nearby township and eventually as the township administrator. His responsibilities during that time included duties in environmental planning, solid waste operations, water distribution systems, development review, public works projects, recreation programs and planning, senior programs, and public safety.

Currently, Kunselman is employed at UM as an energy conservation liaison. He’s been in that position for the past 10 years. He’s married to Letitia Kunselman, a public school teacher, “and together we have helped raise our now young adult children – Shane, Sabrina, Sophia and Hannah.”

As a councilmember, he said he helped lead the successful community-based effort to prevent the dissolution of the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority for an “ill-conceived” countywide transit authority. Today, there’s an expanded Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority “just as I’d advocated for from the very beginning,” he said. “That is what I call common-sense governance – because anybody with common sense could have easily predicted that the western, wealthy Washtenaw County communities were never going to participate in a countywide transit taxing authority.”

Kunselman said he also helped defeat the “very questionable” transfer of restricted utility and millage funds to the public art fund. “I was the greatest critic of the Percent for Art program, and today we can confidently state that it’s been dismantled. You and I want our utility dollars to repair water mains and maintain fire hydrants – not to construct a fountain in front of city hall.”

But what he’s most proud of in his six years on city council was championing reform of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority, “which entailed perseverance, courage and compromise to legislate the most significant amendments to the city’s DDA ordinance, which passed overwhelmingly.” The DDA tax capture is now restricted to a reasonable rate of increase, he said, providing all taxing authorities with their fair share of revenues. In addition, he continued, the DDA budget now requires funds to be allocated to affordable housing, and there are term limits for board members.

Due to his advocacy, Kunselman said, the former city-owned Y lot was sold, ending a “10-year speculative development venture.” Also, the Valiant proposal to put the full faith and credit of the city behind a “questionable” hotel/conference center venture for the Library Lot site was halted, he said, “and I was the first elected official, in 2006, to say ‘Support the skatepark’ and in 2009 to say ‘Save Argo Pond’ – and today, we have both.”

If elected mayor, Kunselman said he’d continue to work cooperatively and graciously with his council colleagues, “with an emphasis on open and vigorous debate of all issues facing our great city.” He’s proud and humbled to have the trust, support and endorsement of current city councilmembers Sumi Kailasapathy (Ward 1), Jane Lumm (Ward 2), Jack Eaton (Ward 4) and Mike Anglin (Ward 5). “As your mayor, I’m confident that city council will prioritize public health, safety and welfare, as we all expect.”

Q&A with Kunselman

There were two questions for Kunselman, focused on transportation and roads.

Question: There are a lot of ride-sharing apps and transportation companies that are coming into Ann Arbor, and it’s not clear whether they’re following the rules that the city put in place. What would you do as mayor to try to curtail those somewhat dangerous companies that are out there transporting people?

The question was asked by Sean Duval, founder and CEO of Golden Limousine International and chair of the chamber’s executive board. Duval was referring to the entry into the Ann Arbor market of Uber and Lyft. Those two companies, which coordinate drivers and passengers through software applications, have been sent cease-and-desist letters by the Ann Arbor city attorney’s office – for aiding and abetting the violation of a state statute regulating limousines.

Kunselman: It doesn’t require being mayor to take action, he said – it requires being on city council. He serves on the city’s taxicab board, and at a meeting of the board that morning, they reviewed a rough draft of amendments to the city’s taxicab ordinance regarding taxicabs and non-metered vehicles for hire. The basic premise for public safety purposes is to know who the drivers are, he said.

Stephen Kunselman at the A2Y Regional Chamber mixer.

Currently, two regulations address vehicles for hire – the state limousine act, and the local taxicab ordinance, he explained. The state limousine act doesn’t regulate drivers – it regulates vehicles, and requires insurance. The city’s possible taxicab ordinance amendments would regulate drivers. For Uber and Lyft, the city has no idea who those drivers are, he said. So if the city can at least require that the drivers register with the city, “we’ll know who the drivers are.”

If the city also has a way of identifying these drivers as registered, that would be great, Kunselman said. That way, if the police see a driver who doesn’t have a registration, the police officer would have authority to use that as a primary offense to pull over the vehicle. “So if they see that pink moustache on a car [Lyft's logo] without a registered driver in it, then that’s going to get pulled over.” Right now, police can’t pull over a vehicle just based on a suspicion that it’s a driver for hire. “So we are addressing it.”

Question: The city is spending money to repair roads. Where does that funding come from, and when will the roads be repaired?

Kunselman: When the city council approved its budget for fiscal 2015, which begins on July 1, Kunselman said he was one of the few councilmembers who didn’t put forward any amendments – because the budget was pretty tight and everything he’d wanted was already in it. Staffing for the police and fire departments was increased, and the city allocated $1 million from the general fund reserves for street tree maintenance. That’s the only way that the city can catch up on a huge backlog of tree maintenance issues, he noted. He thought in the next budget cycle, the city might look at whether they can take money out of the general fund reserve – knowing that they’re spending very prudently.

Given the downsizing of local government in recent years, Kunselman said, the city can’t spend money on “all kinds of things for all people.” There seems to be an expectation, he added, that the city can continue to provide services outside the realm of public health, safety and welfare – such as pursuing transportation initiatives that are outside the city’s jurisdiction. While it might be great that the city is thinking forward, he said, they still have to take care of their needs today. “That’s been one of the problems I have with what I will term the progressive elitist agenda – always wanting more of something else, but never taking care of what they have.”

That’s been seen in the last few years in local government, he said, “pursuing public art, and letting our roads fall apart.” As mayor, he’d push back on that kind of agenda and start a new agenda focused on public health, safety and welfare. “I’ve been the most consistent councilmember, the most consistent politician focusing on those things because of my work history, and because of the community that I grew up in. I remember when our roads were in great shape, because I was a skateboarder and didn’t have to worry about any potholes.”

[.mp3 of Stephen Kunselman's remarks and answers]

Opening Statement: Christopher Taylor

Christopher Taylor began by saying he was running for the city of Ann Arbor – then realized he’d misspoken, and joked that he knows the chief executive embodies the city, “but I think that’s getting a little grand.”

Christopher Taylor.

Taylor has been on city council for about six years, but he came to Ann Arbor in 1985. Like many, he came here for college and has a degree from the University of Michigan music school. “And like many folks with a degree from the music school, I’m now a lawyer,” he quipped. He works at Ann Arbor law firm of Hooper Hathaway on Main Street, where his practice focuses mostly on corporate commercial clients. He represents local businesses, individuals and nonprofits.

Both of his kids are in public schools – at Tappan Middle School and Pioneer High. In the community, he’s been involved in several theatrical production and choirs, as well as nonprofits. He’s been on the board of 826 Michigan, which does work in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, and he’s on the board for FestiFools.

He thinks Ann Arbor is going in the right direction. The city isn’t perfect, but it’s doing all right. “We can improve, but we’re on the right track.” If elected mayor, he’d like to work on two major things. The first is basic services – neighborhood safety, streets, sidewalks, snow removal, “all of the pipes underneath the ground.” These are things that the city has to work on day in and day out, and that are fundamental to the city, he said.

Taylor was proud to say that he’s a progressive, and Ann Arbor is a progressive place. So without attention to other things, “I think we would cheapen ourselves in this city.” And with respect to the business community, the city wouldn’t be as effective a place and wouldn’t attract people to come here if the only thing that the city focused on were the basics. As mayor, he’d like to work on a few discrete areas.

The city needs to do all it can with respect to affordability and affordable housing. Taylor said he’s also sat on the parks advisory commission for six years, and Ann Arbor’s parks are crucial to its quality of life. They need to be kept well-maintained and beautiful at all times. Ann Arbor also is an environmental leader. The city can’t stop climate change, “but we ought to do our part.” The city should work with residents and businesses to help them do their part as well. It’s a real opportunity to move the city’s climate action plan goals forward, he said.

The city also needs to focus on transportation, both public transit and non-motorized and pedestrian safety. These are fundamental to quality of life for residents in Ann Arbor, Taylor said, and fundamental to employees and customers for local businesses. Finally, it’s important for Ann Arbor to have a vibrant, active downtown that still maintains its essential character, he said. “Finding this balance between the growth that has to happen downtown, and a maintenance of the character – this is a tension that we all have to keep working on.” Finding that balance is part of the city’s charge going forward, “and part of my pleasure if I were to be elected as mayor.”

Fundamentally, Taylor said, he has the temperament, experience and judgment to serve as mayor, and he’d be delighted to have the individual and collective support of chamber members.

Q&A with Taylor

There was a lull before the first question was asked, so Taylor quipped, “I’m 6-6, for those of you who want to know.”

Question: There are only 24 hours in a day, and lawyers probably work more than eight hours a day. How would you balance your job as mayor, if you’re elected, and your real job? If you represent a corporation that presents a conflict of interest with your work as mayor, how would you handle that?

Taylor: Fundamentally, Ann Arbor deserves a mayor who works every day to maintain and improve the quality of life for everyone. “If I am elected mayor, I will absolutely do that.” He has a small commercial practice downtown. He doesn’t go to court, so “my schedule is my own.” His clients don’t care if he types their contracts before his kids wake up, or during the business day, or after his kids are in bed. He’s 100% confident that he could do everything necessary as mayor, and still maintain his practice.

Julie Grand, a Democratic candidate for Ann Arbor city council in Ward 3, talks with mayoral candidate Sally Petersen. Grand is running to fill the seat that’s currently held by Christopher Taylor, who’s also running for mayor. Other candidates in the Ward 3 Democratic primary are Bob Dascola and Samuel McMullen.

Taylor also thinks it’s a benefit to have a mayor who is engaged in the local community as a lawyer, working with businesses and people. “I think it gives that person a special understanding of the challenges and opportunities that are before folks.” Someone who still has to pay their mortgage, to pay for kids’ college, to pay their own student loans – this gives him an additional perspective on the challenges that confront Ann Arborites, Taylor said.

Regarding potential conflict of interest, Taylor said he represents clients now who have business that comes before the city council. What he does is make an announcement at the council table that he represents a petitioner, and he asks his council colleagues permission to sit out of that vote. In that way, he doesn’t participate in the conversation, deliberations or vote with respect to that issue, he said.

Question: Ann Arbor is a beacon in the state and the Midwest in terms of job creation, and how well local businesses are doing. How would you be an ambassador and tell the Ann Arbor story, and get other communities rolling?

Taylor: Ann Arbor is a community that values entrepreneurship. It’s open, diverse and welcoming to all faiths, origins and orientations. It’s focused on creating its own quality of life, and is open to education – it’s the seat of a global university. “We are a community that cares for ourselves – not in a selfish way, but that we care about ourselves and we strive to treat ourselves well.” Ann Arbor has a wonderful quality of life. Ann Arbor values sustainability and the environment, and progress. “Telling the story is an easy one,” he said.

As businesses come to Ann Arbor, they are keen to see where their employees would like to live. “You could talk all day about why Ann Arbor is awesome, and I’d be delighted to do so.”

Question: As a follow-up, when you look around Washtenaw County, not all communities are doing as well as Ann Arbor. The city has a brand that works and a model that works. How do we get the other communities in Washtenaw County to do as well? The business community wants people throughout Washtenaw County to come to Ann Arbor, and they do that when there’s good transit, and when other communities are doing well.

Taylor: “I would not presume to tell other folks what they should be doing and why they should be doing it.” Other communities “know their own lights best, and I wouldn’t want to play a role in advocating one way or the other on how they do their particular business.” Regional cooperation is vital, he added, and the success of Ann Arbor’s neighbors builds the success of Ann Arbor. So to the extent that other jurisdictions felt that Ann Arbor had the opportunity to be a successful partner, to help lift both communities, he’d be behind it 100%.

Transportation is an obvious example, Taylor said, as is the Washtenaw Avenue corridor. These are areas “where I think that we can and we ought to work together openly and zealously and with some cheer.”

[.mp3 of Christopher Taylor's remarks and answers]

Other Candidates

In addition to mayoral candidates, the chamber’s June 26 event drew several other candidates for local, state and federal office. Here are some photos of a few of the other candidates who attended.

Gretchen Driskell, a Democrat from Saline, is running for re-election in District 52 of the Michigan House of Representatives. She was first elected in 2012.

Jane Lumm, a Ward 2 Ann Arbor city council member who was elected as an independent, greets Republican Dan Smith, a Washtenaw County commissioner who represents District 2, which includes a small portion of northern Ann Arbor. Smith is running for re-election. Lumm is in the middle of her two-year term, which runs through November 2015.

David Rutledge, a Democrat from Superior Township, is running for re-election for District 54 in the Michigan House of Representatives. He was first elected to that seat in 2010.

Kirk Westphal is running in the Ann Arbor city council Ward 2 Democratic primary against Nancy Kaplan.

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A detail from cover art for the book “If Mayors Ruled the World: Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities” by Benjamin R. Barber. It was displayed on the shelves of Literati Bookstore in downtown Ann Arbor, where another mayoral candidate forum was held on June 25.

All four Ann Arbor mayoral candidates currently serve on the Ann Arbor city council: Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Sally Petersen (Ward 2), Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) and Christopher Taylor (Ward 3).

The Ypsilanti mayoral candidates are Tyrone Bridges, Amanda Edmonds and Peter Murdock. Murdock currently serves on the Ypsilanti city council.

There are no Republicans running for mayor in either city for the Aug. 5, 2014 primary. In both cities, the incumbent mayors – John Hieftje of Ann Arbor and Paul Schreiber of Ypsilanti – are not seeking re-election.

The June 26 chamber event will include audience questions as well as an opportunity for candidates to talk about their vision for Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. After the forum, a mixer will be held for chamber members and candidates for local, state and federal offices.

The Chronicle’s live audio broadcast is planned to start around 4:20 p.m. to allow for sorting through technical issues that might arise.

Audio Player: Listen live using the Mixlr player embedded below. After the event, we will provide an .mp3 recording of the broadcast.

Text Box 1: The text box below the audio player provides live notes to listeners – for example, the current topic that candidates are addressing, who is currently talking, or other listener aids. It’s programmed to force the scroll continuously to the bottom of the text notes file – to facilitate hands-free listening.

Text Box 2: The second text box uses the same source file as the first text box. The only difference is the absence of forced scrolling to the bottom.

If your text box displays an error message that reads, “We’re trying to connect to the server,” we apologize. We’re not sure what causes that for some browser/hardware combinations.

Audio files from the event [Tyrone Bridges was unable to attend]:

[.mp3 of welcoming remarks]

[.mp3 of Sally Petersen's remarks and answers]

[.mp3 of Peter Murdock's remarks and answers]

[.mp3 of Sabra Briere's remarks and answers]

[.mp3 of Stephen Kunselman's remarks and answers]

[.mp3 of Amanda Edmonds' remarks and answers]

[.mp3 of Christopher Taylor's remarks and answers]

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Photoshopped “art” of the chalkboard at Literati Bookstore at the southwest corner of Washington and Fourth in downtown Ann Arbor.

Literati is located at the southwest corner of Washington and Fourth in downtown Ann Arbor.

All four mayoral candidates currently serve on the Ann Arbor city council: Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Sally Petersen (Ward 2), Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) and Christopher Taylor (Ward 3).

It’s likely that the winner of the Democratic primary on Aug. 5 will also win the general election in November. No Republican candidate took out nominating petitions this year. One independent candidate – Bryan Kelly – has taken out petitions for mayor, but not yet submitted them to the city clerk’s office.

Ann Arbor’s mayorship is an open race with no incumbent this year, because current mayor John Hieftje announced last year that he would not be seeking re-election to an eighth term. Terms for the mayor of Ann Arbor, like those of city councilmembers, last for two years.

The Chronicle is planning to broadcast live audio from the event (see below) and – if events unfold favorably – provide live text corresponding to that audio (see further below).

The event is described by Literati co-owners Hilary and Michael Gustafson on their bookstore’s website as follows: “As a new downtown business, we here at Literati are part of a growing and changing Ann Arbor landscape. But one thing that doesn’t change is our community. We’re proud to not only serve our community as a general bookseller, but to act as a space where our community can come together.”

The event will focus on downtown issues. It will be moderated by the Gustafsons.

The Chronicle’s live audio broadcast is planned to start around 7:20 p.m. to allow for sorting through technical issues that might arise.

Audio Player: Listen live using the Mixlr player embedded below. After the event, we will make available an .mp3 recording of the broadcast.

Text Box One: Live text from the event will be streamed into the top text box. The box is programmed to automatically force the view to the bottom-most (most recent) text – which facilitates hands-free reading.  The technique The Chronicle is testing out for this event is “voice-writing” – verbatim repetition by a human operator into a microphone that is connected to voice-recognition software. Note that this material will be uncorrected and could be fairly raw. An ellipsis “…” will be used to indicate missed text.

A corrected version of the text may be available at some point after the event.

Text Box Two: The contents of the bottom text box are identical to the contents of the top text box. What is different is that there’s no forced scroll to the bottom. So readers who are curious about topics covered earlier can scroll up to review.

If your text boxes display an error message that reads, “We’re trying to connect to the server,” we apologize. We’re not sure what causes that for some browser/hardware combinations.

[.mp3 recording of Literati mayoral debate]

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Ward 1 city council candidates in the Aug. 5, 2014 Democratic primary: Don Adams and incumbent Sumi Kailasapathy. (Photos by the writer)

Ward 1 Democratic primary city council candidates Sumi Kailasapathy and Don Adams, along with mayoral candidate Stephen Kunselman, answered questions posed by moderator Charles Lewis, who is the program director at the Arrowwood Hills community center. Not able to attend were three other mayoral candidates: Sabra Briere, Sally Petersen, and Christopher Taylor.

The forum was hosted in the context of a collaboration between Arrowwood Hills and the Ann Arbor Democratic Party called “Finding Your Political Voice.”

Kunselman used the occasion to talk about growing up in the 1970s on the west side of Ann Arbor in the Maple-Miller area, and how the west side kids had a rivalry with the kids from the north side – where the forum was being hosted.

Questions posed by Lewis included some contributed by forum attendees, covering a wide range of topics: affordable housing, Ann Arbor SPARK, the balance between downtown and outer neighborhoods, the candidates’ number one priority, police staffing, and the public transit millage.

With the affordable housing question, Lewis focused on the immediate surroundings, by inviting candidates to reflect on the role of local government in supporting cooperative housing – like Arrowwood Hills, which was built in 1969. The cooperative housing complex has an income limit of no more than 95% of the median income for Washtenaw County. Other questions specific to Ward 1 included one about road work on Pontiac Trail and another about crosswalks on Plymouth Road.

Below are clips of recorded audio from The Chronicle’s live audio broadcast of the event, organized by question.

Opening Statements

Arrowwood Hills program director Charles Lewis led off with some welcoming remarks, followed by opening remarks from each of the candidates who were present.

[.mp3 of Welcoming Remarks from Charles Lewis]

[.mp3 of Stephen Kunselman's Opening Remarks]

[.mp3 of Don Adams' Opening Remarks]

[.mp3 of Sumi Kailasapathy's Opening Remarks]

Affordable Housing

Question: Arrowwood is an example of a success story for affordable housing. However, when I hear the mayor’s office talk about affordable housing, it never embraces cooperative housing. Is that something you would be willing to explore? [This question was asked only of Kunselman.]

[.mp3 Affordable Housing]

Ann Arbor SPARK

Question: Explain your position on Ann Arbor SPARK. Would you or do you support giving SPARK an extended contract? Why or why not? [Two issues are currently before the city council. One is the city's contract with SPARK for business attraction and retention services. The other is a possible 5-year or 15-year extension of the LDFA (local development finance authority), which is funded by a tax capture funding mechanism, and which contracts with SPARK for entrepreneurial services.]

[.mp3 Ann Arbor SPARK]

Plymouth Road Crosswalks

Question: Do you support improvements to Plymouth Road crosswalks? Could the crosswalks be safer for pedestrians and drivers? If Michigan adopts a state law, would you still support a local ordinance?

[.mp3 Plymouth Road Crosswalks]

AAATA Public Transit Millage

Question: Did you endorse the public transit millage? [The millage, which was approved by voters, was placed on the May 6, 2014 ballot by the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority to fund expanded services in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township.]

[.mp3 Public Transit Millage]

Balance: Downtown and Neighborhoods

Question: How would you give equal attention to rebuilding the infrastructure of the downtown area as well as the neighborhoods? How would you raise the $200-300 million necessary to do this?

[.mp3 Balance: Downtown and Neighborhoods]

Number One Priority

Question: What is your number one priority for Ann Arbor? And how would you accomplish it?

[.mp3 Number One Priority]

Police Staffing

Question: What is your position on adding more police officers? [This question was asked only of Adams and Kailasapathy.]

[.mp3 Police Staffing]

Pontiac Trail Construction Timing

Question: Is the timing of the Pontiac Trail work good, given that a major development is planned, which will bring in heavy trucks and do damage to the part of Pontiac Trail that doesn’t look like the other part?

[.mp3 Pontiac Trail Construction Timing]

Concluding Remarks

Candidates were given a chance to make closing remarks. Moderator Charles Lewis also invited them to reflect on a scenario where the University of Michigan owns twice the amount of land inside the city as it does now.

[.mp3 Concluding Statements]

Ward 1 city council incumbent Sumi Kailasapathy.

Ward 1 city council candidate Don Adams.

Mayoral candidate Stephen Kunselman.

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Invited have been  Ward 1 city council Democratic primary candidates who will appear on the Aug. 5 primary ballot: incumbent Sumi Kailasapathy and Don Adams. Arrowwood is located in Ward 1.

Also invited are mayoral candidates in the Democratic primary: Sabra Briere, Sally Petersen, Christopher Taylor and Stephen Kunselman.

Candidates for the Ann Arbor Public School Board in the Nov. 4, 2014 general election have also been invited: Patricia Manley and Don Wilkerson.

The format of the forum will include opportunities for the candidates to state their positions and to field questions from the audience.