City council races were actively contested in only three of Ann Arbor’s five wards in the Democratic primary: Ward 1 (orange), Ward 2 (green) and Ward 3 (teal).

November will see at least three newcomers to the 11-member council – Kirk Westphal in Ward 2, Julie Grand in Ward 3, and Graydon Krapohl in Ward 4. Westphal and Grand won their respective Democratic primaries that featured no incumbents. Both candidates were coming off unsuccessful council campaigns last year – against Jane Lumm (Ward 2) and Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3), respectively.

Westphal received 1,819 votes (59%) to Nancy Kaplan’s 1,261 (41%) in a race that was anticipated to be somewhat closer. Grand received 1,516 votes (51.1%) compared to Bob Dascola’s 794 (26.8%) and Samuel McMullen’s 616 (20.8%). That gave a decisive result to a Ward 3 race that had been fraught with legal disputes – about Dascola’s eligibility to appear on the ballot in the first place; and then about how to count misprinted absentee ballots, which omitted Dascola’s name.

Krapohl’s race did not even appear on the Aug. 5 ballot – because he was unopposed in the Democratic primary and no Republican qualified for the ballot. The omission of the race from the ballot under those conditions is stipulated in a clause of the city charter.

Krapohl will be filling the seat to which Democrat Margie Teall did not seek re-election. Westphal will almost certainly be filling the Ward 2 seat that Sally Petersen left to pursue an unsuccessful mayoral campaign. And Grand will almost certainly be elected to fill the seat vacated by Christopher Taylor, who ran a successful campaign for mayor.

Taylor, who’s currently a councilmember representing Ward 3, will be the Democratic nominee in the Nov. 4 general election against independent Bryan Kelly. Assuming Taylor does prevail, he will remain on the council as mayor. And among the 10 councilmembers who represent one of the five wards, he’ll almost certainly see a total of seven returning faces, including the two incumbents who prevailed in the Aug. 5 primaries.

That’s because those two incumbents, like the new Democratic council nominees, will also be unopposed on the November ballot. First-term Ward 1 councilmember Sumi Kailasapathy prevailed over Don Adams, who was seeking elected office for the first time. Kailasapathy received 1,113 votes (56.8%) compared to 840 (42.8%) for Adams.

And first-term Ward 5 councilmember Chuck Warpehoski prevailed over Leon Bryson, who had announced he was withdrawing from the race after the deadline to remove his name from the ballot. Bryson still collected 674 votes (18.6%), but Warpehoski’s total was 2,936 (81%).

Those three newcomers and two incumbents will join the five councilmembers who are currently in the middle of their two-year terms: Jane Lumm (Ward 2), Jack Eaton (Ward 4) and Mike Anglin (Ward 5) – as well as Sabra Briere (Ward 1) and Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3), who were unsuccessful in their mayoral bids.

Below are some maps illustrating the geographic distribution of votes in the three actively contested city council races, as well as some limited analysis of the Ward 2 race in terms of questions that were part of a pre-election poll conducted by Public Policy Polling.

Ward 1 Maps

In the Aug. 5, 2014 Democratic primary, first-term Ward 1 councilmember Sumi Kailasapathy prevailed over Don Adams, who was seeking elected office for the first time.

Maps are shaded by precinct based on the percentage of votes received by each candidate. Kailasapathy’s percentages are shown in red; Adams’ percentages are shown in blue.

Kailasapathy received 1,113 votes (56.8%) compared to 840 (42.8%) for Adams. That’s a similar percentage breakdown to the 2012 Democratic primary race that Kailasapathy won against Eric Sturgis. In the 2012 race, Kailasapathy received 863 votes (58%) compared to 628 (42%) for Sturgis.

Kailasapathy lost one precinct to Adams – Precinct 1-10. The tally there was 273 for Adams compared to 211 for Kailasapathy. That precinct includes Arrowwood Hills Cooperative Housing, where Adams lives.

When The Chronicle dropped by the Precinct 1-10 polling station on its Election Day tour of the polls, Adams indicated he’d be spending the whole day at that precinct, saying “This is my family.”

In the color-shaded maps that are included in this article, Precinct 1-10 stands out in the central northern part of the ward.

In 2012, Kailasapathy was not as strong in Precinct 1-10 as she was in other parts of Ward 1, but still prevailed there against Sturgis. That year she lost a different precinct to Sturgis – Precinct 1-5, just to the south of Precinct 1-10 – by a tally of 123 to 157. That precinct was the home precinct of Sturgis. This year she prevailed there against Adams – by a tally of 177 to 136. Sturgis worked for Kailasapathy’s campaign this year.

Ward 1 Maps: Adams

Ward 1 Maps: Kailasapathy

Ward 2 Maps

In the Ward 2 city council race, Kirk Westphal received 1,819 votes (59%) to Nancy Kaplan’s 1,261 (41%) in a primary that was anticipated to be somewhat closer.

Westphal currently serves on the city planning commission, with a term ending in July 2015. In November each year, the city council makes an annual appointment from its own members to the planning commission – a position currently held by Sabra Briere (Ward 1). Regardless of how the council handles that appointment this year, an additional appointment will need to be made to the planning commission from the citizenry at large – to fill the spot that Westphal will be giving up to serve on the council.

Ward 2 precincts color-shaded according to percentage of the vote received: Westphal (blue) and Kaplan (red).

Westphal’s decisive margin in the Aug. 5 primary – of nearly 3 to 2 – saw Kaplan receiving about the same percentage of the vote as Westphal did last year in the 2013 November election in Ward 2 – a race in which Jane Lumm prevailed.

One of the two precincts Westphal won that year was percentage-wise especially strong for him this year against Kaplan – Precinct 2-1 in the middle of the ward. In 2-1, Westphal received 73% of the vote this year. But it was comparatively lightly voted – with the actual tally just 77 to 28 votes. The neighboring Precinct 2-8, just to the west of 2-1, was also nearly as strong for Westphal percentage-wise at 68%, but offered a much greater plurality. The tally was 289 to 136.

Kaplan did not win any precincts. The sparsely voted 2-2 was split three votes apiece for both candidates. Kaplan’s home base of support in the southern part of the ward near Huron Hills golf course delivered the closest meaningful total for Kaplan – at 48%. Kaplan had campaigned in part on her participation in an effort a few years ago to defend Huron Hills golf course from a future that’s different from its status as a public park.

Ward 2: Poll Question Breakdown

Westphal had campaigned in part by contrasting himself with Kaplan with respect to three points: (1) attitude toward downtown development (as a planning commissioner, Westphal voted to recommend 413 E. Huron for approval); (2) public transportation (Westphal supported the recent AAATA millage, which was approved by voters in on May 6); and (3) development of rail-based transportation options (Westphal supports investment in a new rail station).

Two of those issues were touched on in a pre-election poll of Ann Arbor voters, which was conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP). Voters were asked their opinions about recent downtown development and their perceptions of a need for a new train station.

In general, do you support or oppose the increased development being approved and built downtown in recent years?

Do you think Ann Arbor should build a new train station/transit center, or do you think the current train station is adequate?

Base on those poll results, Westphal’s general position on those topics seems to resonate with more Ann Arbor voters citywide than not. A slim majority of Ann Arbor residents think Ann Arbor needs a better train station: The need for a new train station polled at 52%, while the alternate view – that the current station is adequate – polled at 35%. The poll indicated 46% support for the downtown projects that have been approved and built in recent years, and with opposition at 39%.

The poll had 435 respondents citywide, which means that the numbers for each of the individual five wards were fairly small. So conclusions about each ward’s cut of the data would need to be viewed with even more caution than the poll’s overall results.

But the breakout by ward on those two pre-election poll questions showed a great deal more ambiguity amongst Ward 2 voters than among voters citywide. Contentment with the current train station polled two points better in Ward 2 than a perceived need to build a better one – 44% to 42%. And support for recent downtown developments showed a split of 43% to 42%. Westphal’s ultimately successful campaign strategy did not appear to try to straddle the fence on those issues. Those results are presented in Charts 1 and 2 below.

Chart 1: From July 28-29, 2014 pre-election survey of 435 likely Democratic primary voters by Public Policy Polling. Chart by the Chronicle.

Chart 2: From July 28-29, 2014 pre-election survey of 435 likely Democratic primary voters by Public Policy Polling. Chart by the Chronicle.

Also part of the Ward 2 campaign was an explicit association of Westphal with mayoral candidate Christopher Taylor by the Michigan Talent Agenda’s set of endorsements. Westphal and Taylor also shared several donors to their campaigns. To the extent that voters perceived Westphal as similar to Taylor, that may have worked to Westphal’s benefit – because according to the PPP poll, voters have a favorable opinion of Taylor – not just citywide, but also in Ward 2.

Poll respondents were asked a different question about current mayor John Hieftje – related to job performance, as opposed to a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the person. But on that question Hieftje’s approval showed a different pattern from Taylor’s. Both men polled positively citywide, but more Ward 2 voters disapprove of Hieftje’s job performance than approve of it. There’s been a smattering of commentary over the last few years attempting to associate Westphal with Hieftje – based on the fact that it was Hieftje who nominated Westphal to the planning commission. Based on the outcome of the primary, that appears to be an association that is not felt strongly enough by voters to make a difference.

Results by ward on poll questions about Taylor and Hieftje are presented in Chart 3 and Chart 4.

Chart 3: From July 28-29, 2014 pre-election survey of 435 likely Democratic primary voters by Public Policy Polling. Chart by the Chronicle.

Chart 4: From July 28-29, 2014 pre-election survey of 435 likely Democratic primary voters by Public Policy Polling. Chart by the Chronicle.

Ward 2 Maps: Westphal

Ward 2 Maps: Kaplan

Ward 3 Maps

In the three-way Ward 3 race, Julie Grand received 1,516 votes (51.1%) compared to Bob Dascola’s 794 (26.8%), and Samuel McMullen’s 616 (20.8%).

Grand (green), Dascola (red), and McMullen (orange).

That gave a decisive result to a Ward 3 race that had been fraught with legal disputes – about Dascola’s eligibility to appear on the ballot in the first place; and then about how to count some misprinted absentee ballots, which omitted Dascola’s name.

Concern about how to count those ballots – if a voter did not send in a replacement ballot – had been heightened by the fact that Ward 3 has historically featured close races. The 2009 primary race was decided by just six votes, which triggered a recount.

In the end, Grand eked out an actual majority of votes, comfortably outpolling Dascola and McMullen.

That outcome was based in part on Grand’s strength in the two precincts nearest to the center of the city near the Burns Park area – 3-3 and 3-4. Grand’s support in those precincts approached 60%. Grand also won Precinct 3-3 in her race against Kunselman last year, which she narrowly lost overall.

Like last year, Grand was not quite as strong in the mid-outer precincts of 3-8, 3-7 and 3-6, but still had more votes than Dascola and McMullen in every precinct in the ward.

The pattern of Grand’s support in the ward was similar but not identical to that of mayoral candidate Christopher Taylor’s in Ward 3 – his home ward. Precinct 3-6 was the only precinct won by Stephen Kunselman in the mayoral race (his home precinct). Grand still polled 41% there, after losing the Democratic primary to Kunselman last year. Grand had publicly endorsed Taylor in his mayoral race.

Precinct 3-6 was also one of the strongest precinct for Bob Dascola – among those precincts with a significant turnout. Dascola had publicly endorsed Kunselman in his mayoral race.

In the 2013 primary, Grand had also won Precinct 3-5 in the south of the ward. And that precinct was one of her stronger precincts again this year. Grand received nearly 58% of the vote in that precinct.

McMullen’s strongest precinct was 3-7, where he received nearly 28% of the vote. That’s the home neighborhood of Jeannine Palms, a long-time parks and environmental activist who had publicly endorsed McMullen and campaigned on his behalf.

Ward 3 Maps: McMullen

Ward 3 Maps: Dascola

Ward 3 Maps: Grand

The Chronicle could not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of local elections. Click this link for details: Subscribe to The Chronicle. And if you’re already voting for The Chronicle, please encourage your friends, neighbors and colleagues to help support The Chronicle, too!

Contributions made to candidates in Ward 1, Ward 2 and Ward 3 council races are plotted based on the address of the contributor. (Image links to sets of dynamic maps by broken down by candidate.)

That’s about $100,000 less than the amount raised by four candidates in the mayoral primary. The filing deadline for pre-primary reports was July 25.

In Ward 4, incumbent Democrat Margie Teall is not seeking re-election and only one candidate is running – Graydon Krapohl. So he did not need to file campaign finance reports. In Ward 5, Leon Bryson announced several weeks ago that he was withdrawing from his challenge of first-term incumbent Chuck Warpehoski. Even though both Ward 5 candidates filed campaign finance reports, this article does not analyze them.

Accounting for more than half of the total amount raised in the other three wards were the two candidates in Ward 2: Kirk Westphal and Nancy Kaplan. Kaplan’s $16,314 was easily more than any other candidate. By way of comparison to recent Ward 2 races, for the pre-primary campaign period in 2011 and 2013 Jane Lumm raised about $19,000 and $20,000 in those respective years. Westphal raised $12,420 this year, which is about $2,000 more than he raised during the comparable period in his unsuccessful 2013 campaign against Lumm. Westphal and Kaplan are competing for the Ward 2 seat currently held by Sally Petersen. She decided to run for mayor instead of seeking re-election to the Ward 2 seat.

This year’s Ward 3 contest features Julie Grand, Bob Dascola and Samuel McMullen, who are all competing for the seat that Christopher Taylor is leaving in order to run for mayor. Among the three, Dascola raised the most money with $7,385 in contributions compared to $6,595 for Grand and $5,248 for McMullen. (McMullen’s campaign reported a total of $5,315 in itemized contributions, but The Chronicle’s calculation was for $67 less than that, based on the documents.) Grand’s total this year is significantly less than the $10,825 she raised in the comparable period in 2013 for her unsuccessful campaign against Stephen Kunselman.

The Ward 1 race features one-term incumbent Sumi Kailasapathy and Don Adams. Kailasapathy raised $5,345 compared to $4,570 for Adams. Kailasapathy’s amount this year is about $1,000 more than what she raised during the pre-primary period for the 2012 primary, which she won against Eric Sturgis.

While the raw totals provide some insight into how the campaigns are being financed, there’s more to it than that.

Here’s a read-only link to the Google spreadsheet used by The Chronicle to generate charts and maps: [2014 Council Campaign Finance: Ann Arbor] For readers who’d like full-sized versions of the maps embedded below, here’s a link to the Google Fusion tables: [2014 Council Campaign Finance Maps]

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.

Charts: Ward 3

McMullen raised a total of $5,248 from 88 contributions for a mean contribution of $59. The median contribution was $25.

Grand raised a total of $6,595 from 45 contributions for a mean contribution of $146. The median contribution was $100.

Dascola raised a total of $7,385 from 75 contributions for a mean contribution of $98. The median contribution was $50.

Charts: Ward 2

Westphal raised a total of $12,420 from 95 contributions for a mean contribution of $130. The median contribution was $100.

Kaplan raised a total of $16,314 from 132 contributions for a mean contribution of $123. The median contribution was $50.

Charts: Ward 1

Kailasapathy raised a total of $5,345 from 51 contributions for a mean contribution of $104. The median contribution was $50

Adams raised a total of $4,570 from 31 contributions for a mean contribution of $147. The median contribution was $100.

Maps

Maps are plotted by location of the person making the contribution.

Ward 3 Maps: McMullen

Contributions to Samuel McMullen’s campaign are plotted in red. Several contributions came from the area south of Washtenaw Avenue in Ward 3 – from the ward’s tip in the pie-shaped wedge to the farther reaches of the ward. But those Ward 3 contributions do not form an obvious concentration in Ward 3. Several of McMullen’s contributions – 35 of 88 contributions –were made by residents outside the city, in other parts of the country. Many of those appear to have been made by family members.

Ward 3 Maps: Grand

Contributions to Julie Grand’s campaign are plotted in yellow. They show a clear clustering toward the tip of Ward 3′s pie-shaped wedge near the center of the city.

Ward 3 Maps: Dascola

Contributions to Bob Dascola’s campaign are plotted in green. Many of Dascola’s contributions come from south of Washtenaw Avenue in Ward 3. But he’s received many contributions from across the city. He received several contributions from north of Washtenaw Avenue, in Ward 2. He also received several contributions from the central western part of the city in Ward 5 as well as the northwest corner of Ward 4.

Ward 2 Maps: Westphal

Contributions to Kirk Westphal’s campaign are plotted in green. The majority of Westphal’s contributions come from Ward 2 – north of Washtenaw Avenue and in the Glazier Way area in the central eastern part of the city. There’s a sprinkling of contributions from other parts of the city as well.

Ward 2 Maps: Kaplan

Contributions to Nancy Kaplan’s campaign are plotted in yellow. Kaplan’s contributions show a heavy concentration in the southern part of Ward 2 – in the Huron Hills area north of Washtenaw Avenue. The central western part of the city (Ward 5) shows a fairly high concentration of contributions as well.

Ward 1 Maps: Kailasapathy

Contributions to Sumi Kailasapathy’s campaign are plotted in blue. Kailasapathy’s contributions are mostly from Ward 1 in the northern part of the city. But she’s also received contributions from the central western part of town (Ward 5).

Ward 1 Maps: Adams

Contributions to Don Adams’ campaign are plotted in purple. Adams received contributions from the Northside area along Pontiac Trail. He also received a sprinkling of contributions from the Burns Park area.

The Chronicle could not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of public bodies like the Ann Arbor city council. Click this link for details: Subscribe to The Chronicle. And if you’re already voting for The Chronicle please encourage your friends, neighbors and colleagues to help support The Chronicle, too!

This is a microphone.

The Chronicle plans to broadcast live audio from the event. A live-stream audio player is included below. [Updated: The live stream audio player has been replaced with a set of .mp3 audio files from the event.]

Primary elections take place on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014.

All candidates who have qualified for partisan primary ballots are Democrats. No Republicans have filed in any ward. In Wards 1, 2 and 3, the Democratic primary is contested.

The Ward 1 race features one-term incumbent Sumi Kailasapathy and Don Adams, who is seeking elected office for the first time. [Ward 1 Candidate Forum: CTN Broadcast]

The Ward 2 city council race features current chair of the city planning commission, Kirk Westphal, and current trustee on the Ann Arbor District Library board, Nancy Kaplan. [Ward 2 Candidate Forum: CTN Broadcast]

This year’s Ward 3 contest features Julie Grand, Bob Dascola and Samuel McMullen, who are all competing for the seat that Christopher Taylor is leaving in order to run for mayor. [Ward 3 Candidate Forum: CTN Broadcast]

Ward 4 does not offer a contested race. Graydon Krapohl, a Democrat who is currently vice chair of the park advisory commission, is the only person who has qualified for the ballot.

The race in Ward 5 is also uncontested, practically speaking. Leon Bryson, who will appear on the Democratic primary ballot, has announced that he’s withdrawn his candidacy and won’t campaign for the seat. That means that one-term incumbent Chuck Warpehoski is almost certain to prevail in the primary.

Listen to the broadcast from the July 12 forum using the audio player below. 

A comment thread is open. Feel free to use the commenting section to alert us to any technical difficulties.

After the live broadcast, we expect to make the recorded file from the event available for playback at a listener’s convenience.

Two text boxes will appear below the audio player as a way to provide live notes to listeners – for example, the current question that candidates are answering, who is currently talking, or other listener aids. The first box is programmed to force the scroll continuously to the bottom of the text notes file – so that no manual scrolling or refreshing should be required. The second box does not force the view to the bottom of the file.

Below are .mp3 files of candidate responses from the event edited together by ward and sorted by ward:

• Mayor-Support
• Ward-1-Affordable-Housing-Sumi-Don
• Ward-1-Closing-Sumi-Don
• Ward-1-Crosswalk
• Ward-1-Differ-Don-Sumi
• Ward-1-Intro-Sumi-Don
• Ward-1-Library-Lot-Sumi-Don
• Ward-1-Marriage-Equality-Sumi-Don
• Ward-1-Platt-Road-Sumi-Don
• Ward-1-Town-Gown-Don-Sumi
• Ward-1-Traffic-Mix-Sumi-Don
• Ward-1-Transit-Millage-Sumi-Don
• Ward-1-Whole-Ward-Rep-Sumi-Don
• Ward-2-Affordable-Housing-Nancy-Kirk
• Ward-2-Closing-Nancy-Kirk
• Ward-2-Crosswalk-Nancy-Kirk
• Ward-2-Differ-Kirk-Nancy
• Ward-2-Intro-Nancy-Kirk
• Ward-2-Library-Lot-Nancy-Kirk
• Ward-2-Marriage-Equality-Kirk-Nancy
• Ward-2-Platt-Road-Nancy-Kirk
• Ward-2-Town-Gown-Nancy-Kirk
• Ward-2-Traffic-Mix-Nancy-Kirk
• Ward-2-Transit-Nancy-Kirk
• Ward-2-Whole-Whole-Rep-Nancy-Kirk
• Ward-3-Affordable-Housing-Julie-Sam-Bob
• Ward-3-Closing-Julie-Sam-Bob
• Ward-3-Crosswalk-Julie-Sam-Bob
• Ward-3-Differ-Bob-Sam-Julie
• Ward-3-Intro-Julie-Sam-Bob
• Ward-3-Library-Lot-Julie-Sam-Bob
• Ward-3-Marriage-Equality-Julie-Sam-Bob
• Ward-3-Platt-Road-Julie-Sam-Bob
• Ward-3-Town-Gown-Julie-Sam-Bob
• Ward-3-Traffic-Mix-Sam-Bob-Julie
• Ward-3-Transit-Julie-Sam-Bob
• Ward-3-Whole-Ward-Rep-Bob-Julie-Sam
• Ward-5-Warpo

The Chronicle could not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of local elections. Click this link for details: Subscribe to The Chronicle. And if you’re already voting for The Chronicle, please encourage your friends, neighbors and colleagues to help support The Chronicle, too!

Sumi Kailasapathy and Don Adams marched in Ann Arbor’s Fourth of July parade.

The Ward 1 city council Democratic primary forum features one-term incumbent Sumi Kailasapathy and Don Adams, who is seeking elected office for the first time. The scheduled broadcast start time on CTN is at 7 p.m. today (July 8) and can be viewed as a live video stream in the embedded player below.

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

And the League of Women Voters provides written candidate profiles with responses to questions on its Vote411.org website. [Ward 1 Vote411.org profiles]

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 Ward 1 candidate forum below. The Ward 1 forum will be followed by Ward 2 and Ward 3 at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., respectively.

Under the video player are two text boxes with identical content. They embed the file that The Chronicle plans to 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.

The Chronicle could not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of local elections. Click this link for details: Subscribe to The Chronicle. And if you’re already voting for The Chronicle, please encourage your friends, neighbors and colleagues to help support The Chronicle, too!

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.

The Chronicle could not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of public bodies like the Ann Arbor city council. We sit on the hard bench 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!

Samuel McMullen turned in supplemental signatures to qualify for the Ward 3 city council ballot on April 22. He’ll be contesting the open Ward 3 seat with Julie Grand and possibly Bob Dascola.

Council candidates must collect 100 signatures from voters registered in the ward they seek to represent. Mayoral candidates need 50 signatures from each of the city’s five wards.

All candidates who filed petitions are Democrats. No Republicans took out petitions. Only one race is uncontested – in Ward 4.

Here’s a quick listing of candidates for city office. Mayor: Sabra Briere, Stephen Kunselman, Sally Petersen, Christopher Taylor. Ward 1: Sumi Kailasapathy, Don Adams, Jr. Ward 2: Nancy Kaplan, Kirk Westphal. Ward 3: Julie Grand, Samuel McMullen and possibly Bob Dascola. Ward 4: Graydon Krapohl. Ward 5: Chuck Warpehoski, Leon Bryson.

The minor suspense stemmed from the fact that McMullen had fallen eight signatures short with his initial filing. But he handed in 17 supplemental signatures on April 22, about a half hour before the deadline. Those signatures gave him more than the 100 total he needed.

One independent, Bryan Kelly, took out petitions in Ward 1 – but he’s been informed by the city clerk’s office that he does not meet the one-year residency and voter registration requirements in the city charter. Kelly might become eligible, depending on the outcome of a pending lawsuit that’s been filed against the city by a would-be Ward 3 candidate, Bob Dascola.

Dascola has submitted sufficient signatures to qualify for the ballot, but has also been informed that he does not meet the charter requirements on one-year residency and voter registration. The U.S. District Court is handling the case on an expedited schedule, so the matter is likely be settled before ballots are finalized in June.

As an independent, Kelly would have until July 17 to file petitions to appear on the November ballot.

Brief snapshot descriptions of all candidates except for those in Ward 1, based largely on their own remarks or campaign website descriptions, are presented in this report. [Editor's note: We've elected instead to add Ward 1 candidate information to this article, instead of creating a separate file.]

Mayor

Mayor John Hieftje announced last year he would not be seeking re-election. Four candidates will be contesting the mayoral primary: Christopher Taylor, Sally Petersen, Stephen Kunselman and Sabra Briere. All currently serve on the city council.

Mayor: Christopher Taylor

Christopher Taylor was first elected to city council representing Ward 3 in 2008, having won the August Democratic primary against then-incumbent Stephen Kunselman. Taylor has not faced a challenge in a primary or general election since 2008.

Mayoral candidate Christopher Taylor.

Now in the concluding year of his third two-year term, Taylor will be leaving the council if he’s not elected mayor. The seat he currently represents on the city council is being contested by Julie Grand, Samuel McMullen, and possibly Bob Dascola.

At an April 16 candidate forum, which was held in the context of a public policy class taught by mayor John Hieftje at the University of Michigan Ford School of Public Policy, Taylor described himself this way: “I came to Ann Arbor in 1985 and like many of us, for the university, and, like many of us, stayed because I ended up loving the city. I am a four-time graduate of the university, two bachelor’s degrees, degree in American history and degree in law from the law school here. I am a lawyer. I work at the law firm of Hooper Hathaway downtown, where my representation mostly focuses on local individuals and local businesses. I have, let’s see, a wife and two kids – both go to the public school at Tappan.

“I have been on city council for six years, three terms, and my service on council has been tremendous. I have enjoyed it … the problems and challenges of government are to me intrinsically interesting and I have enjoyed so much working with residents and colleagues on the problems and opportunities, problems that confront us and the opportunities that present themselves. I am running for mayor largely because I love the city. And because the city is at an important time in its history and it is, I think, critical that the next mayor have the experience, temperament and judgment to work collaboratively with residents and colleagues and staff, of course, to work to improve and maintain the quality of life for everyone in the city. It is an important place. It is a special place and it deserves that careful attention.”

Mayor: Sally Petersen

Sally Petersen is concluding her first two-year term on the Ann Arbor city council, having been elected in 2012, after winning the Democratic primary against incumbent Tony Derezinski. If Petersen is not elected mayor, she won’t remain on the council. The seat she now represents is being contested by Kirk Westphal and Nancy Kaplan.

Mayoral candidate Sally Petersen.

At the April 16 candidate forum, Petersen described herself this way: “I moved here in the summer of ’96 from Massachusetts, which is where I grew up. I moved here with my husband, Tim, so he could attend the university at what was called the University of Michigan business school and I had a five-week-old baby at the time. … My undergrad degree is in psychology from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. I have an MBA from Harvard business school.

“So while I grew up and was educated in Massachusetts, most of my professional career has actually been in the Midwest. Between undergrad and graduate schools I worked for Cummins Engines in Columbus, Indiana, and after business school when I moved here with my husband I actually had to go back to work full time even though I had a baby, and I worked for CFI Group … and most recently in the for-profit world I worked for Health Media. In 2007 I became a stay-at-home mom. My kids were approaching middle school years, so I became very involved in the community, and … did a lot of PTSO, PTO work, and then eventually decided, after a couple of years, I would try to run for city council. And it has been a great experience.”

Mayor: Stephen Kunselman

Stephen Kunselman is in the middle of his fourth two-year term. Those terms have not been served consecutively, as he lost the 2008 Democratic primary to Christopher Taylor, after first winning election in 2006. The Democratic primary in 2006 was a three-way contest between Kunselman, Jeff Meyers and Alice Ralph.

Mayoral candidate Stephen Kunselman.

After his loss in 2008, Kunselman came back the following year with a successful challenge to Ward 3 incumbent Leigh Greden in the Democratic primary, which was a three-way contest that included LuAnne Bullington. Two years later, in 2011, the Ward 3 primary was again a three-way race won by Kunselman – against Ingrid Ault and Marwan Issa. And last year, in 2013, Kunselman prevailed in the primary against Julie Grand, and in the November general election against Sam DeVarti, who ran as an independent.

At the April 16 candidate forum, Kunselman described himself this way: “I was recently re-elected to my fourth term on Ann Arbor city council. I grew up in Ann Arbor, graduated from Pioneer [High School] in 1981, attended the University of Michigan, graduated with a bachelor of science in natural resources, spent the summer of ’86 working for the Ann Arbor city forestry department and in ’87 I was a driver for Recycle Ann Arbor. Went back to school, to the University of Michigan, [earned a] master’s of urban planning.

“And from about 1992 to about 2002, 2003, I worked in local government. I served as environmental planner for six years in Sumpter Township, which is in the southwest corner of Wayne County, and rose up through the ranks to township administrator, worked for seven elected officials for over ten years. And I think that is really one of the highlights of my qualifications for … mayor – that I know local government and I understand government, and I understand politicians and what we can do and what we cannot do within the limits of law. Local government is a book of rules and I think it is really important that we abide by those rules.”

Mayor: Sabra Briere

Regardless of the outcome of this election cycle, Sabra Briere will, along with Mike Anglin, have the longest tenure on the new council in November. Anglin and Briere were both first elected in 2007. Briere won the 2007 three-way primary, a race that included John Roberts and Richard Wickboldt.

Mayoral candidate Sabra Briere.

In 2009 she wasn’t challenged in the Democratic primary and prevailed over independent Mitchell Ozog in the general election. In 2011 she did not face a challenge. And in 2013 the Democratic primary was also uncontested. She prevailed in the November general election against independent Jeff Hayner.

At the April 16 candidate forum, Briere described herself this way: “My name is Sabra Briere, I sit on city council. I have been on council since 2007.

“I am a neighborhood activist – that is what got me involved in politics and it is what I still am. I have a firm commitment to government that is from the people, not to the people. And so as a person who believes government comes from an educated and engaged populace, my task has always been to try to engage the people of Ann Arbor in what we are doing. I am still trying to do that. And it is a challenge. This is an excellent way to do it, and I thank the class hosting us and I thank all of you out there for attending this class, because I think that we should all take some public policy classes from time to time.”

Ward 1

Two candidates will be on the ballot in the August primary: incumbent Sumi Kailasapathy and Don Adams, Jr.  When we have something more than cursory information to report on Adams, we’ll report Ward 1 separately. [Editor's note: We've elected instead to add Ward 1 candidate information to this article, instead of creating a separate file.]

Ward 1: Sumi Kailasapathy

Sumi Kailasapathy is concluding her first two-year term representing Ward 1.

Ward 1 incumbent Sumi Kailasapathy at the council’s April 7, 2013 meeting.

She won the 2012 Democratic primary against Eric Sturgis and was not challenged in the general election. That year, Sandi Smith did not seek re-election to represent Ward 1 after serving two terms.

Kailasapathy is an accountant, and works for a downtown firm. She describes herself on her website as focusing on the basics: fiscal responsibility, funding core services, protecting parks and natural areas, supporting local public transportation, preserving neighborhood character and upholding zoning ordinances.

She has served on the city council’s audit committee both years of her service, chairing that group this year. The audit committee has become more active over the last two years, as it has met to review the city’s annual audit as well as the audited statements of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority and the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority. That contrasts with 2010, when the council’s audit committee did not meet at all.

Kailasapathy’s efforts on the council have included a revision to the ordinance regulating the tax increment finance (TIF) capture of the DDA, a version of which eventually was approved by the council. Her efforts also included support for a revision of the city’s crosswalk ordinance – to remove the requirement that motorists stop for pedestrians who were standing at the curb, but not actually in the crosswalk. The crosswalk ordinance amendment was approved by the council, but subsequently vetoed by mayor John Hieftje. She also helped lead an effort to return money set aside under the city’s former Percent for Art program to the funds from which the money had originally been drawn.

Ward 1: Don Adams, Jr.

In a phone interview with The Chronicle, Don Adams Jr. described himself as originally from Detroit, having lived in Ann Arbor for the last 13 years.

Don Adams Jr. (Photo provided by Adams)

Since 2005 he has worked at the Eisenhower Center, a rehabilitation facility for patients with traumatic brain injuries. He serves on the center’s board of directors, a group drawn from the employee-owners of the company, which is structured under an employee stock ownership plan. He’s completed coursework at Eastern Michigan University most recently in health administration and before that in biology, chemistry and initially in computer science. His undergraduate studies were interrupted when the car he was driving was struck by a drunk driver. He spent a year in rehabilitation for injuries to his leg and arm.

Adams serves on the executive board of the Ann Arbor Public Schools PTO Council and has for the last three years served on the PTO of Northside Elementary School, where his two daughters attend school. He described how Alena (age 7) and Ayana (age 6) joined him as he walked the ward to gather signatures for his candidate petitions.

Adams indicated that he’s running to represent Ward 1 on the city council because Ward 1 residents want accountability and collaborative government – based on the input and ideas of a lot of people. They’re not sure they’re getting that, he said, because city councilmembers seem like they’re fighting all the time. He bases his impressions of what Ward 1 voters want on his interactions with people as part of the PTO, and the local Democratic Party organization – saying that his ear is to the ground. He wants to be a voice that will work for the best interests of the ward. He said that he would schedule a regular coffee hour for Ward 1 residents on either a weekly or monthly basis – citing the coffee hours of state representative Jeff Irwin (D-53) and city councilmember Sabra Briere (Ward 1) as examples. “You need it, I’m doing it,” he said. “You’re my boss.”

Ward 2

The incumbent candidate for this Ward 2 seat would be Sally Petersen, but she is running for mayor. The seat open is being contested by Kirk Westphal and Nancy Kaplan.

Ward 2: Kirk Westphal

Kirk Westphal previously ran for a seat representing Ward 2 in 2013, but did not prevail in that general election contest, which was won by independent Jane Lumm – in a field that also included independent Conrad Brown.

Kirk Westphal was in the audience at the March 4, 2013 meeting of the Ann Arbor city council, when the council considered a moratorium on site plans for areas of the downtown zoned D1. He serves as chair of the city planning commission.

Westphal currently serves on the city’s planning commission, having been first appointed in 2006, and is now chair of that group. He also serves as the planning commission’s representative on the city’s environmental commission.

His reappointment to the environmental commission, representing the planning commission, will be considered at the council’s May 5, 2014 meeting.

Westphal holds a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Michigan and owns a business that produces video documentaries based on research and interviews, with an emphasis on urban topics. Westphal served on the leadership advisory group for the Connecting William Street study, which contemplated future use of five city-owned parcels downtown. That study, led by the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority, concluded in early 2013.

Westphal is married, with two sons ages 5 and 7.

Ward 2: Nancy Kaplan

Nancy Kaplan was elected to the Ann Arbor District Library board in 2012 for a term that runs through 2016.

Ann Arbor District Library trustee Nancy Kaplan at the Jan. 21, 2013 meeting of the AADL board.

She’s told The Chronicle that she’d resign her position on the AADL board if she were elected to the city council.

Kaplan’s press release announcing her candidacy describes the priorities of Ward 2 residents as having “well-staffed police and fire departments and well-maintained streets and parks.” Another priority that her press release describes is  ”growth that respects Ann Arbor’s community values.”

Kaplan has lived in Ann Arbor for 37 years. She is former director of the physical therapy department at Glacier Hills Retirement Community.

Her public service has also included tutoring for Washtenaw Literacy, and membership on the Allen Creek Greenway Conservancy Advisory Committee.

Ward 3

Christopher Taylor would be the incumbent candidate for the Ward 3 seat, but he is running for mayor instead. Candidates for the seat are Julie Grand, Samuel McMullen and possibly Bob Dascola. Dascola’s participation depends on the outcome of a pending lawsuit that will determine whether Dascola is eligible to run, in light of city charter one-year durational requirements on residency and voter registration.

Ward 3: Julie Grand

Julie Grand‘s previous experience running for elected office was the 2013 Ward 3 Democratic primary – a race that was won by incumbent Stephen Kunselman.

Julie Grand, a candidate for city council in Ward 3 at a June 8, 2013 candidate forum.

Grand is a lecturer in health policy studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Before earning her doctorate, Grand worked as a health educator for the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute’s Community Outreach Division.

Grand served the maximum two three-year terms on the park advisory commission, concluding the last three years of that service as chair of that group. Grand volunteers at Burns Park and Abbot Elementary Schools.

Grand has lived in Ann Arbor for 17 years, and is married with two children ages 8 and 5.

On her campaign website, she describes why she’s seeking office: “My reasons for running for city council have not changed. I continue to believe that Ward 3 is in need of a representative who will be responsive to constituents, thoughtful in their decisions, and focused on promoting healthy neighborhoods and community.

“The current composition of City Council and transition to new leadership in 2014 further heightens the need for leaders capable of making sound policy decisions and providing comprehensive constituent services. I look forward to our conversations and the campaign ahead.”

Ward 3: Samuel McMullen

Samuel McMullen is concluding his freshman year at the University of Michigan, where he’s studying biochemistry with the intent of eventually attending medical school.

Samuel McMullen sat in the audience of the April 7, 2014 city council meeting.

He grew up in Ann Arbor in Ward 4, right across Packard Street from Ward 3. He attended Rudolf Steiner High School.

He works as a nurse’s aid at the Rudolf Steiner Health Center, which is an anthroposophical medical practice operated by his parents, who are both physicians.

In an interview with The Chronicle, he said that as he’s gone door-to-door collecting signatures, one concern he hears about frequently is the condition of the roads: “I hear about roads a lot. About every other person says, ‘What are you going to do about roads?’”

McMullen said one of the main responsibilities of local government is “to keep roads in repair, to keep infrastructure in repair.” Once infrastructure and public safety are covered, he said, then it’s possible to start thinking about further development. That’s something he says he was already planning to run his campaign on, but that’s been reinforced in the conversations he’s had with Ward 3 residents so far.

His interest was drawn to city politics, he said, when independent Sam DeVarti’s Ward 3 city council campaign – for the fall 2013 general election – asked him to help register people to vote. He wasn’t campaigning for DeVarti, and is not affiliated with the Mixed Use platform that DeVarti ran on. But he helped with the voter registration effort, he said, and as he started to research city politics in more depth, he knew that it was something he wanted to do.

McMullen participated in the model UN in high school – as ambassador representing Cuba.

Ward 3: Bob Dascola

Dascola’s candidacy depends on the outcome of a lawsuit that is currently pending in U.S. District Court.

Bob Dascola sitting in the audience of the April 19, 2011 Ann Arbor city council meeting. On that occasion, he addressed the council during public commentary on the topic of panhandling in the State Street area, where his downtown barbershop is located. (Image links to Chronicle report of that council meeting.)

Ann Arbor’s city charter includes two durational requirements – for residency and voter registration – each for one year prior to election.

In his most recent filing, Dascola’s attorney Tom Wieder rejects what he calls the city of Ann Arbor’s implication that “Dascola is some sort of aggressive interloper who is trying to exploit legal loopholes so he can parachute into the city and do political mischief.” Wieder concludes that: “Fortunately, neither of these portrayals bears any resemblance to the truth,” pointing out that Dascola has spent his entire career as a barber, always working in the city of Ann Arbor.

In a press release, Dascola described himself as a downtown barber, a community activist, and a Vietnam veteran.

Dascola describes his concerns as focusing on basic city services, police and fire protection, crosswalk safety, road repair, public transportation, the Allen Creek Greenway, and the city’s parks.

If elected, Dascola says he will set up a monthly town hall meeting for Ward 3 citizens.

Ward 4

The Ward 4 seat Graydon Krapohl is seeking to fill is open because Margie Teall is not seeking re-election. After mayor John Hieftje, Teall is the longest serving member of the council, having first been elected  in 2002.

Park advisory commissioner Graydon Krapohl at the May 21, 2013 meeting of the commission.

Krapohl was appointed to the city’s park advisory commission in January 2013. He currently serves as vice chair.

Krapohl describes himself on his website as born in Ann Arbor and raised in Jackson. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan, earned an MBA from George Mason University and a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College, where he teaches as an adjunct faculty member.

Krapohl is a colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, having joined the Marines in 1984. He served nine years on active duty stationed in Hawaii.

In the private sector, Krapohl has worked for national consulting firms in operations management, information technology.

Graydon has been married for 25 years and has a daughter who attends Tappan Middle School.

Ward 5

Two candidates will appear on the ballot in Ward 5: incumbent Chuck Warpehoski and Leon Bryson.

Ward 5: Chuck Warpehoski

Chuck Warpehoski is concluding his first two-year term on the city council. He was first elected in 2012, having won the Democratic primary against Vivienne Armentrout. That seat was left open by Carsten Hohnke, who did not seek re-election after serving two terms.

Ward 5 incumbent Chuck Warpehoski arrives at the April 21, 2014 city council meeting.

Warpehoski serves on the city council’s audit committee and on the rules committee. For his first year on the council, He also serves he served as one of two council representatives on the city’s environmental commission. His efforts on the council have included an ordinance to regulate video surveillance, which did not get enough support on the council to move forward. He also worked to create a pedestrian safety task force and an ordinance to regulate smoking in certain outdoor locations, which was approved by the council at its April 21, 2014 meeting. Leon Bryson, who’s also running to represent Ward 5, delivered remarks at that meeting in support of the ordinance.

About his first two years of service, Warpehoski states on his website: “I’m proud to have increased funding for affordable housing, promoted policies to keep our neighborhoods safe from too-fast traffic, and fought for cleanup of pollution that threatens the supply of our drinking water, among other accomplishments.”

Warpehoski is director of the Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice. He is married with two children. His wife is Nancy Shore, who is director of the getDowntown program and employed by the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority.

Ward 5: Leon Bryson

Leon Bryson describes himself on his campaign website as originally from Detroit, and a 15-year resident of Ann Arbor.

Leon Bryson at the April 21, 2014 city council meeting. He delivered public commentary in support of the outdoor smoking ordinance, which was brought forward by Chuck Warpehoski.

He holds an engineering degree from Wayne State University and has worked in manufacturing and product development for larger companies, but currently operates a small business.

Bryson has attended several of the council’s meetings through the early part of 2014, and addressed the council on Jan. 21, 2014, calling for a moratorium on fracking in the city. During council communications, after Bryson’s commentary, Warpehoski pointed out that the city of Ann Arbor already bans fracking, through its prohibition on mineral extraction through drilling (Chapter 56: Prohibited Land Uses).

Bryson’s website highlights environmental issues, in part through his description of outdoor activities that he enjoys – and his campaign blog includes an entry describing a six-mile run he took through the ward on Easter morning.

On his campaign website, Bryson describes his entry into city politics as stemming from a perceived lack of focus: “[O]ur city government has lost its focus on providing the basic services we have come to expect. Our roads are crumbling. Leaf collection has been eliminated. Police and fire protection have been severely reduced. We also face the threat that our drinking water supply may be contaminated by the Pall/Gellman 1, 4-Dioxane now moving through the groundwater toward the Huron River.”

The Chronicle survives in part through regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of public bodies like the Ann Arbor city council. If you’re already supporting The Chronicle please encourage your friends, neighbors and coworkers to do the same. Click this link for details: Subscribe to The Chronicle.

First to file the minimum 250 signatures (50 per ward) for a mayoral candidate was Stephen Kunselman. The Ward 3 city councilmember turned in his signatures on March 17, 2014 and by the following day, the city clerk’s staff had verified 286 of them, according to records from the clerk’s office.

First to file signatures for city council was Sumi Kailasapathy, the incumbent Ward 1 candidate. She turned in more than the required 100 signatures on March 19, 2014, but as of late afternoon that day the clerk’s staff had not completed the verification process. [Updated: On Friday, March 21 the clerk's office verified that 102 signatures had been verified for Kailasapathy.]

Both Kunselman and Kailasapathy are running in the Aug. 5, 2014 Democratic primary.

Other candidates for mayor who have taken out petitions but not yet filed are city councilmembers Sabra Briere, Sally Petersen and Christopher Taylor. Other city council candidates who have taken out petitions and intend to file include Kirk Westphal in Ward 2, Julie Grand and Bob Dascola in Ward 3, and Graydon Krapohl in Ward 4. None of those four currently serve on the council. Westphal would be competing for the council seat left open by Petersen’s mayoral candidacy. Grand and Dascola would be competing for the council seat left open by Taylor’s mayoral candidacy.

However, Dascola may not be able to run, because the city has determined that he does not meet one-year city charter eligibility requirements. Ann Arbor’s city charter requires one year of voter registration and residency in the ward that the city councilmember seeks to represent, before being elected to office.

Krapohl would be competing for the Ward 4 seat currently held by Margie Teall, who has announced she will not seek re-election.

Ward 5 incumbent Chuck Warpehoski took out petitions last year but has not yet filed them.

All candidates who have taken out petitions so far are Democrats. The deadline to file petitions to run for Ann Arbor mayor and city council in the Aug. 5 partisan primary is April 22.

Ann Arbor city councilmembers serve two-year terms on the 11-member body, which includes the mayor and two representatives from each of five wards.

Kailasapathy responded to a Chronicle query by saying she planned to file signatures by the end of the month. Candidates must submit at least 100 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. She took out the petitions today (Nov. 21, 2013).

The Chronicle asked Warpehoski if his action to take out petitions on Nov. 7 reflected a deliberate decision not to run for mayor. His response: “I am not running for mayor. I am running for re-election to council.”

Other than Kailasapathy and Warpehoski, the clerk’s record shows one other councilmember who’s pulled petitions: Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) pulled petitions to run for mayor on Sept. 27, 2013, which has been previously reported.

On Election Day, Nov. 5, 2013, Kunselman stood outside polls in wards 5 and 3 to collect the 50 signatures per ward he needed for those wards. Asked today where his effort stood, Kunselman indicated he had about half of the signatures required in Ward 4, so about half of the total he needs citywide.

Kunselman won re-election to represent Ward 3 on Nov. 5, so if he were to win election as mayor that would leave one of the Ward 3 seats vacant. The vacancy would be filled under the city charter through appointment by the council. This procedure was used when current mayor John Hieftje was elected mayor while serving as a Ward 1 city councilmember. The council appointed Bob Johnson to fill that seat in 2000.

Hieftje has already announced he will not seek re-election for an eighth term.

Speculation about others who might run for mayor include two other current councilmembers, Sally Petersen (Ward 2) and Christopher Taylor (Ward 3). They would both need to choose to run either for mayor or for re-election to their council seats. Sabra Briere (Ward 1) is also seen as a potential mayoral candidate, but was just returned to her seat by voters, so she would not face that choice.

Ward 1 Ann Arbor city council candidates Sumi Kailasapathy and Eric Sturgis. (Photos by the writer.)

This is the second time that Kailasapathy has run for city council. In 2010 she challenged incumbent Sandi Smith, and received 45% of the vote – the best  showing of any challenger to an incumbent that year. This year, Smith chose not to seek a third two-year term on the 11-member council – which includes the mayor and two representatives from each of the city’s five wards. Democratic primaries are contested this year in just four of the five wards, as Christopher Taylor is unchallenged in  Ward 3.

The winner of the Democratic primary in Ward 1 will likely not face an on-the-ballot opponent in November. No Republican is running, and the deadline for independent candidates to file is July 19.

In remarks about himself, Sturgis stressed his continued connection to the Ann Arbor public school system, having grown up in Ann Arbor attending public schools. He emphasized that he has a positive attitude about Ann Arbor, which is appropriate, he says, because Ann Arbor has been rated as one of the best places to live in the country. He stressed the importance of having a positive vision.

Sturgis also highlighted his endorsements, which include three former Ward 1 councilmembers, as well as outgoing Ward 1 councilmember Sandi Smith. But he highlighted the fact that mayor John Hieftje has not endorsed him, analyzing that as a positive – because that means he wouldn’t be indebted to Hieftje. Sturgis is relatively sanguine about the condition of the city’s budget – to the point that he dismissed Kailasapathy’s concerns about debt and unfunded liabilities by pointing to the slight surplus the city enjoyed in the most recent fiscal year.

Kailasapathy took Sturgis’ remark on debt as an opportunity to draw on her professional experience – as a college educator – to give a short lesson on the difference between income/revenue statements (which Sturgis was talking about) and balance sheets (which show the city’s debt). In her opening remarks, she also stressed her education and her professional training as a certified public account.

Kailasapathy told the audience that she wants to focus on core services and the preservation of neighborhoods and parks. She allowed that she brings a skepticism to government and she would be asking lots of questions.

Candidates were asked to comment on one main policy issue – the idea of a new rail station possibly to be constructed at a site on Fuller Road. Sturgis held in abeyance his view about the proper location of a new rail station, pending the outcome of a site alternatives analysis that is currently being conducted. Kailasapathy’s view, expressed at an earlier forum, is that a voter referendum should be held if the Fuller Road site is used for a train station – because the site is designated as city parkland.

Aside from opening and closing statements, not a lot of specific local policy ground was covered by questions put to the candidates – due in part to a time constraint of about an hour for all eight candidates. But the candidates did talk a great deal about issues of transparency and group dynamics on the city council, in response to the leadoff question from forum moderator Mike Henry, co-chair (with Anne Bannister) of the Ann Arbor Democratic Party.

Broadcast live earlier in the week on the Community Television Network was a local League of Women Voters candidate forum that included Kailasapathy and Sturgis, which is available online.

The deadline to register to vote in the Aug. 7 primary has passed. Oct. 9 is the last day to register to vote for the Tuesday, Nov. 6 general election. Information on voter registration can be found on the Washtenaw County clerk’s elections division website. To see a sample ballot for your precinct, visit the Secretary of State’s website. The League of Women Voters also has an online voter information site – Vote411.org – which includes biographical information on some candidates, stances on issues, and a “build my ballot” feature.

Opening Statements

Kailasapathy: She introduced herself as a CPA who works downtown. She taught at Eastern Michigan University before embarking on her current career, she said. Her main priority is to focus on core services – to ensure that they are funded. She also stressed the preservation of neighborhoods and parks. That is a recurrent theme that she hears as she goes door-to-door, she reported – that people keep saying Ann Arbor’s quality of life is not measured just by how high we can build, but also by how well our parks and neighborhoods are preserved.

Another issue she’s focusing on – as a CPA, and as an economist – is the ballooning unfunded liability of retirement benefits and the city’s debt. Debt service has increased about 50% in the last five years, she said. She said she wanted to respond to the idea that she would be asking questions as a councilmember. Yes, she said, she would be asking questions. That is her professional and academic training. She brings a healthy sense of skepticism to government, she said. And that is the reason we have three branches of government, she said. If we don’t want to ask questions, we can just have the city administration as our government.

Sturgis: He offered his thanks to the organizers and to everyone for coming out. He told attendees that he attended Northside Elementary School, Clague Middle School, and Ann Arbor Huron High School, concluding with “Go Rats!” [Huron High athletic teams are known as the River Rats.] He noted that he continues to be active in the school system and gives money to Huron High school athletics to help kids who cannot afford the pay-to-play fees or the equipment – that’s something that’s near and dear to his heart.

Sturgis grew up with a single mother with his grandparents in the house that his grandfather built. That’s where he is living now, he said. He wants to bring a positive vision to the city. Something he recently read is that Ann Arbor is rated one of the best places to retire in the nation and one of the best places to live in the nation. To him, he said, Ann Arbor is doing something right, if it is receiving all of these accolades. So the city needs a positive vision. We need to support maintenance of our parks, our neighborhoods and we also need to support our police and fire departments.

What is important in the Ward 1 race, Sturgis said, is that he’s the only candidate who has the endorsement of three former Ward 1 city councilmembers and the current city councilmember representing Ward 1 [Sandi Smith]. He said he has also been endorsed by the Washtenaw County Building Trades Labor Organization. His roots are here in Ann Arbor, he said, and he wants to bring a positive vision to the city and to Ward 1.

Working as a Group

Question: As a member of a legislative body, one of the things you’ll be judged by is what you can accomplish as a group. There’ll be group dynamics and differences of opinion. Mike Henry’s question invited candidates to talk about how they would approach finding solutions amid that difference of opinion.

Background: Henry’s question implicitly recalled  the sentiments of Democratic county clerk Larry Kestenbaum, who wrote as a citizen to the entire city council in the fall of last year, roundly castigating councilmembers for decisions that resulted in the demolition of seven houses on South Fifth Avenue, to be replaced by two large apartment buildings (City Place). Kestenbaum had stressed the importance of working as a group: “A city council is not judged by the good intentions of its members. It is judged by what it accomplishes, or fails to accomplish, as a body.”

Sturgis: He feels that listening is very important. It’s also important to be open-minded and not have your mind made up or to be “indebted to people” for their views. If you come into a decision indebted to people or with your mind made up, then you’re not going to listen to what others say, he explained. He said he is open-minded and does not have his mind made up. He wants to listen to what people say on every issue. He said he would hold community meetings once a month. He would reach out and bring in those people who are involved.

He’s done a lot of work in adversarial contexts, Sturgis said. When he was at Oakland University, he worked on the Rochester Historical Commission – six Republicans and himself, the one lone Democrat. He was elected treasurer of the commission over a Republican, and on that commission he brought two sides together, he said. When he coached high school tennis and had to cut kids from the team, he tried to work with parents on those issues.

He characterized himself as independent-minded and open-minded, as someone who will listen to people. He would not come in with an attitude of “This is what has to be done.” He’s not indebted to anybody, he said, noting that mayor John Hieftje has not endorsed him. It’s important to have somebody who is open-minded and willing to listen to the people, he said.

Kailasapathy: She indicated agreement with the response from Sally Petersen, a Ward 2 candidate, which included support for an ethics policy. Democracy is not about men and women, Kailasapathy said, but rather about rules and regulations. The more we have rules and regulations to guide us, the less chance there is to make mistakes or take the wrong turn, she said.

Transparency is a big issue for her, too, she said. How much information are we willing to put out before a decision is made? She really felt that a couple of years ago, decisions were made behind the scenes about whether there was going to be a conference center on top of the South Fifth Avenue underground parking garage. And then a proposal for a conference center was brought forward, and people were asked: Would you like a conference center there? That’s not transparency, she contended.

People should not be given choices, she said, but rather the choices themselves should be generated by the public. It’s important to listen carefully and not make a mockery out of public debate, she said: Public debate should be public. From her professional background, she said, she brings a concept of “drilling down.” If you don’t have enough information and it doesn’t make any sense, then drill down. That itself will bring people together, she said.

[By way of brief background on the conference center to which Kailasapathy alluded, the council had voted on April 4, 2011 to end the RFP (request for proposals) review process for the top of the new underground parking garage. That decision came after a committee had selected a proposal for a hotel/conference center by Valiant Partners as the preferred proposal among six that had been submitted to the city.]

Transparency

Moderator Mike Henry then picked up on the mention of transparency by Kailasapathy and Ward 2 candidate Sally Petersen. Henry asked those who are currently on the city council – Margie Teall (Ward 4) and Tony Derezinski (Ward 2) – how they felt about the current level of transparency. Sturgis made clear that he, and perhaps Ward 5 candidate Vivienne Armentrout, also wanted to respond to that question. Several of the candidates had a go at the question.

Sturgis: He gave the example of the 618 S. Main project, which he described as including a total of eight public and community meetings. There were many opportunities for the public to give their opinion, and to meet councilmembers. And there was overwhelming support for the project, he said. He also noted that every council meeting is televised and replayed. There’s easy access to the city budget, he said – electronically and in physical form. It is also important to have ward meetings.

But when you’re financially supported by people who try to “pay the city off” to just have a park on the Library Lot, that isn’t transparent, he contended. That stifles competition, he said.

[By way of background, one of the six proposals that came in response to the city's RFP for the top of the underground parking garage was from Dahlmann Apartments Ltd. for a project called Ann Arbor Town Square, which would have consisted of a park-like amenity. Part of the proposal was a $2.5 million payment to the city.]

Sturgis returned to the point that typically numerous meetings are held about projects and input is solicited from the public. He agreed with remarks from Chuck Warpehoski (a Ward 5 candidate) and Margie Teall (the incumbent Ward 4 candidate) when they said that a basic premise is that everybody here is doing this for the right reason. He feels that Ann Arbor’s city government is one of the most transparent governments in Michigan.

Top Issue (Fuller Road Station)

Question: Is there one overriding issue that you would like to work on? [Ward 5 candidate Vivienne Armentrout was the first respondent to the question, and she identified the proposed Fuller Road Station as one reason she'd been prompted to run for city council. So moderator Mike Henry asked the other candidates to try to share their thoughts on the Fuller Road station as well.]

Background: At its June 4, 2012 meeting, the city council accepted the award of a roughly $2.8 million federal grant to help fund a site-alternatives analysis for possible construction of a new train station. The Amtrak station is currently located on Depot Street, near the Broadway bridges. The site-alternatives analysis is meant to result in the confirmation of a locally-preferred alternative to be reviewed by the Federal Rail Administration. The preliminary locally-preferred alternative is a site on Fuller Road near the University of Michigan medical complex. That site preference is based on previous planning work, as well as work for which the city has already expended roughly $700,000 (which satisfies the 20% local match requirement of the FRA grant).

Previously, the University of Michigan and the city had a memorandum of understanding that would have led to the construction of a 1,000-space parking structure at the Fuller Road site, in conjunction with the train station. However, on Feb. 10, 2012, UM withdrew, for now, from a partnership on the project. The Fuller Road Station project has been controversial in part because the site is on land that’s part of the city’s Fuller Park. The area proposed for the train station has been a surface parking lot for many years.

Sturgis: He feels there are three kind of issues all kind of lumped together. He liked what Ward 5 candidate Chuck Warpehoski had said previously about the importance of customer service. He reported that he’d e-mailed Ward 1 councilmember Sabra Briere on different issues, and she had been very responsive about telling him who to talk to at the city. Having councilmembers who can do that is important, he said.

On the train station, Sturgis said he is not sold on the idea that the Fuller Road site is the best spot. He wants to hear what the Federal Rail Administration says. He wants to hear what the FRA’s recommendation is, because they are doing a comprehensive study, and they are using trained people with degrees, and they’ve done it on numerous occasions. He wants to hear why the FRA wants to put a station on Fuller Road or on the MichCon site. He would respect what the FRA said. He would also not be opposed to putting it on the ballot to talk about. But we should respect the people who work for the FRA, he said, because they have done this before, and they know what they’re doing.

Another issue he cited: Neighborhood concerns in the ward. For example, there are kids in the neighborhoods – kids who live at Arrowwood – who walk a mile to school in the dark without lights. It’s important to be able to work with the school board. Coming back to the rail station, he said we need to hold off on our opposition to the railway and hear what the FRA says.

Kailasapathy: She identified as a top issue the need to look at the issue of debt and the unfunded liability of retirement benefits. Being in a predominately Democratic city, we “kick the proverbial can down the road,” she said, and don’t want to address this issue. Most of those in attendance are for unions and are strongly committed to unions, she ventured. And she understands that we need to have a strong and vibrant middle class, which is what the unions had fought for and had given us. So what are we going to do with this issue of unfunded liabilities?

Pensions are about 88% funded, but retiree health benefits are only 33% funded, she stated. [For some background on recent changes in the way the city is allocating retiree health care costs to different units in the city, see Chronicle coverage: "Ann Arbor Budget Outlook Okay, CFO Cautious"] These are huge issues, she stressed, and local governments don’t have the fiscal tools of the federal government – that is, we cannot print money. So we need to negotiate with the unions and be honest with them, she said. One idea she floated is to increase the retirement age to 60. This is a Democratic issue, she said, because when these pension plans were set up decades ago, people’s life spans were much shorter – but people live longer now, she concluded.

[Kailasapathy did not address the Fuller Road Station question at the Ann Arbor Democratic Party forum. But at the League of Women Voters forum earlier in the week, she indicated that she felt a public referendum should be held on the question of building a train station on city parkland like the Fuller Road site.]

Closing Statements

Sturgis: Going door-to-door, he hears a lot of different things, Sturgis reported. One of the underlying themes he hears is that people want someone who is positive and not opposing everything. People want to hear solutions – how are you going to help the transit? How are you going to better maintain our parks? What do you want to do on top of the Library Lot? They don’t want to hear that everything is wrong. They want to hear something positive.

Secondly, he said, there’s a notion that we are in debt, when he said in fact the city had enjoyed a surplus for its most recent year. Apparently attempting a sardonic quip, Sturgis said “usually” you’re not in debt if you have a surplus. The other thing is we can’t micromanage city staff, he said. We have to trust city staff, the people who have degrees, who’ve been hired to make those decisions. We need an open-minded, independent candidate who is not affiliated with any particular group, who’s going to vote based on the issues for the voters of Ward 1 and the residents of Ann Arbor. He concluded by ticking through a list of his endorsements.

Kailasapathy: She noted that she had been an active member of the Ann Arbor Democratic Party. She served as treasurer of that organization until the beginning of this year, when she stepped down from that post in order to run for city council. She told Mike Henry and the rest of the Ann Arbor city Democrats that they were doing a good job.

She then said she wanted to make a correction to a statement that Sturgis had just made in his closing statement. He had contended that the city did not have debt – because the city had just shown a surplus in it most recent year. That’s where having a CPA and a political economist on the city council is helpful, she said. There was a slight surplus in the general fund, she allowed. But he was wrong about the debt – because they were talking about two different things. He was talking about the financial statements for income and revenue.

But debt is about the balance sheet, she said. And on the balance sheet for fiscal year 2011, if you include the bonded debt, and the potential unfunded liability for the VEBA [the Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association plan], it came to $457 million. For the next fiscal year, she expected it would be half a billion dollars. And that’s where it’s important to know the difference between income statements and balance sheets, she said. These are huge issues, she said, and we don’t want the city to tumble into debt, not knowing the difference between an income statement and a balance sheet. That ultimately determines how much money the city can borrow. She concluded by saying that she was happy to have the endorsement of the Sierra Club.

The Chronicle could not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of public bodies like the Ann Arbor city council and other elections. 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!