Wordle word cloud based on Ann Arbor city councilmembers remarks in response to the assignment to speak about “What I Believe.” It’s offered more for visual interest than as an analysis. The stacked arrangement of “even small change always still good” was generated by Wordle’s layout algorithm.

“That long-term commitment seems to be something that appears in the Midwest.” “There is nothing easy about democracy.” “A couple years back, my brain exploded.” “I sold Girl Scout cookies.” “The UM will never leave town, never shutter the factory…” “I also believe that the customer is usually right.” “We really need to listen harder to people who disagree with us.” “I had ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War.” “I believe that we rarely hear from those who think that we are on the right track and making the right decisions.” “I am the son of hippies.” “I look at Ann Arbor right now that is a more exciting place to be than it ever was before.”

Each of those snippets is taken from a different Ann Arbor city councilmember’s response to a homework assignment, given by facilitator Julia Novak a few days before the council planning session took place on Dec. 10, 2012. Councilmembers had been alerted by Novak to prepare a 3-5 minute talk, modeled on the “This I Believe” 1950s radio program hosted by Edward R. Murrow.

Councilmembers were asked to speak to the issue of what they believed about the future of the city – focusing on the statement of a core belief, sharing a story that illustrates how their beliefs were shaped, and emphasizing what they believe in, as opposed to things they don’t believe in. At the planning session, Novak stressed that the idea was to share “not what you’re against, not what you ran to stop, but what you believe.”

Councilmembers took different approaches to the assignment – some preparing remarks in advance and reading them aloud, others speaking from notes, while some spoke off the cuff.

In this report, councilmember remarks are presented after an introduction that summarizes some of their similarities and tensions. 

A Preview

In the remarks of councilmembers below, it’s straightforward to identify certain objective commonalities. For example, Stephen Kunselman and John Hieftje both described growing up in Ann Arbor. Jane Lumm, Sumi Kailasapathy and Sabra Briere all described growing up in small towns that were not Ann Arbor. Briere and Lumm described ancestors who served in the American Civil War and the American Revolutionary War, respectively. Lumm described her community service on nonprofit boards generally, and Mike Anglin described his efforts with Kiwanis specifically. Briere described selling Girl Scout cookies as a child; and Marcia Higgins drew on her past experience as an executive in the Girl Scouts organization to describe her thoughts on democracy.

Several councilmembers referred to differences and diversity – and the need to respect those differences and diversity – as a strength of Ann Arbor. But in their remarks, it’s possible to discern somewhat different views about how that diversity of opinion should be respected. So, while democracy was identified in the remarks of several councilmembers as a core principle, it was with contrasting emphasis.

Sumi Kailasapathy, for example, stressed a need for councilmembers to force themselves to listen to those who disagree with them. It’s a sentiment her Ward 1 colleague Sabra Briere has also stressed, most recently in the council’s deliberations on the public art ordinance: “When we represent our constituents, we don’t only represent those who agree with us; we represent those who disagree with us. We don’t just represent the majority; we represent all the minority voices as well.” Margie Teall noted that it’s important for the council to hear from those who disagree with the council’s decisions, but she ventured that there are many people from whom the council rarely hears, who think the council is on the right track. Teall stressed that it’s representative democracy she believes in. Higgins made the point that handling differences in a democracy is very difficult.

Councilmembers expressed different beliefs about the need for Ann Arbor to grow. Kailasapathy questioned the idea that the city needs to grow in order to be economically sustainable, while Christopher Taylor appeared to take it as axiomatic that the University of Michigan will continue to fuel growth. Taylor saw resistance to change on the negative side of the ledger, and attributed it in part to a contentedness with past success. Taylor encouraged a greater acceptance of the idea that mistakes will inevitably be made as the city tries to navigate the future.

The remarks of Chuck Warpehoski were organized around the theme of “An Ann Arbor that works for everybody,” which provides a background against which the remarks of other councilmembers could also be understood. In describing the city’s residents, Hieftje characterized the negative impact that an influx of wealthy student residents has had on the affordability of housing in the city. He described students as in some sense remaining as residents, even if they leave Ann Arbor – because they’re placeholders for the next set of students who arrive.

Two slightly contrasting beliefs about a view of the future could be seen in the remarks of the two “townies.” Kunselman spoke of trying to project the positive elements of the past into the future. Hieftje spoke of not looking to the past, but rather to the future, which will belong to a new generation that is growing up with technology.

Mike Anglin

Mike Anglin represents Ward 5. He was first elected in 2007.

Anglin: Making Joiners out of People

I think I’m a newer person perhaps than most here – in the city of Ann Arbor since 1992. When I first came I was busy doing my own business, so to speak, fixing a house.

Mike Anglin (Ward 5)

And as time went on, I kind of was interested that the community acted very differently than the community I had come from. I had come from Washington D.C. – a very much larger community and consequently it wasn’t that connection that you can establish here in Ann Arbor. Having viewed myself not as a joiner – it’s kind of interesting because here I am, quite a joiner after all these years. I never thought I would join anything … I always kind of stand back a bit. But then gradually you’re pulled into this town because there are so many options that you can have – from religious options, community support groups and things of that sort. When your kids are in school there’s a tremendous amount of involvement here, and you’re drawn into it, and it’s really a great community to be in because of that. And there’s so many strengths that our community has, that’s been my biggest revelation here.

Anglin: Diversity, Difference, Commitment

In addition, the community is accepting of all kinds of people. And that’s really what makes our city great – that we accept all kinds of people within this umbrella of Ann Arbor. And consequently a lot of good things can happen because of that. It almost seems contradictory – the more people you involve, the better the results you get, but obviously that seems to be happening more and more universally now than before.

I joined the Kiwanis – that was an important organization for me to see multi-generationals and how they have been doing things for some amazing amount of years. Some people have been delivering Meals on Wheels for 35 years – you know, once a month for 35 years. That long-term commitment seems to be something that appears in the Midwest. My wife is from the Midwest and listening to her in some of her experiences, where she grew up in Kansas, is very similar to what happens here in Ann Arbor. That part I like very much about town. And I also appreciate the fact that here with this group, for instance, the amount of sacrifices that people make to serve here on the council. And oftentimes we don’t agree, but I think we respect one another’s commitment to the town. And I respect that of everyone here, and the staff and people helping to make this town better.

When I first ran for office, I was very community-centered, I think. I would give talks on what is a community and what makes a community, because I think that, to me, is the basis of why we are so great. The stronger we make our communities, the stronger we make our town.

So those are my beliefs – just to respect people, move forward as best we can, haltingly at times, sometimes not moving forward, but be patient and the fact that we are moving forward in such a way that we can maybe achieve our final goals. And, of course, with a lot of respect for those who have been serving on the council, and the efforts and the commitments that they make, and the denials that they give themselves in order to serve.

Marcia Higgins

Marcia Higgins represents Ward 4. She was first elected to the city council in 1999.

Higgins: Democracy

A core belief I have is that I believe in democracy. And I think democracy is very hard – because it requires a lot of dedication between a governing body and a community, or if you’re on a board, your members. For me personally, that takes me back to being in the Girl Scouts organization. I was a second vice president responsible to 15,000 people in the field. And as we were making decisions, you had to go out and talk to them about what were we looking to do, and what did they think about things. And it was eye-opening to go out to find out that a lot of times there was a mentality of us-versus-them. And yet we were all part of the same organization in the same community. I think that relates into this group as well.

How do we make sure that we are always looking for different ideas, different viewpoints? Because I firmly believe that when you have a variety of different viewpoints and people are actively listening, and they are comfortable listening to a different viewpoint, that the conclusions you come to are elevated. And there winds up being a better decision-making process. So I think I learned through that that this is hard. There is nothing easy about democracy. And it’s something you have to work on every single day, whether it’s a board you sit on in working with your members, or us sitting here. If you don’t put any effort into it, you don’t get anything out of it. I think you have to go the extra effort to go out and reach people to find out what their differences are.

Higgins: Difference

And you’re not always going to agree. But you find that there become common themes where people will go: Oh! Well, I didn’t look at it this way, let’s get on board with that, let’s move something forward. I also realize that it’s our differences that make us unique, but it’s the plurality we have, our commonalities, that make us strong. I think that’s what makes Ann Arbor strong – it’s all of our differences that brought us together that allow us to bring a new perspective to allow us to make good decisions. And it’s the diversity part that I really like.

Chuck Warpehoski

Chuck Warpehoski represents Ward 5. He was first elected in November 2012. He spoke from notes he’d prepared but forgot to bring.

Warpehoski: Variety of Jobs

I believe in an Ann Arbor that works for everyone. When I see things like the Barracuda Networks moving downtown, and Menlo expanding, I’m very grateful for those jobs that those are bringing. As we deal with budget issues, I’m grateful for what that helps us do with the tax base and things like that. But I’m also aware that not everybody is qualified to work for Google, for Menlo, or for Barracuda. And so I believe in an Ann Arbor that works for everybody. And as we look at our economic development strategy, yes, I want those high-tech jobs – but I also want jobs for pipefitters and machinists and brewers and baristas. I believe in an Ann Arbor that works for everybody.

Warpehoski: Social Support

And not just on the economic development front. I also see that that is a part of our social safety net. Having the transportation options, having the human services funding, having the affordable housing – that means that people who are in need, they have a place in our community, too.

Chuck Warpehoski (Ward 5)

A couple years back, my brain exploded – I had a subarachnoid hemorrhage. I realized just how close I was – I am, we all are – to being on the other side of that donor-recipient line. I believe in an Ann Arbor that works for everybody. When I say everybody, it’s not even just the folks who are here now. When I saw what happened with super-storm Sandy, this has been a crazy year with weather – we had no winter practically, early blooms, we lost our apple crop in Michigan, we lost our cherry crop in Michigan, then we had the drought and the heat wave. Sumi [Kailasapathy] and Sally [Petersen] know about it because we were all canvassing! And then we hit the heat wave, the firestorms and the wildfires …

Warpehoski: Future Generations

When I say an Ann Arbor that works for everybody, I’m thinking of the generations to come. I’ve got a two-year-old daughter and I’m terrified about what the world we’re leaving to her is. So when I’m thinking about creating a city that works for everybody, I’m thinking about, how do we care for people, not just who are here now, but how do we minimize the damage we’re doing to this earth? How do we maximize what healing we can do? And how do we create resilience in terms of our infrastructure, in terms of our economy, and in terms of our community, so that whatever mess might be coming at us next, we’re able to best adapt to it?

I believe in an Ann Arbor that works for everybody. And I know that last bit about what’s coming with climate destabilization can be a bit of a downer. But I’m here at this table … because I think that the choices we make as a council do matter, that we can make some of the difference, and that we can help create an Ann Arbor that works for everybody.

Sabra Briere

Sabra Briere was first elected in 2007. She represents Ward 1. She read aloud the text she’d previously posted on her blog. In reading, she briefly shed some tears for her mother, who recently died.

Briere: Small Towns

There’s been some recent talk about whether Ann Arbor is “still” a small town.

Sabra Briere (Ward 1)

Well, I’d like to talk about small towns. I grew up in a town that is about one mile square. I walked to school and came home for lunch. I helped the scouts plant day lilies on a hillside to slow erosion; I sold Girl Scout cookies. I waded in the river, hunted for snails and snakes, and could be gone for hours without my mother worrying about me. Just over 2,000 people live in my home town; the graveyard holds nearly 200 years of my family burials; the public library has a commemorative plaque containing the names of my family members who served and died in the Civil War.

But even in small towns, it’s hard to capture that “small town” feel.

There are good things and bad things to say about small towns – the times when new residents don’t fit in, the nosiness and insularity. And of course, the sense of belonging, of being known and knowing so many, of the trust that comes from strong ties to the community.

Briere: Other Communities

I believe every community – no matter how rich, or large, or diverse – is a small town at heart. That strangers will smile at you, offer directions, or push you out of the snow. That a neighbor will help you carry your groceries or rake your leaves or check on you if you are ill in your home. I’ve lived in tiny communities and large cities – and I’ve always found that, as humans, we want to connect. I’ve also seen that we want to help build our communities and make them better places. Sure, there are people who don’t want to deal with their neighbors, volunteer in a park or even make eye contact. But a community is built by those who are willing to engage.

Briere: Role of Government

Maybe the role of government once was primarily to defend “us” against marauding “others” but that role has changed over the past few centuries. I think it is government’s role to do for us – as a community – what is too expensive or complex or too rarely needed for us to do for ourselves – as individuals. I’m talking about building and maintaining the physical and social infrastructure that helps us live with our neighbors. (Providing storm, waste and potable water; building and fixing streets and bridges; installing street lights and keeping them lit; collecting trash; ensuring fire and police protection; establishing regulations for building and zoning). But I’m not forgetting the role the government plays in helping to level the playing field between individuals and among neighborhoods, and to provide for the health and welfare of all. Our pooled resources – through the government – allow each of us to contribute toward that which benefits us all.

And how does this translate into a vision for Ann Arbor’s future?

Briere: Students, Transitory Residents

We’re in an odd position among communities. Almost 40% of our residents (43,000 out of 114,000) are students at the university. To me, that means that many of us don’t have lasting ties to our community. I don’t think there’s any way to change that. But the rest of us – about 70,000 people – see Ann Arbor as their home, at least for now.

Ann Arbor was once a small town like the town where I grew up. Forty years ago, when I moved here, it wasn’t so small in size, but it retained that small-town feeling. When I shopped on Main Street, no one asked for ID with my check, because they recognized me. Clerks knew what size my son wore. I could go into a book store, and have someone steer me toward the very types of books I liked to read. The librarian knew my name.

To me, a small town isn’t defined by the number of people in it, or the number of square miles, or the height of the buildings. It is limited only by the connections we have with our neighbors and by the investment each of us makes in our community’s success. For me, small-town feel requires caring about the 90-year-old down the block, and those who live in assisted living up the street. My challenge and my goal is to find ways to keep that small-town feeling while being open to new ideas. I hope that each of us feels ownership toward our neighborhoods and responsibility for our community; I know I do.

Christopher Taylor

Christopher Taylor represents Ward 3. He was first elected in 2008. He read from a prepared statement.

Taylor: The Positive – University, Residents, Municipal Leaders

On balance, I believe that the future of Ann Arbor is bright. Accentuating the positive, our indispensable strategic asset is secure and growing, our community is replete with talent and civic engagement, and our municipal organization is efficient and sustainable. With particularity – Ann Arbor is home, of course, to the University of Michigan, commonly ranked among the 25 top universities in the world. The U of M is an enduring institution that grows and improves year-in-year-out, while Ann Arbor reaps the economic and cultural benefits. The U of M will never leave town, never shutter the factory, never merge. Instead it will generate rock-steady employment, provide compelling arts and entertainment, and offer personal and professional opportunities in Ann Arbor for Ann Arborites for the foreseeable future and far, far beyond.

Christopher Taylor (Ward 3)

Ann Arbor’s residents, its human capital – it comprises one of our most valuable resources. We boast one of the nation’s most educated and engaged populations. Our neighborhoods and the residents they reflect are vital. Our reputation for and history of social justice, and – for want of a better word – “decency,” I believe, is widespread and well-earned. This base, generally speaking, means that our residents will continue to start vibrant companies, drive innovation in existing organizations, and provide cultural, civic, and economic leadership for years to come.

It also creates a political culture that responds well to information, from which we can draw scores of talented, committed persons to serve Ann Arbor in a range of capacities. Finally, the municipal organization has for many years now been run by deeply qualified, committed staff and led by a set of political leaders preceding me that has been visionary in right-sizing the organization and focusing doggedly on creating a sustainable, flexible, service-driven enterprise. The job is not done and can never truly be completed, but it has over the years become how we do business. And this is an ethos, I believe, that will help us build on our success and the groundwork for the success of others.

Taylor: The Negative – Michigan, Detroit

On the other side of the ledger, noting complexity, it is important to acknowledge and recognize that our ability to exploit our true advantages is potentially limited, by the state, regional, and also local factors that are all too often outside of our control. Ann Arbor exists in an economically and politically challenged state. Michigan’s political culture has for years now driven us to become a low service state that cabins cities’ ability to solve local problems, and to provide exemplary municipal services. It systematically diminishes support for such crucial things such as public and higher education, and it de-emphasizes and under-resources long-standing infrastructure needs.

Moving in regionally, southeastern lower Michigan’s economic challenges and political dysfunction, I believe, are essentially self evident. The near collapse of the auto industry has been avoided, but it’s still a region that is finding its way, hindered by a dominant urban center that has for decades now been synonymous with crime, decay and corruption. There is undoubtedly a growing and hopeful counter-narrative, but a real turnaround is nowhere in sight. Within Ann Arbor too, our history of civic success occasionally serves to check our community’s readiness to embrace and plan for change.

Not all proposals are good, and not all plans will succeed, but we as a community must, I believe, become even more flexible, more open to change and must learn to better accept the natural and inevitable errors that we will all make when wading out into the unknown. These obstacles have the potential to weigh us down, to neutralize our core advantages. In the end, however, they will not do so. The drive, excellence and critical mass of the University of Michigan, the energy, creativity, and civic commitment of our residents, and the professionalism of our municipal organization will continue to combine to create a quality of life that is matched by few. It will be sufficient, I believe, to succeed.

On balance, I believe that the future of Ann Arbor is bright.

Sumi Kailasapathy

Sumi Kailasapathy represents Ward 1. She was first elected in November 2012. She spoke in response to some of the remarks that other councilmembers had made that evening.

Kailasapathy: Democracy

About democracy … I have to bring in my favorite political economist – in another life I used to be a teacher, I taught political economy at university – Amartya Sen, I think he won the Nobel Prize for economics in [1998]. He was a pretty mainstream economist, but he brought values of transparency, accountability, democracy, all this into economic theory. His famous case study was looking at both China and India – both of them had famines. But millions perished in China, whereas even though India was at that point pretty poor, they were able to avoid the scale that China suffered. And the reason was: democracy. Because India still had a very vibrant democratic system, where you had newspapers, and the fifth estate, kind of spreading the news, talking about it. As long as information can pass through, there can always be alternate mechanisms to bring in food or other methods, whereas China had a one-party system with a very controlled media, so millions had to perish. So for me, that’s a lesson … – this is not China, this is not India, but this is a democracy.

Kailasapathy: Disagreement

When we plan things, I strongly believe, we really need to listen harder to people who disagree with us. It is so easy, because listening to people who agree with you – it’s nice, isn’t it? … But that’s a process that I keep telling myself – we have to move ourselves away from our comfort zone of being with people who always agree with you. Hannah Arendt, another political philosopher, said it is like walking on stairways without banisters. I mean, you have to leave your comfort zone and then go into a space where you can really explore your ideas. …

Kailasapathy: Small Towns, Growth

And also regarding economic growth. I grew up in a very small village in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Because of the civil war, most of the time we didn’t even have electricity, so we drew water from the well. The only vehicle we had was a bicycle – we went everywhere on our bicycles. And then I lived in Manhattan for graduate school, and I also lived in Boston for undergraduate. So I’ve kind of seen the whole spectrum of living in a small town and living in a big city. And then I ended up in Ann Arbor – I’ve lived here for almost 16 years. …

I question this whole capitalist view of looking at growth, growth, growth. Change is inevitable, I’m not questioning that. But do we have to grow? There are a lot of economists who are coming up and saying, we don’t have to be worrying about 3% growth, 2% growth, 12% growth – stasis is okay, too. Quality of life is much more … because it’s limited resources in this world and we can’t deplete everything. We shouldn’t be saying, Oh, we should be like China and growing at 8.5% or 9%. So I question that, too. Preserving the quality of life is, I think, much more important. …

Kailasapathy: Quality of Life

… [M]y priority … is basically our residents. They choose to live in Ann Arbor, they don’t mind paying the taxes, because they come here for the quality of life. And I feel, in trying to attract Google, that’s fine, we need technology. … But that should not be our preoccupation and obsession. Our preoccupation and obsession should be making our quality of life good for our residents, who love this city and choose to live here. And we should try to leave a better world for the children, I guess. And my concept of sustainability is that we should be both fiscally and environmentally sustainable … something might look really good on paper, because it’s environmentally so good, but if it’s not fiscally sustainable, it breaks down and we don’t have anything. So for me those are the two legs I guess I’m standing on – fiscal responsibility and environmental sustainability.

Sally Petersen

Sally Petersen was first elected in November 2012. She represents Ward 2.

Petersen: A List

I tried to take some of my personal views and express them as values that I would like to see city council sort of consider, and values that I think are important to Ann Arbor.

I believe that we are all created equally, but that we are wired differently. I believe that human nature is generous, well-meaning, and seeking of the common good, but I also believe that one’s life experiences, both good and bad, can change the direction and outcome of our best intentions. I believe in learning from mistakes, forgiveness, and compassion. I believe in team-building exercises, good sportsmanship, healthy competition, a strong work ethic, and discipline. I also believe that the customer is usually right.

I believe in thinking local first, economic innovation, art in public places, five fire stations, and recreational space on the Library Lot. I believe in paper, not plastic, dark chocolate, outlet shopping, and the Michigan Wolverines, especially in the coaches Brady Hoke and John Beilein. I believe that life is a continuum and that where we end up, and how we end up is a result of the choices that we have made along the way.

And I’ve saved four minutes for somebody else!

Jane Lumm

Jane Lumm was most recently elected in 2011, after serving on the council in the mid-1990s. She represents Ward 2.

Lumm: Golden Rule

Starting with a core belief, basically it’s the Golden Rule. I have this Golden Rule thing that I bought. I have quotes all over the walls of my messy office at home, and I always seem to circle back to the basic Golden Rule: treating others as you would like to be treated. Marcia [Higgins] and others have talked about this respect for differences, and I think that this also very much is part and parcel of the Golden Rule. So that is a core belief that hopefully guides how I view others, others’ differences, others’ views.

Lumm: Small Towns, History

And I think, too – Sabra [Briere] talked a lot about, and Sumi [Kailasapathy], coming from a small town – I, too, came from a small town. As a child my father had the local grocery store. … My dad … would  hear about families who couldn’t afford groceries and other basic things – and I didn’t know about this until later, but I would always hear people praise my dad. And my dad, well, he was the guy who was quietly helping out these families, and would help them out and not expect anything in return. So I learned a lot watching my dad. And I would see that interest in helping others, I’d like to think that it influenced me.

And since I’ve been in Ann Arbor – my whole family still lives in the small-town community back in southeastern Pennsylvania – but I’ve been here over 30 years. And I’d like to believe that I’m also guided by those core small-town values. Sabra mentioned something about her rich heritage in her hometown in Indiana. Just the other day I was meeting with the city administrator [Steve Powers] and I was trying to find some pictures of a local infrastructure thing that is in the Second Ward. I don’t know if you saw this, Steve, but I was thumbing through – I must have had 50 pictures of tombstones. And I’m sitting here thinking, “Oh my God, you must think: What is going on with Jane?”

Those were pictures from a cemetery, this church I went to as a kid – the church was founded in 1726 … I got lost in the cemetery back in early October when I was visiting my dad for various reasons. Right now it’s because I’m trying to assist my family in doing some genealogical research … I had ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War. And I discovered that I had a grandfather – five grandfathers back who was a state rep in Pennsylvania in 1758 – only one term for just two years. But those are the kind of ah-ha moments when you realize that your past does also influence your interests.

Lumm: Community Involvement

And here I am councilmember. We’re all here because we love this community. And I try to get involved in my community through serving on various nonprofit boards and organizations – and that’s a great grounding experience. I was very fortunate in my upbringing, had a very nice family, and I did not want for anything. But I will say that the nonprofit experience is a great way to get to know your community. And I appreciate having had that opportunity and that I can continue to assist – if I can use that term – some of the nonprofit organizations I’ve been involved with. It really, again, is a great reality check. And I would like to take those experiences, the sensitivity to those needs of our residents, and incorporate that in my thinking as we consider these various priorities for these communities. Chuck [Warpehoski], as did others, also spoke to these needs.

Lumm: Constituent Concerns

I’m just going to give you my quick top five constituent concerns. Taxes and fees are significant yet basic services and capital needs have deteriorated. We need to address the lack of public safety staffing. Fire station restructuring is proposed – I question that it adequately addresses the need for services and response time. I do think that folks believe there’s a disconnect between city hall’s priorities and theirs, and we need to look at the alignment of [city] priorities with resident priorities. And also, just in general, I think we need to use our resources efficiently, because residents do expect us to maximize the value of their investment.

Margie Teall

Margie Teall was first elected in 2002. She represents Ward 4.

Teall: Growth

I believe that our city is growing. And I believe this is healthy for the city. I learned that, I think initially, when I went on an IDA [International Downtown Association] trip with the DDA [Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority] – the first place we went was to Boulder and Denver.

Margie Teall (Ward 4)

Hearing what other cities are doing and where they stand, and hearing the needs. When I first sat on the downtown marketing task force, the needs of our businesses, our small businesses in the city, and how dependent they are on that growth. And particularly when the budget, when state revenue sharing, when costs are skyrocketing and we were losing revenue … and how much we gain when we bring new people downtown or to the city itself. I believe that change is necessary to this growth as well.

Teall: Role of Government

I believe that the role of government is a good one – to provide for people who choose to live in a given area that makes it possible to live and work comfortably, which they could not provide by or for themselves. I believe that the restriction or expansion of how one defines government’s role in providing for the health, safety and welfare of our citizens can be very subjective. I believe that we are elected by citizens of our community to become educated about important issues, to take on the tough issues, and to make difficult decisions for the good of the whole. I believe they elect us to do that, and that they do so because most of them are too busy doing their own important things. I believe in representative democracy.

Teall: Community Feedback

I believe we will hear more from people who are unhappy with the possible decisions that we make, and that we need to hear from them. I believe that we rarely hear from those who think that we are on the right track and making the right decisions. I believe that every person contacts us or comes to the council to speak, including the staff, has the best intentions and that they should be treated with respect, and humility by councilmembers. I think this is also true for how we respond to and treat each other. I believe we are all here with good intentions. I believe we have an excellent staff on whom I will always rely for their technical expertise and their knowledge as well as their institutional memory. And I believe we are very fortunate in this regard.

Stephen Kunselman

Stephen Kunselman was elected to the council in 2006, did not win re-election in 2008, but regained a seat in 2009. He represents Ward 3.

Kunselman: On Being a Townie

I think it’s fitting that myself and the mayor are the last to go, because I consider ourselves townies.

Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3)

And I probably bring something to the table that very few others do, because there’s very few townies left in this community. I believe in the future of Ann Arbor, because I am a product of its past. I believe that Ann Arbor has changed, has grown, but still has the foundation of community that was respected worldwide, or is still respected, … for social change. I am the son of hippies, and it wasn’t that long ago that my father, my stepdad, were sitting down at this intersection at the old Drake gas station watching the riots – not for very long, granted.

But it was a time of great change, and great social change. And that has instilled in me the purpose of public service. Not that I really knew what that meant at the time, but I think it was again a byproduct of my upbringing.

Kunselman: Bringing Elements of the Past into the Future

I’m a product of Ann Arbor public schools. I’m a product of the University of Michigan. And I believe that I’m a steward of the past, and I’m trying to carry on the benefits and opportunities that Ann Arbor has provided me and to my family and my kids, for that matter – to be what they are … And it’s that stewardship that I take with great passion, because I would like for a lot of the things that I had in my past to still be present, and try to bring back into the future. I would love it if we had recreational programs in our city parks during the summertime that provided opportunity for kids to congregate at the local neighborhood park to participate in box hockey or kickball, and interact with each other.

Kunselman: Differences

Because it was that interaction with kids of different socio-economic backgrounds that gave me the foundation of greater respect for everybody of difference of opinions. And it’s a diverse city – of thought, diversity of socioeconomic status – that really makes Ann Arbor the greatest municipality in the state of Michigan, if not the world.

Kunselman: Company Town, Growth

We are a small community. Even when we talk about growth, we actually lost population in the last census – so we’re not immune to the economic forces outside of Ann Arbor. And we cannot count on the University of Michigan to continue to bring in all these federal dollars. We are a company town, and I think that’s one of the things we have to recognize. Even though University of Michigan is the number one beneficiary of federal dollars for research and development for a public university, that is drying up. And it’s going to be drying up. …

An e-mail came out from the hospital, saying get ready to start making cuts. I think we need to be recognizing that. So I see in the future of Ann Arbor a time of static growth – that we’re not going to go through some great change, that we’re going to be lucky to hold on to what we have. And hopefully we won’t be cutting as we already had most of the cuts in the past. But that we will still be able to provide our basic services, provide recreational programs, or at least keep our parks and golf courses and our ice rinks open. And make sure our neighborhoods are maintained and have the infrastructure in order to encourage people to move into them.

Kunselman: Downtown, Outside Downtown

It’s great that we have this luxury student housing, but I can tell you in my neighborhood we still have … Fannie Mae foreclosures taking place. We have very little infill developments in our neighborhoods, unless you’re close to downtown, which is where the money and the action is at. So I think there is still the feeling that outside on the edges of Ann Arbor, we’re not all beneficiaries of the great economic change that’s occurring downtown. That’s my role as a member of Ward 3, to make sure that some of that wealth is being distributed outside of downtown and into our neighborhoods. So I’m looking forward to the faces and the new camaraderie [on council]. If I always make references to the past, it’s because I really love Ann Arbor. I think that’s something we all bring to the table.

John Hieftje

John Hieftje was elected mayor in 2000. He began his remarks by referring back to Kunselman’s opening, when he described watching the riots with his stepdad.

Hieftje: Roots in Ann Arbor

I was out there in ’68 on the street, the riot they [Kunselman and his stepdad] were watching, I was 17. My father came here in 1951 and bought a house with a veterans loan when he got out of the Army Air Force in 1946. I was nine months old and they brought me here. Some townies have accused me of being a carpetbagger. I grew up in Ann Arbor like Steve did. It was in many ways different, but also much the same.

Hieftje: How Ann Arbor Was

It’s always been kind of a diverse city. But when I was young it was quite a conservative city. I mean, this city voted for [U.S. president Richard] Nixon. And it was a different place. I remember though, when I was – I don’t know how many years old, about seven or eight or nine or 10, and maybe a little older. Mayor [Cecil] Creal knew my father and drove by the house on a Sunday afternoon, and we were out there goofing around the yard, and he stopped and talked to us. That was the kind of thing that would happen in Ann Arbor, and I think it still does. I think it’s wonderful that when people run for office, they go door-to-door. I go to some people’s door and some people are surprised that “Wow, you’re here!” But that’s the kind of city this is, where you can still go talk to the people who are in office and have a conversation with them and express your views. I like that about our city.

Hieftje: How Ann Arbor Has Changed

Having been here a long time though, the city has changed a lot. It’s grown up in many ways. In a lot of ways it hasn’t changed. We have 14 historic districts in our city. You take a look at the downtown, there’s only about 40% of it that will ever change – it’s either historic district or the University of Michigan. And when you look at the rest of the city, we have wonderful, wonderful neighborhoods.

The people have changed. I think the students as they come here may be a little different than others. It’s as if they’re the same person, they’re just holding that place for the next student, who comes into town. So they’re important to, they’re part of the culture. I have seen the city gentrified from the time that I’ve been here. It’s less affordable now – I think that’s something that we can never forget, that we have to continue to work in that area. We can’t forget that we need to make it possible for others to live here who may not have the best of jobs. As Chuck [Warpehoski] said, we need a place for all those people.

Hieftje: Impact of University of Michigan on Affordable Housing

When I was a young person, the apartments in the near downtown were filled with working people, because the shops and everything were downtown. You did all your shopping downtown, and working people lived where they could walk downtown and bike downtown. And as the student population grew, and they came in with a lot of affluence as the university changed. … All of the students aren’t rich, but a good proportion of them are. They didn’t use to be. But now they can afford everything, whatever they want. And they forced the working people out – very often into other cities. And that’s been a problem for the city, and something I hope we can find ways to combat. But there’s really no city that is on the pattern that Ann Arbor is, with a big university and a knowledge-based economy, that has been able to solve the affordable housing issue.

Hieftje: Ann Arbor’s Current Economic Success

But you have to keep working on it. It’s important for us to keep growing jobs, because as Barracuda is hiring two people a week, there’s engineers but there’s also going to be service personnel who will be patronizing local businesses, and creating a job base that I think is going to be very important. I look at Ann Arbor right now that is a more exciting place to be than it ever was before. There is more to do than there ever was before. And in many ways it is a better city.

We’ve never been through a period where we’ve won so many – a recent article in an AnnArbor.com talked about how come Ann Arbor’s on the best of all these lists? The city is performing at a very high level. I think we’ve done very well coming through the worst economic [downturn] since the 1930s. We lost our largest employer, which was also our largest taxpayer [Pfizer] – that was about 5%, 4.6% of our total revenue. So we bounced back from that. The jobs have been replaced. We’ve downsized government – the city government is more efficient now than it’s ever been. It is hitting on all cylinders and moving forward. The quality of life is very high. Infrastructure is being repaired pretty quickly. By the end of the building cycle next year, if people can put up with all the orange barrels one more summer, it’s going to be pretty spectacular.

Hieftje: Looking to the Next Generation

But what I believe is that we have got to be looking not to the past but to a future, to accommodate a generation that grew up with technology. And I think it’s a generational change. Maybe it’s not as big a change as from people from war into the baby boom generation, but it’s a significant change. People who are getting their drivers licenses much later in life and don’t even care if they own an automobile, who are mostly concerned with being in places where they can meet with their friends and have everything close, and walk to work. To put it short in a couple of words, I think that councilmember Kailasapathy distilled it for me and the two things that I’ve always believed in above everything else was: economic sustainability, fiscal sustainability, and environmental sustainability. I also believe we really need to be looking to a different future for a new generation.

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John U. Bacon

The Michigan basketball team recently lost to Michigan State by one point, all but ending the Wolverines’ chances to return to the NCAA tournament. The Michigan hockey team faces Michigan State this weekend, and they need a sweep to improve their fading chances of getting back to the tournament themselves.

For Michigan fans, this is the Winter of Their Discontent. Provided, that is, only wins and losses count.

But the head coaches of both teams did notch a couple moral victories last week. Yes, they’ve lost some battles this season, but they’re still winning the war.

On Thursday, the general manager of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, Dean Lombardi, had some sharp words about legendary Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson and his program. Lombardi – no relation to the great Vince Lombardi in any way, shape or form, as you’ll see – said, “Red Berenson doesn’t coach. It’s ‘Do what you want.’ Michigan is the worst.”

Now, Berenson doesn’t need me or anybody else to defend him or his record – but I can’t resist.

Forget, for a moment, Berenson’s two NCAA titles, 18 league titles and record 19-straight NCAA tournament appearances, not to mention the 20 All-Americans he’s produced.

The crux of Lombardi’s claim that Michigan doesn’t develop players can be refuted simply by looking at guys like Mike Stone, a walk-on who rose to become the team’s Most Valuable Player, on a team loaded with future NHLers. Or Mike Knuble, who arrived a lightly regarded freshmen from East Kentwood, Michigan, and left an All-American, a U.S. Olympian and now a 12-year NHL veteran, who skates on a line with the best player in the game, Alexander Ovechkin. Then there’s John Madden, who wasn’t even drafted as a freshman – which is rare at Michigan – before he came to Ann Arbor, and is now in his 11th NHL season for the New Jersey Devils, where he’s served as a captain and has won two Stanley Cups. For the record, that’s two more than Lombardi has won in over two decades as an employee of three NHL teams.

It was such a stupid comment, Berenson did not bother to dignify it with a response. As they say in politics, if your critic is busy firing bullets into his own foot, don’t grab the gun.

But when the player who inspired Lombardi’s remarks, Jack Johnson – a former Michigan star who now plays for Lombardi’s L.A. Kings – heard about them, he told his coach he wasn’t getting dressed for their home game that night until Lombardi came down to apologize to him in person. Lombardi did just that, 15 minutes before warm up, and Johnson got dressed.

You’ve got to admire Johnson’s conviction. He’s a great player, but Lombardi can send him any time he wants to any team he wants, including the minors. Johnson’s courageous stand, with little to gain and a lot to lose, tells you something about the kind of players that Michigan’s coaching staff develops.

At the same time this was playing out, Michigan basketball star Manny Harris mistakenly thought one of his teammates had taken a cheap shot at him during practice. Harris started a fight. When head coach John Beilein tried to break it up, Harris only made things worse. Beilein decided to leave Harris at home when the team traveled to play a crucial game the next day against 13th-ranked Purdue. With their star player out, Michigan lost by ten.

Harris apologized to his coach, his teammates and the fans. He returned Tuesday night to play a great game against fifth-ranked Michigan State, but the Wolverines fell just short. Michigan lost – but Harris grew up.

I’m just old-fashioned enough to believe that still matters.

About the author: John U. Bacon lives in Ann Arbor and has written for Time, the New York Times, and ESPN Magazine, among others. His most recent book is “Bo’s Lasting Lessons,” a New York Times and Wall Street Journal business bestseller. Bacon teaches at Miami of Ohio, Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, and the University of Michigan, where the students awarded him the Golden Apple Award for 2009. This commentary originally aired on Michigan Radio.

Laura Russello, executive director at Michigan Peaceworks, presented background on the collaboration between the nonprofit she leads and Veterans for Peace on the Iraq Water Project.

Ann Arbor City Council meeting (March 2, 2009): Whatever chance for controversy that might have been present in the Ann Arbor’s City Council meeting agenda on Monday evening was eschewed in favor of values statements. These expressions of values were reflected in many of the agenda items themselves. We’ve organized our account of the meeting in terms of values related to the following topics: water, the arts, land, energy, history, and democracy.

Ann Arbor Value: Water

Iraq Water Project (Clean Water): As a part of the section of the agenda called “Introductions” that starts every council meeting, Laura Russello, executive director at Michigan Peaceworks, presented background on the collaboration between the nonprofit she leads and Veterans for Peace, who joined together to work on the Iraq Water Project. As a result of the destruction of much of Iraq’s infrastructure during the Iraq war, Russello said that only 1 in 3 Iraqis have access to clean water. The goal of the project is to restore access to clean water. So far the national organization has raised $200,000 to repair six water treatment facilities in Iraq, Russello said.

She explained that the goal of Michigan Peaceworks is to help involve the entire community in the project led by Veterans for Peace so that it becomes a “human-to-human” issue. To that end, a variety of events had been organized, continued Russello, including a showing of the movie “Flow” at Michigan Theater, a rally on the University of Michigan campus, op-ed pieces written for the Ann Arbor News, with door-to-door canvassing planned.

Members had a poster depicting a water filter of the sort that the Iraq Water Project is raising money to send to Iraq. It consists of a sediment filter, followed by a carbon filter, with sterilization achieved through an ultraviolet bulb. About 30 of the units have been sent so far.

After presentations made during the “Introductions,” councilmembers sometimes ask questions to elicit more detail from the presenters. Mayor John Hiefte stated that he knew something about water filters and queried Russello about the filter’s processing rate. Eight gallons a minute, she said.

Russello asked for council’s support of the resolution on their agenda, saying that an endorsement from city council would help lend the local effort credibility.

Later, during council deliberations on the resolution, Tony Derezinski  thanked Michigan Peaceworks and Veterans for Peace from his perspective as “a veteran of an earlier unpopular war” and said that he was pleased to support it. Hieftje said he really appreciated the fact that they came and talked to him about the project, saying that it can have an immediate impact on people’s lives.

Outcome: The resolution, which featured a “resolved” clause commending Michigan Peaceworks and Veterans for Peace for their work on the Iraq Water Project, was passed unanimously.

Dreiseitl Project for Municipal Center (Storm Water): During public commentary reserved time at the beginning of the meeting, Margaret Parker, chair of the Ann Arbor public art commission, spoke to the agenda item on  the professional services agreement with Herbert Dreiseitl to create a piece of public art for the new municipal building, which will integrate with the building’s storm water control system. The cost of the preliminary design is $77,000, which was on the agenda for authorization, with the project itself expected to cost around $700,000.

At a recent art commission meeting, some commissioners had expressed concern about some lack of support for the Dreiseitl project among the public. At its October 2008 meeting, there was some surprise expressed by commissioners about the large amount of money available to fund the project, as well as the rapid time line for the project’s selection. At a Sunday night council caucus in early February, Marcia Higgins had also expressed surprise at how much money had accumulated through the one-percent for art program, prompting her to wonder if a half-percent of all capital projects would be sufficient to meet the program’s goals.

Margaret Parker: Parker thanked the city council for its planning by putting the percent for art program in place and said that the Dreiseitl proposal was the first project to be funded through the program. She then gave some brief background on the mechanics of the funding, including the fact that funds from all capital projects that feed into the program can be pooled as long as they’re related to the same funding source. The funds need not be spent in the same year that they accumulate, she said, but they can’t be spend on anything other than public art.

She then began to walk council through the steps that led to the decision to commission Dreiseitl to create a storm water-based project for the new municipal center [which breaks ground in a few weeks, with preparations already underway around the Larcom Building.] First, she said, it was unanimously decided that the new municipal center was the place to focus time and funding. Second, the task force, consisting of many members of the community not on the art commission, had dtermined where in the municipal center the project would be sited. The site selected was the rain garden. With that, Parker’s time was up (three minutes is the time limit for public commentary), and she left the podium saying that she hoped council had read their “little packets and make the right decision.”

Councilmember Margie Teall said she was excited by the fact that Dreiseitl had agreed to do the project. Councilmember Carsten Hohnke said he’d seen a presentation when Dreiseitl was in Ann Arbor last year for the Huron River Watershed Council’s State of the Huron conference. He said it would bring storm water control out into the open and would thus be both educational as well as aesthetically pleasing art.

Outcome: Passed unanimously.

Ann Arbor Value: Art

State Funding: In voting to fund the design of Dreiseitl’s storm water-based art installation, council gave a thumbs up to both water and art. But it spent a fair chunk of time on the subject of just plain art. The topic was first mooted by Shary Brown during public commentary reserved time, who encouraged city council to pass the resolution on its agenda calling on Gov. Jennifer Granholm to maintain Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs funding at a level of $6.1 million in fiscal year 2010. The funding is in jeopardy as the state looks for ways to cover budget shortfalls.

Shary Brown: Brown introduced herself as director of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, which will be 50 years old this summer. The organization also  sponsors the Townie Party preceding the fairs. She pointed out that the art fairs draw .5 million visitors to Ann Arbor each year, who spend $5 million on hotels, $25.3 million on dining and $48.7 million on shopping. It would be short-sighted, she said, for the state to cut funding to the arts.

Kenneth Fischer: Fischer introduced himself as president of the University Musical Society and a proud member of Tony Derezinski’s ward (Ward 2). He said he was there to support the resolution supporting arts funding. He drew a connection between state funding and federal funding, saying that when the federal government looks at state funding levels and and sees no money, it has a negative impact on the likelihood of federal funding. [The idea is that the feds prefer to allocate monies where there is matching local support.]

Fischer recounted how the Michigan Economic Development Corp. had used the 2006 visit from the Royal Skakespeare Co. to leverage the arts to entertain out-of-state CEOs. He cited an assessment by Mary Kramer of Crain’s Detroit Business, who had written that the MEDC had “hit a homerun” with its investment.

Councilmember Teall said she was happy to see the resolution come before council and that she hoped it helped change some minds in Lansing. Councilmember Hohnke encouraged the public to visit www.a2artsalliance.org and to look at the economic impact study to familiarize themselves with the impact of arts on the economy. It’s not direct, he allowed, but it’s significant.

Mayor Hieftje highlighted the language in the resolution, ticking through points like 2,600 jobs that are tied to the nonprofit arts sector and the $57 million in household income that the arts generate.

Councilmember Sandi Smith said that she did not envy Gov. Granholm’s position. She said that Ann Arbor was having difficulty, and in Lansing there would be a similar diffiulty. They’re going to have to go line by line, she said, and the arts seems easy to cut. She said it was ironic, because the state was giving money specifically for the arts through the Cool Cities program a few years ago. Continuing to fund the arts, she said, was going to help Michigan go forward.

Councilmember Stephen Rapundalo urged everyone who cares to put in a call, letter or email. [The website mentioned by Hohnke above provides a form for contacting Governor Granholm.] Rapundalo suggested contacting state Senate majority leader Tom George, saying that there are those who see the benefit from continuing to fund the arts. He said we need to get behind those folks.

Councilmember Mike Anglin stated his support of the resolution. He mentioned that the University of Michigan was going to be re-opening its art museum and urged citizens to contact their legislators.

Councilmember Derezinski said he saw some wonderful people at Monday’s meeting in support of the arts, like Margaret Parker and  Ken Fischer, a “resident of my ward” – an allusion to Fischer’s earlier statment that he was a proud member of Derezinski’s ward, which drew a few chuckles. Derezinski stated that the arts were a wonderful component of Ann Arbor that makes it unique.

Councilmember Sabra Briere was fairly brief. When they send this resolution off to Lansing, she said, they should remember that bread feeds our body, and roses feed our soul. Art, she said, is the roses. Briere was kind enough to send along to the The Chronicle the full text of the poem to which her remark alluded, “Bread and Roses” by James Oppenheim, published December, 1911 in American Magazine:

As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: “Bread and roses! Bread and roses!”

As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women’s children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!

As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for – but we fight for roses, too!

As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler – ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life’s glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses!

Outcome: Passed unanimously.

Ann Arbor Value: Energy

Burning Coal: Council had on its agenda a resolution stating the city of Ann Arbor’s opposition to the continued burning of coal to generate electricity. The resolution was recommended by the city’s energy commission, and public commentary included remarks from the chair of that committee, Robert Black, who asked for council’s support of it.

Robert Black: Black introduced himself as the chair of Ann Arbor’s energy commission and advocated for the elimination of the burning of coal to generate electricity. He stressed that there was a certain urgency to the issue, and said that the council’s stand was needed because of Ann Arbor’s role as leader. Ann Arbor  is being watched, said Black.  He pointed out that Dave Konkle, until recently the energy coordinator for the city of Ann Arbor, was in Washington D.C. working with international organizations on the issue. Black said that $20 billion goes out of the state to pay for energy.

Mayor Hieftje led off council deliberations by saying he believes that no more coal-fired plants should be built, and that there was no such thing as “clean coal.” The increased levels of mercury in Great Lakes fish, Hieftje said, were in large part due to the burning of coal. Given that Michigan has the 14th best wind resource in the country, Hieftje concluded that there was no need for the seven new coal-fired plants that were currently proposed.

Councilmember Briere noted briefly that the other side of burning coal is mining coal, which is itself a problem.

Outcome: Passed unanimously.

Earth Day, Earth Hour: Council considered a resolution endorsing Earth Hour, an initiative from the World Wildlife Fund that  asks all citizens, businesses, government agencies, and commercial and non-commercial establishments to turn off all non-essential lighting for one hour beginning at 8:30 p.m. on Sat., March 28, 2009.

Councilmember Smith noted that the time specified was local time, and that Earth Hour would move progressively around the world. She said that it would include streetlights on Main Street plus the lights in city hall.

Councilmember Briere noted that the more lights that go off, the better the chance to see the sky.

Councilmember Marcia Higgins was concerned about the practical side of turning street lights off.  “Are we turning them all off? Have merchants been made aware?” The answers seemed to be “No” and “Yes,” respectively.

Councilmember Hohnke talked about the Earth Hour effort reflecting a “global vote” for global climate treaty negotiations in Copenhagen in December 2009. [The Chronicle learned later that Hohnke is pursuing the possibility, via city staff, of getting data from DTE to measure the impact of Earth Hour locally.]

Mayor Hieftje said that when the lights did get turned off on Main Street for Earth Hour, it would represent an even further reduction from the already small amounts of  energy used  by the LED lighting system.

Outcome: Passed unanimously.

Ann Arbor Value: Land

Greenbelt: The city’s Greenbelt program stems from a millage passed by voters in 2003, which raised funds to purchase additional parkland and to preserve land within the greenbelt district. A central strategy in land preservation is through the purchase of development rights on working family farms. Before Monday’s council meeting, around 750 acres had been protected through the Greenbelt program. Tom Partridge is one of the program’s critics. During his turns at public commentary, he often calls for the money that is spent on greenbelt acquisitions to be spent on other areas instead. With a purchase of development rights for 146 acres through the Greenbelt program on council’s agenda, Partridge rose to comment, and revealed that he has not changed his mind on the question.

Tom Partridge: Partridge reaffirmed the need to stimulate the economy in Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, and southeast Michigan by taking steps to access federal stimulus money and other public funds. He called for directing public money away from buying up farmland, instead putting it towards a transportation system. He also called for reform of the general practice that puts conditions on certain pools of funding, restricting their use on capital projects as opposed to operational expenses.

Councilmember Hohnke said that the acquisition on the agenda meant that more than 400 acres of operating farmland between Ann Arbor and Dexter had been preserved. He described the acquisition as “going to the sweetspot for the vision of the greenbelt, and emphasized that Ann Arbor taxpayers contribute less than 50% of the cost, with the remaining percentage coming from federal taxes and Webster Township.

Mayor Hieftje put the land acquisition in the context of local agriculture becoming increasingly important.

Outcome: Passed unanimously.

Plastic Bags: Council had on its agenda for the third time a proposed ordinance that would ban the use of plastic bags by retail establishments – the bags with handles used to bag groceries, for example. One of the reasons for such a ban that has been cited by the proposed ordinance’s sole sponsor, Councilmember Stephen Rapundalo, is the litter stemming from such bags. As partly a litter issue, we group it in the “Land” section of the meeting report.

Rapundalo moved for a postponement to June 1 to allow city staff to have a little more time to take in information and to have a discussion with retailers. Rapundalo asked Bryan Weinert, the solid-waste coordinator for the city of Ann Arbor, to give an update on staff efforts. Weinert said that on March 22-23 staff would be meeting with retailers to get feedback on the already-drafted ordinance. He said there would be information on city’s website and a public information survey, acknowledging that there was some controversy surrounding the issue.  Weinert said that based on feedback from the public and merchants, staff would bring forward a recommendation. Weinert did not state what the range of possibilities for such a recommendation would be.

Outcome: Postponed for a third time by unanimous vote.

Solid Waste: As it relates to space in landfills, we include two resolutions regarding the new commercial recycling program in the section on “Land” values. The first of these resolutions was for a waste collection contract with Waste Management of Michigan not to exceed $900,000 per year, and the publication of the ordinance laying out the new franchise system for commercial recycling.

Councilmember Teall, who had worked on the development of the new commercial recycling program, called Bryan Weinert, the city’s solid-waste coordinator, to the podium. Weinert explained that the Waste Management contract addressed the refuse collection side of recycling.

Queried by Councilmember Higgins, Weinert said that to combine the recycling into a single stream where paper and other material was mixed together (for commercial or residential) would require upgrades to the materials recovery center, but that such an approach could eventually be rolled out and was a part of the solid waste plan.

Higgins said she’d received some calls from constituents concerned that moving to a national contract would push smaller operators out of business. Weinert said that an inventory of dumpsters was done and that there were only a very few dumpsters that were handled by anybody but the top three or four haulers. Higgins was given the assurance that businesses like 1-800-GOT-JUNK would continue to do what they do.

During deliberations on the ordinance, Councilmember Leigh Greden said that he thought it was amazing that in a fiscally challenging environment, the city was able to move forward with the commercial recycling initiative. He reiterated a sentiment he’d expressed at an earlier council meeting, when he said that the commercial recycling program was “one of the hallmark things we’ll do this year.” He concluded by saying, “This is an amazing feat.”

Mayor Hieftje said that the issue of low tipping fees in Michigan would need to be addressed, because that was what allowed Canada to dump garbage in Michigan cheaply.

Outcome: Unanimously passed.

R4C Zoning in the Central Area: The ordinance before council called for a direction to city planning staff to begin looking at zoning nonconformities in the central area of Ann Arbor and to work with the public to provide council with recommendations for potential ordinance changes to the residential districts within the the central area. It was brought for consideration by Councilmember Derezinski, who is council’s representative on the planning commission.

Councilmember Higgins expressed some concern that this new direction – together with the A2D2 initiative and the re-evaluation of area height and placement outside the central area –  meant that every piece of zoning legislation in the city was now under review. She wondered about the impact on staff and how the timing of the various initiatives would come together.

Jayne Miller, community area services director, said that for A2D2, there would be a council working session on Monday, March 9, 2009. At council’s March 16 meeting there would be a resolution to begin public process on area, height and placement outside the downtown, Miller said. Based on staff committments, Miller said she thought a committee could be assembled in the summer with work to begin in the fall.

For the work on area, height and placement, Mayor Hieftje announced that each ward needed a resident as a representative on the committee, and that councilmembers needed to identify a representative from their wards to join a collection of representatives from planning comission, city council, and commercial property owners. Hieftje asked councilmembers to move with haste, because the committee would be established at the next council meeting.

Outcome: Unanimously passed.

Ann Arbor Value: History

Ann Arbor District Library: The evening began with a presentation from the AADL about a historical collection of minutes from city council meetings dating from the early part of the 20th century. The Chronicle has already published a more detailed account of the historical online minutes project.

Women: In her communications to her council colleagues, Sabra Briere noted that March is Women’s History Month and briefly called their attention to two women: (i) Virginia Watts, who in 1878 was the first African-American woman to enroll at the University of Michigan, graduating in 1885, and (ii) Ella Bareis Prochnow of Ann Arbor, who in 1930 was the first woman in Michigan to own and manage an automobile dealership.

Ann Arbor Value: Democracy

Citizen Participation: On council’s agenda was a revision to the recently passed citizen participation ordinance, which requires developers to meet with residents in the vicinity of a proposed project early in the planning phase. The ordinance as originally passed allowed for no exceptions, and the revision called for exceptions to be granted for  single-family residential annexation and zoning petitions of less than two acres. During public commentary, Tom Partridge criticized what he saw as an attempt to curtail public participation.

Thomas Partridge: Partridge declared that he opposed the enactment of the ordinance and that he was opposed to all similar ordinances that curtailed public access. He said that it had been a theme of Hieftje’s administration to limit public commentary and to take up matters in closed-door sessions on subjects that should be laid out in detail. He called on council to enact an ethics policy for city government that addresses access by the public to public hearings. He said that public commentary should be possible without requesting the name, address, phone number and topic of speakers.

In the minimal deliberations on the revisions to the ordinance, Mayor Hieftje called the ordinance itself “revolutionary in Michigan,” saying that it goes a long way towards the goal of including the public. He stressed that the revision to the ordinance that night was  just a tweak.

Miscellaneous

Stadium Bridges: The topic of the safety of the Stadium Boulevard bridge over State Street warrants separate coverage, as opposed to relegation to a “Miscellaneous” section. It’s worth noting, however, that at council’s meeting, Sue McCormick, the city’s public services director, gave council an update on the situation with the bridge, which she said was being monitored closely. We hope to be able to provide more details as the city reaches what McCormick described as a “decision point” in the next 30 days about proceeding with a repair or waiting for funding to materialize for a complete reconstruction. For some limited coverage of the topic, see this previous Chronicle article on the bridge.

Michigan Inn: City attorney Stephen Postema announced that the former Michigan Inn on Jackson Road could see demolition this month.

Present: Sabra Briere, Sandi Smith, Tony Derezinski, Stephen Rapundalo, Leigh Greden, Christopher Taylor, Margie Teall, Marcia Higgins, Carsten Hohnke, Mike Anglin, John Hieftje

Next Council Meeting: Monday, March 16, 2009 at 7 p.m. in council chambers, 2nd floor of the Guy C. Larcom, Jr. Municipal Building, 100 N. Fifth Ave. Note: Council will be holding a working session on March 9, 2009 at its usual time and location, to discuss the downtown plan and the A2D2 zoning, recently passed by planning commission. [confirm date]

Mission, Vision, Values

The relatively unassuming item in the agenda of “Consideration of Resolution Adopting Mission, Vision and Values Statements” led to some of the richest back-and-forth among board members since The Chronicle began covering AATA board meetings in the fall of 2008.

For readability, we divide the board’s deliberations on the single resolution on the three statements (mission, vision, values) by individual statement. Why? When there appeared to be difficulty reaching a consensus on wording for the mission and values statements, the idea of tabling the resolution adopting the three statements was briefly contemplated. But Sue McCormick weighed in for splitting the resolution so that the board might adopt at least one or two of the statements, if not all three. Much of the content of the deliberations reported below on the separate statements was chronologically intertwined, and came before the decision to split the resolution into three parts.

Intermediate outcome: The resolution to adopt the mission, vision, and values statements was split into a separate resolution on each statement.

On the Word “Options” and “Cost-Effective” in the Mission Statement: The board’s discussion of the resolution to adopt mission, vision and values statements began on a wording issue to which Jim Mogensen had drawn attention during public time at the start of the meeting.

Jim Mogensen: Mogensen noted that mission statements are always fun to create and oftentimes when they’re revised, the text just gets reused and edited as opposed to recreating them from scratch. He said he’d noticed that “cost effective” had replaced the word “affordable” in an earlier version of the AATA mission statement. Mogensen said that even though you could think of them as synonymous, they’re really quite different things: Cost-effective has to do with how much things cost, whereas “affordable” has to do with whether people are able to pay for those things. So, “attractive transportation services at competitive prices” – a quote from the proposed vision statement – might not actually be “affordable,” said Mogensen.

Mission Statement (adopted)

It is the mission of the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority to provide useful, reliable, safe, environmentally-responsible, and cost-effective public transportation options for the benefit of the greater Ann Arbor community.

Responding to Jim Mogensen’s comments during the public time, board member Ted Annis said that the previous version of the mission statement  didn’t say “cost effective” but rather “cost optimized.” Annis said that it was meant to be a statement  about operating  buses at the least possible cost. Board member Charles Griffith also tied the discussion back to Mogensen’s comments, saying that the benefit of operating the buses at the least possible cost is supposed to be affordability.

When giving his summary of planning and development committee activities earlier in the meeting, Ted Annis had mentioned that he’d be offering a  friendly correction when discussion of the mission statement took place:  the elimination of the word “options”  in the phrase “public transportation options.” When the discussion unfolded, Annis said the AATA doesn’t provide the options, it provides the transportation. A potential rider has options, like a car, a bike or a bus, said Annis, but the AATA doesn’t provide the options of a car or a bike – it provides the bus.

Sue McCormick’s take on the word “options” was that it was somewhat ambiguous, but that when she read it, she took it to allude to the idea that the AATA aspired to be more than just a bus company.

Paul Ajegba, who served on the ad hoc committee charged with formulating the various statements, urged some reflection on why the word “options” was there in the first place, instead of simply striking it. Charles Griffith said that the rationale for “options” had to do with the fact that the AATA acted in some cases as a conduit for pass-through funds, as opposed to providing the transportation directly. Griffith pointed to the contrast made in the vision statement – which the board was also considering – between providing transportation directly and indirectly: “… AATA will be the primary provider or facilitator of public transportation.”

A motion to strike the word “options” found support only from Annis and McCormick, and thus failed.

Outcome: The resolution adopting the mission statement passed, with dissent from Annis.

Vision Statement: Small, Medium, or Large: It was Charles Griffith who first  opened the question of what the vision statement was supposed to accomplish. He assessed the draft this way: “As a vision statement, it’s not very visionary. It says what we do, but not where we are going.” He said that the vision statement should ideally outline a strategy for moving forward as opposed to saying what we’re doing now.

The planning and development committee had vetted the various statements being considered by the board. Its chair, Ted Annis, made two brief points. First, the language for the various statements came from the ad hoc committee and for that reason, the planning and development committee had taken a fairly hands-off approach to redacting any language. Second, said Annis, from his perspective he would just get rid of the vision statement.

McCormick was quick to reply that the AATA needed a vision statement, but that it needed to be clear and concise, as opposed to the somewhat lengthy draft the board was considering. McCormick outlined what the point of a mission and vision statements were: The mission statement should say why the AATA was created; the vision statement should say what the AATA wants to do. The vision statement is about direction, while the mission is about identity, she said.

Rich Robben disagreed with McCormick’s assessment that the vision statement needed to be short and concise and that in his experience vision statements could be quite lengthy.

For his part, board chair David Nacht declared, “These exercises are generally stupid. In our case, however, we’re actually grappling with what our vision is.” He concluded by emphasizing that it was an extremely important process  for the AATA. Robben supported Nacht’s assessment by saying that if what the AATA wanted was to change its culture, it was  important to have a vision statement and actually to reference it in day-to-day operations.

McCormick suggested  postponement. Griffith supported the idea, saying he was somewhat caught by surprise and he felt it required a bit of time to further digest.

Annis wanted clarification about whether the planning and development committee would be charged with the task of making revisions, and indicated that he was willing to shorten up the text. [The AATA board has moved increasingly to a committee-based work structure over the last few months.]

Nacht floated the idea that “figuring out who we are and where we want to go is perhaps one thing that we could do as a committee of the whole, as all seven of us together – we never do anything together anymore.”

Outcome: The vote on the vision statement was postponed to the next board meeting, where the wording would be discussed.

Jesse Bernstein emphasized that it was important in advance of the next board meeting to determine what kind of statement they would be trying to craft: a long, medium or short kind of statement. In contemplating how to collaborate in advance of the meeting, Nacht said that HyperOffice software employed by the AATA  probably wouldn’t be suitable as a mechanism to conduct discussion, because the public would not have access. He suggested e-mailing and CC-ing messages to Dawn Gabay so that they could be easily provided in response to a FOIA request.

Vision statement (postponed to March meeting)

The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) will be the primary provider or facilitator of public transportation for those without access to a private vehicle within the greater Ann Arbor community. It will be a viable, valuable and frequently-used transportation option for those able to choose between private automobiles and other transportation modes. AATA will be responsive to its customer needs.

AATA will increase ridership by offering attractive transportation services at competitive prices using the highest professional standards, collaborative efforts, public relations and customer interactions to remain responsive to the transportation needs of the community and encourage the use of alternative transportation options.

AATA will be an excellent steward of public funds and resources and will foster collaborative transportation partnerships with public and private entities for the benefit of its customers and the community.

AATA will provide frequent, customer friendly, reliable, safe, and convenient transportation services that are environmentally conscious and contribute to the reduction of climate changing emissions and vehicle miles traveled.

AATA will contribute to the enhancement of the quality of life and the economy of the greater Ann Arbor community while improving air quality, decreasing traffic congestion, and reducing dependence on foreign energy sources.

AATA will support a variety of size and type of land development and redevelopment within transit service areas to foster walking, bicycling, carpooling, and vanpooling, thereby enabling the residents, workers and visitors to the Ann Arbor community to be closer to transit facilities and services.

AATA will actively pursue opportunities for joint development that can benefit the community as well as its ridership and system goals.

AATA will respect and value its stakeholders, customers and employees and will recognize and celebrate the great diversity within the Ann Arbor community. It will encourage its employees to do their best work and will provide the tools, training, and environment to enable them to excel.

Values Statement: Nacht read forth the values statement.

Outcome: The values statement was unanimously approved with no significant discussion.

Values Statement (adopted)

The core priorities guiding the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority’s conduct toward its customers, stakeholders, employees and the entire greater Ann Arbor community are embodied in the following values:

SAFETY from harm, injury, or loss.

RELIABILITY based on consistent performance over time.

CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SATISFACTION due to providing the highest level of service.

RESPECT resulting from attentiveness, consideration, and courtesy.

INCLUSIVENESS without discrimination.

COOPERATION toward the common good.

RESPONSIBILITY by being accountable for both actions and conduct.

INNOVATION aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness.

FLEXIBILITY to adapt to new, different, or changing conditions.

INTEGRITY from incorporating principles of right and wrong into principles of moral behavior.

ENVIRONMENTALISM centered on a concern for the conservation and improvement of the environment.

Executive Director Search

The AATA has had an unfilled executive director position since the resignation of Greg Cook in early 2007. At the beginning of the meeting Nacht announced that he’d received a letter, whose lead author was Nancy Shore (former AATA board member and current director of the getDowntown program), about the executive director search. The letter, said Nacht, contained thoughts about the executive director search – things that the board should be thinking about in connection with it.

Asked to provide the letter to The Chronicle, Shore sent it along, and we include a link to a text file with its contents. Signatories to it besides Shore were Richard Sheridan (Menlo Innovations), Jeff Irwin (Washenaw County Board of Commissioners), Conan Smith (Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners), Chuck Warpehoski (Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice), and Joan Lowenstein (Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer & Weiss, P.C. and Downtown Development Authority board member).

The first point made by the letter is one that the board grappled with Wednesday evening: the importance of a vision.

The search committee, reported Nacht, had identified five finalists, but noted it would be inappropriate to comment further, because none of the finalists had been notified yet. There were 62 candidates in all, which were narrowed to 20 by the headhunter, and further winnowed down to 5 by the AATA search committee, which is chaired by Paul Ajegba.

Remarks from the Mayor of Ypsilanti: Paul Schreiber

At the meeting partly in order to speak to the board about the executive director search was Paul Schreiber, who is mayor of the city of Ypsilanti. He encouraged the board to keep working hard on the executive director search and to identify somebody who has the know-how to work constructively with the community.

He also asked the board to continue to work towards creating a countywide authority, because the purchase-of-service agreement model doesn’t allow forward-looking thinking. He characterized the current system as somewhat of a piecemeal approach.

When Schreiber concluded his remarks, board member Jesse Bernstein asked if he could depart from the usual protocol of not having a back-and-forth with public speakers, given that Schreiber is the mayor of Ypsilanti. After a quick check with the rest of the board, Nacht gave Bernstein the green light. Bernstein curious to know if Schreiber had any specific thoughts on an equitable way of financing the countywide authority. Schreiber said that he did not have a specific proposal, because he didn’t have an in-depth understanding that would really allow him to offer such an opinion. However, he did note that Ann Arbor was a leader in this area with its  transportation millage.

Schreiber also said he expected that the demand for transit was only going to increase, citing as an example the fact that the city of Ypsilanti  had received two offers for parts of the Water Street property along Michigan Avenue. He said this reflected the fact that developers are starting to give up on green field space – as opposed to already-built infrastructure. And that meant that the area would need to find ways to provide more mass transit – for people to get from Ypsilanti to Ann Arbor and from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti. As an example of the latter, Bernstein offered: “To go have have dinner at Haab’s.” To which Paul Schreiber added, “And breakfast at Beezy’s.”

Committee Updates and Communications: Crisis Contingencies and WALLY Update

Nacht solicited two-minute updates from committees. The governance committee, which he chairs, did not meet since the last full board meeting because he’d been sick.

Planning and Development Committee: Ted Annis reported that the committee had met two times since the last full board meeting. He said that they had worked on the countywide authority formation under Act 196 but there was no news yet to report. At another point in the meeting, interim executive director, Dawn Gabay, indicated that the two attorneys, Jerry Lax and Jeff Ammon, who’d been engaged as consultants on the matter would soon be providing some more concrete options.

Another main focus of the committee had been on contingency planning, said Annis. He said the idea was to develop a contingency plan that would be ready to use in the event of an adverse economic situation – which he felt we would in fact be facing. So AATA staff had been asked to develop responses in the event of 10%, 20%, and 40% revenue losses. And he said there would be a report forthcoming divided essentially into three parts: (i) revenues, (ii) services that would be cut, and (iii) the internal cost cuts that would be undertaken. Annis said the idea was to figure out how to get the cost per service hour down from its current level of $103 per hour to the $77 per hour that Grand Rapids runs its system on.

Performance Monitoring & External Relations Committee: Sue McCormick reported that the committee had met the previous Friday. She said they had focused on performance criteria and taking an exceptions-based approach to them. That is, they had set up a system to review the performance data that would call their specific attention to items that fell outside of expected ranges. She said that the same exceptions-based approach was being applied to the financial piece of performance.

Federal Transit Administration: AATA’s interim executive director, Dawn Gabay, reported that the tri-annual review by the FTA would be happening on May 26-27. At the time of the AATA’s last review there had been no findings, she said.

North-South and East-West Commuter Rail: Nacht asked for an update on the north-south WALLY commuter rail project. Gabay said Tom Cornillie (AATA staff) was working out the scope of work for services. The planning and development committee had directed staff to look at the east-west commuter rail project, which is being headed up by SEMCOG, and that had temporarily shifted its focus from the north-south WALLY initiative.

Nacht noted that as a board they had voted to have staff “work it up” to have a policy consideration. They’re not taking a position that they’re necessarily heading down that path, no matter what, he said. Nacht reiterated later in the discussion with respect to WALLY: “We’re not backing off from that.” He said that a vote had been taken on WALLY, and they’re not trying to slow it down, they’re going to do it right. The idea behind taking a look at the east-west commuter rail project was to get an idea of what kind of resource commitments would be required for that project, so that AATA could assess better the ramifications on the WALLY project, he said.

In the context of the balance of commitments to the east-west project versus the north-south WALLY project, Bernstein emphasized that the role of the AATA in the east-west project was as a “connector” to the project, not as the entity running the project (as with WALLY). McCormick said that the east-west rail was much closer to reality than the north-south one, which was another reason it was worth putting some time into now. “About the east-west rail, we hear dates,” she said. Those dates are fall 2010 for a demonstration project, and in that light, she said, we need to know how the AATA is going to connect with that service.

Part of what had prompted the east-west rail conversation was Nacht’s introduction of the topic of AATA service to the Detroit airport. In response to a query from Nacht, Gabay said that  in 2002-03, they had approached the airport for consideration of east-west service and determined that it was at that time not feasible. Nacht asked if it had to do with a charge for entry to the airport facility. Gabay said there would be no charge for entry. What was the barrier then, wondered Nacht. Gabay said there was a possible lack of a state match, because operating east-west service to the airport might be taking business from a private operator already providing that service.

Nacht then noted that AATA routes had been altered to support a private service, and Gabay confirmed that the AATA routes had been changed to go closer to Wolverine Tower.

Nacht then declared that he would like to have active consideration of providing the Ann Arbor community with bus service to the airport. He said that he didn’t want to hear back simply, “It’s too expensive,” which prompted Ajegba to observe that this seemed contradictory to the mission statement to provide service in a cost-effective manner. Griffith said Nacht wasn’t saying the cost doesn’t matter, which Robben agreed with, saying  that it was a question of not wanting to dismiss it out of hand. Gabay said that the timing of such a service needed to be coordinated with east-west rail that might be going in.

Resolutions: Procurement Manual and Project List

Besides the item on mission, vision, and values statements, two other resolutions were on the agenda, the first concerning the adoption of a procurement manual, which came out of McCormick’s performance monitoring committee. The procurement manual was postponed after Nacht asked that it be systematically reviewed with an eye towards ensuring that potential issues of inappropriate influence and conflict were adequately addressed.

The remaining resolution concerned the adoption of a revised project list in light of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) a.k.a the “stimulus package.” It was approved unanimously by the board. Under the provisions of ARRA, the AATA expects to receive around $6 million, to be administered through the Federal Transit Administration. Of that amount, at least 50% of the funds allocated to AATA must be obligated within six months and the remainder within a year. The AATA has identified the following projects for implementation within 180 days:

• Construction of a park-and-ride lot on Plymouth Road at U.S. 23
  Expected cost: $1.4 million
  Expected contract award: July 2009
• Purchase of 4 hybrid-electric buses
  Expected cost: $2.1 million
  Expected contract award: March 2009 (option on existing contract)
• Improvement of the safety and accessibility at selected bus stops
  Expected cost: $0.2 million
  Expected contract award: June 2009

Public Time: Reflections on Buses that Don’t Stop

Jim Mogensen: Mogensen’s comments on the mission statement, reported above, came at the start of the meeting when comments are supposed to focus on topics related to the agenda, which the mission statement was. At the end of the meeting there’s time for the public to weigh in on whatever topic they like.

At the end of the meeting, Mogensen reported that on Jan. 29 he took the No. 4  bus to Arborland intending to transfer to the No. 22 to get back home. But the No. 22 bus drove past without stopping. He then had to transfer back to the No. 4. But because he had ridden the No.  4 he had to pay another dollar fare – because you cannot “transfer” to  the same bus. He said that the experience had reminded him of a few policy issues: (i) In the Ride Guide there is no prominent printing of a telephone number for complaints, (ii) the signage on major routes needs to be somewhat better so the drivers can more easily spot where to stop, and (iii) the transfer policy has impacts on short trips. When Mogensen concluded his remarks, board chair David Nacht said: “I’m sorry on behalf of the organization.”

Present: Ted Annis, Charles Griffith, Jesse Bernstein, David Nacht, Paul Ajegba, Rich Robben, Sue McCormick

Next meeting: Wednesday, March 18 at 6:30 p.m. at AATA headquarters, 2700 S. Industrial Ave. [confirm date]