Neighbors,
In observance of Labor Day, City of Ann Arbor municipal offices will be closed, and curbside collection of trash/recycling/compost will not take place, on Labor Day Monday, Sept. 2. Curbside pickups will resume Tuesday and continue through Saturday with a one-day delay.
I'm very sad to share that this weekend we learned of several instances of antisemitism and ethnic intimidation in Ann Arbor. This includes residents waking up to antisemitic flyers distributed at homes in the middle of the night, a store owner being threatened for having an Israeli flag up, and several threatening and antisemitic messages posted on campus and the surrounding area. This escalation is upsetting; it is unacceptable. We are taking these incidents very seriously, and AAPD is working to investigate. If you have any information related to incidents, please contact AAPD: 994-2911.
Our next City Council meeting is Tuesday, September 3 at 7pm. Before my preview here are some updates, including my thoughts on two ballot initiatives you will see when you vote in November.
Ann Arbor Introduces Ask Ann Chatbot
Ann Arbor launched Ask Ann, a fully integrated and automated web chat assistant to help people find information available from the city’s website, www.a2gov.org. It is available 24/7, and the aim of this new tool is to make it easier for anyone to get quick answers to questions and find detailed information on city services and projects. To chat with Ask Ann, visit the city website, www.a2gov.org, where both desktop and mobile users will notice the feature on the bottom right section of their browser window. Clicking on the Ask Ann icon launches the chat window, greeting visitors and prompting them to enter their question.
South Seventh and Greenview Drive Improvements Project
Ward 4 has experienced some major road work this summer on South Seventh and Greenview that continues into the fall. An update on that project was provided Friday. South Seventh is almost, but not quite, complete. Paving for the South portion of Greenview is planned in mid-September. The North portion of Greenview is slated to be complete by mid-November.
Vote No on November Ballot Proposals That Would Fundamentally Change our Election Process and Use City Funds for Political Campaigns
Proposal C seeks to amend our City Charter to eliminate primary elections and remove party labels from Ann Arbor's City Council and Mayoral elections. As of the July campaign finance filing, half of the money raised for this campaign came from longtime Republican supporters.
I urge you to VOTE NO on Prop C for the following reasons:
Party labels on ballots serve as an essential source of information about candidates' values and policy preferences. Removing party labels from ballots will lead to increased reliance on other factors such as name recognition, incumbency, or assumed gender and ethnicity—factors that are irrelevant to a candidate's stance on important issues.
The proposal is highly unusual compared to other cities--including those that the advocates cite as peers--in that it also removes the primary election, which is how voters are empowered to narrow the field of candidates and avoid the kind of vote splitting that seats a candidate with majority opposition.
Taken together, Prop C will make our elections less transparent and more likely to result in a fringe candidate winning office.
We use partisan primaries to elect the County Sheriff, County Prosecutor, County Clerk and Register of Deeds, County Commissioners, County Treasurer, and the County Water Resources Commissioner; and we should maintain them for Ann Arbor City Council, too.
Learn more and see the coalition of leaders and organizations--including Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, State Senators Sue Shink and Jeff Irwin, the Washtenaw County Democratic Party, and the Huron Valley Labor Association--who are saying VOTE NO on Prop C.
Proposal D seeks amend our City charter to take almost half a million dollars from the City's general fund and give it to candidates' political campaigns by matching every dollar they raise with 9 dollars. However, $.5M barely captures what it cost to responsibly administer a public financing program, as Denver has learned. To implement this program, Ann Arbor would have to increase taxes or cut services.
Even if you think it's a good idea to reallocate money in this way, this poorly written charter amendment does not contain safeguards that other public campaign financing models use and makes it absurdly easy to quality for the City funds. Other cities with public financing programs require candidates to demonstrate broad support before they qualify for city funding. For example, in Portland, City Council candidates must first raise donations from 250 separate city residents before they receive city funding. As well, cities such as New Haven set a maximum that candidates can self-finance and still qualify for city funds.
Proposal D would take funds from City services and misallocate them to political campaigns while providing virtually no safeguards against giving City funds to fringe candidates with extreme views or to candidates who are using a substantial amount of their own money for their political campaigns.
For these reasons I urge you to join our coalition to Vote NO on prop D.
City Council Meeting, Tuesday, September 3 at 7pm
Responses to Council Member Questions. Topics include:
A staff initiated change to the gas-powered leaf ordinance
A change to the E. Medical Center Bridge contract
Agenda Highlights
Resolution Renaming Main Street Social District to Downtown Ann Arbor Social District (CA-20). In 2021, City Council created the Main Street Ann Arbor Social District and approved the original list of Main Street liquor licensees eligible to apply for a social district permit. The social district allows patrons of participating restaurants, pubs, and breweries within the district to carry an open alcoholic beverage in a designated container within the social district boundaries. This resolution renames the social district, enlarges the map of the commons area, and approves the list of establishments eligible to apply for a permit in the Downtown Ann Arbor Social District. It also affirms that any licensee currently permitted to serve alcohol in the Main Street Ann Arbor Social District shall be allowed to continue doing so in the Downtown Ann Arbor Social District.
ordinance to designate 59 parcels covering 103 acres as TC1 in two areas along Washtenaw Avenue and East Stadium Boulevard. An aerial map of the area to be rezoned is attached to the agenda item. This received unanimous approval from the Planning Commission; and, if passed by Council this week, would complete the City's rezoning of the four areas identified as meeting the general intent and specific purposes of the TC1 district. (you can make public comment on this public hearing item without signing up for public comment in advance)
Ordinance to Amend Chapter 75 (Leaf Blowers) (C-1). Staff is requesting an amendment to Ann Arbor's newly enacted Leaf Blower ordinance, which regulates the use of gas-powered leaf blowers. The requested ordinance change would allow the use of gas-powered leaf blowers to prepare or conduct a lawful controlled or prescribed burn for ecological maintenance or ecological restoration. Controlled burns are an important part of the City's ecological stewardship program; and they are also used by residents who maintain a native plants landscape. Parks staff explained in their response to Council questions that their tests of electric leaf blowers for this task found that electric models would be incapable of achieving emergency response measures if a controlled burn were to “jump” and spread unexpectedly and that creating the fire breaks needed would take 2-3x longer than it would with gas-powered. Staff anticipate an estimated 40-60% reduction in the City’s burn program outputs (which already faces a challenging ecological management shortfall) if they are unable to utilize gas blowers.
Resolution to Consider Allowing More Flexibility for Home Occupations in Residential Neighborhoods (DC-1). This resolution was postponed from our last meeting. The proposed amendment to the resolution directs the City Administrator and Planning Commission to consider and propose recommended ordinance amendments to the City's home occupation ordinance for the purpose of allowing more flexibility in the City’s requirements regarding home occupations (including ACUs) in the City’s residential neighborhoods. It no longer asks for this work to be prioritized ahead of the work of the Comprehensive Plan, but requests a report to City Council by December 31, 2024. (Sponsors Song, Eyer, Cornell, Watson, and Harrison)
Please reach out if you have questions, concerns, or thoughts on any of the agenda items. Email: DAkmon@A2gov.org | Phone/text: 734-492-5866
You can also communicate your thoughts via:
Email City Council: CityCouncil@a2gov.org
Comment at the meeting (remote or in person): Call the City Clerk's office at 734-794-6140 beginning at 8 a.m. on the day of the meeting to reserve a public speaking time. NOTE: you do not need to reserve time to speak during a "public hearing (PH)" item.
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