1 . What is it that you love about Ann Arbor?
After moving back home during the pandemic, I recall being struck by my appreciation for Ann Arbor’s access to immersive nature right in the city. Argo, Bird Hills, the Arb and many more.
I also remember taking long walks through the quiet streets of our neighborhoods and marveling at the housing stock and wondering why I ever left in the first place, reaffirming my desire and pride to call our city home.
Then there’s cultural anchors like the Ark and Michigan Theater. Bars like Old Town. And of course, the people and diversity. I attended Northside Elementary, sharing a classroom with children from the world over at a very young age—an experience that’s shaped who I am today.
2 . What are the three most pressing problems that you care most about fixing?
- Housing solutions that start with our neighbors
Having participated in public discourse around the Comprehensive Land Use Plan for the better part of a year now, it is clear to me that our community is divided. Many residents feel like their efforts to substantively shape the plan have been met with inflexibility from the City.
We can and should do our part to address the national housing crisis. But we need to ensure we’re protecting the things that matter to us. There are questions of context, affordability outcomes, displacement of existing tenants, infrastructure readiness and environmental protections that remain unanswered.
I want an equitable, sustainable, affordable and dynamic city, but I’m mistrusting of the mechanisms the plan employs to achieve that.
- Protecting our nature areas and mature tree canopy
My journey into local politics began when I came across the environmental devastation along Longshore Drive while on a run one evening last spring. I was dismayed to see woodlands clear cut and a sign advertising luxury $1.3M condos in the ground. Astonishingly, the hillside has been completely excavated since then.
What’s more the site was documented on the City’s Natural Features Inventory under two of its ‘highest priority’ designations. Yet the loss happened without a site review which would have triggered protection and mitigation.
The development on Longshore is just one example. There’s been talk of building a University of Michigan monorail through the City-owned portion of the Arb. However you feel about development and growing our city, protecting these places should be a non-negotiable, but that doesn’t seem to be the case any longer.
- Restoring the balance between the City and the University
That the University of Michigan is a cultural driver and plays an integral role in the success of the Ann Arbor community must be acknowledged. However, the University has increased its enrollment by 20% over the past decade without adding anywhere near enough housing to accommodate that growth, putting pressure on our housing market.
The University also continues to acquire more land, which erodes the City’s tax base.
Meanwhile, the University’s endowment has doubled during that time, adding $10B for a valuation of over $21B today.
3. How would you go about fixing those problems?
Housing solutions that start with our neighbors
Growth and change are inevitable. But we need to meet people where they’re at and give them a voice in what happens.
Residents have consistently centered their concerns on the height, look and feel of the buildings on their block, not on who lives there. We can allow for more and honor existing context at the same time.
I will push back on designating existing residential neighborhoods as Transition zones. Growth should be shared equitably across our city, not concentrated in ways that sacrifice some neighborhoods for others.
In downtown, the problem isn’t that we’re building up, it’s that new development isn’t creating place. We must demand more ground-floor retail and activation from development so we get vibrancy, not a series of student lobby corridors.
We should give preference for projects that repurpose and retrofit existing structures, acknowledging that the greenest building is the one that’s already built.
We need to consider the harsh reality that the most affordable places to live today will be the first to be targeted for redevelopment. Drastic upzoning provides not only the means but a new financial incentive to do so.
To deliver on affordability outcomes, we must seriously consider market intervention, whether that’s anti-speculation tools, land trusts, co-ops or social housing.
Finally, any honest conversation about housing affordability must include taxes. We have an aging population who’d like to downsize, but the high tax burden of buying even a smaller condo in Ann Arbor can be prohibitive on a fixed income. Targeted tax relief for seniors who downsize would ease that pressure and free up larger homes for growing families.
Protecting our nature areas and mature tree canopy
Require site review on every parcel containing inventoried natural features. We have the Natural Features Inventory, the Comp Plan, UDC and zoning. This should be a no-brainer.
Ensure existing public parks and green spaces remain public goods and will not be reduced, sold off or repurposed for anything other public goods and public works.
Incentivize mature tree canopy preservation on parcels under development. I’m not coming for the trees in your backyard, but it’s industry practice to clear cut lots for redevelopment. Replacement saplings have a far lower survival rate and cannot meaningfully replace the climate change benefits that mature trees provide in our lifetime.
Restoring the balance between the City and the University
I am for increasing access to a world class education like the one I received here, but it should be done while working with the Ann Arbor community so that it doesn’t exacerbate the housing shortage.
Addressing this will require relationship building and having difficult conversations about growth and the University’s role in our current housing situation and asking them to house more of their own students. As our neighborhoods are reshaped, Northwood and Concordia come to mind as areas that should also be rethought to accommodate growth.
To alleviate tax base pressure, I will explore avenues for capturing more tax revenue from the University using models like Boston’s voluntary Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program, where the University would contribute annually based on a percentage of its assessed land value.
4. Let’s say that your solution meets resistance or some part of your plan doesn’t work. What do you do next?
4a. What do you do if your solution meets resistance?
I’ll give it my best sales pitch. Then I will listen. I will engage. And when two sides are divided on an issue I will work to unify and find a compromise.
Our local discourse is filled with false dichotomies presented to issues before us. There’s always a third option.
No top-down solutions with predetermined outcomes and ‘check-the-box’ engagement.
4b. Some part of my plan doesn’t work?
Launch and learn. You make a change, then you measure against success criteria and metrics. And you pivot and adapt if your original solution isn’t achieving its goal. We should never become so attached to an idea that it gets in the way of pragmatic problem solving.
5. You are one of three candidates running in Ward 5. How do you think the voters should think of the differences between you and your opponents?
I can only speak for myself. Here’s what I’ll bring: independent thought and a commitment to truly representative democracy.
I’ll start by saying that I have no long term professional political aspirations. And that I’m running because having participated in civic discourse for the last year, it’s clear to me that there is no longer a way for residents to meaningfully shape the policies and decisions that impact our community. I think that’s a real problem. I think it matters even more now because the issues being taken up by this council and the one that will be elected in November like zoning reform and development policy have serious, long-term ramifications for our city.
We’ve seen substantive debate of issues disappear from council. We’ve watched unanimous voting on even the most divisive issues. It appears we’re governing for the interests of some and not the collective will of us all. I’m a voice that wants to change that.
Whichever side of an issue you’re on, I think many of us acknowledge that the best solutions involve different perspectives and are arrived at in a spirit of compromise.
6. The way that we do politics in this country has been changing rapidly via Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Marjorie Taylor-Greene, Abigail Spanberger, Mikie Sherrill, and Zohran Mamdani. What are your thoughts on this decade + evolution in how we do politics in this country, and how has it changed the way that you approach running for office and delivering for the people?
It’s far easier to weather the storm knowing that your own community has its heart in the right place and is doing the right thing. But that includes meeting people where they’re at and working to build consensus.
The last decade has shown both parties failing the people they claim to represent in their own ways. We’re in an era where talking points and ideology have crowded out the hard work of working together to solve real problems.
7. The nation is at an extremely low ebb in democratic participation, trust in institutions, and feeling truly connected to a community. I want to give you the chance to make your case to AA Observer readers that you are the right person, the right talents and strategy, to make meaningful changes that will improve their economic lot in life, safeguard the rule of law, make sure that they won’t be left behind, and that you can ensure their inclusion and dignity in Tree Town.
I am a born and raised, 35-year resident of this city. I care deeply about this city and I’m committed to ensuring it remains the incredible place it has been now and into the future.
Regarding my talents and strategy: I work in software development and product. And in that role, I’m really focused on understanding problems, performing root cause analysis and working collaboratively with others to solve them. I measure outcomes with real data and ensure that those solutions actually solve the problem. I’ll bring that same problem-first mindset to council. I will never start with a pre-determined outcome without meaningful engagement.
For those who are feeling disconnected and underwhelmed by politics at large: I hear you. I am one of you. But I hope what I represent is a departure from that. Regardless of what happens with this race, it’s been my pleasure meeting and connecting with new people at meetings and having conversations while knocking on doors. I’d recommend it to anyone. This is a great community filled with intelligent and wonderful people with ideas.
8. Zingerman’s, Ahmos, No Thai, Fleetwood, or Le Dog. Where would you rather go to lunch?
You forgot Jerusalem Garden. But to stick to your question: Le Dog. Some of my earliest memories are visiting the little red kiosk on the corner of Thompson and Liberty with my mom as a child. And all these years later nothing beats their Lobster Bisque on Thursdays and Fridays.