1. What is it you love about Ann Arbor?
It’s history, particularly as it relates to my own family’s experience. My great grandfather came to Ann Arbor in 1906, served on City Council in the 1920’s, My father was senior pastor at Bethlehem church downtown, my mother was a first grade teacher, and my uncle was Deputy Superintendent at the AAPS in the early 1970’s. I grew up on the Northeast side of town and attended Thurston and Clague. I also love the vibrancy and youthfulness I sense while walking around campus and downtown seeing the diversity of people from around the country and world coming to our community while attending one of the great universities.
2. What are the 3 most pressing problems that you care most about fixing?
Affordability is the most important problem I hear about from residents. This is certainly true for renters and students, but also the number one complaint I’ve heard from homeowners. Property taxes seem to be on an endless upward spiral. Seniors, and younger families I’ve talked to, want to stay here but must consider moving out of Ann Arbor due to taxes. Communication is also major problem. Ann Arbor government does offer citizens methods to know what’s going on with all public Council meetings available on Youtube or at the city website which is helpful. There is also additional informative information about what’s going on like former Council member Elizabeth Nelson’s newsletters. But the public perception is that Council just makes arbitrary decisions without citizen input. I plan to be more deliberative with the people in the 4th Ward and make decisions that directly benefit them. Controlled growth is a third major problem and a double-edged sword. Ann Arbor isn’t unique when it comes to a continued problem of rising costs due to low supply of housing and growing demand. If the community is expected to grow substantially in the coming 20 years, how do we integrate this growth with outdated infrastructure requiring increased public investments, meaning additional taxes for sewage, road infrastructure, and other ancillary costs affecting the taxpayers of Ann Arbor.
3. How would you go about fixing those problems?
Fiscal responsibility will be my top priority and careful review of our 600-million-dollar budget. While I support the overall goals of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, the “second downtown” in the Briarwood area is in the 4th ward, this will create potential excessive costs to the taxpayers in the city. It’s important to compare our experience with similar cities in the US. Boulder, Colorado, another college town, has seen a large increase in home values which is great, but that increase, like here, leads to higher property taxes. I’d like to see the expansion of the current senior Homestead credits based on incomes to be expanded. Many of the senior residents who stressed concern about property taxes weren’t aware of programs available like the Summer tax deferment for people over age 62 or the Homestead Property Tax Credit. I also believe my role on Council will be to oversee the costs associated with growth, and make sure that those that benefit the most, the developers, do not shift financial burdens to the residents. There is an estimated $300 million in unfunded revenue needed for this new development, and I doubt parking fees will sufficiently offset these ancillary costs. As far as controlled growth, this ambitious plan, including transition corridors, requires foresight and planning to address added costs. It’s not just the inconvenience that development due to road closures and increased travel times, it’s the overly optimistic assumptions that upcoming mixed development will produce jobs. For example, In the 4th Ward, The George apartment complex was promised to be not only housing for young professionals but would also add promised retail options which would attract neighborhood visitors. That didn’t happen. Now the planned retail space has been converted into more housing. If future development which envisions increased job opportunities doesn’t happen, it won’t make Ann Arbor more affordable or increase our quality of life. I believe it’s a council person’s job to work with the Planning commission and oversee development which benefits the citizens, not just developers’ incomes. Quality of life is directly related to the health of our local environment. It’s a good sign that the federal government now considers the Gelman Dioxane plume eligible for EPA Superfund financing, but that could take years for implementation. If the contamination gets to the Huron River, finding another water supply would be cost-prohibitive. I’d like to develop an answer to the problem of navigating traffic congestion, particularly during weekday rush hours. This town wasn’t designed to accommodate the volume of people when the initial infrastructure was created. But, while increased options for mass transit and hopeful options like increased bike lanes are designed to lower car traffic on our streets, that’s not what’s happening. How many people are actually using bike lanes that aren’t living a mile from campus? We need innovative ways to offset traffic congestion and plan for more people coming to town. I’m encouraged by developments like the Yutraffic Fusion program that the city is implementing to decrease traffic flows at bottleneck areas, but we need more options. The U of M, and other employers are helping by providing employees with the option of remote work which cuts down on traffic, we need to see more of this. Ann Arbor needs to be a continued national leader in innovative ways to prepare for the future.
4. Let’s say that your solution meets resistance or some of your plan doesn’t work. What do you do next?
In preparation for my run for city council, I spent quite a few hours watching all Council meetings at the city website for the past 6 months. When watching citizens come up to the podium and express their opinions for the 3 minutes allotted, the main complaint is a perceived lack of consultation or informing people of decisions made by the council. I do like the fact that the city is very good at providing information related to changes, and proposed changes to the public and seeks input, but my impression after listening to residents is that they feel they aren’t being heard or their concerns aren’t addressed. I believe it is my responsibility to the residents of 4th Ward to keep them apprised of decisions being made on their behalf. I also believe it’s my responsibility through talks, neighborhood information gatherings, newsletter, etc, to connect directly with residents about what’s going on. Listening to concerns is the most important. It’s imperative to be willing to make course corrections after input from residents so that consensus is achieved. I’m only of use to the citizens of Ward 4 if I’m willing to listen to them and understand that my decisions should always be in consultation with them.
5. You are one of 4 candidates running in Ward 4. How do you think the voters should think of the differences between you and your opponents?
I’m just pleased that the voters will have a variety of choices to choose from this year. One of the reasons I decided to run as an independent candidate was my disappointment that Proposal C failed to pass barely in 2024 creating a non-Partisan balloting process like all other major cities in this state and throughout the country. The purpose of non-Partisan balloting is to encourage more candidates to run to and give voters more options and points of views. The current partisan system has led to one-party rule on Council which has resulted in a strong negative reaction from the public due to the unanimity of decisions on Council. Since November 2022 all Council votes have been rubber-stamped with no real discussion or opposition. I don’t know any interaction either in business or family that people agree 100 percent on everything, but that isn’t the case on Council. It’s no wonder that three incumbents aren’t seeking re-election, the voters feel the current council is out of touch, and I plan to change that. I also have a variety of life and career experiences including being a successful small business owner, teacher, education administrator, and real estate agent. My objective to achieve a Council seat is my only goal and not a steppingstone to pursue other political offices or become a career politician.
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 Spandberger, Mike Sherrill, and Zohran Mamdani. What are your thoughts on this decade and evolution in how we do politics in this country, and how has it affected the way you approach running for office and delivering for the people?
I believe the changes in our politics, particularly at the national level, is a great danger for our republican form of democracy. The animosity and vitriol between the two parties isn’t providing any true value to the citizens of this country. Everything now seems to have a partisan spin, including areas outside of government, even sporting events. I think it’s horrible that events like the Super Bowl become political because some people don’t like the halftime show and create an alternative. Social media also is a major contributor to this problem. I make a concerted effort to read a variety of options from both the left and the right so I can be informed. What is disheartening is that too many people receive their interpretation of news from sources that just validate or confirm their own opinions. These one-sided viewpoints aren’t designed to foster true debate on any issue and just continue to lead to division that only benefits politicians that use vitriol for their own short-sighted political advantage. I’m encouraged that in my run for office I will be at the most important level of politics and that is connecting directly with the voters in Ward 4. We can’t expect change to come from the national level, only through grassroots local involvement can change occur. In preparation for my run, I’ve talked to former Council members and asked them what they liked and didn’t like about being on Council and they all said it was the chance to go door-to-door and get to know the voters and hear their concerns., I’m enjoying that too. I’m hopeful that when a citizen contacts me with a specific problem, I will be there to address it and hopefully resolve it. I also want to be a true steward of the financial resources that I will be entrusted to allocate. I am envisioning a positive campaign where I can learn from the residents of the 4th ward what I can do to provide a better quality of life for them.
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 really care about them, and that you are the right person, with the right talents and strategy to make meaningful changes that will improve their economic lot in life, make sure that they won’t be left behind, and that you can ensure their inclusion and dignity in Treetown.
I believe it is my responsibility as an elected official to help restore people’s trust in government. When I was approached by several prominent members of the community to consider running now that the 4th Ward has an Open seat, at first, I was hesitant. I was, quite frankly, surprised that Council member Akmon decided not to seek re-election. I think she’s done a good job overall, and I was impressed with how she, and former council member Nelson, truly came in to make a difference, how they approached connecting with voters in the 4th ward by endless door-to-door interaction with voters, and that’s what I am doing now. I also have a longstanding interest in politics. In addition to receiving a BA in political science/history, attended the London School of Economics and political Science in my junior year abroad. I also attained an MA in Public Administration from EMU. I’d like to utilize those academic skills learned in the actual world of elective office. I’ve also been involved in diverse political campaigns beginning with Paul Wellstone’s successful senate run in Minnesota, I also worked on Jesse Ventura’s successful run as an Independent candidate for Minnesota governor, which didn’t end well overall, and even worked on Rick Snyder’s initial run for governor as a condition to complete my MA, which also didn’t end well overall. I’ve supported democratic, republican and independent politicians. I don’t believe being a true partisan is in the best interests of voters, that’s why I’m running as an Independent candidate. I also want the voters in the 4th Ward to know I’m one of them. I’ve had a varied career including being a small business owner, a teacher, real estate agent, and an administrator at both U of M and Washtenaw community college. I’m not independently wealthy and concerned like everyone else that I won’t be able to afford to live here in the coming years. While I’m excited about plans for development and more housing opportunities to increase overall living options for newcomers, I want those that take the chance by voting for me that I have one objective which is to monitor the challenges our city faces in the coming years and be a rational and thoughtful voice looking out for their interests, not those with power. Will I be able to get my hopeful and positive message out to the voters of the 4th ward? Time will tell.