Ward Five Incumbent Mike Anglin Top Fundraiser in 2011 Field of Candidates for Council

Fifth Ward Council member Mike Anglin’s pre-election campaign finance disclosure runs 29 pages. In the race to represent Ward Five on City Council, Anglin out-raised opponent Neil Elyakin by raising $6,850 to Elyakin’s $5,923. Whereas Elyakin raised almost 40 percent of his money from people who live outside of Washtenaw County, Anglin’s donations are solidly local money. Like Elyakin, Anglin took in a large number of donations from around the city. Anglin’s Ward 2 donors, including former City Council member Jane Lumm, no doubt appreciated Anglin’s support of their efforts that stopped the attacks of Mayor Hieftje and Second Ward Council member Stephen Rapundalo to outsource the operations of Huron Hills Golf Course.

Anglin’s single largest donation came from local developer Dennis Dahlmann, followed by a $350 combined donation by John Eaton. Eaton is, of course, also known as Jack, a labor lawyer who ran against Fourth Ward Council member Margie Teall in 2010. Anglin also raked in $200 donations from Fifth Ward residents, including John Floyd, III. Last year, Floyd, a Republican, challenged Fifth Ward Council member Carsten Hohnke in November of 2010 for his seat on Council. Anglin also took in a $100 donation from Lou Glorie. Glorie challenged Hohnke in the Ward Five Democratic primary in 2010. Vivienne Armentrout, a former Washtenaw County Commissioner, who most recently ran for the Library Board, challenged Hohnke in 2008. The results of that race were so close there was a recount. Armentrout donated $50 to Anglin’s campaign.

Another $200 donation came from Gwen Nystuen, a member of the Ann Arbor Parks Advisory Commission and a Third Ward resident. Nystuen, along with Anglin, is opposed to the use of parkland on Fuller Road for a proposed 1,000 car parking garage to be built for the University of Michigan. Nystuen’s donation, no doubt, is in support of Anglin’s steadfast refusal to go along with the plan to lease the parcel of parkland assessed at $4 million dollars to U of M for a pittance, and subsidize the project with money from the General Fund that was skimmed off into an Economic Development Fund. A current $1.2 million dollar sewer and water “improvement” just happened to be needed in the very spot where the parking garage is supposed to be built, but hasn’t yet been approved by Council. Anglin recently asked his Council colleagues to reconsider their votes in favor of those improvements and took a beating in AnnArbor.com and in the AnnArborChronicle.com for admitting that he’d been unclear on the item voted on.

Fifth Ward resident Beverley Strassman also donated $200 to Anglin’s campaign. Strassman is the president of the Germantown Neighborhood Association. The members of the association have been fighting the development of several Fifth Avenue properties by a local developer Alex de Parry. Anglin voted against de Parry’s Heritage Row development, and encouraged residents to form the Germantown Neighborhood Association.

What becomes evident when reading through Anglin campaign finance forms is that he has financial support from dozens of individuals, including many in Ward Five, who had small amounts to give, and who chose to donate to the incumbent. Neither Anglin or Elyakin are financed by any PAC money, and neither man received a dime from any of the current members of City Council. Elyakin is being endorsed by First Ward Council member Sandi Smith who, no doubt, is retaliating for Anglin’s endorsement of Sumi Kailasapathy, who came within a few percentage points of knocking Smith off of Council in 2010.

Though Anglin leads the pack this time around, the amount he raised in 2011 is significantly under the $8,489 he raised in the pre-election period in 2009, and even less than the $7,520 he raised in the 2007 pre-election fundraising period, when he stunned three-time incumbent Council member Wendy Woods by beating her with over 59 percent of the vote.

A2P Notes: All of the information about the donors and amounts comes from the Washtenaw County campaign finance web site. To search the database, and examine the candidate campaign finance disclosures yourself, visit this link:http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/clerk_register/elections/cf_info.html

To read A2Politico’s recent interview with Mike Anglin, click here.