Q + A: Ward 3 Candidate Samuel McMullen Wants to Pop Ann Arbor’s Political Bubble
by P.D. Lesko
SAMUEL MCMULLEN IS a local Waldorf school graduate and a U-M sophomore. He remembers Bob Dascola, one of his two opponents in the Ward 3 City Council Democratic primary election. McMullen talks about getting his hair cut and smiles. There he was in Dascola Barbers on Liberty Street, seated in the red convertible pedal car mounted on a pole. McMullen is wearing a crisp, white, cape and Bob Dascola is 15 years younger, more hair on top, but the same smile. Later, Sam McMullen talks about spending several hours convincing a reticent Bob Dascola to agree to a formal debate. Ward 3 candidate Julie Grand had agreed. McMullen tells the story: “She was convinced I would never be able to get Bob to agree. It took two hours, but Bob eventually did agree.”
It was the League of Women Voters who eventually refused to moderate anything other than a candidate forum the format of which allows for no interaction between the candidates.
“Debates show what kind of person you’ll be when you disagree with someone,” says McMullen.
Sam McMullen is the kind of 19-year-old poised that if you read about him as a character in a book you might accuse the author of exaggerating. He, like, doesn’t use “like” in his sentences, nor does he hedge, dodge questions or seem to mind being asked to drill down to the details. In short, Sam McMullen is the 19-year-old who would bring more maturity and gravitas to serving on City Council than some of the Boomers currently flip-flopping, gasbagging and grandstanding their way through Council meetings that border on the criminally interminable.
Ali Baba, on Packard, is close to his house and so he bikes over to the lunch meeting in jeans, a tweed jacket, dress shirt and a tie. He sits down, ready to be interviewed. He doesn’t have any notes; it’s just him, a 19-year-old biochem major who has met, he says, with most everyone on City Council, including the mayor, to talk about local politics. I don’t ask who he liked talking to best and he doesn’t offer up his opinion other than to say he has “come under pressure to conform,” from some of those whom he met. They expected him to agree with their viewpoints. He adds that “Sally Petersen has been incredibly helpful. I was really impressed by her.”
Obviously, the pols whom he met with thought he was a typical 19-year-old, ready to be impressed by them, ready to listen to them pontificate about downtown development, transit and the like, and agree with them. After all, why shouldn’t they expect him to just agree with them? People 20, 30, 40, 50 years older than McMullen do it all the time. McMullen would say that such behavior comes from Ann Arbor’s political bubble and the bubble mentality. It’s a startlingly prescient observation.
Samuel McMullen is not a follower. He’s not afraid to disagree and he’s not afraid to admit when he doesn’t know something. He’s a leader in the best sense of the word. He wants to listen to all sides, gather information and then form an opinion. His process is just what critics of the Hieftje administration say they want local government to be: open, honest and transparent.
The only time McMullen sounds like a 19-year-old is when he claims he’ll bring “diversity to City Council.” When asked just what is diverse about being a white male, he grins: “I mean my age.” He’s playing chess, not checkers and if you’re not careful, Sam McMullen will capture your queen just when you’re convinced you have him on the defensive.
Lesko: How’d you get involved in running for local office?
McMullen: I worked on Sam DeVarti’s campaign obliquely (DeVarti ran in 2013 as a member of the Mixed Use Party). I registered voters. (He adds quickly) I’m not a member of the Mixed Use Party. A friend and I had planned to run in 2015, but then decided we’d do it this year. I collected all of my own petition signatures. People’s openness has been a pleasant surprise. People are willing to talk.
Lesko: Nobody slammed the door in your face?
McMullen: There were a couple of people who discouraged me from running. They said, “We don’t want Julie Grand. We want Bob Dascola. You’re going to split the vote.”
Lesko: Why are you running?
McMullen: I’m frustrated with the polarization on City Council, the lack of constructive dialog. It’s an extremely inefficient way to do public policy. There’s this mentality of surplus; people on Council think there’s also an abundance of money. There isn’t. There’s also the attitude that there is a political bubble and that the bubble is impermeable. It’s a bubble in which 10 percent of the people vote and 10 percent of the people talk. It’s why a lot of people aren’t concerned with local politics, but local politics is very influential.
Lesko: So how do you get people to care?
McMullen: It’s a lot about educating voters. That’s a way to get people to care.
Lesko: Do you think the fact that there has been change in the composition of Council means voters are starting to pay closer attention?
McMullen: The Reactionary Party, the reactors, have formed a system that is equally polarizing.
Lesko: So where does that leave you?
McMullen: What my skill set is—always has been—is compromise. I lead by example.
Lesko: Ok. One side believes there’s more than enough police. The other side disagrees. You’re on City Council. How do you decide which way to vote?
McMullen: It comes down to a practical issue: Are we safe or not? I would say superficially, we are safe. I probably wouldn’t have voted for additional police (in the May 2014 city budget approval process).
Lesko: One of your main issues is affordable housing….
McMullen: Affordable housing is the fiscally responsible thing to do. Affordable housing would expand the diversification within the city. What kinds of housing do people want? You have to listen to a wide spectrum of residents. Student housing, for instance, is very inefficient, environmentally and fiscally.
Lesko: Let’s talk about city debt and city employee pensions.
McMullen: I would never vote to eliminate pensions. That’s out of the question. However, pension reform, I’m open to the idea. As for public employees who get multiple pensions (including former city employees Roger Fraser and Sue McCormick), I would want to investigate whether there was some way to change or reform the awarding of multiple pensions. People who collect multiple pensions are of questionable ethical standing.
Lesko: Give me one sentence that describes your views about development.
McMullen: I don’t think mixed zoning is appropriate everywhere downtown.
Lesko: Anything we didn’t cover that you want people to know?
McMullen: I am in this race for real. If I lose, I’ll run again. You can count on me running again.