Westphal Defeats Kaplan in Ward 2 City Council Race—Council Focus Will Continue to be Development and Downtown

WHILE THE CITY’S bankers, lawyers, developers, rich and influential poured over $75,000 into the mayoral primary election campaign of Ward 3 Council member Christopher Taylor, the balance of power on City Council hung in the balance of elections in Wards 2 and 3. Nancy Kaplan, against whose candidacy Christopher Taylor wagered with a donation to her opponent Kirk Westphal (one of only two donations Taylor made in the City Council races in Wards 1, 2 and 3) won with close to 60 percent of the vote.

While Council member Taylor told voters in a series of videos that he was committed to the “essentials,” meaning core services, his voting record on City Council over the past six years did not jibe with his campaign rhetoric. In six years on Council, Taylor’s legislative record does not include any resolutions to increase funding for road repair. Between 2008 and 2014, the Ward 3 Council member whom The Ann Arbor News chided in its endorsement needs to refrain from walking in Mayor Hieftje’s political footsteps, voted in lockstep with the mayor.

Taylor’s votes included supporting city budgets that reduced the number of firefighters and an $8 million dollar early retirement plan for police. The 2009 early retirement plan paid four lieutenants, five sergeants, four detectives, 10 officers and two dispatchers to retire. In all, they had more than 590 years experience with the department; all but one had at least 20 years of tenure. Four of the five supervisors in the detective bureau left.

Critics contend the 2009 retirement plan merely shuffled costs for the 25 from the General Fund to the city’s underfunded employee pension and health care funds. The total unfunded pension obligations is the single largest debt city taxpayers face and stands at over $240,000,000, according to the city’s most recent audit.

Nancy Kaplan said in an interview with The Ann Arbor Independent, “Taxpayers should be concerned about the city’s underfunded retiree pension and health care liabilities. Modifying/changing the current plans will require the guidance of experts.  Yes, the city has a serious debt and now is the time to study and implement changes.”

Kirk Westphal’s campaign focused on downtown development. Westphal has a degree in Urban Planning from U-M and serves on the Ann Arbor Planning Commission.

Mayor John Hieftje and his allies on Council, including Christopher Taylor, have spent the past several years focusing on a commuter train project called WALLY—between Washtenaw and Livingston Counties, as well as building a new train station on Fuller Road near U-M’s Medical Center,.Westphal, like Hieftje, is a vocal supporter of commuter trains.

“Transit is an integral part of Ann Arbor and our region. As an urban planner, I recognize the “triple bottom line” value of excellent transit service: economically, environmentally, and societally. Many people are familiar with the value of transit to those who cannot or do not wish to rely on a car, as well as the environmental benefits of less carbon emissions.

“However, the economic returns of a robust transit system are significant: it leverages state and federal money, saves people the high cost of owning and operating vehicles so they can save or spend more locally, saves travel time by removing cars from the road, saves the cost of building parking structures, increases property values near transit lines—the list goes on,” said Westphal.

With Kirk Westphal’s election to the Ward 2 City Council seat, Christopher Taylor and his monied supporters find themselves at a decided political advantage. Council member Taylor voted in support of repurposing Fuller Road parkland which abuts the Huron River for a transit station, come November there will be at least five other members of City Council who support repurposing parkland without an affirmative vote of the citizenry.

In his position on the Planning Commission, Kirk Westphal supported the development of Argo Park, including putting in a restaurant or a paddle up brew pub.

Ward 2 Council member Jane Lumm, an Independent, was thwarted in her efforts to change the Charter section which calls for a vote of the citizens when parkland is to be sold, to include a vote whenever parkland is to be leased.

Council member Taylor did not support Lumm’s proposal. He spoke out against it. However, it’s unclear whether Westphal would support the voters deciding whether to sell or lease parkland. If such a proposal would be brought back to Council, in 2015 Ann Arbor voters would have opportunity to decide whether both the sale and leasing of their parkland should require a majority vote.

The sale of land owned by the public, such as the Library Lot parcel, as well as other downtown parcels requires 8 votes. Once again, should Taylor be elected in November, he will still find himself without the needed votes to sell downtown parcels for development, which he has said he would be in favor of doing.

Ward 1 Council member Kailasapathy, as well as other members of City Council, want a better mechanism for citizen input regarding parcels owned by the public in the downtown area. The Downtown Development Authority—charged by Council with crafting a plan for the parcels—conducted a survey. However, according to critics, the survey was skewed toward a desired outcome (sale of the parcels) with little opportunity for citizens to suggest other uses for the parcels.

While City Council members imposed term limits on DDA Board members, Westphal has said he does not favor term limits.

“I have heard some discussions about term limits. I am generally not in favor of this, whether on our boards or in other governmental bodies for that matter. If there is an applicant whose qualifications are better than those of a currently serving member, then a change should be considered. But ‘forcing’ a change in membership would not be in our best interest.”

Westphal says his top three priorities are:

Long-term prosperity: A secure future must come from both economic development and higher property values. Investments and jobs coming to Ann Arbor translate to excellent services to residents.

Proactive neighborhood engagement: The city often contacts neighborhoods just when there is “bad news.” We have an opportunity to instead create an ongoing dialogue where residents feel empowered to ask for neighborhood enhancements as well as to troubleshoot problems early on.

Budgeting for results: It’s easy for politicians to make campaign promises we can’t pay for. Have they delivered? I’ll take a disciplined, data-driven approach.