by P.D. Lesko

At 8 a.m. on a chilly Mar. 5 morning, Ann Arbor City Council member Jack Eaton (D-Ward 4) and Council member Mike Anglin (D-Ward 5) waited in the lobby of Ann Arbor City Hall for the City Clerk’s office to open. Both men showed up at the start of their days to pull nominating petitions in order to have their names placed on the Aug. primary election ballot. Those who run for City Council must collect 100 signatures from voters registered in Ann Arbor who reside in the Ward the candidate wishes to represent. As a rule, those who circulate the petitions aim to collect anywhere between 110 and 120 signatures. It is common for City Clerk Jacqueline Beaudry to disqualify a small number of signatures collected by candidates seeking local office. In addition, duplicate signatures are disqualified. If candidates running to represent the same Ward collect nominating signatures from any of the same people, those signatures count for the candidate who turns in her/his petitions first.

Both Eaton and Anglin expect to be challenged in the Democratic primary. In Ward 4, Jaime Magiera, a U-M Desktop Support Specialist is expected  to oppose Eaton in the Aug. Democratic primary election. Chip Smith, an urban planner “supported by allies of Mayor John Hieftje,” according to The Ann Arbor News, launched a write-in campaign in Oct. 2013 against Anglin. Political insiders say Smith is a possible opponent for Anglin again this time around.

Click here to listen to an interview with Council members Anglin and Eaton in which they discuss their upcoming campaigns, as well as the use of Street Repair millage funds for art and the first reading passage of an amended snow removal ordinance. The ordinance would require residents to remove snow when accumulations are less than one inch and shovel public property, specifically AAATA bus stops that abut  residents’ sidewalks.