A2C2 Group Urges Voters to Vote Against Proposals A and B on the August 5, 2025 Ballot

Vote Green – Keep the Voters’ Plan for a green park and civic center as a Commons for the Center of our City

by Alan Haber

This is an “illegal election” violating the City Charter, wrongly called by the City Council, seeking to sell public land for private development, land now designated for a Park and Civic Center.

The City Council failed to implement the 2018 People’s vote and is now, again, seeking to evade its responsibilities. 

Vote NO!  NO!  Bad Deals Both

Library Director Eli Neiburger wants to get in the housing business to finance a new Downtown Library Building without having to go to the people to show the need and vision for expanded space, and without being accountable to the public. Neiburger says 15 floors of market housing on a double-sized lot will pay the price of a new downtown library building.

The Mayor and his City Council and City staff allies want maximum dense development, maximum population increase, maximum tax money, and minimum public participation, and are willing to sell the public trust for a dollar, in violation of their Oaths of Office, and to be rid of the “Commons” which they never liked. They refused to end parking in the park, refused to gather the neighbors or invite advice.

The “Commons” refers to shared resources of land and other things, self-managed by the users.

The 2018 vote established a plan to develop the Center of the City land as a “Commons,” including both a Library Green Park, with gardens, a playground, fountain, stage, benches, picnics tables,  welcoming to all. The plan also included a Civic Center Building with a Visitor Center, where people could come to see what was going on. The plan approved by 53 percent of voters in Nov. 2018 also included a cafe, an art gallery,  help center,  peace place, bio-region watershed map and many other suggestions including  a Ceremonial Ballroom.

There are all good neighbor activities for the Downtown Library, joined with Liberty Plaza and the Kempf House. The “Commons” is still the best way to manage commonly-pooled resources, better than the sale of public parkland by the Government to private corporations. 

The Commons is still well worth a try in Ann Arbor.

Vote No! Vote not “to sell” the Commons. Permit the park and civic center to develop.

Ann Arbor Community Commons (A2C2), annarborcommunitycommons.org, info: megiddo@umich.edu