State Policy Director Announces Run for Ann Arbor City Council Ward 3

Ryan Bartholomew, policy director for State Representative Carrie Rheingans (D-Ann Arbor), has announced his candidacy for Ann Arbor City Council in Ward 3. On Feb. 18, 2025 Ashley Hall, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners’ director of board operations, announced her candidacy for the same City Council seat. Hall’s website lists endorsements from Mayor Taylor and several City Council members, including Travis Radina, Lisa Disch, Jon Mallek, Jen Eyer and Erica Briggs, as well as 4th Ward council candidate Aidan Sova, County Board Chair Katie Scott and others.

“Ann Arbor has become increasingly unaffordable for the people who take care of us – our teachers, nurses, and first responders,” Bartholomew said. “As a policy director, I have worked on legislation to fight for working people and stand up to corporate monopolies. Together, let’s build an Ann Arbor that prioritizes taking care of the people who take care of us.”

Bartholomew calls for building more affordable housing, protecting renters, expanding the city’s climate goals and conservation efforts, and trying bold ideas to make Ann Arbor more affordable for working people.

One such idea Bartholomew is championing is the creation of a pilot program for municipal-run childcare where working people who serve the city would pay a heavily subsidized rate.

Bartholomew’s website says, “Childcare is more expensive in Ann Arbor than anywhere else in the state, averaging $2600 per month for infant care. How can we expect working people like teachers to take care of our children when they cannot afford to have people take care of theirs?”

Bartholomew holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and has served as State Rep. Rheingans’ policy director for the last three years. In that role, he has worked on legislation in Lansing to deliver universal healthcare to all Michiganders, empower renters, protect our fundamental rights and freedoms, and fight back against the consolidation of power and resources by corporate monopolies.

In addition, Bartholomew has worked for Michigan Medicine as a senior health policy analyst to connect the most vulnerable people in the community with holistic services to meet their needs, served in AmeriCorps, and as a White House intern in the Obama Administration in 2015.

Bartholomew said he believes any campaign should lead with listening and community collaboration, and he is running to build a city government that reflects the everyday realities of working people, not the priorities of corporate donors or political insiders. “Ann Arborites deserve a city government run by the people, for the people, and that means having a council member who starts by showing up and listening,” Bartholomew said.