Ann Arbor Has Become a “Taylorville” of Business Projections and Neglect: Time For New Leadership

by Alan Haber

If you are an Ann Arbor voter or know Ann Arbor voters, please vote and use your influence to vote out the City Council incumbents: Mayor Taylor, and Council Members Jenn Cornell and Cynthia Harrison.

These people violated their Oaths of Office; they acted in violation of the City Charter and they disrespected the majority votes of 26,752 voters who voted in the high turn out November 2018 Election that decided the Center of the City (Library Lot) should be developed as a Central Park and Civic Center Commons for public use in perpetuity.   

The Mayor and these Council Members promoted a plan to “sell” the most  valuable Center of the City  land (estimated at $10 million) to the Library for one dollar for dense, high value taxable housing development.  This is what voters rejected in 2018. The Mayor didn’t like that vote and often spoke against it.  The City Administrator failed to carry out recommendation for removing the car parking from the land and opening the Park, a Library Green, for the people, City Council and City staff conspired with the Library Director to hold a special election, using public money and staff time for the transfer of the public property to the AADL and to repeal the City Charter amendment that called for public use development. 

Taylor, Cornell and Harrison show no integrity  and do not deserve to return to public service. 

The Council of the Commons, appointed to advise the City Council on the creation of a park, agreed with Council Members to seek outside consultation for next steps in the Commons development. Jenn Cornell did what she could to block this. The City Administrator delayed two years without writing the Request for Proposals for independent consultant advice, and never did do the job. Instead, he brought a counter proposal to hold an off season, off year (August 2025 “Special Election” to both transfer the deed, and repeal the City Charter public use direction.   

Previous City Council policy had been to “never again” to hold off-year summer elections, which always had low turnout and unrepresentative turnouts. That policy was ignored and the August 2025 vote was indeed low turnout.

Proper action would have been first to have a debate and vote on repeal of the public use direction in the City Charter.  Had that been done, the malfeasance of the City in failing to implement the City Charter amendment would have become known and the actual plans for public use development shown.

The other three incumbents whose terms are up and who participated in this illegality have chosen not to run again. Be that as it may, they also should not be replaced by the Mayor’s allies (Aidan Sova, Ashley Hall, Sandy Aldrich). 

The Mayor’s 14 years in office have led to increasing development, higher rents, and taxes, more traffic congestion and less respect for the people who actually live and work in Ann Arbor. Taylor and his allies have delivered unbalanced over-attention to those high earners they seek to attract. The New “Comprehensive Land Use Plan” (CLUP) undervalued historic districts and neighborhood character and provides an almost open market for developers to do as they will for wherever there is profit to be made.  

We need a new government in Ann Arbor dedicated to listening to the people who live here. Yousef Rabhi would be a better Mayor. Please vote for him and for:

Ward 1 – Rebecca Arends

Ward 2 – Teesha Montague

Ward 3 – Ryan Bartholomew

Ward 4 – Dave Zeglen

Ward 5 – Greg Monroe 

I moved to Ann Arbor in 1936. I grew up and was educated and worked here. I have seen it change from a community of neighbors, “a wonderful town,” like in the movie, to a “Potterville” of business projections and neglect. Over the last 25 years, former Mayor John Hieftje and now Chris Taylor have accelerated a “Government Knows Best” arrogance. We need a new Government in Our Town.  If you vote here or know people who do, use your influence in the August 4 Primary Election.