Click on the link to download The Ann Arbor Independent 2013 Local Election Voter Guide in PDF format: [download#10]

ON NOVEMBER 5TH, Ann Arbor voters in Wards 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 will go to the polls and choose from among candidates running for City Council. There are three Democrats and five Independents—three of whom are affiliated with the Mixed Use Party, University of Michigan students interested in environmental and zoning issues. Mixed Use Party candidate Jaclyn Vresics intended to participate in the Ward 1 general election, but withdrew. However, she did so too late to have her name removed from the ballot. Ward 1 candidate Jeff Hayner, an Independent, is not affiliated with the Mixed Use Party.

As were the August 2013 primary elections, the November general election is perceived by political insiders as a referendum on the ability of Ann Arbor’s mayor to continue to push what has become an unpopular tax and cut political  agenda.

“John Hieftje came into my neighborhood and campaigned against me,” said Ward 4 Council member elect Jack Eaton. “I got almost 65 percent of the vote. It’s obvious people in my Ward weren’t buying what the Mayor was selling.”

During the primaries, Hieftje went door-to-door with long-time Ward 4 incumbent Marcia Higgins. Higgins was soundly beaten in what was seen as a resounding rejection of the Hieftje administration, as well as Higgins’s long-time support of controversial zoning changes, development projects and cuts to services coupled with a poor attendance record at Council meetings.

John Hieftje’s administration has eliminated popular city services, such as leaf collection, raised fees, hiked water and sewer rates and slashed safety services. Until recently, Hieftje supported spending money from the city’s street repair and sewer funds on public art. His administration is also pushing a new train station which city staff estimate could cost Ann Arbor taxpayers upwards of $50 million dollars.

In Ward 2, however, Mixed Use Party candidate Conrad Brown submitted 101 valid nominating signatures, one more than is required. Brown is the former President of the University of Michigan student group Young Americans For Liberty, a libertarian group founded in 2008.

The Ward 2 race to watch is between incumbent Independent Jane Lumm and Hieftje-backed challenger Democrat Kirk Westphal. Westphal is a pro-density member of the city’s Planning Commission whose top priority is economic development which he says can “fuel” the rising costs of core services. Council member Lumm has said her top priorities are “public safety, fiscal responsibility and sensible city planning.”

In his primary campaign Ward 3 Council member Stephen Kunselman told voters that John Hieftje and his political allies are myopically focused on the development of downtown parcels at the expense of the city’s neighborhoods. That message resounded with voters, and despite being outspent by challenger Julie Grand, Kunselman beat the soon-to-be-former Park Advisory Commission Chair.

In the November 5th general election, Kunselman will face Mixed Use Party candidate Sam DeVarti. DeVarti, son of former Ann Arbor Council member and Downtown Development Board member David DeVarti, is not expected to unseat the Ward 3 incumbent.

Democrat Jack Eaton, whose win in Ward 4 was yet another political blow to John Hieftje, faces a write-in candidate. Likewise, Ward 5 incumbent Democrat Mike Anglin faces two write-in candidates on November 5th.