OVER THE PAST dozen years there has arisen what one City Council member recently referred to as a “professional class” of people who are appointed time and again to serve on Ann Arbor’s boards and commissions. These people are sometimes shuffled from one board or committee to the next, as was the case with Eric Mahler’s appointment to the AAATA Board. After Mr. Mahler had served six years on the Ann Arbor Planning Commission, he was then appointed to serve on the Board of the AAATA, despite the fact that other qualified candidates had submitted applications to serve on the AAATA Board.
In addition to this “professional class” of appointees, several recent mayoral appointments to high profile boards and commissions have been City Council candidates who failed to win their elections (or re-elections). Those whom Ann Arbor voters chose not to elect to local public office have been appointed to the Parks Advisory Commission, the Huron River Impoundment Management Plan Committee, the Board of the Downtown Development Authority and the Ann Arbor Planning Commission. Such political appointments represent a subversion of the political process. Those whose ideas and vision voters reject in local elections should not then be rewarded with posts that allow them to shape the look, feel and future of our city.
In other cases, individuals have been allowed to serve on Boards and Commissions for decades. In two notable instances, board members have served since George W. Bush was President. The Downtown Area Citizens Advisory Council (CAC), which is a Charter-mandated group charged with advising the Board of the Downtown Development Authority and City Council with regard to implementation of the Downtown Development Plan and Tax Increment Financing Plan, has devolved into a private club. The CAC counts among its six members two married couples, and has been chaired by the same individual since the 1980s. A maximum of 15 individuals could be appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by City Council to serve on the CAC, and despite a recent spate of critical media coverage of the board’s composition, additional appointments have not been made.
If the development, diversity, vitality and success of our downtown is as important as Mayor Hieftje and Council members claim it is, populating the CAC with a diverse group of downtown residents should be a political priority, as well.
Council members Sumi Kailasapathy (Ward 1) and Jane Lumm (Ward 2) intend to bring forward a resolution which would expand on a section of the Ann Arbor Charter which calls for term limits to be imposed on certain classes of board, committee and commission appointments. This resolution would limit all members serving on city boards and commissions to a maximum of two terms. Individuals would be eligible to serve again after an interval equal to a single term on the board or commission in question.
If this change were applied retroactively to all those currently serving on a city board or commission—and we think this would be an excellent step away from subverting the will of the voters and political cronyism—seven of the 12 members of the DDA Board would be term-limited. Likewise, two of the seven members of the Planning Commission and four members of the Energy Commission would be term-limited, as well.
Council members Kailasapathy and Lumm have been careful to couch this proposed change in neutral terms. This is as it should be. While we can point to board and commission members who have used their appointments to land city contracts or push their agendas rather than listen to public input, it’s better to thank those who have served multiple consecutive terms and begin the process of diversifying the city’s boards and commissions through the recruitment of Ann Arbor residents who have the expertise required and who are interested in public service.
This will require not only a change to the Ann Arbor Charter, it will require a change in attitude and habit from those who serve on City Council. While the appointment of DDA Board member Albert McWilliams was shocking as to details of McWilliams’s use of the term “kunt”selman to describe Ward 3 Council member Kunselman, the robust debate surrounding Mr. McWilliams’s qualifications for the appointment was befitting the importance of the position for which McWilliams was being considered. City Council members guard the gate and should be vigilant and dutiful in their efforts to see that boards and commissions are populated by the best-qualified candidates.
We applaud Council members Kailasapathy and Lumm for their efforts to bring forth this resolution and encourage those on City Council to support this proposed change. Ultimately, voters will decide whether to change the city’s Charter, and once we see the Charter amendment language, we will comment on it.