AT THE DECEMBER 16th Ann Arbor City Council meeting, Council members Eaton, Lumm and Kunselman introduced a resolution to allocate $125,000 to Police Chief John Seto’s department. The money will fund enhanced traffic enforcement in order to improve pedestrian safety in light of the Mayor’s recent veto of an effort to amend the city’s pedestrian crosswalk ordinance. Judging from the ensuing Council debate, one would have thought the proposal called for millions of dollars to be allocated to a new train station which had no citizen approval, capital or operational finance plans.
Ward 3 Council member Taylor has voted to allocate over $2 million in tax dollars to the Fuller Road train station project which has neither a finance plan nor the approval of Council or the public. Yet, Mr. Taylor called the resolution to give $125,000 to the Police Chief for enhanced enforcement, “sloppy government.” That Council member wanted Chief Seto to outline exactly how the $125,000 would be spent. Ward 1 Council member Sabra Briere who, earlier in the meeting had said in support of the city’s non-motorized transportation plan, “Plans are plans. They aren’t what you actually do,” also wanted Chief Seto to come up with a detailed spending plan for the $125,000 allocation.
Allocating millions of dollars to a train scheme without a plan is actual sloppy government. Having done so and then grilling the Chief of Police over a $125,000 allocation is shameful. To Chief Seto’s credit, when asked if he knew what he’d do with the money, he was quick to answer that he did have ideas. When the Chief was hectored by Council members Taylor and Briere about the need for a detailed plan, Seto remained professional.
In the end, the Mayor was the only member of Council to vote down the $125,000 allocation—all the while complaining about the lack of a plan. John Hieftje has spent the past six years pursuing a transit proposal for a commuter train to Howell, as well as a train station on Fuller Road parkland that lacks not only citizen approval, but any kind of detailed plan for how Ann Arbor taxpayers would pay for capital or operational expenses. His performance, along with that of Christopher Taylor and Sabra Briere, was grossly disrespectful of Chief Seto and supremely hypocritical. We applaud the Council members who proposed the funding bump, and commend those who, during the discussion, treated Chief Seto and the public’s trust with all due respect.
