Mayoral Candidate Alleges Opponents’ Affordable Housing Resolution “Pandering” and “Politicking”

WARD 3 COUNCIL member Stephen Kunselman repeatedly alleged that a resolution brought to Council’s June 2, 2014 meeting by Mayor Hieftje, Ward 1 Council member Sabra Briere, Ward 3 Council member Christopher Taylor, Ward 4 Council member Margie Teall and Ward 5 Council member Chuck Warpehoski was a “teaser resolution” and “pandering.” Kunselman, in his fourth term on Council, is running for mayor.

Kunselman commented that the group’s affordable housing resolution was “playing games” with those in the community who support the expansion of affordable housing. He went on to explain that while Council was voting to allocate to the city’s Affordable Housing Fund half of the money from any sale of the Library lot parcel, there was no guarantee that Council would not, later, divert the funds to another project as happened when the new city hall was built.

On June 4, 2007 City Council members voted to sell a city-owned property on East Eisenhower for $23,750. However, the Council’s resolution also included a “resolved” clause that rescinded the city’s policy dealing with the proceeds from the sale of city-owned land. As a result of that “resolved” clause, proceeds from the sale of city-owned land were no longer required to be deposited into the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

“This resolution,” said Kunselman on June 2, 2014, “does not guarantee any money will be spent on affordable housing.”

Not only was Kunselman accurately reflecting what happened in 2007, according to minutes of the meeting, he also pointed out that the resolution offered up by his two mayoral opponents, Briere and Taylor, was a “non-binding resolution, a position statement.”

He went on to say that the resolution was designed to “appease people” who support affordable housing “while playing politics.”

At the 2007 meeting, Council member Kunselman objected to the idea that a major shift in policy would be buried as one of a list of resolved clauses in a minor land transaction:

RESOLVED, That City Council revoke Resolution R-481-11-98 which provided that the proceeds from the sale of excess City property be deposited into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund;—June 4, 2007 City Council meeting minutes.

At the 2007 meeting, Kunselman criticized his colleagues for allegedly not conducting the people’s business in a manner that was open and transparent.

A video record of that meeting provided to The A2 Indy shows Former Ward 5 Council member, now 15th District Court Judge Chris Easthope, took great offense at the suggestion that the Council’s actions were anything less than transparent.

In essence, the single resolved clause of the 2007 resolution allows Council members to bring forward resolutions allocating money from the sale of public property to the Affordable Housing Fund and then, later, to quietly remove Affordable Housing Funds, as was done in with the sale of a city-owned parcel at First and William for $3 million used to pay for the new city hall building.

In 2012, Council charged the Ann Arbor DDA Board with the development (and sale) of five city-owned properties:

• The Library Lot atop the new underground parking garage off Fifth Avenue;
• The old Y Lot where the YMCA and 100 affordable housing units once stood at the corner of Fifth and William;
• The ground floor of the Fourth and William parking garage;
• The Palio Lot at the corner of Main and William;
• The Kline Lot at Ashley and William.

DDA board members, including Joan Lowenstein who, in 2007, voted in favor of the resolution which opened up the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to raids by Council, put forward a resolution which encouraged the Ann Arbor City Council to deposit all of the funds from the sale of the properties into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

It has been estimated that the sale of the five parcels could bring in a combined $20-$30 million. If any portion of that money were to be placed in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, the 2007 resolution would permit all of the money to be transferred out by City Council for use on other capital projects, such as a new train station or a conference center.

Sabra Briere and Christopher Taylor have repeatedly voted to use riverfront parkland on Fuller Road as a site for development and parking. Both Briere and Taylor have spoken in support of selling the Library Lot parcel to a developer who would construct a conference center and/or hotel, as well.

When Kunselman proposed an amendment to the June 4 resolution to allocate 25 percent of the money from the sale of the Library Lot to the city’s Housing Commission, both Briere and Taylor voted against the proposed change. Council does not have the authority to raid funds once they’ve been given to the Housing Commission.