by P.D. Lesko

Petersen, Briere and Kunselman defeated—Sally Petersen slated to step down in November 2014. Stephen Kunselman says he will not run for re-election in 2015. Liksewise, Sabra Briere has suggested she will not seek re-election to Ann Arbor City Council in 2015. 

CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR has won the four-way Democratic primary election held on August 5. He defeated Ward 1 Council member Sabra Briere, Ward 2 Council member Sally Hart Petersen and Ward 3 Council member Stephen Kunselman. In November, Taylor will face Bryan Kelly, an independent.

With the primary election loss of Nancy Kaplan, whose campaign platform focused on funding core services, Taylor (if elected in November) will head a City Council populated by a majority of members who say they will focus on downtown development.

Taylor campaigned as a politician able to collaborate with all of his Council colleagues, despite having a majority of them endorse against him in the primary. He faces a vocal minority unlikely to support taxpayer spending on a new train station. Several Council members have spoken out against outsized developments in or bordering neighborhoods, the repurposing of land designated for public use, or the development/leasing of parkland.

One of Taylor’s campaign taglines was “Responsible Government, Collaborative Leadership.”

A Facebook party invitation page revealed Taylor’s promise to provide “collaborative leadership” did not extend to his own August 5 election night party. He extended Facebook invites to his celebration to two of the ten sitting members of City Council.

To his August 5 party, Taylor invited Ward 1 challenger Don Adams, Jr., whose pro-life, anti-marriage equality stances contributed to his loss in the Ward 1 Council race.

Likewise, Taylor invited new Ward 4 Council member Gordon Krapohl and soon-to-be- former Ward 4 Council member Margie Teall. Ward 4 Council member Jack Eaton did not get an invite.

While election-night party invites can’t predict future behavior, the fact remains that Taylor’s focus on “preparing for climate change” and “improving downtown,” are out-of-step with the priorities of the majority of residents surveyed by the city in 2013.

Nancy Kaplan lost to two-time Council candidate Kirk Westphal (invited to Taylor’s election night party) and Bob Dascola lost to Julie Grand in Ward 3. Kaplan and Dascola would have focused on rebuilding the city’s fire and police services. During the administration of John Hieftje—and the Council tenure of Christopher Taylor—downtown beat cops were eliminated and successive budgets passed that slashed police staffing through attrition and early retirement.

According to data from the AAFD, the number of resident deaths in house fires has jumped, as well. The city’s fire department staffing and response times still do not meet national standards. That department has been without a fire chief for eight months.

“Two basic services that have suffered significant budget cuts are our safety services of police and fire. I would like to make sure that the police are fully staffed to the new budget authorized limit of 122 (currently staffed to 115)….I would like the fire department staffed to meet national fire safety standards for our safety and theirs,” said Kaplan.

In the city’s 2013 National Citizen Survey, comments about roads and taxes dominated the open-ended question responses. Respondents were asked to record their opinions about City priorities by the following question: “What should be City leaders’ top three priorities to maximize the quality of life in Ann Arbor?” A total of 778 surveys were completed by Ann Arbor residents; of these, 567 respondents wrote in responses for the open-ended question.

A small number of responses, only about 7 percent of the total, have to do with homelessness and services for low income residents. Sixteen percent of the responses given  focused on issues related to land use, planning and development.

57 percent of responses, focused on the “worst,” “unsafe,” “abysmal” and “terrible” roads. In six years on Council, Taylor offered no resolutions to increase funding for road repair. While running for mayor, he promised to “implement best practices for more effective and efficient service delivery, including road repair.”

While on Council, Christopher Taylor and the Board of the Downtown Development Authority pushed to have City Council focus on land use, planning and development. Resident responses to the National Citizen Survey show those surveyed want to see more attention paid to roads, basic services such as police and fire, parks and the city’s high cost of living.

These were issues all of the Council candidates’ campaigns targeted to varying degrees.

Chris Taylor said while campaigning: “We should invest in infrastructure improvements – including sewer and water system projects – that will make our neighborhoods more functional and more attractive places to live.  I have authored important improvements to our fire safety, litter, and noise ordinances. These have significantly improved the ability of our residents to live safely in cleaner, more orderly communities.”

He promises to implement “best practices” for “more efficient” delivery of services.