by Patricia Lesko

The Sierra Club, Huron Valley Group, and Sierra Club, Michigan Chapter today formally announced an early endorsement of Ann Arbor Council member Jack Eaton (D-Ward 4) for re-election. In past, such endorsements have typically been made public sometime in late June or early July.

“Jack is one of our consistent and strongest champions of the environment and we’re proud to stand behind him,” said James D’Amour, Sierra Club, Huron Valley Group Political Chair. D’Amour also remarked, “He has always been there for us.”

In June of 2012, the Michigan Sierra Club and the Club’s Huron Valley (Ann Arbor) Chapter endorsed Eaton. He was in excellent company. In Michigan, the Sierra Club endorsements for 2012 also included Barack Obama. In 2012, the Sierra Club, an independent and respected environmental group, urged Ann Arbor voters to go to polls and toss a ten-year incumbent out of office, an incumbent who had served nine years on the Ann Arbor Environmental Commission.

The reason why, perhaps, had to do with the fact that U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data and analyses data released between 2005 and 2012 revealed that the air and water in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw county were dirty. According to data compiled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the county’s water sources contained over twice the number of contaminants found in water sources state-wide, starting with a 1,4 dioxane plume that is creeping toward the Huron River. Data gathered by the state and the EPA revealed that Washtenaw County, including Ann Arbor, had one of the most impaired watersheds in Michigan, with 15.3 percent of the total surface water not meeting Clean Water Act standards. In Wayne County, one of the dirtiest counties in the country according to the EPA, 17.22 percent of all surface water failed to meet Clean Water Act standards.

Between 2005 and 2012, Washtenaw county and Ann Arbor registered some of the dirtiest air and water in the state of Michigan, according to the EPA. Ann Arbor was singled out by the EPA for its failure to meet federal clean air standards and miles driven within Ann Arbor rose by a whopping 47,481,632 between 2002 and 2012 according to MDOT.

Eaton lost in 2012, but went on to oust a 6-term incumbent in 2013. In 2015, the Michigan Sierra Club again endorsed Eaton. The Club’s 2015 announcement included this: “At the end, it came down to our overriding issues of parks protection, parks funding, protection of remaining open spaces within the city, review of our zoning policies related to the environment, and protection of our natural systems. In our judgment, Council members Anglin and Eaton remain our central champions on these issues.” Anglin, an incumbent, lost to Chip Smith (D-Ward 5) but Eaton won re-election.

Jaime Magiera ran in the 2015 Democratic primary election for City Council from Ward 4 and he is running again in 2017. On his campaign website, Magiera’s “Ideas” include “Clean Air and Water,” and “Committment [sic] to the Environment.” 

In making a decision concerning which Ward 4 primary election candidate to endorse, the Sierra Club officials focused on, “environmental protection,” D’Amour said. “Preservation of open space is an established value demanded by our city and its citizens. While greater development of the city provides significant opportunities, it is important that our central policy be protection of the environment first and foremost,” added D’Amour.

According to recent EPA and Huron River Watershed Council data, Washtenaw County’s watershed remains one of the most seriously impaired in the state and Ann Arbor’s air is still some of the dirtiest in the state. The Ann Arbor Wastewater Treatment plant is, according to data collected by the EPA, one of the county’s top air polluters. The plant releases a variety of compounds and particulate matter into the air including  almost 100 tons of sulfer dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. Ann Arbor’s watershed, according to a 2015 report released by the Huron River Watershed Council was, to the north and south of Ann Arbor, classified as “seriously impaired.” The Watershed Council did not classify the Huron River watershed as the river runs through Ann Arbor, however.

“Jack is for a sustainable Ann Arbor. From pedestrian safety and non-automotive transit, to outspokenly championing our natural systems in the face of overdevelopment. He has made a commitment to us to move the city away from the solar tax that discourages residents from installing renewable energy systems in their homes,” James D’Amour pointed out.

Like Eaton, Magiera also supports an end to the city’s so-called “solar tax.” The Ann Arbor Independent left messages for Magiera to ask about why he thought he’d missed out on the endorsement, given his stances on several of the Sierra Club’s key issues.

The Sierra Club’s April 20, 2017 release stated: “Consistent leadership, not lip service or simple proclamations. We looked at Jack’s record, and for us, this was an easy decision. We urge our members and all citizens of Ann Arbor’s Fourth Ward to reelect Jack Eaton for City Council.”