Vote in the Primary August 7th

Mike Anglin

Dear Neighbor,

I am running for City Council because I am concerned about the direction our current council has been taking in our city. I trust the citizens and neighborhoods of Ann Arbor to help determine our path. Together, we will set a new direction.

Let us make this a city for its people!

• Increase citizen participation in decisions on allocation of tax dollars.
• Better representation of neighborhoods on city committees
• Use city tax funds for services for residents, not big projects
• More comprehensive environmental managment
• Expand Ann Arbor's place as a cultural beacon of the Midwest

Mike holds a BA in History and an MA in Special Education. For 14 years, he and his wife Kathy Clark have lived in Ann Arbor on the Old West Side where they run a bed and breakfast. Mike will bring his experience and this lifelong passion for people and the environment to the job of being your council representative.

Mike Anglin believes in putting people first.

• Mike works with the Kiwanis Club – helping with the Saturday sales, working on Christmas in April, and organizing and driving with the Motor Meals service for the homebound.
• Mike tutors children in reading for the Family Learning Institute.

Mike Anglin advocates for the environment.

• Mike is on the Executive Committee of the local chapter of the Sierra Club.
• Mike is a member of the Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society, the National Wildlife Federation, and Friends of the Ann Arbor Greenway.

Mike Anglin works hard in grassroots local politics.

• Mike actively participates in numerous workshops, public hearings, and city council meetings.
• Mike worked as an elected Precinct Delegate to get out the Democratic vote in 2004 and 2006.
• Mike was elected to the Executive Committee of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party.

http://voteformike.org/index.htm

This is an unusual election because there is only one race – for the 5th Ward City Council seat. Please take the time to vote in this election. Your vote can make a change.

I have decided to run to represent the 5th Ward on City Council because I am concerned about the direction our city is taking. Based on my conversations at the doors of over 500 5th Ward voters, I believe that most agree that the current city council has taken actions that threaten our quality of life and are making living in Ann Arbor less affordable. I trust the neighborhoods and citizens of the 5th Ward to help me set a better direction. Here are just a few examples of the things at stake:

• Despite the recently passed millage to support parks maintenance, parks are less well maintained and fees for residents to use them have increased. In the recently passed budget, even less money was allocated to parks than last year.
• The Council has been approving large, tall, and environmentally unfriendly projects, often in residential neighborhoods. Fortunately, because of effective neighborhood opposition, Avery House, a massive 5-story project on Sunset Road overlooking Bluff Park, was rejected by council after staff and the Planning Commission had approved it. The new A2D2 planning guidelines emphasize streamlining development approvals. This development-driven process will make it even more difficult for neighborhood residents to respond. Recently, council overrode unanimous opposition by the Planning Commission to Zaragon Place, a 10-story building displacing a historic apartment complex that had been regarded as in scale to its setting and highly liveable. The new apartments will lack windows to interior bedrooms.
• Council has been encumbering the city with future debts and obligations that could cut into services for residents. For example, the city is moving closer to approving the sale of bonds for $33.2 million that would be paid to the developers of Broadway Village at Lower Town. The bonds would be paid off from tax receipts over 30 years. While the city gambles on the future value of this development to pay off the bonds, none of the taxes will be used to support ordinary city services for it; instead, we will bear that expense as taxpayers.
• While Council offers free parking and other incentives for downtown developers, our water, sewer, and stormwater fees are going up to support the increased service to downtown high-rise buildings. Yet, all taxes from new construction downtown are spent by the Downtown Development Authority on more support for downtown developers, including outright subsidies, while we bear the expense as taxpayers for the services to all these new buildings.
• Council recently approved a $1 million contract for design of a new city hall, without stating how we will find the money to build it. The sale of city property to developers is one possibility.