Every two years, Ann Arbor has an election of members to its City Council. Councilmembers are now elected to four-year terms, as is the Mayor. Here is the Ann Arbor Observer’s description of the Council races this year.
For the last couple of elections, the results have been momentous. We summarized some of this in the post Disruption, Dysfunction and Dismay (I). Briefly, Mayor Christopher Taylor, who was anticipating great things, had some disastrous losses in 2018. He then won much of it back in 2020, with his handpicked slate of strong candidates (well-supported by donations, including support from the Michigan Talent Agenda/Inspire Michigan PAC), who knocked out incumbents of opposing views (more on that contest in the post Disruption in Ann Arbor: It’s a Promise). The new Council wasted no time in undoing much of what the previous one had done. As we commented recently, our politics has gotten to be very reactive. But it has also gotten seriously nastier and less honest. Much of this can be laid at the feet of the Taylor machine.
Yes – I believe that Taylor has constructed a classic political machine. As Wikipedia says, this is defined as “a party organization, headed by a single boss or small autocratic group, that commands enough votes to maintain political and administrative control of a city, county, or state“. It also notes that the term is often considered pejorative. But I believe that in Taylor’s case, it is simply descriptive.
Christopher Taylor was first elected as Mayor in 2014, strongly supported by the Michigan Talent Agenda/Inspire Michigan). The Michigan Talent Agenda is the educational/marketing entity, supported by a PAC, Inspire Michigan. The overall agenda is described in our post, The Placemaking Agenda and Ann Arbor Politics. Briefly, the concept is to build a vibrant and attractive urban center that will attract “talent”, typically young people skilled in the high-tech industries. Or, as stated in their most recent postcard (July 2022) endorsing three candidates in the upcoming election:
The Michigan Talent Agenda is a statewide platform that seeks to drive public policy outcomes to develop, attract, and retain the highly-talented, highly-educated citizenry that Michigan needs to succeed in today’s knowledge economy. This requires a commitment to building and investing in the sorts of communities that mobile talent values.
Since then, Taylor has been gaining power and influence by accretion. At least two nonprofits that also do some business with the City, the Washtenaw Housing Alliance and the Ecology Center, openly participate in campaign-season activities (remember the Climate Voter signs? And the WHA was similarly involved in the Neighbors for More Neighbors campaign). Taylor has had the power of appointment to boards and commissions for eight years, and that builds up a very strong support base. For several campaign cycles he has received maximum campaign donations from Oxford Properties’ owner and other real estate interests, as well as a University of Michigan regent. Most recently he has begun receiving donations from the Michigan Laborers’ Union (note his endorsement by LiUNA!). And now he is endorsed by multiple officeholders and candidates for state-level offices, including County Commissioners.
All this is giving him real muscle. He has been using it in the last election and this one to recruit and support strong candidates who will be loyal to him. His purpose appears to be that he wishes to preside over a unanimously supportive Council, with no discussion. I believe that if you examine the voting record since the 2020 election, you will find very little dissent from members of his slate. And now it is clear that he is determined to eliminate two of the troublesome incumbents who have been effective in criticizing and questioning his leadership on numerous items. He has put his full support behind Jenn Cornell (running to oppose Ali Ramlawi in the 5th Ward) and Dharma Akmon (running to oppose Elizabeth Nelson, 4th Ward). His treasurer, Joan Lowenstein, is their Treasurer. At one point Taylor called upon his own supporters and volunteers to turn out for a massive field day to support Akmon in the 4th ward. (I have been told that Cornell received the same assistance recently.) And it is evident that the same agency (Blue Path Solutions, according to the Observer) prepared their campaign postcards. That is perhaps unfortunate, because the postcards resemble each other both in their mischaracterizations of certain actions, and also in the graceless effort to smear the characters of both incumbents. (Click on the figure to view larger version.)
Happily, I am not obligated to explain Elizabeth Nelson’s response to these items, because she has done that herself. Read it in her own words. The Difference is Clear
What jumped out at me was that the very first thing on the list was the silly issue of Jeff Hayner’s clumsiness. As explained in MLive at the time, he fell into a trap of his own making by quoting a paragraph that contained a word that is offensive to LGBTQ people and then defended his right to quote literature while making another quote containing the N-word, to a Black reporter, no less. I have always found Jeff to be troublesome, but I believe along with many others that he was not actually expressing his feelings but simply being stubborn and insisting on his rights. (Nelson is clear in her statement that she rebuked him for this usage.) Regardless, Taylor’s people have found this to be immensely useful, to the point at which acolytes have suggested on social media that a Black candidate (Angeline Smith) was likely a friend of his because they both live in the First Ward and implying that she was racist! Is this really the issue on which the future of the City of Ann Arbor should hang?
And then the second item is Howard Lazarus’ firing. Actually, he resigned after some serious negotiation and I noticed that he has now found a job as County Executive elsewhere. The Taylorites will never stop mourning his passage, but is this a forward-looking issue?
Taylor himself does not engage in the nastiness. He has a flock of acolytes to carry his message of character assassination and mischaracterization of actions throughout social media. (Most of them are the #a2council twitterers I affectionately call the Jackals.)
So why are we constantly being assaulted with nasty implications, insults, and false descriptions of actions by Council? Because they want to change the subject. Taylor has made it clear that he represents a major change of direction and agenda for the City, and many of his agendas are aimed at bringing in a new population and in inciting growth and economic development. Densification, replacement of current homes and businesses, tax increases and other changes of performance by our government do not favor current residents and small businesses. What his slate emphasize in their anodyne statements is “quality service”. Jenn Cornell, for example, extols “clean water, reliable trash and recycling, safe roads and sidewalks, and parks that are maintained and activated”. That is reassuring to hear, but we hope those things were already in place. (Oddly, Taylor’s recent postcard mostly emphasized his gender sensitivity in placing tampons in public restrooms.) We are not discussing the big issues like how to pay for A2Zero, what radical rezoning will likely look like for the future, or how community members can have a full role in determining the City’s future shape.
Endorsements
We are lucky to have brave souls who are still willing to run for office against all this power. Here are my recommendations.
First Ward: Angeline Smith. She is connected with Arrowwood Cooperative, a strong community that preserves affordable housing and democratic ideals. Her sermon at her Zoom meeting on “trickle-down housing” was a treasure. In addition, she has experience with financial matters that will serve us well. Her opponent Cynthia Harrison seems to be a good person and has a moving life story, but she can be counted on to be one of the Taylor yes votes.
Second Ward: Chris Watson is running unopposed. He will offer a fresh youthful voice.
Third Ward: Ayesha Ghazi Edwin is running unopposed. She has endorsed Taylor and his slate.
Fourth Ward: Elizabeth Nelson. She is an incredibly diligent, intelligent, and thoughtful representative who also has a sense of humor when permitted to exercise it.
Fifth Ward: Ali Ramlawi is thoughtful and brings a valuable perspective as a downtown businessman. He is very fiscally prudent and makes efforts to bring people together, though it has been tough lately.
Mayor: Anne Bannister has taken on a steep hill to climb against an incredibly powerful and well-funded incumbent Mayor, but she is doing a superb job of voicing a vision that is oriented toward the citizens of Ann Arbor rather than toward developing a successful economic engine. She deserves attention and has my thanks and respect.
UPDATE (July 24, 2022): Christopher Taylor’s postcard is similar to those for Akmon and Cornell, with a series of negative but questionable accusations. The political newsletter, Ann Arbor Independent, has an exhaustive discussion of these points.
Section of Christopher Taylor’s campaign postcard with comparisons against Anne Bannister
SECOND UPDATE (July 27, 2022) As reported in the Ann Arbor News, Taylor’s candidates did indeed receive disproportionate cash contributions, approximately twice those of the two incumbents and Angeline Smith. This was exceeded by contributions to Taylor’s own campaign, again reported by the Ann Arbor News.