Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

MSA President reminds reps of GEO support

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 24. March 2005

Below is a letter sent to representatives in the U-M student government.

As a reminder, MSA did endorse the Graduate Students in their demands on the University. It is likely there will be a walk-out tomorrow, and I encourage each of you to think critically about the requests of our fellow students and make recommendations to your constituents on our GSI’s actions in light of the situation.

Attached is a copy of the platform of the GEO and the resolution MSA passed on the issue.

All the best,
Jason
—
Jason S. Mironov
President, Student Body
University of Michigan

The files referred to as being attached can be downloaded here:
> geo2004platform.pdf
> resolution to support geo.doc

See also:
> GEO Job Action Imminent

Gas prices rise, Michiganders miss the point?

Posted by Murph on 23. March 2005

Tuesday’s Detroit News had a nice trio of articles on gas prices, including tales of irrational action on the part of both the “average driver” and at least one Michigan legislator.

Michigan gas prices his record high; no relief in sight notes that the statewide gas price average hit $2.136/gallon on Monday, a (non-inflation adjusted?) record high. High gas prices curtail spending discusses the reaction to this,

Record gas prices are siphoning money out of Metro Detroiters’ wallets that could be spent at restaurants, grocery stores or other businesses.

Michigan drivers are paying about 40 cents a gallon more than a year ago. Most people can’t easily cut back on driving, leaving them little choice but to trim other spending.

“Higher oil prices act like a tax on consumers,” said East Lansing economist Patrick Anderson. “They have less money after they pay their fuel bills to spend on other things.”

The article comments that consumers have “no choice” but to keep buying the same amount of gas, dismissing discussion of alternatives,

Families on tight budgets have no choice but to cut back on other spending when they pay more to gas up their cars. But, in contrast with the oil shortages and price spikes of the 1970s, most people are able to get by without changing their lifestyle, said Central Michigan University economics professor Phil Thompson.

According to Troy legislator supports limit on gasoline sales tax, Michigan Representative Gosselin (R-Troy) has a plan for helping consumers out. Not by supporting mass transit, compact development, or better fuel efficiency, of course, but by capping the amount of sales tax collected on gasoline:

Under the proposal, the sales tax could only be collected on gasoline that costs up to $2.30 a gallon. If the price moves higher, the 6 percent sales tax would not be collected on the excess.

“We as lawmakers cannot control OPEC or the price of crude oil. But we can control the sales tax on gasoline,” said Gosselin, a Troy Republican who paid $46 the last time he filled up his sport utility vehicle.

How would Gosselin feel about more long-term fixes, like mass transit and changes to land use? The DetNews voter guide from last fall notest that he’s against them:

“Michigan needs to spend its road tax dollars more wisely. We need to stop stealing 10 percent of gas tax and license fee revenue and giving it to wasteful mass transit systems, which are often corrupt as well!”

Comment [18]

GEO Job Action Imminent

23. March 2005

According to the GEO website, a strong majority of voters elected to hold a one day job action. Reports from the bargaining team indicate a “lack of response to the issues raised by the Union over the last four months.

A meeting will be held tonight, Wednesday at 7pm to see if the University administration has worked to avoid the job action.

In the worst case scenario, the University administration continues the unfair bargaining. (in my experience, an overabundance of “no’s” without much reason.) and GEO is forced to continue with the job action planned for tomorrow. Thursday Strike Plans

This is the latest newsletter which explains the issues from GEO’s point of view.

My experience as staff for GEO (1997-2003) is that the hard work by GEO members to present issues and solutions to the University administration is met with unwillingness to bargain in good faith. They force a job action through that unwillingness.

If only they negotiated in good faith, the contract would have been finished by February 1st. Please contact GEO for more information or if you have questions. (or me)

In Solidarity, Mark

(p.s. these are my own views and not of Arbor Update or of GEO)

Comment [35]

Mayor Hieftje considering ordinance to push back lease-signing

Posted by Murph on 22. March 2005

The Michigan Daily reports that Mayor Hieftje has begun thinking about how to create a city ordinance that would prevent lease-signing too early in the school year, reducing pressure on students to find housing and sign (or renew) leases before properly considering their next year’s needs.

The rush to find off-campus housing will be dramatically different next fall if Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje succeeds in passing a city ordinance that would restrict landlords from leasing apartments and houses until after the fall semester is over.

“My plan is to start work on developing this ordinance internally with our legal people, and with the council members, and move this so that we have it in place by the end of summer,� Hieftje confirmed in an interview with The Michigan Daily.

Hieftje said he was unsure of what the specifics of the ordinance will be. For example, he said he would like to write the ordinance in such a way that, while landlords would be barred from leasing apartments and houses early, exceptions could be made for students who want to lease apartments before the start of winter semester. However, he said he does not know how this would be done.

The article mentions experience with a similar ordinance in Madison, WI, which had the unintended consequence of causing all students to try to find housing during the Fall semester exam period and had to be revised. It’s also unclear how an ordinance like Madison’s, which blocked out showing of apartments and lease-signing during the first 1/3 of the current lease, would affect leases with terms other than one year, such as the four or eight month contracts offered by Ann Arbor’s student co-ops, or leases that don’t start at the beginning of the school year, which, despite the significant influence of the University on Ann Arbor’s rental housing market, do exist.

Comment [19]

Council votes down Easthope/Johnson resolution

Posted by Murph on 22. March 2005

At tonight’s City Council meeting, the resolution by Easthope and Johnson to set aside three city-owned sites in their entirety as greenway parks was voted down, with Johnson and Easthope voting in favor and all other Council members and Mayor Hieftje voting against in front of an overflow audience.

The resolution’s advocates in the crowd exercised such tactics as calling for “everyone who supports a greenway to stand,” booing a student who spoke against the resolution, and clapping after Easthope’s opening comment on the resolution until Mayor Hieftje made them stop, and said that clapping was not appropriate during the meeting. This was followed by most of the Council members who voted against the resolution to emphasize that they were not voting against a greenway, but against the particular timing of this particular proposal.

More comment later; a number of other bloggers were in attendance, as well as Ann Arbor News and Michigan Daily reporters.

EDIT, 22 March, 10:30am:For anyone interested in watching the meeting on CTN, rebroadcasts are scheduled on Channel 16 at,

> Tuesday, 22 March, 1:30pm.
> Friday, 25 March, 7:00pm.

Public comment is at the very beginning of the meeting./EDIT

Discussion of the resolution began at 0:45-1:00 into the meeting, and ended around 1:30-1:45 into the meeting. (The meeting started 15 minutes late and there was a 15 minute closed session with the City Attorney, and I don’t know how these delays are factored into the rebroadcast, so these times are fairly imprecise.)

EDIT, 22 March, 12:45pm: The Ann Arbor News’ article on the Council’s decision, Council declines to save lot for greenway, estimates the crowd at around 180 people, and includes several quotes predicting next steps:

Margaret Wong, the co-chairwoman of Friends of the Ann Arbor Greenway, told the council after its vote that the public won’t get a real greenway unless they speak up.

“Public interest is growing fast,” Wong said. “The debate has really just begun.”

Sierra Club-Huron Valley Group Co-Chairman Doug Cowherd, who attended the meeting, said he will now rally his supporters to go to the streets to get a petition signed in favor of a full-fledged greenway.

Cowherd said the Friends of the Ann Arbor Greenway already has a petition with 600 signatures. He said the group is adding 30 supporters a day. Cowherd said he hopes to be back in front of the council in April with 2,000 signatures.

“If we continue to add support at that rate, it would be hard even for this anti-greenway council to stop a greenway,” Cowherd said. “Public response will determine whether the council’s continued stall on the greenway will be fatal or whether public interest will be so strong, they’ll be forced for the first time to hold public hearings.”
. . .
Council Member Leigh Greden, D-3rd Ward, said the city could put an artists’ center on 415 W. Washington and some residential housing on 721 N. Main St. and still have plenty of green space, too.

“I’m confident we will create a real viable greenway in this town,” Greden said. “This is not a vote for parks or development.”
. . .
Council Member Margie Teall said there had to be a middle ground.

“The real issue to me is compromise and balance,” said Teall, D-4th Ward. “In some form, this (greenway) is going to happen.”


/EDIT

Comment [36]

U-M Alumni "Friendster" Free for 30 Days

Posted by Rob Goodspeed on 21. March 2005

The U-M alumni association is offering free 30-day trial accounts for alumni who are not members of the association to try out their online social networking tool inCircle. They’re also giving away iPods and T-shirts to some people who log in before June 30 to encourage use.

On my personal blog I argue they should allow every alumni to use the service, offering paying members additional features. inCircle user? View my profile.

Comment [6]

Secret Guide to Ypsilanti Development

Posted by MarkDilley on 21. March 2005

Any Ypsi folk that are interested in working on this project, check out: This is the blog about the evolution of the Secret Guide to Ypsilanti, a community guide that is Ypsi-Centric in nature.

Kirk also just today photographed this treat in its tour of the devout in Ypsilanti:

>Michigan Daily:Ten Commandments tour stops in Michigan
>CNN: Ten Commandments judge removed from office
>American Veterans’ Faith & Freedom Tour

Howard Rheingold on Smartmobs

Posted by MarkDilley on 20. March 2005

“Author and human-technology thinker, Howard Rheingold, will be speaking at the School of Information on Wednesday, March 23, 2005. His talk will focus on his widely acclaimed book Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. This talk is sponsored by the School of Information Community Information Corps.”

via Upcoming.org

Ann Arbor News blitz on greenway and DDA plan

Posted by Murph on 20. March 2005

Today’s Ann Arbor News works on their past lack of coverage of Easthope’s land set-aside resolution and its conflict with the DDA’s redevelopment plan, putting up half a dozen items about or relevant to the conversation.

Downtown visions clash outlines the DDA’s ideas and the Friends of the Greenway’s, summarizing the conflict mostly familiar to readers of this site,

“Central Ann Arbor is only so big,” said Margaret Wong, a resident who formed Friends of the Ann Arbor Greenway and who prefers a park rather than a parking structure on First and William. “There are so many interests at stake and they all want to flourish. How do you get all that energy to result in something that is good? That is the challenge.”

and commenting on some of the political pressure,

Old West Side resident Bruce Baker has circulated a letter via e-mail asking for support of the Ann Arbor greenway and for First and William to be preserved as a park.

In five days, he estimates he’s received 100 signatures. Baker said he plans to submit the letter with more signatures to the City Council soon.

It’s one sign there may be growing support for a greenway involving First and William. In addition, the city’s Parks Advisory Commission has already endorsed Easthope’s resolution.

Those actions could signal Ann Arbor’s environmental community that it has the backing to flex its political muscle on this issue.

Although Cowherd, Wong and Murphy say they know of no potential candidates who would run for council seats if the council voted against their wishes, the implications are clear.

“If the public vocally supports the greenway and our public officials reject it, then it is possible challengers will emerge who will run for office,” Cowherd said.

Council Member Greden says the important policy debates shouldn’t be twisted for political reasons.

“That sounds like intimidation politics,” the council member said.

Greenway proponents dreaming big compares some of the visions for an Allen Creek Greenway,

One greenway plan, being pushed by contractor Joe O’Neal, envisions a 100-acre, Central Park-style linear park that would involve buying hundreds of private properties over 50 years at a cost some estimate at a minimum of $75 million. The other leading plan, backed by Wong and others, is a simpler version that would cling to the Ann Arbor Railroad tracks and could be completed within a few years with a much smaller price tag.

Both of those plans include converting the First and William surface lot into a park.

The DDA proposal for a five-deck parking structure on First and William streets also includes a small park that would connect to the greenway, but opponents say it is too small.

Backers of the DDA plan say greenway advocates are not being realistic.

“This is ponies for everyone,” said Rene Greff, a member of the DDA. “It is very easy to shoot down our plan. The other plan sounds great, because no one is asking: ‘How on Earth are we going to do that? Where is the money going to come from?”’

and includes some odd attacks on the DDA’s plan,

But critics of the plan to develop the First and William surface lot scoff at the DDA’s vision of a park.

“What they are offering is a token park,” said Doug Cowherd, co-chairman of the Sierra Club-Huron Valley Group. “They can call it a greenway. That doesn’t mean it is a greenway. We think the greenway needs a real park.”

City Council Member Bob Johnson, D-1st Ward, said the DDA plan also requires approval by the Ann Arbor Railroad, which hasn’t been given yet.

“Right now, their plan includes no greenway despite what they are saying,” Johnson said. “It is a speculation with how the railroad will behave. ... They aren’t giving away anything they want. ... It will be a pretty poor park.”

Since all three of the Greenway plans involve running alongside the Ann Arbor Railroad’s tracks, criticism of the DDA’s plan as not sufficiently considering the railroad’s willingness to cooperate would seem to help none of the factions.

Other cities inspire green ideas looks to Kalamazoo and Battle Creek for greenway models,

There are three miles of a linear trail completed along Mayor’s Riverfront Park [in Kalamazoo]. The 9-foot-wide, paved path goes along the Kalamazoo River, along a golf course and ends up in another park. . . . There is a linear park that runs 20 miles through [Battle Creek]. It is a 10-foot-wide, paved path that runs along the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo rivers that meet downtown and links parks, Kellogg Community College and the downtown.

Rain garden program designed to improve Allen Creek water discusses a program to control stormwater runoff in the same corridor as the greenway,

Last month, Washtenaw County Drain Commissioner Janis Bobrin received a grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to help property owners create rain gardens in the Allen Creek basin, which covers downtown Ann Arbor and parts of the west and south sides of the city.

Q: What’s the purpose of the Allen Creek Rain Garden Project?

A: We know that we have water quality issues in Allen Creek. We have to reduce phosphorus and we have to deal with bacteria issues … according to state and federal mandates. We also know that there’s too much water getting into that creek much too quickly and that we have flooding problems. It’s a very old watershed … and today when we put in development, we put in storm water ponds and techniques that hold water on site so it doesn’t just all run off. Allen Creek was developed before we had those kinds of standards, so now we’re looking at what kinds of options can improve water quality and hold storm water. ... Small rain gardens on individual properties is one of the best answers.
. . .
Q: How do the problems in the Allen Creek basin affect residents?

A: If you’ve ever driven down near Fingerle Lumber or Depot Street when we have one of these huge storms that happens really quickly and the water comes up to the car doors, that’s a concern. ... (Allen Creek) can handle what we would call the one and a half year storm, a storm that might occur in any given 18 month period statistically … so it’s not a very big pipe. We size pipes to handle a storm that’s more statistically likely to occur in a 10-year cycle.

And Condo developers have lofty aims for downtown discusses the current state of downtown residential development,

The rush underlines the pent-up demand. Despite the town’s desirability, there has been a lack of downtown housing – especially for those looking to buy instead of rent.

“I believe we have a huge demand for downtown housing,” said City Council Member Leigh Greden, D-3rd Ward. “More downtown residents is better for downtown businesses, the tax base and our goal to expand non-motorized transportation options.”

City officials hope to add 1,000 new residences downtown by 2015, declaring that the new dwellers would strengthen the city and ensure the viability of retailers, restaurants and other charms that make Ann Arbor unique.

Greden said the city needs to work to make it easier for developers to build downtown by improving development codes and streamlining the approval process.

The recent demand for these new projects is significant because some notable million-dollar condominiums built in the past few years have struggled to find buyers.

These new loft projects, while by no means cheap, offer downtown residences for mere mortals who can afford condos in the $400,000 range.

Establishing that demand may give the Downtown Development Authority some political capital as it tries to convince city officials to adopt its plan to develop two of three city parking areas for new condos, retail and office space, while using the third site for a multi-level parking garage.

Those plans would seek to build much more affordable housing, bringing prices under $200,000, said DDA Executive Director Susan Pollay.

The article also includes developer Peter Allen commenting on rising construction costs, saying that loft projects like Liberty Lofts and Loft 322, now selling for around $340/square foot, may rise to above $400/square foot within two years; the Collegian Building, on Maynard next to the Arcade, is cited as a loft project that failed to sell, and is now being marketed as office space; a note that Ed Shaffran (the developer of the Armory conversion on Fifth and Ann) and Mark deMaria (a partner in Loft 322) are happy enough with their past projects to be planning a joint project; and developer Jerry Spears predicting a reasonable demand for a few hundred more lofts, though, “Spears isn’t sure how big the pool of people is that can both afford to buy these condos and want that lifestyle.”

The news is asking for comments on the various greenway proposals,

What do you think about the Downtown Development Authority’s plan to redevelop downtown Ann Arbor west of Main Street? And what about the vision for a greenway running from the Huron River south through downtown to the University of Michigan golf course? Let us know your opinion.

You can send a comment to: Downtown Comment, The Ann Arbor News, P.O. Box 1147 Ann Arbor, MI 48106; fax it to (734) 994-6879; or e-mail it to letters@annarbornews.com (text only, no attachments).

Comments must be fewer than 250 words and must include the author’s full name, hometown and a daytime telephone number. A selection of comments will be published later in The News.

And now, hopefully, we can retire the previous 50-comment thread and start talking on this one?

Previous AU posts:
> 16 March, Council to consider resolution to kill DDA plan
> 9 March, Ongoing Greenway drama: Easthope announces intent to kill DDA plan
> 8 March, Greenway advocates slam DDA plans for downtown parking

Comment [55]

Ecology Center Presents: "Clean Environment and Good Jobs"

Posted by MarkDilley on 18. March 2005

“I’d like to invite you to the annual membership meeting of the Ecology Center, with keynote speaker Bracken Hendricks of the Apollo Alliance, will take place on Sunday, April 3, 2005, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens, 1800 Dixboro Road, in Ann Arbor.

The Apollo Alliance is a broad national coalition of labor, environmental, business, urban, and faith communities in support of good jobs and energy independence. Their New Apollo Project is a ten-point plan for diversifying our energy sources, making America less dependent on imported oil and making energy less polluting. The organization has been featured repeatedly in the national press.

The Ecology Center annual meeting also includes program reports, environmental awards, election of the Center’s Board of Directors, and presentation of the annual Herbert L. Munzel Award for Environmental Activism. The meeting is open to the general public, and admission is free.”

via the Ecology Center

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