The nonunion Associated Builders & Contractors came for Ann Arbor during Lansing's debate over best value procurement. My response. #a2council

It's actually so much worse than even that!

But they did not do it before releasing the draft to the public, and so what the public is engaging with and will likely continue engaging with is the idea of four stories. And the public feedback so far was characterized as “enraged” over this point.

Eight council members expressed via a resolution what we wanted to see in the draft plan. Planning commission chose not to incorporate that feedback. But I think it was important to be public and transparent about what I have said I support and what I, at this time, continue to support.

Infighting just means a fight or disagreement among members of the same group.

I welcome you to give your feedback about your desire to see four stories. That is what the current process is all about. But characterizing it as some sort of betrayal is just patently false.

Petty is your word, not mine. I’ve been on council for 4+ years now. I can assure you that four stories throughout all residential neighborhoods has never been a goal. That came out of left field with the PC. That’s my perspective as someone who has been in office throughout the process.

Jim, my support of the resolution was a reaffirmation of what I have said I supported all along. It is unfathomable to me that as we are on the precipice of finally eliminating exclusionary zoning, progressives are infighting over 3 stories or 4 — when 4 was never even the goal.

As for actual developments: Packard and State. South Forest. Church Street. Valhalla. Packard Row. South Town. And many others. Plus Arbor South on the horizon (1000 units alone). I’ve asked staff for a running total.

TC1 zoning. Elimination of parking minimums. Elimination of council approval of by-right development. Other development process improvements. A housing first economic development strategy (and first ever econ dev strategy as a council policy). A first ever economic development department.

I didn’t vote to scale back anything. I voted to support exactly what I’ve said I supported all along, from my first campaign in 2020.

This take ignores the fact that we have an entirely new, pro housing council that fully recognizes the housing crisis and has been taking many bold actions to
address it, as opposed to past councils. Apples and oranges.

#A2Council, let’s build the future of the Ann Arbor District Library! While we love our library, the downtown facility is outdated. This August, Proposals A & B offer a path forward: a YES vote authorizes the sale of the city library lot to the AADL. This allows for…

Do Democrats Need to Learn How to Build? Liberals have long emphasized protections over progress. Champions of the “abundance agenda” think it’s high time to speed things up.

From this article: “Appelbaum reserves a special animus for the conservative sentimentality over the small town, and he is disturbed by how many progressives, like Jacobs, sought to re-create it in the middle of cities.”

😲

Off-topic but it’s so jarring and disturbing to be reminded that married women were identified solely by their husband‘s name. Not even their own first names!

I think this is an idea worth considering from a more wholesale policy change. I think folks were caught off guard and didn’t have enough information, and at least for me this wasn’t the right time/process to make this type of big change.

😂

Three recent election cycles show that A2 is 70/30 pro-housing

Sing it from the treetops #a2council

“A rare moment of clarity” … Wow, that’s quite a dig! I think CM Briggs has many moments of clarity and I always appreciate her insights on issues, even if I don’t always agree. #a2council

Correct. And was just having conversations this week about how to turbocharge that process. #a2council