Today we are talking about the next City Council meeting, coming up Monday, March 21st. We touch on a few interesting agenda items, including parking, police contracts, and a permanent city administrator.
Links from today’s episode:
- Vote for us as one of Washtenaw’s best podcasts!
- this week’s agenda
- Eve Ewing’s article on the concerns of police labor unions
- Fiona Apple getting informed and getting involved on transparency in courts (spoiler: it’s adorable)
Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Twitter and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn’t say no.
Transcript
Jess: Hi, and welcome to this episode of Ann Arbor AF, a podcast for folks trying to figure out what’s going on in Ann Arbor. We discuss current events in local politics and policy, governance, and other civic good times. I’m Jess Letaw, and I’m here with my cohost Molly Kleinman. We both use she/her pronouns. We’re your cohosts to help you get informed, and get involved. It’s your city! Let’s jump in!
Today we’re talking about the next City Council meeting coming up Monday march 21. we’ll be touching on a few interesting agenda items, including parking police contracts and a permanent city administrator and offer some ways for you to get involved. A quick process note we record this few days before the Council meeting, which means there will likely be some changes to the agenda between now and then. First up, we are switching things up by moving our pod keeping section usually at the end of the episode to the beginning molly, why are we doing this.
00:33
Molly: Well, because. We have decided to nominate ourselves for the best local podcast in Washington county. And we would love your help with this endeavor so best in Washington law is a thing that’s run by the current magazine and. The way the process works is anyone can nominate in a whole bunch of different categories and you the nominations are open until May 30. And we will be in the local podcast category under arts and entertainment, so you don’t you’re not going to see things to choose from you, literally just type in the thing that you want to nominate. You can nominate us once a day, so the way this will work is that the six entries that have the most nominations will move on to a final. And then there will be a chance to vote for the best the best of Washington. So what you can do is go and vote for us today and then maybe just keep a little tab open in your browser or on your phone or both, and just vote for us once a day it takes like less than 30 seconds, which I know because I have been voting for us every day. I think when I told justice she thought I was being dramatic right.
01:40
Jess: You she’s like we probably shouldn’t tell everyone to vote for us every day. And I Lol because I was like no that’s it we’ll do the ones, and then i’ll See you in June. Know molly’s been going in every single day.
01:53
Molly: So, and you can too. and hopefully we’ll you know we’ll make it into the finals to be the best local podcast of Washington, I have to admit I don’t know what the other local podcasts of Washington are so.
02:04
Jess: I know i’m actually looking forward to learning more about our category so we’ll drop that link in the show notes so it’s really easy for you guys to find. And hey while you’re there like there’s a bunch of cool categories in there, of course, restaurant and places to hang out but also local activist, if you wanted to do that and local musician like there’s a ton of fun categories so.
02:21
Molly: feel free to take it oh yeah. yeah and then the other thing just that we wanted to point out this in the show notes is just a fun thing we came across this week, which is Fiona apple. which, if you are of a certain age, you may remember in love Fiona apple as I do, and she has gotten super involved in court watching. Which during the pandemic has been virtual and it specifically in the state of Maryland I don’t I don’t know why Maryland she doesn’t live there. But I guess Marilyn legislators are like i’m considering a bill that would make permanent virtual access to the courts. And she made this really adorable video about how you can call in and support it and it’s basically like a perfect how to have how to engage with your legislators, and so we thought it was a great great little tool and we wanted to share it.
03:05
Jess: She got informed and she got involved and it made our gen X hearts so happy and so we’re going to drop a link to that video in the show notes, if you want to see an old flash fashion blackboard and Fiona apple talking about her phone phobia highly recommend worth the two minutes.
03:20
Molly: yeah that’s awesome.
03:21
Jess: Okay, so another thing worth celebrating is is we’re at episode 50 good for us, we.
03:29
Molly: Were it’s our 50th episode it’s hard to it’s hard to believe it’s amazing.
03:34
Jess: In some ways, I feel like yesterday was the first one, in some ways, I feel like we’ve been doing this forever yeah great so we wanted to talk a little bit about our favorite moments from the first 50 Somali i’m going to tell you what first what’s what’s on your mind that’s been. fun for you.
03:48
Molly: You know, it was hard to pick but I definitely have had a lot of fun with the deeper dives which feels like a lesson for us in terms of something to maybe bring back when we have a little bit more bandwidth I. mean your deeper dive on zoning was really epic it felt like such an incredible class on zoning for me. And I think for a lot of other people too, and then I I really enjoyed doing the deeper dive on healthy streets. Because, as you know, those are that’s one of my pet things that I love and having a chance to really just info down to all of you about a thing that I care about was really fun.
04:23
Jess: And we heard that unless your survey to when we asked listeners to tell us what did you love, a lot of you told us the healthy streets deeper dive so that was fun to hear. And there’s only one, yes, yes I i’ve actually been really pleased at the positive feedback that i’ve gotten and a ton of listeners, who have let us know offline what they liked. They really found the budgeting episode healthy streets and the zone, a deeper dives to be really useful kind of keys into unlocking understanding about the city, a little bit more. So a couple of things to stand out for me Do you remember molly that episode not quite a year ago, where the three of us you Michelle and me interviewed each other. yeah that was so fun that was so fun and I learned so much about you guys I feel like we all came out to each other on the podcast.
05:11
Molly: We knew we had to have known already right.
05:14
Jess: Maybe maybe we did learn some things on air, which I appreciate it, and it was just a really fun conversation and then another thing that stands out to me. I have really loved molly’s journeys. So listeners. longtime listeners may know, newer listeners she hasn’t done one of these in a little while, but every now and then. molly will share with us how she comes into an issue with an attitude or an understanding and learns about it a little more and tells us either her journey towards changing her mind. or towards solidifying The thing that she thought she knew, and I really love that because modeling that like literally that journey that thought process of how do I learn. is so valuable and also fun and it makes me feel less self conscious when I don’t totally understand a thing, so I would say interviewing each other and molly’s journeys have been highlights for me in the first 50. yeah happy 50.
06:09
Molly: Happy 50th well.
06:12
Jess: alright.
06:13
Molly: Moving on from ourselves to the City Council agenda we’ve got a couple things on the consent agenda this week wanted to talk about yes.
06:20
Jess: We did want to talk about them, and when I say talk, we wanted to be a little tart, so I will start the tart CA six is a. parking enforcement agreement. Between the University of Michigan and the city, so all this agreement does is solidify the university reimbursing the city for a portion of enforcement expenses for parking enforcement. The last contract, this has been going for the better, part of a decade and a half, I think the last contract expired December 31st of last year, this is basically a renewal of the last one. i’m glad to see that we can reach an agreement with the university I am frustrated, to see that it is enforcement. I would like to see an agreement that had more to do with strategy. We really bumped our noses on this on that damn bridge right like we clearly do not have shared visions for what our right of ways should and could be doing for us. and seeing an agreement for enforcement, but not a plan in place for how we are thinking about ourselves as municipal and institutional entities, into the future. This I mean this is a really basic nuts and bolts, you know piece of governance, and it was frustrating to see, so I would love to see our two bodies do better future planning. yeah that’s what I wanted to say about CA sex.
07:53
Molly: I have nothing to add on that one so i’m going to. jump right in to see a nine. Which is. The resolution to approve the collective bargaining agreement between the city of Ann arbor and the deputy police chiefs effective January 1 2022. Through December 31 2024. So, last year we talked about the these this particular collective bargaining agreement, so this is the contract, there are a few different. units within the police that have contracts under different bodies, and so this one is the deputy police chiefs. Last year there was a one year contract and that was in part because there had been a lot of more public attention than usually. On police contracts we’ve been learning, I think, as a nation about the ways that these police unions and these collective bargaining agreements really limit accountability and oversight and make it really difficult. To make certain changes that I think a lot of people would like to see, and how how cities deal with their police forces. So the idea was like Okay, well, we need a contract so last year there was going to be just a one year contract that would that would give us time to do some deeper diving. As a city and maybe some more public attention and engagement to this contract before the next longer contract. A year has passed, we have this two year contract before us, and there has not been. Publicly major public engagement or major fixes to the things that we know our problems, both in like police contracts, nationally and specifically here in Ann arbor. So, for example, the task force that led to the creation of the independent Community police oversight Commission or o’clock. recommended a lot of binding oversight powers that the park, we have doesn’t they don’t have those powers. And at the time that it populates being created, just a few years ago, we were told that it was because the police contracts, the collective bargaining agreements would not allow that kind of oversight or accountability, so we could. say that we were going to give o’clock this power to like access disciplinary records or make recommendations about disciplinary action and none of that’s actually allowable in the contract and so therefore it does not have those powers. And so the. The solution to that, then, is to fix the contract right, so if we can’t if we can’t impose oversight without fixing the contracts, the next step is to fix the contract, but we’re not doing that either. So that’s why we’re talking about this today we’re not going to dig into the specifics of this contract I just we really wanted to point out that. Despite the fact that there has been let’s say more collective public attention to policing in Ann arbor than there has been in the past i’m not going to say that there’s a lot but there’s definitely been more. We still have this contract just gliding through in the consent agenda without any apparent changes to the status quo. And that means it’s going to be two more years, so we have another chance to make these fixes that we have known for a long time that we need.
11:04
Jess: So when we say get involved, this is the kind of thing that we mean making sure that you’re talking to your Council members, making sure that you’re talking to and listening to a clock and the recommendations that they’re making it is, it was. Not a great feeling to not only see this on the agenda, but to see this and the consent agenda consent agenda as a reminder, is the part that everybody is expected to just vote yes on to save time. i’m i’m still a little surprised I guess I should admit that that this didn’t come forward under staff business or something like that, and just assume. That there’s going to be Community conversation about this rightfully so this feels I rarely say this about Council agenda stuff but this feels a lot like just trying to slip it passed without conversation and it’s really, really, really not okay.
11:59
Molly: There is something on the agenda that we do think is very okay.
12:03
Jess: Very Okay, and that is DC three, the resolution to approve the hiring of Milton mahoney jr as city administrator. So. Why are we talking about this last fall Milton donnie was hired into the sea of Ann arbor as an interim city administrator with the understanding that he’d say for maybe a year, or a year and a half and then Council would take a next action looking for a permanent city administrator. This Council item this agenda item tells me Council thinks he’s doing a good job he hasn’t even been in the seat for six months. So I will say speaking, from my perspective on the DDA Board of course not speaking for that body, but you know, in my experience and working with him in different meetings and in different roles. I am so happy to see this milton’s experience is hugely relevant and very timely for our city. And the way that he shows up to conversations and work to me so far has read as unflinching integrity and maybe most importantly of all honesty. From where I stand, he represents staffs interests to volunteers and electives and he carries out the instructions that he’s given thoroughly, while also thinking ahead like that infrastructure memo dude i’m still crushing on that memo like that was really cool. So I hope Council votes, yes, on this I hope. Milton says yes, I will be i’ll say yes yay Milton yeah.
13:27
Molly: yeah so that memo something we didn’t put up on our agenda to talk about, but that memo suggests that we needed a lobbyist remember, we were excited about this, the city needs a lobbyist. At the state level at the federal level so that we can be advocating and trying to get more federal money and on this consent agenda is a contract to hire lobbyists.
13:45
Jess: Yes, we said we needed one and now we’re going to have one, maybe, probably in my school.
13:50
Molly: Two weeks.
13:51
Jess: that’s right.
13:52
Molly: So I mean probably that process was already in place, but. Anyway, I was excited. To see that progress so quickly so yay for this one.
14:01
Jess: yeah for this one.
14:03
Molly: Ah, moving on to DC six, which is the resolution to approve downtown St closures for restaurants and retail use. So closing some downtown streets two cars started as a pandemic response healthy streets as we’ve talked about, although at this point we’re not calling we’re not calling that healthy streets anymore. it’s been really popular and the mainstream Business Association has requested that it happened again. Even though at this point we’re mostly pretend pretending that the pandemic is over turns out that opening streets to people and closing them to cars is really good for business. And so, these Main Street businesses wanted to do it again this year some other areas of the city did not so this year, the closures two cars are just focused on Main Street. You may notice that I keep i’m trying to be very careful and always say. Closing closures for cars, because we’re not closing the streets. closing them to cars means opening them for everyone else, this is one of those semantic things that I try to stick with like how we talk about crashes we don’t talk about accidents anyway. These closures two cars will be Thursday evenings to monday’s early mornings, beginning in early May and running through to Halloween, with the exception of West Washington, which will be 24 seven no cars, which is really awesome.
15:27
Jess: And it’s phenomenal that’s really that’s really great to see so do you happen to know West Washington which streets.
15:33
Molly: it’s in the thingy the resolution which I do have in front of me, it is West Washington from Ashley to maine so it’s not a lot of West Washington. But it’s more than none, so I can I can read all of them it’s mainstreet from William to Washington West liberty from Ashley to maine. East liberty from maine to fourth and West Washington from Ashley to me so it’s going to create this little area around Main Street without cars, which I think is going to be really nice and which. i’m thrilled to see that the businesses. are asking for this that they recognize it there’s tons of evidence that improving pedestrian and bike infrastructure on the street actually improves. Business, even though a lot of business owners really fear those changes and worry about the loss of parking especially like street parking in front of their businesses but street parking spots actually don’t account for a lot of the business at most of these. businesses.
16:34
Jess: Well, and I think I want to tease out concerns a little bit there because they’re not all downtown business owners are the same. And that not all concerns are the same so restaurant and retail owners often have different concerns and priorities than, for example, office owners do or building owners to. The I know there’s an attorney I know who works for an office downtown and they have concerns about proximate parking because most of their clientele is over 65. And so they have mobility challenges, and not just challenges but let’s say mobility sensitivities and are unlikely to come to the office if parking feels like it’s a hassle. I will say talking to the restaurant owners and the retail shop owners and managers that I know. Throughout the pandemic, most of them said, if they hadn’t had the street closures, they wouldn’t have been able to survive because of the closure of the interiors right, so they were able to move. merchandise, to the sidewalk they were able to move dining to the sidewalk in the street. And that allowed people to continue, you know spending money patronizing those businesses supporting those food service and retail workers. in ways that they wouldn’t have been able to otherwise so those folks I think are much less sensitive. about having parking directly in front of their businesses, they don’t necessarily want it there they’re more sensitive to loading and unloading concerns and they’re also sensitive to. curbside parking and pickup essentially uber and lyft type services can they come and do that, to that end i’m really pleased to say that the DDA is commissioning. sometime this year a curbside management study that will give us a lot more information about how we can treat the curb not just streets or sidewalks but the curb itself is infrastructure. And maybe manage it more appropriately for everybody in the downtown so I just wanted to add a little nuance to those kind of parking and street concerns. I keep coming back to there was one general manager, in particular, I talked to a number of times over the pandemic who she just kept saying we wouldn’t have survived we wouldn’t have survived without the street closures and I think about that a lot.
18:39
Molly: that’s great to hear and yeah now, even with the returned in indoor dining and the getting rid of mask requirements. Some of these businesses are saying that this is still beneficial to them, and I know just as a person moving through the city it’s just so much nicer and it gives us it helps give us a vision for what life could be like with fewer cars on the streets, all the time.
19:02
Jess: yeah fewer cars more people. yea yea.
19:06
Molly: So that’s it, this was a little bit of a light agenda this week, for us, we didn’t have a lot to talk about so now that we’re done talking about the agenda.
19:12
Jess: i’m going to remind us again.
19:17
Molly: I was going to talk about best of last night again and say as soon as you’re done with this episode. just go Google best of Washington 2022 and it should pop up, it will also be in the show notes go to the arts and entertainment section scroll down to local podcast give us a shout maybe we can win ourselves a little local podcasting price.
19:36
Jess: That we could get a sticker that would be awesome.
19:40
Molly: If you put it on the window of our non existent. Best emotional Tony Tony.
19:47
Jess: thanks you guys thanks for listening thanks for giving us 50 amazing episodes we’re here because you’re listening, on the other side, and we know it we love the conversations with you online and in real life, and thanks for making this possible and fun yeah.
And that’s it for this episode of Ann Arbor AF.
Come check out past episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Twitter at the a2council hashtag and Facebook in the Ann Arbor Housing for All facebook group. And hey, if you want to send us a few dollars at ko-fi.com/annarboraf to help us with hosting, we always appreciate it.
We’re your cohosts Molly Kleinman and Jess Letaw; and thanks to producer Scott Trudeau. Theme music is “I dunno” by grapes. You can reach us by email at annarborafpod@gmail.com. Get informed, then get involved. It’s your city!