Opinion: AnnArbor.com's endorsements for Ann Arbor City Council

We endorsed Rapundalo in the primary, noting his push to achieve real savings in employee benefit costs. We’ve also generally agreed with his views on the proposed Fuller Road Transit Center, which he supports, and future development of the Library Lot property, which he envisions as some mixed use that also incorporates a public space.

As a challenger, Lumm invites serious attention. She is an experienced public servant with a depth of knowledge on local issues. We particularly agree with her concern over how the city’s overreliance on parking revenue from the Downtown Development Authority to balance its budget has blurred the DDA’s focus on what its true mission should be -- which is strengthening the vitality of downtown. We agree with her call for the city to reduce costs by more aggressively pursuing consolidation of services, and we’re impressed by the bipartisan support that has come together around her. At the same time, even Lumm acknowledges that she wasn’t able to be effective on council as a Republican during the 1990s, and the question we can’t answer is whether she can be more effective this time around as an independent.

Perhaps this particular race will be a referendum on the public’s satisfaction -- or lack thereof -- with the current council. For voters who are just plain unhappy with how things are going in the city, Lumm offers an attractive alternative.

But while it was not an easy decision, we are endorsing Repundalo in this race. These are difficult times to govern, and we find him to be a diligent council member who has met the challenge.

While we are disappointed in the way he blemished himself with a recent confidential email in which he asked a colleague to help him “look like I’m engaged’’ in the Malletts Creek drain project, when we look at his overall record and his stance on the issues, we find he has been part of the solution and not part of the problem. He has earned the opportunity to continue to serve.

In Ann Arbor’s 4th Ward, where incumbent Democrat Marcia Higgins is running against Republican challenger Eric Scheie, we have no qualms whatsoever in endorsing Higgins for re-election. Her sensible, civic-minded approach is refreshing, and we find it striking how often we agree with her on issues.

Higgins’ involvement with residents in the redevelopment of the vacant Georgetown Mall is the kind of proactive public engagement that we respect. We also like her pragmatism, and find her to be more tuned in to public concern than some of her colleagues on council appear to be at times.

For instance, while we have editorialized in support of the Percent for Art program, we do think Higgins was right to raise the issue of whether the amount of funding from public works projects set aside for art should be scaled back from one percent to a half a percent, even though council didn’t accept her proposal. Her opponent, Scheie, is waging an earnest campaign, but in the 4th Ward, we think the choice is clear. We enthusiastically endorse Higgins.

In the primary election, we also endorsed Democratic incumbent Stephen Kunselman in the 3rd Ward and Democratic incumbent Mike Anglin in the 5th Ward, and we endorse them in the general election as well against Republican challengers David Parker and Stuart Berry, respectively.

(Editor’s note: This editorial was published in today's newspaper and reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board at AnnArbor.com. The four community members who serve on our Editorial Board -- Mary Kerr, David R. Lampe, Marsha Chamberlin and Kyle Poplin -- did not participate in these endorsement decisions.)