Alice Ralph announces candidacy for Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners

Alice Ralph is running to represent the 11th District on the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners.

Courtesy Photo

In a campaign announcement released today, Ralph said the theme of her campaign is “Creating an Abundant Future in Washtenaw County." She said the county can create abundance for residents by "setting resilient policy that ensures coverage of the core responsibilities of the county."

Issues that Ralph says are important to her include livability, access and accountability, place-making, collaboration, land use and environment. She said creating abundance means the following:

• Meeting crises with flexible and durable solutions.

• Effective delivery of legally required services to lighten the burdens carried by supplementary programs and nonprofit agencies, and to reinforce their efforts.

• Moving forward in the face of climate change and energy transformation with actions that open doors to just and sustainable progress. “Resilient policy, core responsibilities, future abundance," Ralph said. "This is my version of the ‘triple bottom line’ for social, economic and environmental accounting."

Ralph said she embraces the challenges faced by Ann Arbor and other sister communities. She believes her many years of activism in the community have given her a unique understanding of authorities, as well as city and county governments.

She said one of her goals as a county commissioner would be to help overcome divisions and further increase collaboration among governmental units. She believes sustained progress can be achieved if the cities, townships and universities work together. In terms of planning for the future, Ralph said one of her goals would be to refresh comprehensive program and systems planning services at the county level. “Neighborhoods and communities can’t meet the urgent priorities of a new economy without collaborations on local, countywide, regional and state levels,” she said. “Working together, we thrive.”

Ralph is well known among civic circles for her community activism. She is a current or past leader in several local groups, including: • Former A2D2 Design Guidelines Advisory Committee

• Friends of the Ann Arbor Greenway

• Ann Arbor Committee for the Commons (author of public Library Lot proposal)

• Washtenaw County Historic District Commission

• Dexter’s Gordon Hall Management Advisory Committee

• Women Progressive Activists (executive board) In 2006, Ralph ran for the Ann Arbor City Council in the 3rd Ward and lost by 29 votes. Ralph's campaign website is www.AliceRalphforWashtenaw.com.

Ralph is seeking to fill the seat being vacated by Jeff Irwin, who is running for the state House. Other candidates in the running for Irwin's seat include include Michael Fried, Yousef Rabhi and LuAnne Bullington. The primary election is Aug. 3.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.