Lou Glorie is Carsten Hohnke's only challenger in the primary race for Ann Arbor City Council
With the passing of today's filing deadline, Lou Glorie officially is the only candidate who will challenge incumbent Carsten Hohnke for his seat on the Ann Arbor City Council in August.
Glorie made her candidacy in the 5th Ward race official on Monday, filing nominating petitions to place her name on the Aug. 3 Democratic primary ballot alongside Hohnke.
Lou Glorie
The winner of that race will face off against Republican John Floyd in the November general election.
Two other prospective challengers, Newcombe Clark and Allen Licari, decided against running as Democrats in the primary, but still have the option of running independently in November.
The nonpartisan filing deadline is July 15. Clark, who announced intentions to seek Hohnke's seat in the aftermath of the defeat of the Moravian development, said he's seriously considering it. Licari, who appears unlikely to run, hung up on AnnArbor.com today when asked for comment.
In an official campaign announcement today, Glorie said the city needs politicians dedicated to public service. She said the mayor and current council majority have not safeguarded the public interest.
“The 5th Ward is a vibrant, diverse community where the citizens are capable of and willing to participate in planning the city’s future," she said in a written statement. "But our efforts to take part in the processes that are shaping our downtown and neighborhoods are continually rebuffed. 'Public hearing’ in Ann Arbor has come to mean the public sits politely and hears what the city plans on doing downtown, with the parks, in our neighborhoods."
Glorie said she thinks poor choices and reckless spending by city leaders has led to a deterioration of core city services such as fire and police, roads and the Stadium bridges. She also said "relentless increases" in water and sewer rates and park fees are "another sign of a culture of carelessness in city hall." “What I’m hearing from my neighbors as I’ve circulated my petitions is that people young and old love Ann Arbor’s character and want our city to retain its distinctiveness," she said. "Ann Arbor already is ‘someplace.' We don’t need to stuff our city into a pre-fab mold. The urban ‘ideal’ being promoted by the council majority — I call it Dubai on the Huron — is already outmoded. Let’s stop trying to lure people here who want to live in much, much larger cities. What about just allowing Ann Arbor to be itself? That’s the best way to welcome new residents."
For a complete list of candidates running for City Council, visit AnnArbor.com's running list here.
Ryan J. Stanton covers government for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.
Comments
CynicA2
Thu, May 13, 2010 : 1:27 a.m.
"Sorry cynic but you are referring to the vote on cutting the program in half that happened around the holidays. There were two votes to cut it. I was referring to the vote to approve the art project outside city hall and the original vote to start the program. City council's have important things on their agenda every meeting. I guess you are saying city councils should not meet in December because of the holidays? How about over the summer when a lot of people are away?" I suspect that many of those who originally voted for this skim of money designated for legitimate purposes would vote against it if they knew how much public ire would result. The comments here and on the A2 Chronicle were roughly 10-1 against it in the months following the vote for it. Many are still unhappy with this wasteful use of scarce tax dollars, and much of the political opposition to the current administration will remember this folly come election day. Controversial votes on controversial issues should not be back-doored at times when most voters are looking the other way - this only feeds mistrust of government, which is already quite pronounced, in case you haven't noticed.
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Wed, May 12, 2010 : 8:08 p.m.
Sorry cynic but you are referring to the vote on cutting the program in half that happened around the holidays. There were two votes to cut it. I was referring to the vote to approve the art project outside city hall and the original vote to start the program. City council's have important things on their agenda every meeting. I guess you are saying city councils should not meet in December because of the holidays? How about over the summer when a lot of people are away?
CynicA2
Wed, May 12, 2010 : 6:31 p.m.
The vote on the Art Tax was not unanimous - if I remember correctly, there were two votes against it, and possibly one member absent, as it was squeezed onto the agenda at the last minute, on the last council meeting before Christmas last. The weasels who supported this probably thought fewer would notice if they finessed it in while everyone was involved with the holidays. It is emblematic of the current administrations' cluelessness - all the blogs indicated overwhelming opposition to both the funding process and that fugly fountain. I have no idea what Ms. Glorie's thoughts on this are, but I bet I know what Mr. Floyd's are. Voters should have a thumbs up or down on it, in any case. At least we have some real choices in the 5th Ward this year.
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Wed, May 12, 2010 : 5:38 p.m.
Hmmm, I didn't know Hohnke was close to the Mayor. I'm not in his ward but I will send him a check. There is a very good reason A2 is doing so much better than other cities in this economy. Throw them out if they voted for the percent for art program? I think it was unanimous, so you want to throw them all out then, Hohnke, Anglin and the rest? Where does Glorie stand on the art program?
CynicA2
Wed, May 12, 2010 : 3:14 p.m.
Hohnke is one of Hizzoner's boys and needs to be shown the door... and I don't care if he has 100 PhDs - anyone who voted for that damnable f(Art) Tax and the Dreiseitl Disaster has gotten their priorities all wrong. I bet if all these millages for Greenbelts and more parks and other non-essentials, which passed so easily in the money-is-no-object past, were to be resubmitted to voters NOW - most would be voted down. Maybe the new regime will find a way to do that. Why shouldn't voters have a chance to reconsider the wisdom of their past choices?
Dalouie
Wed, May 12, 2010 : 1:14 p.m.
I don't see how it matters who owns the land, its still off the tax roles and if it is parkland the city has to maintain it. The people have voted over and over again for parks and the parkland has been purchased over decades. Parks are a major part of what makes it a great place to live. The point here is the city leadership has to deal with 40% of the land being non-taxed, the city gets less than 30% of property tax dollars, they have not raised the millage and yet the city keeps perking along in a hard hit state.
a2grateful
Wed, May 12, 2010 : 10:36 a.m.
Dalouie: "... The city has to cope with 40% of the land off the tax roles..." The largest land owner of in the City of Ann Arbor... that has taken the most land off the tax rolls, exceeding that of U of M... that provides few jobs and little economic development... is the City of Ann Arbor!
KeepingItReal
Wed, May 12, 2010 : 8:25 a.m.
Dalouie: Ann Arbor is lucky to be situated in a section of the state that is least affected by a downturn in the economy. It has nothing to do with "smart" management or taxes not being raised. When you consider all of the millages that we as taxpayers are responsible for and the special assessment fees for parking and use of parks, it doesn't take a MIT graduate or PH.D. to figure out that the city is not in a financial crisis. I happen to agree with Glorie that too much development is being foisted on Ann Arbor and given the fact A2 is a land locked City, this development is placing a great strain on the existing infrastructure. Way to go Glorie!
Dalouie
Wed, May 12, 2010 : 8:14 a.m.
Yea right, the UM is the "saving factor". Sure they provide jobs but A2 does not have an income tax. The city has to cope with 40% of the land off the tax roles, the UM pays no taxes but uses services. They just took away 5% of the city's revenue when they took over Pfizer. XMO - A2's budget has been working well for the last 10 years. They haven't raised taxes and the city is at the top of the heap. If you read the article about Margie Teall's statement at the last meeting you would know they have gone a long way to solve the layoff problem for Police and Fire. There aren't many cities left in Michigan that have not tried to raise taxes. A2 is clearly way ahead in a terrible economy.
xmo
Wed, May 12, 2010 : 7:38 a.m.
Smart leadership has led the city to its current Fiscal position of choosing to lay-off Fire/Police and cut other staff. They all spend too much money and do not know how to create a budget that works!
a2grateful
Wed, May 12, 2010 : 5:13 a.m.
U of M is Ann Arbor's saving factor... the City has done well DESPITE current folly leadership...
Dalouie
Tue, May 11, 2010 : 11:28 p.m.
Reckless spending? A2 is way ahead of other Michigan cities and they haven't raised taxes in years. The millage has gone down over the last 12 years. There is a small group that tries to peddle myths but if half of what they say were true, the city would be broke or raising taxes like most of the other Michigan cities. Take a look at what is going on with other cities in Michigan. Smart leadership has put Ann Arbor in a much better position and all without a tax increase.
a2grateful
Tue, May 11, 2010 : 8:13 p.m.
"Glorie said she thinks poor choices and reckless spending by city leaders has led to a deterioration of core city services..." There is the issue... Doesn't take an MIT PHD to figure it out... Go Lou!
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Tue, May 11, 2010 : 8:06 p.m.
Hohnke has served the city well and brings a lot to the table. MIT PHD, works on economic development, works with the neighborhoods on pedestrian and other issues. Hard for her to say he is pushing development when he voted against the Moravian. He seems to take a moderate, thoughtful approach. Her position in the past has been build nothing, anywhere. In Ann Arbor when people have an extreme agenda that is not accepted, they complain about the process but no one can think of place that does more to make sure everyone's voice is heard. The A2D2 plan agreed on for downtown was 5 years process and the citizens voice was heard and their recommendations included in the final product. But anyway, half of downtown, Main St., State St, Liberty, etc., is protected in a historic district. The rest should be open for projects like Zaragon.