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

Nor is that the only question about city priorities. Basic issues like the Argo Dam and the Stadium Boulevard bridges have gone unresolved for years, yet the mayor and City Council have saddled Ann Arbor with significant costs and long-term debt to build a $50 million underground parking structure and a $47 million police-courts building.

This year’s City Council election has become a referendum on those choices. In the 1st and 4th Wards, Democratic incumbents face primary challenges, with the winner running unopposed in November. For that reason, we’re endorsing in those two races now.

Sumi Kailasapathy

Given the pace at which city spending continues to grow and the cost burdens of the underground parking structure and police-courts building, we don’t believe City Council has exercised the financial restraint that these difficult economic times call for. We don’t see that changing unless there’s a new mindset on council, and in the 1st Ward, challenger Sumi Kailasapathy brings a voice of healthy skepticism and fiscal prudence.

A certified public accountant, Kailasapathy impressed us with the depth of research she’s done on budget issues. She’s one of the few candidates who’s raised alarm bells on the city’s unfunded pension liabilities, and she’s clear on the basic services she believes the city should be spending money on.

We don’t see eye to eye with her on every issue. She has opposed developments like the Moravian and Heritage Row. These projects have been supported by incumbent Council Member Sandi Smith, who says they are consistent with the direction the city should go, and also represent an opportunity to expand our tax base. We agree with Smith on both counts.

We also respect the involvement in the community that Smith demonstrated before being elected to her first term on City Council. Kailasapathy, on the other hand, does not have a record of community involvement to measure her against.

But we’re troubled by the dual role Smith plays by sitting on both City Council and the DDA. The DDA needs to be more independent of council, and to keep its first priority as maintaining a vibrant downtown. Smith also backed the underground parking structure and the police-courts building, whereas Kailasapathy would be less likely to support such questionable decisions in the future. Kailasapathy would have a steep learning curve on council, but at a time when council needs more hard scrutiny of spending choices, we endorse her in the 1st Ward race.

Margie Teall

In the 4th Ward, we have the same concerns, but a different conclusion. We endorse incumbent Margie Teall, who is seeking her fifth term on council. Teall has looked at development issues thoughtfully and has supported projects like the Moravian and Heritage Row as appropriate for the locations where they were proposed. She’s also worked to help keep the vacant Georgetown Mall from becoming a blighting influence in her ward, and has been responsive to neighborhood concerns in other ways, such as opposing a plan to allow cars to park at two city parks on football Saturdays. We disagree with her support of the police-courts building and the underground parking structure, but still see her as the better choice in this election.

Challenger Jack Eaton, a labor law attorney and frequent critic of City Council, has campaigned aggressively against Teall. While Eaton scores points on some issues, it’s easier to criticize than to govern. Eaton has such strong opposition to council on so many issues that it begins to feel more reflexive than discerning. What we don’t see enough of in him is the kind of flexibility and compromise that’s necessary to be effective on council.

We’re also concerned whether Eaton can take off his hat as a labor lawyer and former president of a public union to bring the impartiality that a City Council member must to difficult labor issues. We appreciate the work that city employees do and want them to be negotiated with fairly and in good faith, but their interests have to be balanced against the city’s finances and the public’s ability to pay, and that requires elected officials who can be objective on such matters.

This has been a vigorous campaign, and the discussion of issues has been healthy, if often heated. The slate of candidates opposing the incumbents has sought to tap into public discontent over the city’s current direction. How deep that discontent runs is hard to know - until voters speak. But when you are the challenger, it is not enough to point out flaws. You have to present yourself as capable of leading the city in a new and better direction, or even disenchanted voters will conclude that they remain better off with whom they already have. Of the challengers, Sumi Kailasapathy has done the best job of that. That is why we support her in the 1st Ward race, while backing Margie Teall in the 4th Ward.

(The community members of the Editorial Board, David Mielke and Marsha Chamberlain, did not participate in endorsement interviews and were not involved in our endorsement decisions.)