With a puppet moderating, Ypsilanti's mayoral candidates hold their first debate

Mayor Paul Schreiber, left, and Council Member Pete Murdock debate, with "puppet Mark Maynard" as the moderator.

Tom Perkins | For AnnArbor.com

Murdock and Schreiber were each given two minutes to respond to questions posed by the puppet version of Maynard, then 30 seconds for a rebuttal. Bizarre as the setting may have been, the two candidates, whose race will be decided in the August primary, seriously discussed the biggest issues facing Ypsilanti.

On the question of the Thompson Block, Murdock said the plan developer Stewart Beal presented to City Council did not provide an acceptable timeline for redeveloping the property or provide safeguards ensuring the project would go forward.

“My suspicions is they don’t have the resources to do anything, therefore delay is to their advantage,” he said.

Schreiber said safety was his primary concern, and he felt that the plan City Council voted down 4-3 leading to the litigation was acceptable.

“Anytime you go to court you never go know what’s going to happen,” he said.

When asked what they have done to move Water Street forward, Murdock and Schreiber both pointed to successes the city has had in securing grants to clear the property and ready it for development, but differed on how to attract that development.

Schreiber is a proponent of employing zoning changes developed by the planning commission. He contended that the council needs to provide city staff and developers with a vision of what it wants to see happen on the property.

“Council needs some control of what goes in there,” he said.

Murdock disagreed. He argued that the city needs a quick process for developers to get their projects built.

“Zoning, by its very nature, is restrictive,” he said.

Local musician Charlie Slick sang a question to the candidates. He asked how they proposed attracting young families to the city when the school district is closing down buildings.

Schreiber said he is part of the countywide Eastern Leaders Group, which is exploring how to specialize county schools so they are no longer competing with one another. Each would have their own niche to attract students to the county’s districts.

Murdock said maintaining city service levels is key to attracting young families, as is ensuring that the city keeps on top of fallout from high foreclosure rates.

“There’s nothing like an abandoned building in the neighborhood to start the decline of that neighborhood,” he said.

The puppet Maynard pointed out that 25 percent of Ypsilanti residents live in poverty and asked what the candidates could due to address the issue.

Schreiber said attracting small business to the city is essential to boosting the local economy.

“The fact that were having a renaissance downtown is a very good thing, and we need to keep promoting that,” he said.

Murdock said the city needs to focus on the declining industrial base that once provided a steady living for many residents.

“We need to encourage the education of the community and also create job situations for people that may not currently have those kinds of skills to make a decent wage,” he said.

Both candidates said the state’s funding issue is having a significant impact on the city's budget. Murdock said the City Council has so far been successful in staving off a crisis by trimming over $1 million from the budget without too deep of cuts to public safety.

Puppet Mark Maynard

Schreiber said other municipalities are now in the position Ypsilanti has been in, and the city has been successful in communicating its situation to residents and state legislators.

“We have gotten good at having a tight fiscal budget,” he said.

Slick sang a song asking why the two candidates would want to be mayor during such tough economic times.

Murdock responded that the next four years will be challenging and he enjoys being part of the solution.

“The challenges are there and it’s rewarding to see the progress that’s made,’ he said.

Schreiber called helping the community through legislation “rewarding.”

“There are a lot of little things that you can do,” he said. “Sometimes you get complaints, but when you add it all up, it’s a great experience.”

The debate got a little lighter during the “lightning round” at the end. In it, the candidates had five seconds to respond to questions such as the best thing to happen to Ypsilanti in the last ten years, their worst mistake as mayor (Murdock served as mayor in the ‘80’s), and renaming Ypsilanti “East Ann Arbor.”

To the last question, Schreiber suggested “Ann Arbor-tucky,” while an audience member offered up “Waterville.”

The puppet Maynard then asked the candidates to look into each others’ eyes and say something nice about their opponent. Murdock said he appreciated that Schreiber is committed to serving the community.

Schreiber took it a step further.

“I love you, Pete,” he said.