City Council candidate Jane Lumm has worked to preserve Huron Hills golf course
For the past four years, only one candidate for City Council in Ward 2, Jane Lumm, has worked tirelessly and with perseverance to preserve Huron Hills.
Jane recognized the beauty of Huron Hills, its enduring legacy and its contribution to recreation. Jane has spoken out on the high administrative costs and the arcane accounting system used for Huron Hills and Leslie Park.
Her opponent, Stephen Rapundalo, on the other hand, has worked hard to close Huron Hills as it is, leading the charge by bringing in an outside consultant from Colorado, and proposing building a retail golf establishment on the property. Mr. Rapundalo’s solution to the high administrative costs is to throw the baby out with the bathwater rather than solve its financial problems.
Paul Q. Bancel
Ann Arbor
Comments
Tony Livingston
Mon, Oct 24, 2011 : 12:56 p.m.
The high administrative costs and arcane accounting system is the way things are done at city hall. Money is shifted where needed and added to the "costs" of certain programs. Hello. This is exactly what will happen to our sidewalk money. If a slab costs a homeowner $150, you can assume it will cost $500 when done by the city.
Hmm
Mon, Oct 24, 2011 : 12:23 p.m.
I will vote for Ms Lumm
Sparty
Sun, Oct 23, 2011 : 2:52 p.m.
Vote all city council incumbents out!
Stuart Brown
Sun, Oct 23, 2011 : 1:53 p.m.
DonBee, Are you suggesting that the numbers purporting to show that Huron Hills was losing money are not a product of creative accounting? The city charges Huron Hills an enormous sum of money for IT (computer) charges. The issue of Huron Hills is another example of how Hieftje's priorities are not aligned with the residents. Hieftje's people looked at Huron Hills as an under-performing asset to be sold off for a profit to a private developer who would in turn show his gratitude by providing Hieftje's campaign treasury with lots of "consideration" in the future. Hieftje and Rapundalo were forced to back down when they realized people were seeing through the smoke screen (mainly the bogus argument that Huron Hills was losing money). Finally, since when is a park supposed to make money anyway? Only in Hieftje's and Rapundalo's world is a park supposed to show a profit.
DonBee
Sun, Oct 23, 2011 : 1:11 p.m.
Mr. Bancel - If Huron Hills was a break even or make money situation, I could understand your position. But with the city spending more than it takes in, keeping Huron Hills open makes no sense.
PersonX
Sun, Oct 23, 2011 : 5:32 a.m.
The choices are not god, but if Ann Arbor is to survive as a unique city, and not as a generic suburban monstrosity, we have to somehow change the composition of council and that means, above all, undermining the cabal that controls it. For that reason we need to vote Rapundalo and the Dereznisky out of office, since they are the prime representatives of those who would ruin this city and turn it into generic rubbish. There are others ...
Stuart Brown
Sun, Oct 23, 2011 : 5:23 a.m.
I don't like the fact that Jane Lumm supports the Street's Millage but she is way better than Rapundalo. Jane correctly points out that the current Mayor and Council majority have lost touch with the will of Ann Arbor's residents; this is shown by the city's spending priorities. The city has let over $28 million build up in its Street's Millage while at the same time the city's streets are crumbling due to the low repair rate. The city has done two things with the money that was supposed to go to fixing streets: 1) about $500,000 was diverted to fund the city's Percent for Art (aka--the Raj Mahall public art urinal) program; 2) the city apparently gambled the surplus in the bond market--a strategy that seems to have backfired and is costing the city money since interest rates have plummeted in recent years. BTW, the backfiring of the bond gambling seems to coincide with Roger "Dodger" Fraiser departing as City Manager for a LOWER paying job with the Republican administration of Rick Snyder. Our former City Manager will now help the Nerd administer--get this--the State's Emergency Financial Manager's program. You can't make this stuff up! LOL! Remember to vote yourself a tax cut and vote down the Street's Millage renewal along with the Sidewalk program millage.
Goober
Sat, Oct 22, 2011 : 9:55 p.m.
Vote out all incumbents. They will not listen to the voters and, coupled with the mayor, waste tax payer money on the wrong projects and art. This mismanagement of our city has to stop.
Tex Treeder
Sat, Oct 22, 2011 : 8:16 p.m.
I'll vote for her if she promises to get rid of that dangerous "Pedestrian approaching the crosswalk" ordinance.