Q&A with Mayor John Hieftje: On the State of the State, the state of the roads and the city's crosswalk law
In an interview on The Lucy Ann Lance Business Insider on 1290 WLBY this past week, Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje talked with me and Dean Erskine about Gov. Rick Snyder’s State of the State, fixing Ann Arbor roads, and the Pedestrian Crosswalk Ordinance.
Lucy Ann: What did you take away from the governor’s State of the State?
Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje
Lucy Ann: We talked with Rob Fowler of the Small Business Association of Michigan and asked him about this pitting of schools and cities against business. He happens to also sit on the Haslett School Board, so he has a unique perspective. He wants everyone to understand that when you invest in business here in the state, jobs come, and that’s where everyone does better in the long run. He also points out that those tax cuts weren’t for big businesses, but rather the “mom and pop” operations.
Mayor Hieftje: Well, if it turns out that way and it results in more jobs, I’m going to give the governor credit.
Dean Erskine: Where there’s a lot of confusion, Mayor, is that there aren’t big business tax cuts. It’s small business.
Mayor Hieftje: I just disagree with the theory. I think we’ve tried trickle-down in the nation before; I don’t know if it has worked, and the cuts to the schools were pretty deep. Hopefully with the budget bouncing back, they’re going to be able to restore that.
Dean: I think where a lot of the bad feelings are coming up is because everyone is saying that Snyder is giving cuts to his cronies.
Mayor Hieftje: I wouldn’t say that. I know Rick and I know that wouldn’t happen.
Dean: There’s not enough accuracy with what’s going on and there are too many people that are just using their own agenda to paint something differently.
Mayor Hieftje: Perhaps I didn’t state it as well as I could’ve when I say there were big business tax cuts. I didn’t mean that there were tax cuts for big businesses; I meant that there were tax cuts that were large. I really appreciate the governor’s emphasis on infrastructure. My mom and dad had to pay heavy taxes to build the infrastructure we have. We have to rebuild our infrastructure. I think the cities are getting the short end of this. You drive down a lot of rural roads up north and they’re in great shape, and yet one of the roads that we’ve been trying to get fixed for a long time is Huron and Jackson here in Ann Arbor, which are in really bad shape. Because it’s a state road, it’s not a city function to take care of that road. We do a little repair on it when they give us a little money. If you know the difference between a state road and a local road, the state roads are really in bad shape in the cities. In his drive to get more funding, I hope the people and the Legislature listen to him and they do something about infrastructure.
Lucy Ann: What is the impact of state funding on Ann Arbor?
Mayor Hieftje: We’re going to be fine. We just finished the year with a little bit of a surplus, which was a good thing. Our budget is always balanced. We have a more than adequate General Fund Reserve. It’s really putting a lot of pressure on cities across the state. The governor’s got tough choices and there’s only so much money. I did appreciate the fact when he mentioned that they finished their budget in a timely fashion last year. That was very helpful to local governments. In previous years, we were trying to blindly set our budget not knowing what was going to happen with state revenue sharing. We knew it was going to go down, but we weren’t sure how much. But now we have a lot more certainty as we approach budgets. Governments have been hit hard and I’m hoping we’re starting to turn a corner. Hopefully with the new revenues that are coming in from the sales tax, there won’t be a need for another round of revenue sharing cuts.
Lucy Ann: I worked for the City of Ann Arbor for 30 years and retired this past October from my position at Community Television Network. I’ve seen all kinds of efficiencies that the city has been making over the last decade. When Governor Snyder forces municipalities and public schools to take a hard look at where the money’s going, how they’re spending it, and asking them to curb it, Ann Arbor actually started doing this a long time ago.
Mayor Hieftje: Yes, we’ve really done a lot of the work. We were extremely efficient; technology has played a big part in that. If you go inside a police car in Ann Arbor you can hardly find any room because of the computer equipment -- the trunk is full. But that’s made it a lot easier and a lot safer for them. Your water meter, nobody reads it anymore. It sends a signal to a central computer and you can go online and figure out how much water you used. We’re well positioned. We’re fortunate enough to still have some interest in businesses moving to our city, we have construction going on in the downtown area. That’s been something we’ve been trying to make sure happens to have a vibrant downtown. But I talk to other mayors and they’re hurting. They don’t have the benefits that we do, and something has got to change.
Dean: Mayor, when you hear people on the left say that (the governor) is for big business and cuts taxes for big businesses, isn’t there a responsibility for people to speak out and say, “No, I’m sorry. You’re wrong. We disagree with what he’s doing, but it’s not a big business tax cut.”
Mayor Hieftje: I agree with you and I think I’ve been standing up a little bit for him here even though we’re on different sides of the aisle. But I think the governor is not looking for personal gain out of any of this. He does need to stop doing some of the things he’s been doing when he takes some of the best people we have in the local area and moving them up to Lansing. Our former city administrator, although we have a great new city administrator, our director of SPARK, Mike Finney, and he’s cherry picking on the city administrator over in Ypsilanti. We’ve had a little bit of a talent drain.
Lucy Ann: Are you in favor of the Emergency Financial Manager Law?
Mayor Hieftje: I think it’s probably unconstitutional and I’m not in favor of that, but I am in favor of cities getting proactive, recognizing that they can’t run these deficits and facing reality because the reality is that there’s no one that’s going to come to bail you out if it’s not going to be the state and if you’re going to ask the state for money or help, you’re probably going to have to play by their rules.
Lucy Ann: Anything else that you want to let the residents of the City of Ann Arbor know about?
Mayor Hieftje: Infrastructure. We have the Stadium Bridge project going on, something we waited to do until we got federal money. We know that there are local streets in Ann Arbor that need attention. Dexter’s going to be completely redone. We had saved up a few years worth of our local money to replace the Stadium bridges. We have $17 million in outside money coming in now, almost all federal, and that is going to free up that (local) money. So we’re going to have a pretty aggressive road resurfacing program this summer and next summer and the one after that, so people are going to have to put up with construction.
Lucy Ann: Are we still on track to open the Stadium bridges late next year?
Mayor Hieftje: The bridge is down and they’re doing a whole lot of infrastructure work, in the ground kind of work that winter is not going to interfere with. It’s right on schedule and we expect to get that done.
Dean: Pedestrian Ordinance; I know that you’re looking at putting up more lighted signage on Plymouth Road.
Mayor Hieftje: Yes, we changed that. If you follow the litany of the cities that are doing well, walkability is a huge issue, and I know that some folks had some trouble with that but we’ve changed it. You’ll see in the spring these pretty high tech LED flashers that go up that actually the person will push the button, so you’ll be aware.
Lucy Ann: But Mayor, why does it take many rounds of conversations in front of council on this? No one on council knew that this was going to be a problem? That maybe we need some lights in order for this to work safely for motorists and pedestrians?
Mayor Hieftje: Well, you know it took a while, and we did some education, and I don’t think it probably stuck with everybody.
Lucy Ann: That’s never going to work in a transient town, Mayor.
Mayor Hieftje: It was a year between that and when the ordinance was put in place.
Lucy Ann: The City of Saline knew right away. They put in those underground flashers on Woodland Drive. They didn’t dilly-dally with having some signs here and there and request that people just get educated. They knew that you needed to have it done safely with lighting.
Mayor Hieftje: I think you have a good point there and I won’t disagree with you on it.
Lucy Ann: I look at these conversations around the council table and I can’t believe these points aren’t brought up.
Dean: When it was said that it’s been working in Boulder for all these years, I went on the Boulder website right away and saw that they said the only way that you can do it on a multi-lane road is to have lighted signage, flashing lights, so it gets people’s attention. Why didn’t Washtenaw Walking and Biking Coalition, who pushed this here, say, “We’re going to design it after Boulder and you have to have lights on all multi-lane roads.”
Mayor Hieftje: I wish we’d done it that way first, but we’ll have those up in the spring.
Lucy Ann: Will you be putting up lights at the crosswalks on Stadium Boulevard as well?
Mayor Hieftje: Yes. If you look at the Hawk signal at the YMCA on Huron, that was a $110,000 installation. That was an MDOT installation because that is their (state) road, but these LED flashers are much less expensive. About $10,000 to $15,000, which in the scheme of the millions of dollars that are spent on roads, that’s not very expensive. I don’t disagree with you. I wish we would have put those up first.
Lucy Ann: They’re needed on Packard, too, Mayor.
Mayor Hieftje: Well, we’re looking at all of them. I think they’ve ordered six of them to start out with, but we’ll order some more. The engineers are looking at that right now.
Lucy Ann: Well, you said you got that federal money for the Stadium bridges. Now you have the local money for roads.
Mayor Hieftje: We do. We’re going to be careful how we spend it, as we always are.
Lucy Ann Lance and Dean Erskine own Lance & Erskine Communications, which produces “The Lucy Ann Lance Business Insider” (M-F, 8 a.m.-11 a.m.) and “The Lucy Ann Lance Show” (Saturdays, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.) on 1290 WLBY. The programs are live streamed at www.1290WLBY.com, and podcast on www.lucyannlance.com. The above interview is a condensed version of a longer conversation that is edited for clarity. The complete audio interview is posted online at www.lucyannlance.com.
Comments
Kai Petainen
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 8:16 p.m.
this is not a political statement as to whether or not i agree with policies, but a statement with regards to reporting. as much as i believe in giving a critical hard time to ann arbor.com when they deserve it... i also believe in giving them kudos when they deserve it. i've said it before and i'll say it again -- i won't always agree with you, but i won't always disagree with you either. i really like this Q&A style of reporting. this is the sort of stuff that i have wanted to see. i love it. nicely done. kudos to the ann arbor news and to the mayor for doing this. this is a great, straight-forward question: "Are you in favor of the Emergency Financial Manager Law?" this question demonstrates that you're asking some hard-hitting questions: "I think where a lot of the bad feelings are coming up is because everyone is saying that Snyder is giving cuts to his cronies." fantastic job.
Kai Petainen
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 : 4:26 a.m.
that was an interesting response. i did not expect it.
1bit
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 9:26 p.m.
I loved the Mayor's response to the question that he isn't in favor of things that are "probably unconstitutional".
Ron Granger
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 5:11 p.m.
Ann Arbor is not like the rest of the state, and we don't want to be like the rest of the state. Many of us like being able to walk and bike around town. The notion that the car is king does not hold. Dearborn is a great city for people who want to worship the car. Or Troy. Have you been to Troy? Lots of strip malls and 45mph speed limits. No crosswalks that I can recall. Perfect for cars! People want to be able to walk to lunch without being run down. They want to be able to cross at a crosswalk without drivers ignoring them, and failing to yield. The people who work at Google, and other companies we want to attract to this town, want to live and work in pedestrian friendly environments.
Ron Granger
Mon, Jan 23, 2012 : 2:09 p.m.
Btw, Ron.. A "complete street" refers to a roadway that provides appropriate access to all legal users, including motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians and those traveling by assistive devices, such as wheelchairs. <a href="http://michigancompletestreets.wordpress.com/" rel='nofollow'>http://michigancompletestreets.wordpress.com/</a>
Ron Granger
Mon, Jan 23, 2012 : 2:04 p.m.
"Nothing says "pedestrian centric" quite like a bicycle plan, eh? Nope, not buying it." I'm not selling it. Go spend time on google researching the history of Ann Arbor, or at the library reading past copies of the AAnews. I'm not your research clerk.
Brad
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 : 11:49 p.m.
" In 1992, Ann Arbor was among the first cities to create a comprehensive bicycle master plan" Nothing says "pedestrian centric" quite like a bicycle plan, eh? Nope, not buying it.
Brad
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 : 10:19 p.m.
So the fact that Google has an office in "midtown" makes the city "pedestrian centric"? That's quite a leap. And they've been here far less than 25 years. And how many other significant employers (except the U) are there in downtown? I walk quite a bit and I'm in no fear whatsoever of being "run down". I've found that the "look both ways" thing has been sufficient to keep that from happening to me for many years now. I recommend it highly. One thing for sure - the "pedestrian centric" crowd does not lack in the drama department.
MIKE
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 : 7:03 p.m.
Ron Maybe you didn't notice the question mark, or didn't know what it means. It should have told you I was asking a question, not pushing an agenda. I don't want to ban cars and trucks, but for a city that has been trying (unsuccessfully) to reduce the number of cars downtown for years, it may be a better option than building more parking structures.
Ron Granger
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 : 6:48 p.m.
"Then why not ban cars and trucks altogether?" Good luck pushing your radical agenda.
MIKE
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 : 6:30 p.m.
"I've been hearing for the past couple decades about efforts to reduce the number of cars downtown. Back when I was a kid, it irked me. Now it makes sense." Then why not ban cars and trucks altogether? And what's with the new parking structure? It seems like the city wants more cars, not less.
Ron Granger
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 : 3:54 p.m.
@Murphy's dad: "He seems to also feel that because Ann Arbor votes for Dems in elections then therefore it must agree with the ordinance" I said no such thing. You seem to be expending a lot of time and space talking about me, rather than the topic. Try and stay focused on the topic. Here's the quote. Maybe you can grasp the difference. Or will you again turn the discussion back to me? "the people of this town do not vote according to the whims of the commentators on this board. Otherwise the local government would be different. That's a simple fact." If Google, and other tech startups, wanted to be somewhere else in this state, they'd be there. If they wanted car-centric, they would have gone elsewhere. People want to be able to walk around, especially with their kids, without fear of being mowed down. Ann Arbor is among the top of pedestrian friendly cities in the US. It did not get there by accident - part of it is public policy. And it is one of the policies that makes this a great town to live in. <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/05/pedestrian-perfection-the-11-most-walk-friendly-us-cities/238337/" rel='nofollow'>http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/05/pedestrian-perfection-the-11-most-walk-friendly-us-cities/238337/</a> <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/news/top-walking-cities-in-michigan-ann-arbor-is-1/">http://www.annarbor.com/news/top-walking-cities-in-michigan-ann-arbor-is-1/</a>
Ron Granger
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 : 3:37 p.m.
@Brad: "Feel free to tell us how Ann Arbor has been "pedestrian centric" for the last 25 years (I've lived here that entire time). What examples of that can you provide?" Have you heard of that thing called google? Must I spoon feed you? I've been hearing for the past couple decades about efforts to reduce the number of cars downtown. Back when I was a kid, it irked me. Now it makes sense. <a href="http://www.a2gov.org/government/publicservices/systems_planning/Transportation/Pages/Non-motorized.aspx" rel='nofollow'>http://www.a2gov.org/government/publicservices/systems_planning/Transportation/Pages/Non-motorized.aspx</a> "The City of Ann Arbor has taken a "complete streets" approach to planning for more than 30 years. In 1992, Ann Arbor was among the first cities to create a comprehensive bicycle master plan" I also draw your attention to the ordinance that allows pedestrians to cross anywhere on a street, as long as it does not create a safety hazzard.
Murphy's dad
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 : 3:04 p.m.
Agreed Brad, Ron seems to be pretty good at throwing out his opinions as "facts". Also that to attract companies "like Google" we must be pedestrian friendly, while conveniently forgetting that Google came to town long before the pedestrian ordinance. He seems to also feel that because Ann Arbor votes for Dems in elections then therefore it must agree with the ordinance (just ask Stephen Rapundalo about that). A noted author referred to someone who uses his type of arguments as "a pryomaniac in a field full of strawmen" earlier this year. I believe most that are against the ordinance are against how it was implemented, which even the mayor wishes was done differently, not because we want pedestrians run down by out of control motorists. He also assumes that if anybody is against the ordinance then they're not from Ann Arbor. For the record Ron, I've been here over twice as long as you, I walk, bike and drive in Ann Arbor. I just want to be able to do all of it safely.
Brad
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 : 1:27 p.m.
Feel free to tell us how Ann Arbor has been "pedestrian centric" for the last 25 years (I've lived here that entire time). What examples of that can you provide?
leaguebus
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 : 12:02 a.m.
A bunch of the comments of people that are against the crosswalk talk about getting rear ended when stopping for pedestrians. The fact that many people who do not pay attention while driving are cited as a reason to change a law dedicated to protecting walkers and cyclists is joke. This is a reason why we need this law enforced to the hilt.
Ron Granger
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 10:32 p.m.
"From the large number of complaints that have been generated" It is apparent that most commentators here are not Ann Arbor. Otherwise we would have daily lynchings. Burning at the stake would be common. Ritual sacrifice of public officials would be favored over retirements. Etc. More seriously, the people of this town do not vote according to the whims of the commentators on this board. Otherwise the local government would be different. That's a simple fact. It obviously chaps some folks that the people who do vote in Ann Arbor do not agree with their views. I have lived in the town for 25 years and it has always been pedestrian-centric.
Brad
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 9:23 p.m.
I think the notion that the pedestrian is king here is a fairly recent invention and an opinion held by fewer people than WBWC would like you to think. It's something favored by the current mayor/council crop, but with any luck they won't be around too much longer. The walking situation here just isn't as dire as some here would have you believe.
deb
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 7:35 p.m.
One problem is that many residents that own highly valued houses in the city of ann arbor are not downtown (there are high valued houses downtown also). These houses are not in the daily biking or walking vicinity, or have easy access to downtown. The view of some of these residents is that they see the city slashing services that they use (in street leaf pick up. the time to take care of leaves went from minutes (blowing/raking them into the street), to hours), letting the roads crumble, making the downtown area less accessible for automobile transportation, cutting fire and police making response times to those located in the city but not near the center vulnerable (when the fire station on Jackson Road goes un-manned, the fire trucks would have to come from main for any westside fires. In certain neighborhoods they will have to hope that the Scio FD responds and gets on the freeway) The mayor in his pursuit of population density, is not only alienating those communities outside of the city limits, but also many of the residents living within them.
Murphy's dad
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 6:53 p.m.
not arguing Peter, just giving a different point of view. Sorry you take this as an "argument", I was just trying to make a point that when someone is giving their opinion on something they shouldn't try to indicate that everyone in the city agrees with them, on this issue many don't.
Peter Baker
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 6:40 p.m.
I agree with Ron, and most people I know and talk to do as well. And as much as I try to get them to come argue with you on annarbor.com, they seem to be too busy enjoying this city to bother.
Murphy's dad
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 5:57 p.m.
Ron, does the "we" that you've appointed yourself to speak for represent the entire city of Ann Arbor? From the large number of complaints that have been generated by the poorly thought out and implemented pedesrian ordinance it would appear that many of "us" disagree with "you".
Steve
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 4:47 p.m.
I think it's time to let somebody else be mayor.
jcj
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 4:12 p.m.
So there is going to be a roundabout at Miller/Newport? <a href="http://www.ci.ann-arbor.mi.us/government/publicservices/project_management/Pages/ProjectManagementUnit.aspx" rel='nofollow'>http://www.ci.ann-arbor.mi.us/government/publicservices/project_management/Pages/ProjectManagementUnit.aspx</a> Currently, the City plans to proceed with a roundabout at the Miller/Newport intersection. The design phase for this project will continue through 2012, with construction currently planned for 2013. The City of Ann Arbor is currently in the design phase for a project to make improvements to Dexter Avenue between North Maple Road and Huron Street. Widening the road is not a part of this project.
Mike
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 3:37 p.m.
If they don't want to repeal the cross walk law and decide to pass the egregious idling law I am planning on using social media to get a citizens watchdog group together to report scofflaws and overwhelm the police department with complaints. this was passed against the will of the citizenry and is a great big nuisance. Two can play at that game.......................
1bit
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 3:32 p.m.
This is my take on the interview: Mayor: I have an opinion on something. Lucy Ann or Dean: But Mayor, here are the facts. Mayor: But I still have my opinion, in spite of your facts, and I was unaware of the facts. Lucy Ann or Dean: But Mayor, the facts have been widely reported and are well known. Mayor: I won't disagree with you on the facts.
ViSHa
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 5:28 p.m.
LOL, I love that last one. That line stuck out for me.
Steve Hendel
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 2:56 p.m.
"Mayor Hieftje: Infrastructure. We have the Stadium Bridge project going on, something we waited to do until we got federal money." Mayor, the East Stadium Bridge was a crumbling wreck when you first took office @ ten years ago, and has just become worse since then. The truth is, we waited to do it until there was a real possibility that part of it might break off and drop onto heavily-traveled South State Street; THEN we put a few bandaids on it until federal funds came through.
deb
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 2:36 p.m.
"We do. We're going to be careful how we spend it, as we always are" Except when it has to do with your pet projects, like WCWB and Ann Arbor recycle (the consultant debacle)
deb
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 2:33 p.m.
" Your water meter, nobody reads it anymore." So if its all the same equipment and less men, why do my rates continue to go up?
lynel
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 : 12:21 a.m.
It's all about the art fund.
deb
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 2:32 p.m.
"We have to rebuild our infrastructure. I think the cities are getting the short end of this. You drive down a lot of rural roads up north and they're in great shape, and yet one of the roads that we've been trying to get fixed for a long time is Huron and Jackson here in Ann Arbor, which are in really bad shape. Because it's a state road, it's not a city function to take care of that road. We do a little repair on it when they give us a little money. If you know the difference between a state road and a local road, the state roads are really in bad shape in the cities. In his drive to get more funding" The state won't fund the rebuild of jackson and huron because its the alternate highway route, and they refuse to let you turn it into a three lane boulevard with bike lanes, so you wont accept the money to do it how they want. Don't paint the picture like it is the states fault. It is you and the WCWB coalition holding us hostage for bike lanes
RUKiddingMe
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 2:23 p.m.
"We're going to be careful how we spend it, as we always are." You're always careful how you spend money? How much was the study to see if we needed trolley cars, right in the middle of the sharp downturn in the economy? The new stormwater management in West Park that collapsed (did you get the money back, by the way?)New massive bus station, total renovation of other bus facilities, new massive city hall, big dig? More than a million dollars preparing the Fuller Sation site (a new train station 100 yards away from an existing train station, which sits on a huge unused lot) when you have no 1) justification for its need or even usefulness, 2) idea how it would pay for even a portion of itself, 3) who would staff/maintain it, 4) if it will even happen, and the list continues. This is careful?
pbehjatnia
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 2:21 p.m.
mayor hieftje, this was, predictably, more of the same. at least you managed to pull in your patronizing tone for the interview.
Jim Osborn
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 2:07 p.m.
The crux of the problem is that while the mayor is focused on pet projects, good or bad (the ugly may be art), he is dropping the ball on key duties such as roads, public safety; (including fire, crime, traffic), utilities, and even the homeless. The city council needs to get back on key duties.
Diane
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 2:05 p.m.
Hef-TEE has got to go ,just like Obama
leaguebus
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 8:28 p.m.
I hope you Are in the 1% and won't need Social Security or Medicare.
timjbd
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 2:52 p.m.
That's a helpful comment.
Alan Goldsmith
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 1:41 p.m.
Questions for the next interview of the Mayor: 1. Since you are supportive of the new Michigan Governor, can you comment on the rumors you're being courted for a position in the Snyder administration? 2. Since, Mr. Mayor, you are such a supporter of 'green space' both within and outside of the City, can you explain why you dodged having a vote on turning over parkland for a U of M parking structure by proposing a 75 year 'lease'. Isn't that being hypocritical about protecting green space and that you're willing to compromise when it comes to appearing the University? 3. Mr. Mayor, why would you hand over voting control of a new County transportation governing board to other units of government when in effect Ann Arbor would be paying a huge majority of the costs? Are you looking out for the interests of the City taxpayers and do you see your push to make this happen a direct conflict of interest with you A2 Mayor's position? 4. From the Lucy and Dean questions about your support and handling of the pedestrian cross walks fiasco, what will you and City Council do in the future to avoid approving programs that 'free good' but have major flaws and seemed to be rushed without a clear and detailed review of potential problems? 5. With one company involved with the Library Parking Structure mentioned with the investigation of Wayne County's Bob Ficano and the review by Federal investigators, has the City Attorney reviewed previous City no bid contracts with Recycle Ann Arbor and the City Justice Center Water Fountain? Do you feel, even through the first contract involved over $3 Million to an organization run by one of your past political supporters, that the City won't be swept up in any outside investigation similar to Wayne County?
Kai Petainen
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 : 4:29 a.m.
@kenUM is that true?
kenUM
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 4:46 p.m.
@Alan, I believe that item #2 is no longer an issue. I am hearing that this project is dead. I have replied to Stephen's posting for clarification.
deb
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 2:42 p.m.
The mayors connection's and money flows to recycle ann arbor are disturbing. The fact that he said they couldn't be held responsible for a consulting companies error, when the head of that consulting company sits on the board of A2 recycle killed me. Then the city gave a2 recycle the same amount of money they saved by eliminating street leaf pick-up
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 1:39 p.m.
"'You have an amazing police and fire department who did that,' she said, adding she wouldn't want to see those services compromised. But she doesn't see how they wouldn't be with 25 positions slated for elimination in the police department on top of cuts to fire. Mayor John Hieftje acknowledged "there's going to be an impact," but he said the city has little choice given the size of the budget deficit it's facing — $2.4 million next year alone." April 14, 2011 quote from <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/news/ann-arbor-residents-voice-strong-concerns-about-cuts-to-fire-services-at-town-hall-meeting/">http://www.annarbor.com/news/ann-arbor-residents-voice-strong-concerns-about-cuts-to-fire-services-at-town-hall-meeting/</a> "New audit report: City of Ann Arbor finishes last budget year with $950K surplus in general fund" January 12, 2012 headline, see <a href="http://annarbor.com/news/new-audit-report-city-of-ann-arbor-finishes-last-budget-year-with-surplus/">http://annarbor.com/news/new-audit-report-city-of-ann-arbor-finishes-last-budget-year-with-surplus/</a>. Note the overall surplus for the year for the city as a whole was $30 million, as noted in this article and the top voted comments on this article.
Jim Osborn
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 1:33 p.m.
It is about leadership, listening to people and ensuring that those that work for the city are receptive to ideas. Some are not, including the mayor, it appears. I first saw embedded crosswalk LED lights in California 5 years ago and I talked about them to a senor Ann Arbor traffic engineer at a meeting for the Geddes Road roundabout, who said that no such thing existed. The traffic islands are a hazard to cars, yet offer no real protection to a pedestrian from a wayward vehicle. Again, in California, I've seen raised barriers similar to the freeway median dividers. They are very inexpensive, highly visible, and protective. Instead, roundabouts are added that are great for cars, yet are very dangerous for pedestrians trying to cross as traffic is looking to merge. A LED light could have easily been added to alert traffic that a kid is crossing at Nixon. The mayor should be aware of a jaywalking problem, the flip side of cars ignoring crosswalk laws, where someone steps in front of moving traffic midblock at night, or ignores traffic lights, forcing cars to halt, yet he has not chosen to address this safety concern. Again leadership. He talks about bicycles and bike lanes, yet when I ride my bike around Ann Arbor; the worst potholes for me are near the curbs in the bike lanes. Worse, some bike lanes suddenly end w/o warning (Division). Instead, there are pointless painted bike symbols painted on the street. Fix the potholes instead and make the lanes continuous.
Carole
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 12:57 p.m.
The mayor stated that Ann Arbor has a balanced budget and a little left over. If that is the case, why the big cuts in the AAFD and AAPD and why are further cuts being considered. Oh yea, I forgot, they need the money and additional funding for art. And, the article clearly shows that the mayor and council did not do their homework on what types of pedestrian walkways would be the most effective.
thorj97
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 12:53 p.m.
I'm concerned these crosswalk flashers will not be visible two or three cars back (like the HAWK signal is). This seems to be where most of the collisions are occurred over the summer. If the flashers aren't visible to traffic that can't see the pedestrian, they won't solve the problem. Anyone know if they will be?
thorj97
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 : 4:58 p.m.
Peter, You may not recall, but there were multiple crosswalk collisions during the summer. Apparently, most were caused by a vehicle several cars back running into the stopped cars. You can search the annarbor.com archives. I think the articles will still be there. Do you know the answer to the question?
Peter Baker
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 6:37 p.m.
Wouldn't the three stopped cars in front of you be enough?
Alan Goldsmith
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 11:30 a.m.
"Lucy Ann: I worked for the City of Ann Arbor for 30 years and retired this past October from my position at Community Television Network" I stand corrected--but the information should have been included in all the past interviews printed in this blog. Congrats on your retirement Ms. Lance.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 11:28 a.m.
I'll repeat my list of top 5 priorities that the city leaders should address in 2012. Please note how many of these topics our Mayor didn't even discuss (#1, 2, 4) or where he disagrees with us (#5). 1) Ann Arbor is not meeting national standards for fire safety. This will raise our fire insurance rates & cause more unnecessary loss of life. The current budget for 2012 anticipates even further cuts to the fire department personnel. This must be stopped & adequate staffing provided once again to keep the citizens & their properties safe! 2) The current budget for 2012 anticipates even further cuts to the police department. Ann Arbor already has an inadequate number of cars on patrol at any one time (if I recall correctly only 5 at any one time city wide) & we need to reinstate daily downtown foot patrol beat cops. While the new city manager, Steve Powers, promises to revise the budget and solve this problem, we must insure that this happens, because with inaction, a further round of CUTS is already baked in! 3) Ann Arbor's roads are a mess & are rated among the worst in the state. The funds are available from the street millage to repair them instead of accumulating over $29 million in the road millage separate account. Get on with it already! 4) The Fuller Road project ought to go to a vote of the citizens because no one can assert with a straight face that they will spend $121 million building in it & that it will ever be parkland again! Personally I support the project in concept but NOT if the voters don't approve it first. If it's a project with merit, sell the citizens on that & if you can't convince the citizens, respect the democratic process and move on to other topics. 5) Repeal the current pedestrian crosswalk ordinance & replace it with one that conforms exactly to what the signs say, "stop for pedestrian in crosswalk.". We are putting people at risk of serious injury by having an ordnance different than the model sta
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Sat, Feb 11, 2012 : 12:17 a.m.
@KenUM: Kudos on a huge news scoop, you were right!
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 : 2:58 p.m.
@KenUM: I have not heard anything like that and would be shocked to learn news like that, since U-M Health System Parking is a real challenge for the workers there and space has been at a premium on the medical campus for decades.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Sun, Jan 22, 2012 : 1:47 p.m.
@bunnyabbott: Thanks very much for your kind comments, which I appreciate very much. In social issues I consider myself liberal or libertarian and in fiscal matters financially conservative (having started out as a scholarship student with no money whatsoever, I still am frugal, appreciate the value of money and hate to see it wasted). Unfortunately, the Democratic Party has turned away from it's fiscal conservatism roots, and a meeting of the socially liberal and fiscally conservative wing of the Democratic Party (where I fit in best theoretically) would probably have me sitting in a room with very few others... Running for political office is a big undertaking, and requires a lot of help. If you REALLY are serious about wanting me to run for political office, please email me at ranzini@university-bank.com and tell me how you would able to help such an effort. Perhaps if enough people do so, I would begin to seriously consider it. Either way, thanks for your generous sentiments.
kenUM
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 4:43 p.m.
@Stephen, regarding item #4 (Fuller Road project) I am hearing that this project is now dead! Apparently, the additional parking is not necessary. The construction equipment has been removed............any updated information regarding this project?
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 4:12 p.m.
@timjbd: "Lucy Ann: Anything else that you want to let the residents of the City of Ann Arbor know about?". The Mayor could have said *anything* he wanted in answer to this question, right?. It's what he chose to say and what he chooses to focus on and focus council on that is why the list of important unfinished business is so long, and why key mistakes were made along he way, like the Rog Mahal, the Big Dig ($100 million of waste just on those two items), like the cuts to the fire and police that were so necessary he said but weren't (see my post below), etc., etc., etc.
bunnyabbot
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 4:08 p.m.
I don't know where you fall as far as political party, but as an independant I like much of what you post about politically, so I think it is time you run for something, perhaps mayor :)
timjbd
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 2:48 p.m.
"Please note how many of these topics our Mayor didn't even discuss..." It's an interview. He answers the questions asked.
Jim Osborn
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 1:46 p.m.
#5 Repeal the current pedestrian crosswalk ordinance & replace it" My cousin's son is a new grad student at UM and he was told by other students that pedestrians have the right-of-way and can ignore traffic control devices. This dangerous misinformation stems from the mayor's new ordinance that does not stick with state law.
Jim Osborn
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 1:38 p.m.
Great posting! "has an inadequate number of cars on patrol at any one time" But they manage to man many speed traps still on early Sunday morning, nabbing those late to church, yet never downtown to catch cars turning left from the far right lane and vice-versa or pedestrians who force cars to halt even though they have a green light. it is about leadership and priorities.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 12:07 p.m.
The last two words of my post should be "state law." Although AnnArbor.com's helpful software informed me I still had 25 characters left, in reality I was 7 characters too long. Sigh. When is AnnArbor.com going to fix this vexing software bug?
Alan Goldsmith
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 11:27 a.m.
So we forgot to include Ms. Lance is also a City of Ann Arbor employee and as such this information should be included since she's interviewing someone in that context?
justcurious
Sat, Jan 21, 2012 : 1:30 p.m.
I believe in the article she says she retired, though that may have been added later.