Hello neighbors!
Welcome to my Ann Arbor City Council newsletter, where you can connect with primary sources to understand the work of your local government. My goal is to provide clear explanations of all the issues your elected representatives will be discussing at their next meeting and alert you to local policy and decisions that have been assigned to unelected Mayoral appointees.
PUBLIC POWER EVENT: SUNDAY, 4-6 PM
Ann Arbor for Public Power is hosting a Town Hall TOMORROW (Sunday February 2nd) from 4-6pm at Clonlara School (1289 Jewett Ave). It is a hybrid event, with a simultaneous webinar via Zoom.
The town hall will consider how to complete a feasibility study for acquisition of DTE assets and what to put on a November 2026 ballot. At the Town Hall, Mayor Christopher Taylor and A2P2 member Ken Garber will answer questions.
If you are unable to attend in person, you can register to participate by Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_s99wv9IkR7uDYFMTEMhGwg#/registration
REMEMBERING CATHERINE MCCLARY
This week, I attended a memorial gathering to celebrate the life of Catherine McClary, who had the distinction of being the youngest member of the Washtenaw County Commission (1974-1988) and served as Washtenaw County Treasurer from 1997 until her untimely death last December. In the 1970s, McClary was a trailblazing advocate for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. She helped found a Women’s Crisis Center and originated the concept of a publicly funded women shelter (what we now know as SafeHouse). You can learn more about her history of activism through an interview she did for an AADL Bicentennial project:
https://aadl.org/node/634355
As the elected Washtenaw County treasurer, McClary was responsible for overseeing the collection of property taxes. Her leadership in that office helped many vulnerable County residents who were at risk of losing their homes. You can read more about programs she spearheaded to specifically support home ownership among historically disadvantaged populations:
https://www.secondwavemedia.com/concentrate/features/homeforgenerations0618.aspx
The memorial event this week was a crowded room of current and former County officials, friends and colleagues, as well as US Congressperson Debbie Dingell. Catherine McClary was a remarkable public servant who used the power of her elected position to meet the needs of Washtenaw residents.
A2Council Update Video
After every City Council meeting I send out an “A2Council Update” newsletter, which includes a summary video. Here is my A2Council Update video from the Council meeting of January 21, 2025:
In Case You Missed It…
On my YouTube channel, you can find recordings of public meetings that are open to attend live (online or in-person) but are not made available by the City to view later. Please reach out if you have suggestions about public meetings that should be recorded. Subscribe to my YouTube channel if you would like to be alerted to new content as it gets added.
https://www.youtube.com/@a2elnel
Council Policy Agenda Committee: January 27, 2025
This is a recording I made of a Zoom audio meeting held on Monday, January 27, 2025 by the Ann Arbor Council Policy Agenda Committee. Video was not made available.
For more about this meeting: https://a2council.com/council-policy-agenda-committee-january-27-2025/
Ann Arbor City Council Meeting Agenda
Below is my summary of issues on the City Council Agenda this week, with links to more information about each of them. If you have comments about any of these issues, you can email all of Council at CityCouncil@a2gov.org
Ann Arbor City Council Meeting
Monday, February 3, 2025 7:00PM
Ann Arbor City Hall (2nd Floor)
301 E Huron St, Ann Arbor 48104
The full agenda (including a link to the latest published PDF agenda, and instructions for dialing into the meeting) is on the A2Gov Legistar website:
https://a2gov.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1251574&GUID=8BA5A186-7030-4BDC-B029-00D79CF60354
City Council meetings are broadcast live by CTN on Comcast (channel 16) and AT&T (channel 99) and online at a2gov.org/watchCTN
Meetings are also streamed live on the CTN YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ctnannarbor
How to reserve public comment
People that wish to comment at a City Council meeting must sign up with the City Clerk’s office in advance. Speakers are allotted 3 minutes, with the first 15 speakers allowed to speak in a 45 minute session near the beginning of the meeting. Remaining speakers will speak at the end of the Council meeting. Public comment can be made either in person or remotely via phone/Zoom audio.
To sign up for public comment, please go to or call the City Clerk’s Office at 734-794-6140 on the day of the meeting between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM. At 4:00 PM, all speakers that have signed up are randomly ordered in “priority groups”. After 4:00 PM, speakers are added to the end of the applicable priority group in the order received. No new speakers will be added to the list after 5:00 PM. For more information, visit the City Clerk’s webpage about electronic meetings, section “City Council Public Commentary Time”
https://www.a2gov.org/departments/city-clerk/Pages/Virtual-Meetings-.aspx
Questions to the Agenda
In preparation for a Council meeting, Council members can ask questions of staff about scheduled agenda items. Questions must be submitted by noon on the Wednesday before a Council Meeting, and answers are returned the next day (Thursday) by 5pm.
AC-1 (25-0196) Agenda Response Memo and eComments – February 3, 2025
This agenda item has a PDF attachment with all questions raised by Council Members, and the answers provided by staff.
For the second meeting in a row, no Council Members asked questions to the agenda.
Communications from the Mayor
MC-1 (25-0127) Appointments – Confirmations
These appointments from the Mayor were presented at the previous meeting, and will therefore be voted on at this Council meeting.
- John Splitt – Downtown Development Area Resident Consultancy Council
- Joseph Arcure – Downtown Development Area Resident Consultancy Council
Consent Agenda
Below is the list of items included on the Consent Agenda. If no one on Council specifically requests that an item be pulled for discussion, the whole of this list will be approved in a single vote.
CA-1 (25-0152) Resolution to Approve Street Closings for Fool Moon on Friday, April 4, 2025, from 12:00 Noon to 12:00 Midnight
CA-2 (25-0153) Resolution to Approve Street Closings for FestiFools Parade – Sunday, April 6, 2025
CA-3 (25-0154) Resolution to Approve Street Closings for the University of Michigan Big House 5K on Sunday, April 13, 2025
CA-4 (25-0158) Resolution to Approve the Collective Bargaining Agreement Between the City of Ann Arbor and Ann Arbor Police Professional Assistants Effective January 1, 2025 – December 31, 2026
CA-5 (25-0007) Resolution to Approve Change Order No. 1 to the Contract with Huron Valley Electric, Inc. to Cover Additional Project Costs of $17,275.00 for the Fire Station 3 Emergency Generator, RFP #24-43 (Total Contract Amount: $82,275.00)
CA-6 (25-0052) Resolution to Authorize the Purchase of a Pierce Tiller Fire Truck from Halt Fire Inc. and Appropriate Funding (Sourcewell – $2,384,695.00) (8 Votes Required)
CA-7 (24-2153) Resolution to Approve a Professional Services Agreement with Regents of the University of Michigan for the Evaluation Services of Dr. Lesli Hoey Related to Bryant Neighborhood Decarbonization Work ($80,000.00)
CA-8 (25-0163) Resolution to Approve a Professional Services Agreement with 4 LEADERS, LLC for Advisory Services (Contract Total NTE $196,000.00)
CA-9 (25-0077) Resolution Recognizing Ann Arbor Women’s Group as a Civic Nonprofit Organization Operating in Ann Arbor for the Purpose of Obtaining a Charitable Gaming License
CA-10 (25-0058) Resolution to Approve a Grant Agreement with the James L. Crawford Elks Lodge #322 ($200,630.00)
Public Hearings
Anyone wanting to comment on these issues may speak for 3 minutes, without having specifically reserved time. Issues subject to public hearing will also be up for a vote by Council later in the meeting.
PH-1/B-1 (25-0022) An Ordinance to Amend Section 1:324.5 of Chapter 14 (Purchasing, Contracting and Selling Procedure) of Title I of the City Code of Ordinances (ORD-25-01)
Amendments to the City’s “Best value” procurement ordinance will remove requirements to submit materials in bidding documents and instead link to information on company websites. A requirement to demonstrate “quality control” is removed because staff report that this measure does not reveal a difference between bidders. Bidders will no longer have to provide evidence of paid leave policy, or explanation of “sustainable” materials or practices. A staff memo explains that the terms of construction jobs dictate specific materials and protocols that would apply to all bids (i.e. there are not “sustainable” alternatives).
In discussion at first reading (1/21/25), Council Member Eyer claimed that amendments will change how the City defines compliance with the City’s Living Wage ordinance:
“this is finally going to allow us to score bidders on things that we value, like whether they pay prevailing wage on projects all the time, not just city projects”
This change does not appear in any of the amendment language.
Ordinances – Second Reading
In order to amend the city code, Council must vote to approve the change, via ordinance, at two Council meetings. The following proposed ordinances were approved at a previous Council meeting, and are also subject to a public hearing as listed above.
B-1 (25-0022) is the same as PH-1 above.
Ordinances – First Reading
In order to amend the city code, Council must vote to approve the change, via ordinance, at two Council meetings. The following proposed ordinances are being introduced for “first reading”. If approved, the ordinance will be voted on at a subsequent Council meeting (“second reading”), where it will also be subject to a public hearing.
C-1 (25-0009) An Ordinance to Amend Chapter 55 (Zoning), Rezoning of 0.6 Acres from R1C (Single-Family Dwelling District) to PL (Public Land District), Park at Dexter Road and Seybold Drive Rezoning, 2570, 2576, and 2582 Dexter Road (CPC Recommendation: Approval – 8 Yeas and 0 Nays)
A 0.6 acre parcel at Dexter Road and Seybold Drive will be rezoned from R1C (Single-Family Dwelling) to PL (Public Land) for a park. The park will benefit residents of a 4.8 acre community of affordable housing off North Maple— in 2014, the Ann Arbor Housing Commission property was rezoned for redevelopment, which doubled the number of affordable housing units. In redevelopment, the open space of a basketball court was lost and residents missed it. The land being rezoned this week was intentionally purchased to meet this need.
C-2 (25-0100) An Ordinance to Amend Section 1:195 (Public Market Advisory Commission) to Chapter 8 (Organization of Boards and Commissions) of Title I (Administration) of the Ann Arbor City Code
Ordinance amendments will change the composition of the Public Market Commission, adding two voting members. Currently, five (5) voting members are designated: two vendors (one annual and one daily), two regular customers of the market, and one representative of the Kerrytown neighborhood. Amendments will expand the Commission to seven (7) voting members, adding one additional vendor (either annual or daily) and one additional member from any category (vendor, customer, or neighborhood representative).
Motions and Resolutions
The following agenda items are motions and resolutions, which are approved or rejected in a single meeting. Agenda items marked “DC” are proposed by Council members, items marked “DB” are proposed by City boards and commissions, items marked “DS” are proposed by City staff.
DC-1 (25-0200) Resolution to Direct the City Attorney to Provide a Public Legal Memorandum Regarding the City of Ann Arbor’s Intervention in DTE Electric Company and DTE Gas Company Proceedings before the Michigan Public Service Commission since 2022
The City Attorney is directed to produce a memorandum explaining recent City advocacy with the state commission that regulates public utilities. The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) is a regulatory body that sets rules and rates for Michigan utilities, e.g. DTE. The regulatory process of the MPSC includes an opportunity for customers to offer input (“Intervention”). The City of Ann Arbor has recently participated in a number of cases before the MPSC. The requested legal memo will summarize the City’s arguments to the MPSC (since 2022) and the outcome of those cases. For more on this topic, see my Additional Thoughts below.
Additional Thoughts…
I also published this on my website:
https://a2elnel.com/post/a2-budget-watch-fighting-dte/
A2 Budget Watch: Fighting DTE
An item on the February 3, 2025 City Council agenda is an opportunity to re-evaluate some recent City expenditures and consider the relative benefit they may (or may not) provide to our community:
DC-1 (25-0200) Resolution to Direct the City Attorney to Provide a Public Legal Memorandum Regarding the City of Ann Arbor’s Intervention in DTE Electric Company and DTE Gas Company Proceedings before the Michigan Public Service Commission since 2022
The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) regulates policy and rate schedules for our current utility, DTE. I.e. Resolving disputes with DTE means advocating in proceedings before the MPSC.
CITY INTERVENTION: THEN AND NOW
In recent years, the City has frequently participated in “intervention” at the MPSC, advocating for or against policy and rate schedules. Information about the City’s advocacy appears on Council agendas, but it is somewhat buried in the category of “report or communication.”
Previously, information about intervention at the MPSC was a bit more visible, because City Council voted to approve specific contracts for legal services. For example:
December 2016
$48,000 contract for legal services to challenge policy requests by DTE that would impact the City’s hydroelectric plants (case U-18091)
https://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2902138&GUID=E3B8A9A0-7617-4DD8-B5BF-6E1D2DE31D4A&FullText=1
November 2018
$6,300 contract for legal service, same as above (case U-18091)
https://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3710086&GUID=6126D51B-602D-4C66-8910-27F472A6BB4D&FullText=1
August 2019
$15,000 contract for legal services, same as above (case U-18091)
https://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4069786&GUID=5694E064-956A-49B0-AD3D-27F927E89CE4&FullText=1
Recent City intervention/advocacy at the MPSC is funded under the umbrella of much larger contracts for legal services, which are now a regular part of annual budget allocations for the Office of Sustainability and Innovations (OSI).
Cases before the MPSC include hundreds of pages of submitted statements and legal filings from impacted parties and advocacy groups. Below, you can find links to some of the more interesting documents submitted by the City of Ann Arbor: direct testimony provided by City staff and community members:
Case U-21291 (July 2023)
re: rate schedules (DTE gas)
January 2024 testimony
https://mi-psc.my.site.com/sfc/servlet.shepherd/version/download/0688y00000BRwoEAAT
May 2024 testimony
https://mi-psc.my.site.com/sfc/servlet.shepherd/version/download/0688y00000DOzW0AAL
Case U-21384 (September 2023)
re: depreciation accrual rates (DTE gas)
March 2024 testimony
https://mi-psc.my.site.com/sfc/servlet.shepherd/version/download/0688y00000CaDKAAA3
Case U-21297 (January 2023)
re: rate schedules and rules (DTE electric)
June 2023 testimony
https://mi-psc.my.site.com/sfc/servlet.shepherd/version/download/0688y00000863fkAAA
Case U-20836 (June 2020)
re: rate schedules (DTE electric)
May 2022 testimony
https://mi-psc.my.site.com/sfc/servlet.shepherd/version/download/0688y000002xqzmAAA
Case U-21172 (December 2021)
re: regulatory review (DTE electric)
April 2023 testimony
https://mi-psc.my.site.com/sfc/servlet.shepherd/version/download/0688y000007ZVRaAAO
Case U-20713 (January 2020)
re: regulatory review (DTE electric)
December 2020 testimony
https://mi-psc.my.site.com/sfc/servlet.shepherd/version/download/068t000000HxNqpAAF
WHAT IT COSTS
Since 2020, the OSI department has consulted with a legal firm called Rivenoak to intervene in DTE cases before the MPSC. City allocations to Rivenoak have grown rapidly in recent years:
12/10/20
Agreement between Rivenoak and City of Ann Arbor (reported without detail)
https://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4730675&GUID=355B871B-7BDF-4B48-A2D1-F92282F4E97D&FullText=1
12/21/20
$20,000 added to Rivenoak contract (added to previous allocation of $25,000)
https://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4731712&GUID=E8B253B2-9BD8-4566-8021-0FD4DE705DDF&FullText=1
3/2/21
Agreement between Rivenoak and City of Ann Arbor (reported without detail)
https://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4812751&GUID=843F984B-BBA8-432D-BE69-CC7AC268841C&FullText=1
4/19/21
$20,000 added to Rivenoak contract (total not to exceed $65,000)
https://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4904356&GUID=95D7E248-FE22-48B6-B8C7-B2044AD4DCB9&FullText=1
6/21/21
$50,000 annual contract with Rivenoak
https://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4981702&GUID=4FD07C3F-15F2-4ECB-93D3-178908F5750E&FullText=1
12/6/21
$85,000 annual contract with Rivenoak (amendment to 6/21/21)
https://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5211725&GUID=AD02F1D6-193D-4D13-A163-2D73C8CE6519&FullText=1
6/6/22
$85,000 annual contract with Rivenoak
https://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5663395&GUID=BF83CD60-CDF2-4EC1-B247-3303FCA25593&FullText=1
7/10/23
$110,000 annual contract with Rivenoak (not reported but referenced 6/18/24)
6/18/24
$54,100 added to contract with Rivenoak (provided from grant funds)
https://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6716336&GUID=D6395601-1B8F-48AB-9336-36966FC6F11F&FullText=1
In a little over four years, the City’s annual investment in these specialized legal services has more than tripled: from $45,000 (2020) to $164,100 (2024). Three times, contracts were amended and increased within six months of initial approval.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The resolution on this week’s agenda includes two particularly interesting clauses:
Whereas, In some MPSC proceedings the City was the only party advancing certain arguments and in other proceedings it worked collaboratively with other entities to advocate for the City and its residents;
…
Whereas, It is in the public’s interest for the City to be transparent about the arguments advanced by the City before the MPSC and the outcomes of the MPSC proceedings in which the City participated
Nothing in the resolution refers to the cost of these activities in terms of staff time or legal expenses. The operative part of the resolution asks for details about “arguments” and “outcome”:
RESOLVED, That as soon as possible the City Attorney provide a public legal memorandum summarizing the arguments advanced by the City in MPSC proceedings regarding DTE Electric and DTE Gas and the outcome of those proceedings since 2022.
This week, Council submitted no questions about this resolution or any other item on the agenda. When Council eventually gets the legal memo summarizing “arguments” and “outcome,” I hope they have at least one: was it worth the investment?
Thank you for taking the time to be informed about our local government!
Elizabeth Nelson