Statement at the Dec 6, 2021 Council Meeting

Dec 6, 2021 | City Council

It is alarming to me that leaders in our very liberal, progressive community have so little respect for representative democracy, both what it means for each individual person sitting at this table and what it means for the people who elected each of us to sit at this table. DC-2 is not serious, it is juvenile, and treats our local government like something straight out of high school. All of us were elected to be here. Some of us take this job seriously.

Some of us have memories longer than six months.

What has been offered as justification for targeting me was somehow a virtue just six months ago. Six months ago, Council members were eager to hear directly from any anonymous person who could claim to have HEARD anything awkward or strange from our former City Administrator. Some at this table loudly proclaimed how important it was to make space for any kind of complaint, allow it to be heard, and believe the victims.

This week, city staff get the message: your formal written complaint can be disposed of easily, and after we dispose of it, a member of our City administration will publicly refer to it as a “complete fabrication.” In six short months, we have shifted our posture from believing victims to calling them liars.

I do not regret taking a whistleblower seriously and responding to a desperate request for help. I vehemently deny having said anything inappropriate in the context of a complaint that implicated our City Attorney’s office. I could say a lot about double standards and hypocrisy, but I believe it would mostly fall on deaf ears. Our community deserves better than this.


DC-2 Resolution to Approve 2022 Council Committee Appointments
https://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5257061&GUID=E34B82B8-1FCB-4CD0-BA5C-2358EDE0E94B&Options=&Search=&FullText=1

Also see:
https://www.a2elnel.com/post/council-appointments-accountability
https://www.a2elnel.com/post/response-to-investigative-report-released-december-2-202


Tweet from Assistant City Administrator John Fournier, Dec 2, 2021:

Tweet from John Fournier Ann Arbor Dec 2 2021