Ann Arbor City Council Preview: January 18, 2021

It's #a2Council night in Ann Arbor. Here's the meeting agenda and here's the A2AF episode about the agenda. 

The evening kicks off with a short, six-item, consent agenda. Of note, there are two street closings. CA-3 is for the Shamrocks and Shenanigans 5k on March 13. CA-4 is for the Big House 5k on April 10. CA-6 is approval of hiring the new DDA executive director.

There are three public hearings on the agenda tonight. PH-1/B-1 is on a routine township annexation. PH-2/B-2 is the second reading of the updates to the disorderly conduct ordinance. I think there is an important missed opportunity here to engage in harm reduction here with regards to decriminalizing consensual sex work. PH-3/DB-1 is on township island annexation for the Villages of Ann Arbor site plan in Ward 1. 

Further down the agenda we have DC-1, a resolution condemning antisemitism. DC-2 is a resolution to "Begin Discussions with University of Michigan (U-M) for 2,000 Units of Workforce Housing on U-M’s North Campus and Agreement on Additional Student and Employee Residential Units Commensurable with U-M’s Growth." My two cents on this one: there is a housing crisis in Ann Arbor. That said, it is not UM's mission to house its workforce. There is one group in particular that is in the best position to address Ann Arbor's housing crisis: the city council. This resolution is a waste of time and an example of passing the buck. 

[Aside: legistar has stopped working for me at the moment so my description of subsequent resolutions will be short.]

DC-3 is a resolution to improve winter sidewalk accessibility and safety. This is good. I'd love to see Ann Arbor move towards municipal sidewalk snow removal. DC-4 is a resolution on the need for upgrades to DTE's streetlights in Ann Arbor. DC-5 is on how to prioritize  repairing the city's streetlight system. DC-6 is a resolution requesting a feasibility study for the creation of a municipal electric utility as well as a local sustainable electric utility.  It's exciting to see this moving forward. 

And that's it. What items are you most looking forward to seeing? Hopefully we will see you there. The CTN stream starts at 7 pm. Make sure you follow the action on the #a2Council hashtag.