I stumbled across a couple of potentially useful links about the upcoming race for mayor in Ypsilanti– that is, if you are a reader even remotely interested in such a thing. Here they are:
- ypsi~dixit has a very good summary of the recent debate.I’d certainly recommend this one.
- Ann Arbor News article on the event. Note that one of the
stupider key issues in this election (apparently) is the legality of raising chickens in one’s yard. - Sam Abuelsamid has lots of good audio and video links— I think (I haven’t tried them out yet).
I will say this (and this gets back to some of what I posted about before, some of what is in the comments there, etc.): in the end, I’m just not convinced it will make a whole lot of difference who gets elected. Both Pierce and Schreiber bring different strengths and weaknesses to the party, but both of them are going to have a hard go of it because of the large issues/problems of Ypsilanti.
According to a question that was apparently asked at the debate, 25% of Ypsi residents live below the poverty level. That’s a lot, and that’s a group of folks who are basically using a lot of public and tax-supported services without paying a lot of taxes themselves. A lot of the questions/concerns right now are focused on the crappy financial state of the city, an issue where there are no easy solutions. The city itself is built-out, meaning there isn’t a lot of opportunity for more development– short of trying to take on brown field projects, which are never any fun. The city’s biggest land-owner, EMU, doesn’t pay taxes at all. The auto industry (and someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I think they are the biggest tax payer in Ypsi) is leaking like a sieve and there’s little reason to suggest that’s getting better in the long or mid term. There’s little the school district can do to convince the likes of me that the middle schools and high schools are a good option for my child. Add to all of that the whole area (really, the whole state) is in a slump and pretty soon it seems to me that the choice between two or three different Democrats who are in many (if not most) ways on the same page regarding the key issues is ultimately irrelevant.
Maybe that’s a bad attitude, but there you have it.
Oh, and I don’t want people raising chickens in my neighborhood. That’s stupid. So in that sense, at least according to ypsi~dixit, it sounds like Schreiber and I are on the same page.
Two Post Scripts:
- At my wife’s request, I made some slight editing to my post. She had a point.
- Another bad attitude remark: I haven’t seen any poll numbers, but I’ll bet you anything that Steve Pierce is way out in front and is going to win. For better or worse.