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David Fair: WEMU's morning-after election coverage continues. And I'm David Fair. Ann Arbor voters had four ballot proposals to decide. In the end, two passed. Two failed. Proposals A and B won wide voter support. But Proposals C and D went down to decisive defeat. It's exactly as the Ann Arbor mayor had hoped it would turn out. Mayor Christopher Taylor is on the other end of the WEMU news line. And before we get into specifics, it appeared, early on in the vote counts, that it would end up just as it did. But sometimes, we can get caught by surprise. So, Mr. Mayor, did you stay up in the wee hours watching, or were you rather assured?
Christopher Taylor: Good morning! Well, you never know what's going to happen. And the day-of votes can differ from the absentee votes. So, I stayed up for quite some time, But after a while, sleep beckons.
David Fair: Well, Ann Arbor's A2Zero plan is quite ambitious. Getting to carbon neutrality by 2030 is a massive undertaking. Passage of Proposal A will allow the city to create a publicly owned, sustainable energy utility. I know you believed in the proposal, but did you expect 79% support?
Christopher Taylor: I'm incredibly excited by the support that the Ann Arbor community has given to the SEU. I had confidence that it would do well. We required a 60% threshold by state law. And so, that was always the question. But I think, as voters realized, it's good up and down the line. It's opt-in, so, if you want it, you can join up and get solar and batteries and geothermal perhaps too and electric electric appliances through the SEU over time at below market prices. And it doesn't require the raising of taxes. So, I think it's good, and a win-win-win for Ann Arbor!
David Fair: You mention it is an opt-in renewable energy utility. What level of buy-in from the public will be needed to actually launch the utility?
Christopher Taylor: We are in the process of finalizing that. But broadly speaking, we are going to be asking property owners throughout the community, whether you own your own home, whether it's in a rental property or whether perhaps it's a school district or what-have-you. We're going to be asking folks to sign up to help generate electricity on site through through solar in particular. Once we get around 20 megawatts signed up, we will be able to to launch the utility. And it should thereafter start producing great results.
David Fair: Proposal B also has environmental stewardship at its center. It amends the city charter, so there can be more investment in the city parks--a 20-year 1.1 mil tax. In the fine print, what checks are in place to create transparency in parks investment with the revenue generated with that tax levy?
Christopher Taylor: The parks millage is a renewal and an extension. And so, it's going to, administratively, be processed to the ordinary course. We at the City of Ann Arbor always conduct a great deal of outreach. Our books are open to all who wish to plow their way through them. This will be a fully transparent set of accelerated investments in our wonderful parks.
David Fair: It is said by some, anyway, that everything and everyone is connected. Donald Trump will return to the White House in January. Do you have concerns that environmental policy and regulation could change in ways that may adversely impact the city's ability to carry out its environmental commitments?
Christopher Taylor: We all know that the Trump administration is going to look very different than a Harris administration would have appeared. The priorities of a Trump administration are not going to be particularly in line with Ann Arbor's A2Zero goals. Nevertheless, the infrastructure of the Inflation Reduction Act and the EPA and the Department of Energy do continue to exist. And so, we are going to avail ourselves at every opportunity, both looking to the federal government where we can, look into state government where we can, and, of course, crucially, looking to private funders, who will be, I think, incredibly excited by the visionary work that has been done by Ann Arbor city staff and with the Ann Arbor community. In 2020, we passed the A2Zero plan. In 2022, we passed a community climate action millage. In 2024, we passed in SEU. This is a community that cares about the environment. It's committed to accomplishing carbon neutrality and can be, I hope, an example to others who wish to follow our lead.
David Fair: This is 89 one WEMU News, and we're talking with Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor. We've talked about Proposals A and B, which voters passed overwhelmingly. Now, we're going to talk about Proposals C and D. Voters rejected these measures. Proposal C sought to change the nature of Ann Arbor city elections by eliminating the August primary and moving to nonpartisan elections. Why were you so opposed?
Christopher Taylor: I think removing the party label and removing the primary would have reduced information to voters who already suffer from information deficit. It's difficult to find out who our nonpartisan candidates are. The party label is an important and crucial indicator of a candidate's values. Further, the ratification process of the Democratic primary is incredibly important when it comes to having a community conversation about our our city's future. The absence of a primary and the removal of party labels--it would have created a school board style free-for-all for mayoral and and council candidates in which a plurality winner could easily become mayor or become a council member. And those are some of the reasons why there was such a vast array of both grassroots and organizational opposition.
David Fair: Proposal D--that also went down to defeat by a wide, wide margin. It would have created a fair election fund and required the city to allocate 3/10 of 1% of Ann Arbor's General Fund budget to the public financing of city elections. This was a direct response to allegations or certainly assertions that big outside money is influencing elections in Ann Arbor. The state attorney general ruled this measure unconstitutional. But those who are behind these measures, Proposal C and D, said the fight will continue. What do you anticipate on that front?
Christopher Taylor: You know, the folks who are behind C and D have a right to do whatever they wish to do in the context of our political conversation. What I think is clear is that Ann Arbor voters recognized that the basic premises of C and the basic premises of D are just factually not true. There is not a great deal of of of money influence on local elections or politically elected officials. I mean, we're all part-time people. It's just a counterfactual that we are are influenced by contributions, by PAC contributions. It has nothing to do with the reality of the way that politics works or the way that governance works in the City of Ann Arbor. And I think what you see in the elections is that people recognize that to be the case.
David Fair: So, what is your overall takeaway from the general election 2024 in Ann Arbor? What does it say to you about the community?
Christopher Taylor: You know, I think, of course on a national level, there is in Ann Arbor a great deal of heartache. I think that we are apprehensive about the time to come and with justification. At the same time, I think it's important that we recognize that Ann Arbor voters and the Ann Arbor community that we stand up for each other, even though we're tired and we're going to take some time to rest, that we are committed to a constructive future. We're committed to rebuilding. We're committed to each other. We're committed to the vision of a community that's based on pluralism, that understands that climate change is real and is committed to doing something about it and is committed to having a local government and having a community that conducts itself with professionalism. And that's my takeaway from professionalism and optimism. And that's my takeaway from the election from a local perspective.
David Fair: Well, thank you for taking time out today after a long night. I appreciate it, Mr. Mayor!
Christopher Taylor: Always! Thank you!
David Fair: That is Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor providing his perspective on the ballot issues decided in the general election. Once again, in Ann Arbor, Proposals A and B passed, and Proposals C and D went down to defeat. I'm David Fair, and this is 89 one WEMU News.
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