RESOURCES:
Washtenaw County Official List of Candidates: November 4 2025 General Election
TRANSCRIPTION:
Caroline MacGregor: You're listening to 89.1 WEMU. I'm Caroline MacGregor. My guest today is the incumbent candidate for Milan Mayor, Edward Kolar III, and we're here to talk about his candidacy for the upcoming election. Mayor Kolar, your opponent is Laura Russeau. She's a nonpartisan candidate. Tell me a little bit, first of all, before we talk about your differences, what are you most proud of achieving so far in the position?
Ed Kolar: I spent four years on city council, and this is my fourth year as mayor. So, in the four years as mayor, I've seen a lot of changes positively for grant funding and repairing infrastructure, bringing more to the city without going to the tax base. We've worked very hard on grant funding and have succeeded very, very much so.
Caroline MacGregor: With regards to the state budget, I know they passed some things with regards to roads, and I know you're concerned about infrastructure. Do you think there will be any impact regarding the cuts in the state budgets as far as money that you depend on in Milan?
Ed Kolar: We've received road funding, grant funding, source funding, matching funds every other year we get from the state. And I don't anticipate that changing at all. Unfortunately, it's only for our major roads. Some of the bigger roads come in town and around the schools. All the secondary roads in our neighborhoods are all up to us to fund for. So, the matching funds we get are a very, very small portion of how we run the infrastructure in the city.
Caroline MacGregor: Okay. You've mentioned some of the things that you've achieved and that have been important, but what is on your agenda moving forward, should you win the seat again?
Ed Kolar: Because we've done so much work on the infrastructure and got so many projects going, it's a great thing that for the people to see that we're working on the infrastructure and working on our parts, I'm happy that they see that. Now, behind the scenes, we want to--or I want to--continue to expand our tax base. Our tax base is majority residential versus commercial, and commercial is a big part of what the city needs. So, I've been working for a few years on bringing commercial growth to Milan. And that's half the reason I'm running for my last term is to finish out what I started and work on a couple of different commercial projects and residential projects. There's several projects that are eyeing Milan, and we're in negotiations to land the deals from Milan. And I think it was important that I stayed on to finish what I started with the connections I've made.
Caroline MacGregor: With the political climate today being so tense and divided, transparency is a big issue, as is community, which kind of plays into the whole thing. But what do you think is effective as far as making people feel included in what's happening in city government?
Ed Kolar: I think we're very fortunate because, with the political climate, outside of Milan, it seems like it's going crazy. But for some reason, inside the city, we really work well together. We're laser-focused. Our council, even though we're nonpartisan on the council, people are partisan. But we seem to work so well at the same goals that Milan may be a little bubble or a little island of communication in working together because we are working well together. And it shows we're accomplishing things that haven't been seen in Milan before. And compared to other communities, I just think we're fortunate that our communication is so well with council and the residents that they believe in us, and they want us to continue with what we've been accomplishing the last four years.
Caroline MacGregor: What strengths do you think are needed for the position? And with that in mind, what makes you better than your opponent, Laura Russeau, who's also running for this position?
Ed Kolar: I think it's imperative to have a strong financial background. That's what we do at the city is we bring in tax revenue, mostly. And then, we figure out how to give services back and then how to invest in the city, whether it's infrastructure or for growth. Without a strong financial background, you're relying on your people that you've hired city admin and your city people to do the work, and you're trusting that they know what they're doing. My background is finance. And that's why I lead this team, the team in Milan, in the financial sense. When we go into negotiations or trying to bring in new business, I'm the leader, not just because I'm mayor, because I have the financial background to lead our team, and they go with me. And we've done very well coming out with these grants and the businesses we're attracting because we are showing a strong front that we're financially responsible and financially respectful of our citizens and the tech space.
Caroline MacGregor: I'm speaking today with incumbent Milan Mayor Ed Kolar. He's seeking his third term, and he's running against Laura Russeau. And this race will be decided on November 4th. I want to ask you about data centers. It's a big topic today. And I know that there is a proposed billion-dollar data center just outside of Milan. And these data centers, as you know, are becoming quite controversial. Here at WEMU, we've been doing quite a few stories on them. I know that some of the concerns are about taking up rural farmland and others' concern is their energy use. What are your thoughts? Tell me your position where you stand right now, if you would, on these data centers.
Ed Kolar: Three years ago, we learned that a data center was looking in our area. And originally, that's like, "Okay! Anytime some new business, it wants to come your way, you're excited about it." You know, it's a change your database or your financial base or tax base. We're very excited to learn more about data centers. In the past three years, it seems like we're being surrounded all around us by the people buying up chunks of land for data centers, and now it's become alarming. You know, what was once a great, maybe a great, opportunity to change the business community around the city now seems like attacks. You know, south of us in Dundee, they're looking for one. The Augusta Township is the one you just mentioned. Land, farmland, right next to the city in York Township is being bought up right now. And then, Saline Township's fighting the one right now, and then Ypsi. So, there's potentially five of those coming right within a 10-mile radius of us. And that is kind of alarming because of the water use and the electricity use and what it does to take it up farmland. It went from a positive to now it seems very negative.
Caroline MacGregor: Obviously, this is a valid concern on the part of residents, and in Saline, they have filed a lawsuit, but now they're sort of backtracking and saying that they will reconsider certain language, basically, because they're worried about a return lawsuit over zoning. And with land so precious today, especially with the need for housing and with concerns about maintaining the integrity of these rural areas, what can be done in Milan and Augusta Township as far as preserving these areas?
Ed Kolar: It's a worry, and it's not in the city, so it's not our worry. But since we work so closely with our surrounding townships because we share schools and services, they're very concerned. They're concerned to see Saline Township kind of cave and not want to fight what the residents want. They don't want to you know fight the billion-dollar companies, and it's kind of scary. Augusta Township, the one you mentioned, is going to the ballots in November. So, it's going to be interesting to see what the people vote for. But even if they vote no, are the lawsuits coming? And how are these small townships going to pay these lawsuits? Because budgets for these small townships is the problem. They don't have the budget to fight and fight and fight. These big companies know that. I just hope maybe the state can get involved and help these communities to come together as a team and figure out a path forward to resist these mega centers because of the way they do treat the land and the water and the resources of electricity. And it's very concerning. Because if we're surrounded by it, are they taking all of our power and is our power rates going to go up or are they affecting the wells around the city? I mean, we're not sure.
Caroline MacGregor: I want to ask you where you stand on renewable energy. I know there's a lot of political discourse about climate change. What's your stance on renewable and clean energy?
Ed Kolar: I love the thought of clean energy as being the way forward. Clean energy is what we need. It's always at a cost though. So, go back to the finance side. If you can't finance it properly, it doesn't make sense. So, somewhere in our future, they've got to figure out how to make it more affordable and a better return, so that people will invest more. If they're not getting their investment back, people don't want their money to go to into it. But if the brainiacs can figure this out and show how the great return, the masses will invest in it.
Caroline MacGregor: What makes you think that you will be the successful candidate this time around?
Ed Kolar: It's my experience and my background. And I don't want to pat myself on the back, but we have excelled in my four years. In my four years on council, we did not do much, and things were in bad shape. And I only ran because I wanted to fix what wasn't going right. So, I changed some personnel around, got the city team firing on all cylinders, and the council is amazing. And we've been doing things that we weren't doing before, and it feels good! I actually walked the streets and put flyers and door hangers on every home in the city this week. And somebody asked me, "You know you're going to win. Why are you doing this?" It's because we've accomplished so much on this flyer. I didn't have enough room on this flyer to put everything, but I put the top 10 things we did. And I said, "I'm proud of all these accomplishments! And I really want everyone to see it!" And if they don't follow me on Facebook or at the city, they don't know what we're doing. So, I physically put one on every home.
Caroline MacGregor: In closing, what would you like to say to voters?
Ed Kolar: I'm proud of Milan! We are small, quiet, safe, clean, and open for business!
Caroline MacGregor: Mayor Kolar, thank you for joining me today!
Ed Kolar: Thank you!
Caroline MacGregor: I've been speaking with incumbent Milan Mayor Ed Kolar, who is running for his third term. Voters will make their decision on November 4th. And to hear the conversation I had earlier this afternoon with the other candidate for Mayor of Milan, Laura Russeau, visit WEMU.org. This is 89.1 WEMU-FM Ypsilanti, your community NPR station.
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on X (Twitter)
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
