We'll be going on to the Ward 2

representatives. So, if the two of you

can stand up and introduce yourselves.

Sandy, go ahead and

give your name to everyone.

Yeah, just so people know who you are.

>> Oh, hi. I'm Sandy Aldridge and I'm

running for Ward 2.

>> And Tisha, can you give your name to

everyone?

>> Hello, I am Tisha Montague Montague for

Ward 2.

>> All righty. Um so, we're going to do the

same thing. You two decide who's going

to go first. I'm a fan of rock, paper,

scissors. I thought that worked well,

but other than that, Pete's going to be

doing the moderation.

Oh, all right. Sandy, you can pick. Do

you want to start first or do you go

first?

>> Yeah, I'll go first.

>> Okay. Okay.

So, yeah. So, um thank you both for

coming. Um

The first question is to ask you to

share a bit about your background and

experiences that carry you to represent

Ward 2. So, Sandy, go ahead.

>> So, hi. I'm Sandy Aldridge and I

Many of you may have seen my video

rolling around Facebook and Instagram. I

don't want to repeat myself, but I've

been a Ward 2 resident for 22 years.

We've been a homeowner, my husband Ray

and I. He and I met at the University of

Michigan when um we were undergrads. So,

I rented in Ann Arbor as well and this

is to be a homeowner. I have three of

three kids. Um three kids, they all went

through the Ann Arbor public schools,

King, Clague, Huron, and then my boys

split between Community cuz they're in

the jazz program. Um my daughter Our

daughter is Sydney, sitting right there.

She's a rising senior. My husband was

born and raised in Ward 2 and we love

Ann Arbor. We moved here by design

purposely from California because we

wanted to raise our kids here.

And Ann Arbor's been an idyllic place to

raise our kids. And so, the reason I'm

running is I'd like to give this back to

the next generation cuz I feel like

we've just

benefited from the and I really want to

make sure that it becomes more

affordable cuz I know affordability and

housing is a big issue in the Ann Arbor.

Um I am not a politician. I'm not a

policy maker. I'm a mom. I'm a business

person of 30 years and I'm here and I'm

ready to listen but also to bring some

business, I guess, discipline to what we

do. So, in the business world we

identify a problem, we listen, we bring

in data, we make decisions. And as much

as

it'd be amazing if you could do

consensus building to do every single

decision we could make as a city, that's

not possible. So, my approach in the

business world has been I do what I am

supposed to do as a leader and then I

make the decision and I bring that

feedback loop back to the community or

back to my constituents.

And then we pivot. We pivot as needed

depending on what, you know, the data

that we collect and the information that

we collect. So, that's my background.

Um and I I guess that's it. Thank you.

>> Good afternoon. My name is Tisha

Montague and I come with a legacy of

service

um background. I have policy driven

and public safety. I am the president of

the National Association Negro Business

and Professional Women. I am serving in

my second term on the Parks Advisory

Commission.

I am serving on Excuse me.

I'm serving um as the coordinator for

the Ann Arbor African American Downtown

Festival.

Um and I want to bring democracy back to

this process. I want to bring

transparency

back to the people. I want to bring

accountability back to council and I

want to lead with you and I want to

listen first. So, I grew up here. I've

attended Northside, Clague, and Huron.

I have a business degree from Eastern

Michigan University

and I have a vested interest in this

community.

And I am also the daughter of a

revolutionary, Christina Mayhue, who was

historically the first African-American

to be chair of the Washtenaw County

Board of Commissioners.

So you see, service is in my DNA.

I've been doing the work. I've been

serving. I've been listening.

And I've been hearing what people are

saying and I want to know I hear you.

Thank you.

>> Next question will be Tisha first and

then Sandi. So

um

So what unique perspectives or

approaches to leadership do you hope to

bring to uh City Council?

>> Well

as I said, I have been in community for

over 20 years.

So

when I see where we're going, I see that

we're in a housing crisis. I see that

people are saying that council doesn't

listen. I want to be different. I want

to get back out to community. I want you

all to be the stakeholders

stakeholders and have a stake in saying

what happens with our city.

I have policy. I served on the Washtenaw

County Sheriff's policy team and so that

was community-driven. I At Washtenaw

Community College, I worked there almost

10 years. I served on the strategic

planning process when Dr. Bellanca first

arrived. So you see, I've been doing

this work. Now I want to do it on the

other side and I want you all to have a

voice at the table. I want you to be

aware and informed before decisions

happen and I don't want us to make

decisions for you all.

So that's why I'm running and that's

what I bring to the council.

So my unique

I am not a politician, and I have quite

frankly been very

um disillusioned and maybe not very

happy with the politics in the area

right now. Um it's been divisive, it's

been toxic. We have enough with that on

a national level, on a global level. We

have a good life here in Ann Arbor. I

mean,

we raised our kids here because this is

where we wanted to be. We have great

schools. I know our schools are in a bit

of a struggle right now. We have amazing

parks. We have amazing engaged

community. So, my unique perspective is

I love it here.

I'd like to make sure that what we have

here gets translated to the next

generation because I think as

Christopher Taylor said, we need to

think start thinking forward. We can't

just start thinking about ourselves.

Yes, there's a balance of what we we

want for our own generation, our own

like what we have now, but we need to

balance this for what's coming. Cuz our

kids, we have two grown kids, 24 and 22,

and I we would love it if the kids could

come back and raise their families here.

And to be honest, like right now I'm not

sure if that's doable um because it

isn't just the housing affordability, it

is the wages. It is wages nationally and

on a on a national level, they're just

not keeping up. And the housing shortage

is a national thing. So, it's not unique

to Ann Arbor, but how can we

collectively as a community that I think

we're better work together in order to

build this and move forward versus being

divisive and tearing each other down.

So, from my perspective,

I guess what I bring as a unique

perspective is um

people generally like working with me.

I'm an approachable person. You know,

I'm not a pushover, but I'm also not a

jerk. So, I'm really here to work with

our residents, listen, and try to do

what's best for um the city moving

forward. Thank you.

>> Thank you.

>> Next question will go to Sandy first and

then to Tisha. This question involves

um engagement with the community. So, if

elected, how will you ensure community

members feel heard and can easily

communicate with you? Love to hear you

an example of a time you adapted your

views and thoughts and based on on

feedback from others.

>> So, communication is a two-way street

and I have to say I've been guilty of

this. We've been heads down raising our

kids, working, like just trying to

survive, right? And by doing so, maybe

we're not paying attention to everything

that's going around in this community.

And a lot of us are just trying to get

by. So, as I think one of the candidates

said up here, we don't have

a city newspaper. It's really difficult

to get information

forward, I mean,

uh to and from

from the city to the community. So, a

lot of us rely on social media.

Good or bad, probably more bad because

there's a lot of toxic stuff on social

media. But, I think that we need better

ways to

communicate with our constituents, but

we also need to make sure that our

constituents or community is actively

engaged to work with us. So, the

meetings um

we've been having Zoom meetings. Like I

had a great Zoom meeting with the

neighborhoods the neighbors over on

Green. And I don't understand why we

can't have more Zoom meetings. Um it's

very easy. We've done that to get um

input and the input in part is

interesting cuz I think Yusef said that

the city doesn't listen. We they collect

information, but don't listen and

activate on that. So, that piece of it,

I think we could do a better job. We

meaning like if I'm elected, I would do

a better job. That I take the input in

and activate. And maybe it's not

necessarily something that can be done

or is a isn't the right move. At least

it's a communication out so people feel

heard and not irrelevant because I think

that when you speak and you don't get

any feedback back, you feel irrelevant

and I don't think that's the right

approach. Thank you.

>> Um

>> Did you say about communication?

>> Two minutes on communication feedback

and communication with the community and

how it impacts your approach to city

council.

>> Um

I'm going to continue what I've been

doing and that's showing up. Right. So

I've been at the same town hall

meetings. We've been in in community.

Um I have been

um representing

the low income and the houseless. I've

served with the Ann Arbor Housing

Commission

um to do the Dunbar Tower and Ashley.

Um

I think that you have to listen first.

You know that there's a need, but then

when you get that information, it's what

you do with it. Right? So we made it

affordable.

We listened. We worked with community.

There's a community land trust right now

that they're pouring cement on right now

that's so awesome. Right? So these are

the things that we have to

continue to do.

We have to continue to show up. We have

to continue to show up at the schools.

We have to keep these neighbors safe for

these kids.

So I think that um

showing up is just part of it, but

listening and then what you do

afterwards. Right? That's what really

matters.

And so that's what I'll do. I want to do

it with you together as we listen and

learn together.

>> So the next question involves green

spaces and

as inclusion. Um

what steps do you take to protect,

improve, or choose green spaces and

parks while the same time making them

more inclusive residents of all ages and

abilities. Teacher Miller?

>> Well, I'm 100%

support preserving the parks and the

golf courses, right? And I think that we

have to

um

look at the green belt because there is

some funding there, right? There's like

a third of the millage. The revenue is

supposed to go to the green space.

I would love to see us use that money to

um acquire Glacier Way,

right? Because the residents there have

an issue,

right?

They have an issue. We've been hearing

it.

So, we have to work with the resources

that we have.

We have to look at what we're doing. Our

parks are amazing. Our golf courses, we

have some of the most state-of-the-art,

and we have the water systems in place.

We have some of the best in the world.

So, we need to save those spaces,

preserve them, but also look at

communities where they are looking to

eliminate those spaces and possibly

acquire them because we have the funding

to do that.

>> Question of all is green spaces and

accessibility for all all ages and

abilities.

>> So, the parks are actually one of the

reasons why we picked our neighborhood.

I am We live over by Glacier Park. Are

you guys familiar with that? Yeah.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, of course. And it's been

um amazing cuz our kids can walk down

the street and go play at the park. Um

we live right by Gallup Park. Ward 2

with beautiful Gallup Park. And you

know, that's that is a gem in the city.

So, absolutely park protection is

absolutely on my um radar. And yes,

there are

different developments that are being

considered in Ward 2.

Um one in particular I think that

Teacher was referring to is the Glacier

Heights um off of Glacier Way. Um I've

been sitting in some of the meetings. I

sat in one meeting and listening in.

And it's controversial because just that

particular development that this

developer is proposing just doesn't make

sense for that area. Anyway, regardless

of that, the community is activating or

the residents are activating and I'm

participating and we are going to do the

right thing. So, making sure the voices

are heard, but also make Excuse me,

making sure that we work with the city

experts to make sure that the right

things are done.

So, having said that, so

um to make the parks more accessible. Um

Gallup Park, they've done quite a bit to

make it more accessible with the

accessible playgrounds. Um they fixed

the bridge. I mean, the bridge was a

really terrible bridge. They fixed the

roads. So, I I guess accessibility for

seniors for parks, um

my guess is that we probably would need

more um spots would be easier for people

to park in the parks to be able to

access some of the walkways and make

sure the walkways are paved because some

of those

walkways are a little tricky.

Um but yeah, of course, like I think

that we as a community not only need to

think forward, but we also need to make

sure that the people who made Ann Arbor

great have continued to have a great

life here. And I think part of what I

had also been hearing is um from some

constituents or from residents

um is that they're feeling like um as

seniors, they're feeling like they're

not relevant anymore. And that is

absolutely not the case. Thank you.

>> Yeah.

>> Next question is for Ms.

Eaton.

This will allow us more time, 5 minutes

each to respond.

Um

some of the public feedback on the

comprehensive land use plan was that it

overlooked um neighborhood character and

may cause strains to local

infrastructure.

How will you use um

resident input to guide rezoning and to

protect distinct neighborhood

characteristics? Ms. Eaton first.

>> Yeah, absolutely.

>> So, I would have to say knocking on

doors this is the number one issue that

comes up every single time. There are

people who absolutely despise the

comprehensive land use plan, people have

misinformation, people have

misunderstanding, and people who love

it. So, this is Ann Arbor. We have a

wide variety of opinions here.

So, comprehensive land use plan is a

visionary document. It's a document that

was done because I believe the last time

it was done was like 50 years ago. I'm

I'm not good at such How How long ago

was it?

>> You have to do it every so many years

over and over.

>> 2009. So, it was over It was so 2009 and

um like I said, I'm not a politician,

um but it had to be redone. So, now this

is a visionary document looking forward.

So, looking forward and since 2009 the

city's changed quite a bit.

Quite a bit because um I think that

we've added 10,000 students, the

university's added 10,000 students, and

the city has also added University has

15,000 um employees through University

of Michigan. So, we've grown quite a

bit.

So, with that though,

um

or I'm sorry, I lost my train of

thought.

With that Oh, infrastructure and

character.

So, there are different pieces of it

that need to be um

codified into law. And that piece of it

is going to take some time. And this is

where resident input is incredibly

important. And this is where residents

need to be engaged. I would I would

argue that most people actually don't

even know. Like if you were to pull Ann

Arbor, how many What percentage of Ann

Arbor knows what the comprehensive land

use plan actually is and what is it

doing? Most people think that this is

the law and this is what will happen.

What they don't understand is there's

still a long road ahead of us to modify,

to build the law, and to make sure that

um residents have input. Uh so, it's not

just written in stone right now.

So, with that

if I'm elected, I will work with the

residents of Ward 2 to engage in forums

like this, but also I think online

surveys are awesome, Zoom calls are

awesome, you know, things like this to

give people opportunities to get input.

And then what I would like to do is

actually take all this input and share

it out to the community and out to the

residents to say, "All right, here's

what X percent said this, X percent said

this." You know, here's the actual data

on how people are

responding to, you know, and providing

input.

So, maybe that's not what we see right

now, that's what maybe that's not what

we saw with the comprehensive land use

plan

while it was being put together is the

feedback back out. Cuz I think it's fair

for people who actually take time to

give the feedback to hear back where did

I fit into that discussion?

And again, I'm going to say that not

everybody's going to agree with any

everything cuz that's just not how it

works. If we waited for every single

person to agree

with whatever decision needs to be made,

no decisions would ever be made. But

what people need to feel like they're

listened to and that their feedback is

taken into consideration. So, um as far

as infrastructure, infrastructure like

the sewer, you know, all the great stuff

that goes on with all the development,

you know, that absolutely needs to be

taken into consideration when things are

developed to make sure that the

infrastructure can handle any kind of

additional development.

Thank you.

>> I

want to talk about the comprehensive

land use plan

input on rezoning neighbors and

residents.

>> So, the C club is is in reality, right?

So, we now we have to implement it. How

do we do that? Well, we first have to

modify our A20. We have to

um aggressively increase our SEU. So,

right, 1,000

um

homes next year sounds great, but I

would love to see 10,000. Right?

Thousand just doesn't cut it.

Um

Also, with the water infrastructure,

it's going to be

not just our infrastructure, there's the

lakes and our rivers and everything that

will also be affected. So, that'll

affect our drinking water. Yes, our

sewage.

But, it will affect our students, our

our schools.

Our communities, the pools. So, there's

a lot that will happen. So, we have to

possibly have the developers pitch in to

help out with some of these upgrades

that they will need in order to

outfit this new huge luxury development.

But, also we have to invest in our

roads. We can't keep having these

whimsical, you know, reconfigurations.

They have to make sense. Right?

We have to fix those up

before we can start building new.

And so, I think that in order to keep

the characteristic of the community and

the neighborhoods, we talk to the

people.

We see what they want.

We see what they would like. We see what

type of developments would fit in their

community and their neighborhoods. This

is not a one-size-fits-all.

We don't have all the answers. So, we

must listen to you and lean on you

for that. Work with

a few consultants. I think we're over

consultant heavy right about now.

Lean on our planning folks. Lean on our

city folks. Lean on the people who have

been doing this, right? But, you are the

real stakeholders. You are the real

consultants. And we have so many amazing

people here in our community.

So, that's what I'd like to do is to

work with developers, work with the

local university,

work with you.

Thank you.

>> This question also allows 5 minutes each

to respond.

It's about affordable housing, so it's

connected to the previous question.

While our faces a severe housing crisis

for below median earners, the impact of

higher-end luxury development on

affordability remains

highly debated locally.

What specific policies or incentives

would you champion to ensure the

creation of a more middle and

working-class housing? I believe that

goes to Tisha first.

>> Well, I want to say I'm super excited

about this new short-term ban that came

really, really

right close to the primary. Um but I'm

excited. I would love to see that

extended, right?

Um

as far as also for housing,

I think that we have to work with the

Housing Commission. I think that we have

to look at different types of housing.

We have to

um

possibly do some, you know, test, you

know, tests to see what works. Don't do

a huge development

and then now we have to pivot again. Now

we have to change what we've done.

So I think that we have to be a little

bit more intentional up front

and be reserved because these are This

is your money. These are the taxpayers'

money that we have and we have to be

responsible. But again, we got to have

more town hall meetings. We have to have

more community engagement. We're missing

that. We're missing that mark. The time

of the day at 12:00 noon, that's That

doesn't work for people to attend.

So it's things like that is being

intentional with things.

Being smart from the beginning so that

we don't have to and utilizing the funds

for what we say we're going to use them

for.

That's been an issue for me.

So it's There's a lot. We don't have the

answers. I'm new,

but I'm willing to learn.

And I've been reading, and I've been

talking, I've been in community, I've

been meeting, I've been working with

administration.

I've been working with county and city

officials.

For four or five years we've been doing

this work.

So, now we're at a place where it's time

for implementation.

We're going to have to pull our sleeves

up. We're going to have to get into

community. And again, we're going to

have to listen to the residents.

>> Questions on

policies toward housing.

>> Affordable housing, okay.

So, affordable housing and workforce

housing, I mean, I think these are

separate things. Affordable housing is

60%

of I think the

average median income, what can they

afford? And I think from what I've read,

it's

gosh, what is it? Like um

173,000?

It's It's high. I mean, it's I mean, I'm

sorry, it's 17,000

for a single family or apartment. I

think

for a purchase a purchase, it's much

higher, of course, but it's it's too low

for what Ann Arbor has to offer.

The reality of it is

this is the economics of it, right? And

land in Ann Arbor is expensive. And if

land in Ann Arbor is expensive, whatever

is built on it is going to be expensive.

So, you either have to cut the land into

smaller pieces and build smaller

um homes or smaller units, or you have

to increase the density. That is the

only way to make it work. The other

option is to subsidize it, where you um

bring, you know, federal funding,

municipal funding, whatever it is to

subsidize the house. So, when it gets

built, the person who's living in there

isn't going to pay as much as market

value. That's the reality of it.

Great thing is there's this 21st century

road law that just passed a couple of

weeks ago by partisan on a national

level. And there are some federal

funding there that Ypsilanti might be

poised to use because of this

comprehensive land use plan. So, I don't

know enough right now about exactly how

that activates, but you know, we might

have just done the smartest thing a city

could have done by putting that in place

not knowing or maybe knowing that this

funding is going to be available.

So, with that, there are a lot of tools

out there, a lot of um

techniques out there that maybe we

haven't considered, but I'm very

confident that as a

as a city with strong leadership, there

is a path forward and the luxury

developments aren't being developed just

because there's a whim of let's just

develop a bunch of luxury apartments.

That's the economic that makes sense for

that type of development. Not to say

that that is workforce housing, not to

say that is completely affordable

housing, but it is housing.

And so, the idea is people who may have

wanted to live in, you know, maybe a

single family home somewhere decided

they're going to buy this luxury, you

know, unit and maybe leave the single

family homes for people who want

you know, raise a family or have a

different lifestyle.

So, um

I'm

pretty sure that I can learn about what

needs to happen. Um I find myself that

I'm you know, I have a 30-year

track worker to being a business person.

I have the MBA from Michigan. You know,

I'm a pretty smart person.

Um

not to say I have all the answers, but

I'm really willing to listen and learn

and to take in what

I learn and take in what the community

um

input that's provided to help me make

the decisions, but then also continue to

do that feedback loop so we pivot as

needed. And to share that information

out to our residents. So, thank you.

>> Thank you. We'll go with Sandy I think

first and Tisha. Um

so, to wrap up today's forum, um please

share a parting message

um

why you are the right choice to lead

Ward 2 going forward. And Jen, you go

first and Tisha.

>> Sure.

Okay, so why am I the right person?

>> Two minutes.

>> Oh, okay. Two minutes. Okay.

So, why am I the right person? I I

believe I'm the right person because I

am a resident in Ann Arbor for 22 years.

I was not born and raised here. I'm a

I'm an immigrant. I came from South

Korea. My mom was a war ref- war

refugee. My parents came here to really

give us a better life. So, I know what

it is like to struggle um as a young

person, but with through education,

through um working hard, you know,

through various things that have come

into my life, we've been

afford a home here.

Can we afford a home Could we have

afforded this home here now given the

circumstances? Because it's been 22

years. I would say no. I mean, it's

really become super expensive here. And

for the reason that Ann Arbor is a great

place to live. People want to live here.

So, do we want to take a protectionist

um view and make sure that no one can

move into Ann Arbor because we want to

protect it? No, we want to make Ann

Arbor a great welcoming place for

everybody who wants to live here, right?

We moved here because it's vibrant, it's

inclusive, it's progressive, it's weird,

you know, it's smart. There's so many

great things about this city.

So, I think I'm um a good candidate, and

I'm not going to say the best because

you all have to make the decision. I

think I'm a good candidate for this role

because I will put myself into this

100%. Um

I want to make sure that

this Ann Arbor that we love, we all

love, stays the Ann Arbor that we all

love. And that you all feel like your

voices are heard and no one feels

irrelevant. So, thank you.

>> Um, folks, we are literally at a fork in

the road.

There is a lot at stake

and this is one of the most important

races

that we've had in over a decade.

We don't have the opportunity or the

luxury

to wait for someone to learn everything.

You want someone that's

been doing the work.

Put on the other side

and will fight for the residents.

Who will bring democracy back to the

council. Who will bring accountability

back to the council and transparency.

And who will bring your voices to city

hall, not city hall to you.

I don't owe anyone anything. I haven't

taken big money.

I'm not friends with people who build

homes. I don't know anyone who has a so

who has a stake

except you all.

And so, what sets me apart is

not just the legacy and I've been on

campaigns and in community and serving

for the homeless and creating housing

and creating policy for 20 years.

What sets me apart is I'm here to

listen.

First.

Because that is what's important. I have

said that from the beginning and now

everybody in the race more or less.

Everybody in the whole every single

ward, everybody wants to listen. But if

we if we were heard before, we wouldn't

be here. Wouldn't be six people running.

Right?

So, let's be realistic about this.

You need someone who's going not afraid

to ask questions. Who's not going to

rubber stamp a vote. Who's not going to

be afraid

to stand up and say, "That's not right.

That's not what the people want."

And that person is me.

So, if you so inclined to do so, vote

for me on

August the 4th.

I would love to be your councilperson. A

remember money you will work for you in

Ward 2.

>> All right. I want to thank both

candidates again. Uh just a reminder, it

it takes a lot of strength to stand up

in front of a room full of people. Hold

these debates. I mean, yeah, they're

>> We're done. No more. No more debates.

>> Well, I'm out here. I'm sweating. So,

So, can we just get both of you stand up

and give a loud round of applause for

both of them?

And with that, uh this is the end of the

formal engagement. We have the room

booked, I believe, until 5:30. So, if

you want to talk to any of the

candidates or what not, this is your

opportunity.

Uh and as a plug that has been asked of

me probably about 25 different times,

the board

help pay your dues. That helps us do

these types of events. It's $20. Like,

we're not asking for much, but it does

help us take care of this.

So, please grab a water and thank you

for coming. Really appreciate it.