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August 6, 2008 (Finis)

I snagged 297 votes out of the total cast, just a little over 21 percent. Over 150 people voted for Ron, but even if those had been added to my total, I would have come up way short, almost 50 percent. Obviously, a month isn't long enough to campaign, and expecting people to write-in your name is a big obstacle. I knew all of this going in, so I am actually delighted at the outcome, in fact.

I spoke to Sandi this evening and wished her well. I'm eager to see how she represents the First Ward. Obviously, I have some concerns—the ones I have brought up over the course of campaigning and writing this blog. However, at this point, I think it's important to judge the work she'll do on Council based on what she actually says, does and how she votes when she sits on City Council.

I hope you'll join me in staying involved and vocal.

August 5, 2008 (Voting Day)

Yesterday, Governor Granholm was in town. After the kids had finished their camps, we rushed to Gallup Park to see if we could catch the event, but we got there just as she was leaving. The boys were disappointed, even though there were other politicians in sight. My sons are so excited about this City Council run of mine they're practically vibrating. So am I, to be honest. My kids have a keen interest in politics (they are big Obama supporters), and we have been watching Season 2 of the "West Wing." The episodes lead to lots of talks about making tough decisions, and what it means to have sound political judgement.

Council candidates, myself included, have been challenged repeatedly over the past few weeks by the Mayor and our opponents, not to mention by the Ann Arbor News editorial board, for suggesting Ann Arbor politics is a clubby place where transparency is lacking. The Mayor told WEMU listeners yesterday that candidates who claim there is a lack of transparency in Ann Arbor city government do so because, perhaps, we have little else to talk about. Let's talk about this: There are 90,000 registered voters in Ann Arbor, and our Mayor collected 35 percent of his $11,645 in campaign donations from his own political appointees, along with direct and indirect benificiaries of his City Council and DDA votes.

When I launched my publishing company, and readers began to subscribe to my magazine, I simply couldn't believe people whom I didn't know were sending me money in the mail. It still leaves me speechless, sometimes, when I go through the mail and find subscription checks sent from strangers. Oddly enough, I feel differently about checks from subscribers renewing their subscriptions. I feel like we know each other. I can tell you it's absolutely thrilling to get checks in the mail.

I felt the same way when I started getting campaign donations. I was, as I've told you, utterly speechless. However, unlike checks from subscribers, I don't believe that because someone wants to give a campaign donation, it should be accepted as a matter of course. Conversely, simply because someone wants something doesn't mean a politician should give it as a matter of course. There were donations I did not accept.

Over the past six months, our Mayor has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign donations from people whom he has appointed to various Boards and Commissions, including the Downtown Development Authority, the AATA Board, the Historical Commission, the Planning Commission, the Ann Arbor Commission on Art in Public Places, and the Parks Advisory Commission. These political appointees control tens of millions of our tax dollars and fees.

Our incumbent Mayor also accepted campaign money from administrators at the University of Michigan, where he teaches. Just weeks after the donations, Mayor Hieftje co-wrote and voted on a resolution between Ann Arbor and the University. He accepted money from a developer for whom he voted (as a member of the DDA Board) to "formulate an agreement" to award a $214,614 dollar DDA Partnership Grant.

Cold-calling strangers and asking them for money can be brutal, but I actually don't mind doing it. Some of you do it for work, I imagine. I used to do it when I sold advertising for our magazine. It's why I was comfortable cold-calling 200 parents at Northside school, and asking them if they wanted to run for PTO office. I did this after I had been told by the then-PTO board members that parents at the school didn't want to be involved. I worked with others to triple the size of the PTO board.

Part of what I have loved about running for Council has been knocking on the doors, cold-calling absentee voters, phoning voters and inviting them to my events, and meeting my First Ward neighbors in every precinct. I believe local politics should be about First Ward neighborhood issues, about putting First Ward residents first, and not just only the ones whom I know. It's easy to talk to the people whom you know, and very tempting. To me, the point of local politics—city politics— is the opportunity to lead through inclusion and openness, the opportunity to demonstrate sound judgement, to be honest and forthright, and to create policies that result in tangible benefits to all residents.

August 3, 2008 (32 of 32)

I spent three hours at the Farmer's Market yesterday. Chris Easthope, Joan Lowenstein, Tom Wall, Leigh Greden and I were there. I took the opportunity to talk to Leigh Greden about the "friction" mentioned in the Ann Arbor News endorsements between the so-called "majority" on Council and their colleagues Briere, Suarez and Anglin. The conversation was informative, and we spoke at length about how the Council's perceived divisions might be overcome.

Leigh Greden suggested such divisions can erupt when candidates run on platforms critical of sitting Council members. He suggested such campaigns risk offending sitting Council members. Politics, however, is a tough business. Candidates for office run because they believe changes are needed. No one runs for office because they think the incumbent is doing a fantastic job.

Greden and I also talked about the fact that our City Council has no conflict of interest policy. He said it's an idea that has been bandied about, but not embraced. I told him I would like to work with other Councilmembers to shape a formal conflict of interest policy and ethics guidelines. Why not have such tools in place before a "fire" breaks out?

I ran into a former Mayor of Ferndale as I walked the Ward yesterday afternoon. It turns out he moved to Ann Arbor several years ago. He took a yard sign, and encouraged me to keep working hard. Another neighbor phoned me yesterday and asked for a yard sign. I think you might like the story behind this one.

This First Ward voter and I met in July, when I dropped off some literature to her house. She told me that her neighbor Mayor Hieftje had been over, and suggested she might do well to vote for Sandi Smith. As this voter's house is on the corner of two busy streets, it was hinted that it was "prime real estate" for a yard sign. When she told me this story, I replied that her write-in vote would be enough for me; that I would not ask her to host a sign.

She called me yesterday and asked for a yard sign.

This is the last entry of this campaign blog until August 5th. I'm going to focus on some other campaign details until then. To those who've been reading regularly, thanks! If you haven't already, you might enjoy going back through the past entries.

Remember to take your identification with you when you vote; it's required this time. And if you write in my name, "Patricia Lesko," please remember to fill in the OVAL beside it. Otherwise, the write-in vote is NOT counted.

August 2, 2008 (31 of 32)

I am at the Farmer's Market this morning between the hours of 8:30-10:30 a.m. If you want to talk to me, please stop by. I'd be delighted to see you.

Yesterday, I walked the far northwest corner of the First Ward. On one street, Mrs. P. was delighted to see me. She said she'd read the Ann Arbor News's First Ward candidate endorsements, and was unhappy at the prospect of having no other choice. It soon became obvious that she'd never met Sandi, or looked at her literature, and I encouraged her to do so before making any decisions. The first time I met Sandi was in early-June, well before Ron dropped out of the race, and before I ever thought I would be running a campaign for City Council.

I met Sandi Smith at my kids' school ice cream social. Kathy Linderman, a Northside parent, and Sandi's employee (which neither of them bothered to mention when Sandi was introduced to me), brought her boss to the ice cream social, and over to me for a chat. I talked to Sandi for about 15-20 minutes. I asked her a lot of the questions people now ask me. The first one I asked was why she was running against Ron Suarez. She didn't have an answer, which surprised me, but I chalked it up to nerves. At that time, I had absolutely no idea that our Mayor was backing her over the incumbent. Sandi didn't volunteer this.

I also asked her about the new Municipal Building project. Her reply was memorable. She told me she was supporting the project "regrettably." What I didn't know then was that Sandi wasn't exactly being completely frank. I discovered by reading the minutes of Downtown Development Authority meetings that it had been she who'd moved the resolution at the May 2008 DDA Board meeting to give the City an $8 million dollar "grant" in DDA funds for the New Municipal Building. At that same meeting, in that same vote, Sandi agreed to commit $540,000 per year of DDA money for the next 30 years to pay a portion of annual debt service for the project.

Instead of speaking frankly about her opinions and her vote, instead of telling me she had served on the City's committee that explored options related to the new building and had found none, instead of telling me she was "comfortable with the proposed" project as the most "effective option," and having an honest discussion, she told me she "regrettably" supported the Municipal Building project.

Telling voters what you think they want to hear is one strategy to get yourself elected.

Sandi told voters at the July 28th gathering at the Northside Community Center that the extent of her campaign self-funding was $100. She wasn't completely frank about this, either. One of her contributors is Linda Lombardini, her partner. Perhaps they don't share any money. However, according to documents filed by Jennifer Hall, Smith's DDA colleague, and campaign manager, Sandi's business donated to her campaign.

It's only a few hundred dollars worth of goods; actually, the money isn't my point. It's that she didn't just say so.

I finished that early-June conversation with Sandi Smith somewhat disconcerted and confused. Needless to say, everything is much clearer now. I know why she decided to run against Ron (she had the Mayor's support, and subsequently, his endorsement). I know where she stands on the Police/Court facilty (it's the "most effective" option). We obviously disagree about some of the issues. That's fine.

What's not fine is for voters to have to comb through meeting minutes to discover how a candidate really stands on issues, and decipher campaign finance records to find out if a candidate is speaking frankly about her/his funding. I believe voters should be able to find out easily about a candidate's positions, supporters, or reasons for running.

My positions on most issues that you might want to know about are readily available for you to read online right here. Read my answers to the Sierra Club's questions. Agree or disagree, but they're right there for you to read. Read my answer about whether we should have a free skatepark in Ann Arbor. Download my campaign brochure, and postcards. Listen to my speeches. Read this blog top to bottom. If you still have questions, phone me or email me.

You can count on this important difference between the First Ward candidates in this race. I won't support resolutions that come before City Council "regrettably." I'll take responsibility, and we'll always have opportunities to speak frankly, openly and honestly.

August 1, 2008 (30 of 32)

I want to tell you about "The Traver Ladies." It's a group of First Ward women who get together regularly, have a meal together, and talk about politics (among other topics). I want to thank Eva Forman for inviting me to come and meet the group. Some of the women I knew from when we lived on Traver in a rented house we never wanted to leave. Eva lives in a house we actually thought about buying when we were looking. Another of the Traver Ladies lives in a house just behind the one we used to rent. We knew the owner from whom she'd purchased her house very well. Her house had been built by our landlord's father, and was an exact duplicate of the one we rented. The landlord, however, refused to sell it to us, and so we moved, and rented Traver as an office for a year.

At some point during that year, I realized that I would never feel really at home in our new house unless I let go of the house on Traver. We'd lived there for a decade, had our children there, and knew all of the neighbors. It was difficult to let go, particularly of the garden we'd made in front—a circle garden lined with large stones we'd picked up at construction projects all around the First Ward. A friend subsequently bought the house on Traver after we stopped using it as an office, and we came and took all of the large stones (over 40) and made another circle garden in front of our new house.

The "Traver Ladies," like so many others, volunteered to help me with my campaign, and to work the polls on August 5th. I can't begin to say how grateful I am to the people who have simply volunteered to help with this campaign. In the beginning, I wrote about self-funding it with freelance writing money. I was prepared to do this for the simple reason that I didn't want to fundraise, and never expected anyone to give me a penny.

I was wrong. I went on vacation to California, and came back to checks in the mail from donors. Money, literally, fell from the sky. I get lots of mail, as you can imagine, from writers wanting to freelance. So, I make piles and go through the letters on a specific day each week. For a solid week, a pile of envelopes with checks sat on my desk with me none the wiser. I was stunned when I opened one after the other. Strangers, perfect strangers, were sending me money—not because they knew me, but because they liked the email I had sent out about myself and my campaign.

I also came home from California to an email from Eva Forman, among others. She wanted to help. Help she has, and the most profound way has been her desire to see me elected, not because we're friends, but because she finds me the best candidate for First Ward City Council.

My friends, my family, my sons, my partner all want me to be elected. I cherish their confidence in me, and their loving partisanship. However, as I have walked around our Ward, including yesterday, when I came upon a neighbor on Kingsley Street, I have met more and more people who like my political ideas, the way I am running my campaign, my blog and my desire to put the First Ward first.

I know I write this almost every time, but it's the truth: I hope I knock on your door today, and that we have a chance to talk about what's important to you in this First Ward primary and Ann Arbor politics. In the meantime, feel free to check out the other sections of the web site. Over 200 people have downloaded my campaign brochure.

July 31, 2008 (29 of 32)

I spent a good part of yesterday writing up some thank you notes to people who've helped with this campaign. Win or lose I am having a terrific time meeting First Ward neighbors and talking about city politics. I came upon a neighbor who was preparing to take a bike ride when I walked up. He kindly stopped to talk, and during the course of our conversation, he peppered me with questions. The first one was: "What do your parents do?" My father was a sheetmetal worker. He helped build the Glass House, in Dearborn (Ford's World Headquarters). My mother raised four children, worked, and then went to college when she was 45.

Another of his questions was: "Do we have enough parking in downtown Ann Arbor?"

You know, of course, that I object to our property tax dollars going to private developers to "mitigate the risks" of private development in Ann Arbor. I've also told you that Sandi Smith voted to give $600,000 of our tax money to the Chicago-based developer of the Liberty Lofts project to "mitigate the risks" for that multi-million dollar company so it could build 68 condos downtown.

I, like many of my First Ward neighbors, am a bike rider, and a regular AATA rider. I took an Italian conversation and composition course for fun at the University of Michigan not too long ago, and I rode the bus into town thrice weekly. I have excellent parking karma, as I like to refer to my luck finding spots. In Ann Arbor, however, I'd rather put all my savings on the chance of 32 Red coming in on the roulette wheel than relying on finding downtown parking on certain days.

Does this mean we need more parking? As residents, are we prepared to pay the price associated with more downtown parking? The Downtown Development Authority is busy at work on several signficant parking projects, the largest of which is a $90 million dollar, 900-space, underground structure at the Library Lot. The DDA is contemplating some steep parking rate increases for meters, hourly lots and structures over the course of the next few years to pay for the new structures.

Sandi supports raising parking rates regularly.

Here's a table of the proposed DDA rate hikes:

	Structures hourly	Permits Monthly	Lots Hourly	Meters Hourly
2008	$.80	$125	$1.00	$1.00
2009	12.5% increase to $.90	No increase	10% increase to $1.10	20% increase to $1.20
2010	20% increase to $1.00	9.25% increase to $135	30% increase to $1.30	40% increase to $1.40

So, residents may expect to pay more to park in exchange for more total parking spaces available. Well, not exactly. There are currently 4,193 spaces in six structures, and there is a waiting list for monthly permit parking in Ann Arbor. The DDA Board is allocating spaces in the new structures to developers to use 24/7, as well as for overnight parking. Those are spaces that you and I, even with our great parking karma, won't find available.

I don't favor subsidizing private developers with tax money, or putting developers at the top of the list for parking spaces in our structures.

Why not implement a GoPass program (funded with parking fee dollars) for low income residents, in place of the current Fare Deal program? Fare Deal is a great start, but we can always do better. I would also like Ann Arbor to join the increasing number of cities across the country that give residents who drive hybrid cars free parking downtown. Read this piece about what Boston did for hybrid owners on Earth Day this year. Los Angeles City Council costed out the hybrid parking perk at $116,560, and voted to do it. Finally, down in The Duke City (Albuquerque), their city government extended free parking to hybrids, alternative fuel and "fuel efficient" vehicles. Check out the details of the very comprehensive program here.

In the meantime, it's a distinct possibility that First Ward residents will have to keep more money in the car to feed the parking meters in coming years. I am mindful that there are four people who are currently running for elected office, and who vote and serve on the DDA Board: Sandi Smith, Mayor Hieftje, Joan Lowenstein and Leah Gunn. Each is asking for your First Ward vote this August 5th.

July 30 (28 of 32)

"The outcome of elections should be determined by the people being represented by the winner, not special interests or individuals outside the boundaries of representation." —U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)

"No more than 25 percent of a candidate's funds should come from outside of their district." —U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)

Fully 83 percent of Sandi Smith's $6,328.28 in campaign contributions for her First Ward City Council race came from addresses outside the First Ward. Put another way, she has accepted thousands in contributions from people who don't live in the First Ward in order to get elected to our First Ward Council seat.

I've campaigned on a budget equal to 12.5 percent of the money Sandi has raised. I've done mailings, bought 100 yard signs, 400 tri-fold brochures, 1000 postcards, and other supplies.

Ask yourself which of us you want budgeting and voting on our City's $400 million dollars in revenue?

I believe local voters should decide local elections, and that local politics is where substantive change begins. Change starts with me, and how I fund and run my campaign. I'm on a strict budget, just like you are. That means I have to be creative and make every dollar count.

Change will continue with how I represent our First Ward on City Council. Write my name in on August 5th, and there'll be some change you can take to the bank.

July 29 (27 of 32)

I want to thank the Editorial Board at the Michigan Daily for taking the time to interview me. Look for their candidate profiles and endorsements to come out soon.

After my Michigan Daily interview, I grabbed some pizza at one of my favorite pizza spots downtown, NYPD. The owners are from Italy, and it's fun to speak Italian with them. We had family visit from Italy for a month this summer, and we sent them to NYPD for lunch. They came back raving about the slices!

Then, I went home, picked up the partner and tater tots and we biked over to the Northside Community Center for the Democratic Party "Meet the First Ward Candidate" event organized by First Ward Democratic Party co-chairs Peggy Rabhi and Mary Hall Thiam. The room was packed with a very interesting mix of politicos, many conspicuously not from the First Ward. There was Mayor Hieftje (a First Warder), Tom Wall (candidate for Mayor), Leigh Greden, Margie Teall, Joan Lowenstein and, of course, Sabra Briere. District Court judge candidate Margaret Connors was there, as well. It was a somewhat rarified crowd for a simple First Ward "Meet the Candidate" event.

I want to thank all of the First Ward voters who came. We talked about lots of topics, but my favorite was campaign finance. Thanks to Mr. Cole, who'd read my blog and asked the question. As I wrote in my July 26th entry, the candidates dubbed by the Ann Arbor News as the "Mayor's candidates" (including Sandi Smith) and the Mayor have raised over $44,000 together in their bids to be (re-)elected to City Council. There's a lot at stake here.

Another topic we covered was the University of Michigan's relationship with our City government. At this point, I am going to send you to the blog I write for my magazine, Adjunct Advocate. That blog is read by about 30,000-40,000 of the 200,000 people who visit the magazine's web site each day. They are faculty, administrators, and others who work within the higher education industry or whose work impacts or is impacted by higher education. I wrote about the topic from a somewhat different perspective for the readers of our publication, but I am confident you'll find the entry an answer to the question of how I think Ann Arbor City Council has to work toward the critical goal of developing a more equitable relationship with our University neighbor, and why I have the skills and experience to lead this effort.

Walking the Ward today! See you soon, I hope.

July 28 (26 of 32)

I sent out the third edition of the First Ward Flyer e-Newsletter. Check it out here. I am talking to the Editorial Board of the Michigan Daily this evening. We're in the home stretch now with just a fews days left before the primary.

The thoughtful readers at Arbor Update submitted questions, and the folks at the blog sent them along to the candidates, and then posted our answers to the blog. If you're interested, check out my answers here.

I hope I see you tonight!

July 27 (25 of 32)

Yesterday, I walked around the Ward for about three hours. The theme of the day was "property taxes, property taxes, property taxes. Services. Services. Services." By now, everyone who's getting a property tax bill will have received it, I imagine. I had several lengthy discussions with First Ward neighbors about rising property taxes.

Mr. S., whom I spoke with yesterday, talked about ways unrelated to property development, land sales, parkland sales, etc...to increase the city's revenue. He and I share the opinion that the time has come for Ann Arbor's leaders to get creative. The first step is to make it crystal clear where our revenue is coming from, and absolutely transparent where the money we spend is going. When we have that sorted out, perhaps we can look at some of these ideas (again).

In the early 90s, New York examined the idea of collecting property taxes monthly, as opposed to just twice a year. According to The New York Times, "Most property owners pay their taxes monthly to the banks with their mortgage payments. But because the city collects taxes only twice a year, the banks are holding those tax payments and earning interest on them."

Also in the early 90s, Ann Arbor City Council officials floated the idea of putting a city tax on University of Michigan sporting events tickets, as well as tuition. This article about the then-City Council's saber-rattling is interesting. A one percent surcharge on all tuition paid by Michigan students to the University in 2008, would have resulted in $8.4 million dollars in revenue for the city, or about 2 percent increase in gross revenue.

By the way, check out this terrific page on understanding the University of Michigan's budget. Whereas Ann Arbor's 2009 adopted budget encompasses eight funds through which approximately $400 million in property tax and fee revenue is spent, the University of Michigan budget encompasses four funds through which over $1.1 billion dollars are spent. University officials control three times as much money using half the number of accounts (funds).

If you have some time tomorrow evening, please join me at the Northside Community Center for a "Meet the Candidate" event. The Center is located at 815 Taylor, and the event will begin at 7:30.

July 26 (24 of 32)

I want to thank everyone who has taken signs. It's a great feeling to go around the Ward and see my purple and white signs dotting yards. I have a few more left, and if you'd like one just email me, and I'll pop around and drop it off. Signs are a huge expense (or so I was told)—about $900 for 100 signs, plus the cost of the wire stakes. At that price, I would post guards along every sign, so that I could be sure nothing happened to them. Tom Wall told me that the last time he ran for Mayor, about 40 of his signs went missing. That would be, at the above quoted cost, $360 worth of signs!

Fortunately, printing is what I do for a living—that is to say, I price out the printing of our books, magazine, marketing pieces, etc...This skill has come in incredibly handy, let me tell you. My campaign is on a strict budget, so my 100 signs cost $230, including the wire stakes and shipping.

The question is this: can enough money buy a candidate election to a seat on Ann Arbor's City Council? If you read the recent story in the Ann Arbor News about campaign finance documents recently filed for races in our city, you'd find some interesting facts:

Sandi Smith has fundraised for an open seat, and never stopped fundraising—even after Ron Suarez withdrew from the race. Not to be unkind, but I simply cannot imagine what she's spending all that money on. Maybe $9 signs? Normally, if your neighbor doesn't spend wisely, it's none of your darn business, unless of course, your neighbor keeps coming over to borrow cups of sugar.

The three so-called "Mayor's" candidates (because some were recruited by the Mayor to run, and have walked their Wards with the Mayor, etc...) have, together, raised $32,403 for three seats on City Council. Throw in John Hieftje's $11,645 fundraised, and we have $44,048 worth of money raised by four people to campaign for four spots out of 11. That is just about equal to the income of an average family of four in the United States. Is this level of fundraising and spending noteworthy, you might wonder?

Alma Wheeler Smith raised $23,726 to fund her entire 2006 state-level campaign. Lamar Lemons, another Democrat in the Michigan House, raised a total of $13,775 for his winning campaign. Victor Braatz, a Democrat who ran in the 2006 general election for the 71st District House race, ran his state-level campaign with $4,095; Sandi Smith has spent more than that on her Ann Arbor City Council race thus far. You can check out spending for all Michigan state races in 2006 on the Follow The Money web site.

Campaign fundraising is borrowing spoons, cups and whole five-pound bags of sugar from your neighbors, and Ann Arbor voters would be wise to pay close attention to candidate fundraising and spending. Our city's budget, according to comments in the 2009 approved budget, is moving toward deficit. No further staff cuts may be made without adversely impacting services, according to those same budget notes. Candidates who aggressively and habitually "borrow sugar" for their campaigns aren't particularly creative thinkers, or savvy money managers. Tom Wall has spent $1,900 on his campaign, exponentially less money than the Mayor has fundraised and spent. Did you know that Ann Arbor's debt load (yours and mine, really) has doubled over the past five years?

Oh, in the Ann Arbor News article, the writer says that my campaign spending report was "unavailable." I filed a waiver, because I'm not spending more than $1,000. If a candidate files such a waiver, the candidate is not required to file a report.

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