Previous mayors of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti and the journalist who watched their every move sat on a panel in Pray-Harrold Tuesday for the third and final installment in the Future of Urban Michigan series.
“My colleague and I had the pleasure of serving during the worst fiscal time since the 1930s,” said John Heiftje, the former and longest-serving mayor of Ann Arbor.
Heiftje held the Ann Arbor mayoral office from 2000 to 2012. Former Ypsilanti mayor Paul Schreiber held office from 2006 to 2014, and journalist Mary Morgan was a reporter at Ann Arbor News before founding the Ann Arbor Chronicle. She has been covering news in Washtenaw County since 1996.
Professor Arnold Fleischmann, the head of the political science department, organized the Future of Urban Michigan series. The previous two events were political lectures, but Tuesday’s event was a panel discussion involving the former mayors.
“Now that they’re no longer in office they’ll talk more frankly,” Fleischmann said.
After the panelists introduced themselves, the audience of about 40 attendees was able to engage in a question and answer session about local issues.
The discussion ranged over a variety of issues from the quality of local news, to Water Street, to public transit, to housing and to the state’s relationship with local governments and school districts.
Schreiber was especially concerned with the disconnect between state government and local governments especially where smaller municipalities like Ypsilanti are concerned.
“Michigan legislature doesn’t seem to have the will to give local governments a break,” he said.
Both Schreiber and Heiftje blamed Lansing for the crunch cities have been facing although all three panel members emphasized a need for greater regional cooperation.
“A strong and healthy Ypsilanti is the best thing that could happen to Ann Arbor,” Heiftje said.
Moderator and political science professor Joseph Ohren ended the panel by having the mayors update what they are doing since they left office.
“The day after [Schreiber and I] stopped being mayors, we didn’t miss it,” Heiftje said.
Heiftje is currently teaching at the University of Michigan and doing consulting work. Schrieber still works full time at the job he kept while he was mayor. Morgan and her husband chose to close the doors on the Ann Arbor Chronicle in September 2014. She has moved on to start CivCity, a civic engagement platform which, like the Chronicle, is dedicated to local coverage and making it easier to understand local politics.
“The overall goal is to dramatically increase people’s participation in local government and civic life,” Morgan said.
