On a gorgeous fall day, a few weeks before Election Day, Proposal C supporter Christine Crockett handed out flyers to University of Michigan students near a bustling South University Avenue.
It wasn't that hard to get their attention. Crockett brought her three-month old miniature long-haired dachshund puppy with her.
Students, mainly women, stopped in their tracks and breathlessly cooed and exclaimed how adorable the animal is.
"This is Kalli," Crockett said. "She's too young for me to leave at home. Now do any of you vote in the city of Ann Arbor? Because we want students to have a greater voice."
Many of the students who stopped to pet Kalli said they don't vote in the city. A few said they did and took flyers from Crockett; a couple students said they'd already voted, and had voted yes on Proposal C.
That's music to the ears of Proposal C campaign director John Godfrey. He explained that it would eliminate August primaries, so all candidates for mayor and city council would appear for the first time on the November ballot.
"The reason for for ending the August primary, basically, is that there's so many people who are unavailable and out of town, including virtually every student at the university," Godfrey said. "That is not a representative government."
(It's notable that the language of Proposal C does not explicitly explain that it does away with primaries.)
City elections would also become non-partisan. Godfrey says without a "D" or "R" after their names, more candidates with a greater diversity of views and backgrounds could run.
Proposal C is the result of a power struggle between the current Democratic city leadership and a Democratic faction, over competing visions for Ann Arbor's future.
Behind Proposal C is a group of city council members who lost their seats in previous primary elections. To a large extent, they represent residents who feel Ann Arbor is losing its character. They don't like many of the changes they're seeing — like high rise buildings and traffic accommodations for bike paths. They see the current city council as being in lockstep with the mayor, and hostile to alternate views.
But Godfrey said the issue is bigger than these views.
"It [Prop. C] has been represented as the sore losers movement. But it's not this at all. It's not a referendum on any policy the city has, whether it's to grow or not to grow. This is about democracy," Godfrey declared.
Current city Mayor Chris Taylor is opposed to Proposal C — along with a who's-who of Democratic state, county and local leaders from Governor Gretchen Whitmer on down — and the non-partisan Washtenaw County League of Women Voters.
Taylor thinks the proposal's promise of a more inclusive democracy is unlikely — but negative consequences aren't.
He said currently, city voters winnow the field of Democratic candidates in a partisan primary and the candidate with the most votes goes on to the general election.
"Tens of thousands of people vote, to determine who is the Democratic candidate. That's thousands of doors knocked, thousands of conversations. If Proposal C passes, that process goes away," said Taylor.
Instead, multiple candidates for mayor and each city council seat could appear on the November ballot. Taylor said since many voters will want to vote for a Democrat, they'll look for the endorsement of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party. But only about 200 party members make that endorsement.
"So you are handing the Democratic Party endorsement, to folks who live in Lodi — folks who live in Superior. And bless them. They're fine people, but they're not Ann Arbor voters."
Taylor said another problem is that candidates who represent a minority of voters, including Republicans, could win elections in this highly Democratic-majority town if the other candidates split the majority of the vote. That's not good democracy, he said. It's the same reason the Washtenaw County League of Women Voters voted unanimously to oppose Proposal C (along with Proposal D, which would set up a public financing system for political campaigns in the city).
"The absence of a primary, the removal of information from the voters — it's going to create a structural change that will result in electoral chaos in the city," Taylor said.
He said Proposal C will also force candidates to raise more money, since they'll be competing with several other candidates all the way through the election in November, and it will require more money to reach voters who normally pay no attention to city politics or primaries.
Proposal D would require the city to set a small part of its budget aside to boost the campaigns of lower-funded candidates. That proposal may be unconstitutional so lawsuits are almost inevitable if it passes.
But both proposals stand a good chance, according to Mark Grebner. He's the founder of a voter database called Practical Political Data, used by candidates around the state to reach voters with political mailings during their campaigns.
Grebner said most voters won't have heard much if anything about Proposal C and D. Most people see proposals for the first time when they flip over their ballot.
"People just plain read the language and do the best they can in figuring it out. 'Okay, moving to a non-partisan election just seems like the sort of thing you should vote for,' and they puzzle it out: 'Sure. Seems ok.'"
Grebner said he's closely watching to see if Ann Arbor follows the pattern he's seen over the years: that a comfortable majority of voters tends to say yes to local proposals in general elections.
Meanwhile, given the stakes, as more people vote or prepare to vote, it's no surprise to see an increase in mud-slinging and accusations and bitterness on both sides.
Should the city of Ann Arbor change its local elections to be non-partisan and fund candidates with city money?
The questions:
Ann Arbor’s Proposal C would establish non-partisan elections in the city and eliminate the August primary.
Proposal D would establish a public financing system using the city budget to provide up to $40,000 to candidates for city council and up to $90,000 to candidates for city mayor. The candidates have to agree to only accept $50 contributions from individuals.
Background:
Proposal C and D were put forward by former city council members who lost their seats during primaries, as well as a grassroots group of Ann Arbor voters who feel the current partisan system of electing city leaders is undemocratic and favors candidates with greater political access to campaign funding sources.
This story was edited to correct the spelling of Ms. Crockett's puppy, Kalli.
