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Week of Thursday, May 23, 2002
Council member By DAVE MELCHIOR Ypsilanti City Councilwoman Lois Richardson, D-First Ward, will face incumbent Mayor Cheryl Farmer, an independent, in the November general election. Initially it appeared Richardson would first have to defeat Charles Williams in the August Democratic primary before facing the mayor in the general election, but Williams’ name will not appear on the Democratic primary ballot. Deputy City Clerk Cherry Lawson said Williams’ petitions to get on the ballot were not properly completed. Specifically, she said, the circulator had failed to properly sign and date the petitions, rendering them invalid. Williams is an Eastern Michigan University student. Williams’ failure to qualify for the ballot means Richardson will face Farmer, who is seeking her third term, in November. Richardson, a minister, was elected to the City Council in 2000. She said she is not running because she is unhappy with the mayor but to give people a choice. She said that does not mean she does not want to win. She said she would not have run if she did not want to win. "I had any number of people … approach me about running for mayor," she said. "I kept saying no. After no one else came forward, I decided to run." Richardson said she will run an issues-oriented campaign, and will focus on creating a more inclusive city that devotes attention to all of the neighborhoods in the community. She said she is a strong supporter of downtown and projects like Water Street and would continue to push for their completion and improvements to the city, but she said she is interested in seeing a more "inclusive" city. In the elections for City Council, there is only one primary race: Incumbent Democrat Trudy Swanson, who represents the First Ward, is being challenged in the Democratic primary by David Harding. In Ward Two, incumbent Democrat William Nickels is unopposed, and in the Third Ward, incumbent Democrat Barry LaRue is unchallenged. |
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