The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Recall filed against Council
By Dan DuChene, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: June 14, 2007
Recall language submitted to Washtenaw County targets several Ypsilanti City Council members for approving the Water Street debt refinance last year.
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Mayor Pro Tem Trudy Swanson, D-1st Ward, John Gawlas, D-2nd Ward, and Brian Filipiak, D-3rd Ward, all voted in favor of a $17 million refinance of Water Street debt on April 25, 2006 to stave off impending payments. The petitions, all filed on Monday afternoon, site this as the reason for the recall.
Mayor Paul Schreiber and Brian Robb, D-3rd Ward, had not been elected to council yet and Lois Richardson, D-1st Ward, was absent from the meeting.
"This is essentially about fiscal responsibility and accountability," said Rodney Nanney, on of the three residents who filed the language. "It's becoming evermore clear how irresponsible this council has been."
A Ward 1 resident, Nanney has filed for the recall of Swanson. Robert Kilpatrick, a Ward 2 resident, filed the language for Gawlas and Nickels. Ted Mull, a Ward 3 resident, filed the language for Brian Filipiak.
Nanney said the decision was irresponsible because City Council had not yet signed a developement agreement for the project.
Though Joseph Freed and Associates was selected as the preferred developer at the same meeting, City Council members had not signed a development agreement with the firm. In fact, Freed backed out of negotiations later that year, before an agreement was ever reached.
Calling Water Street "complete fiscal mismanagement," Nanney said, "(Council) did not step up and make this project what it should have been."
Lyn Sebestyen, Washtenaw County deputy clerk, said the language must be approved by the board of election commissioners within 10 to 20 days. After that, each petition would need about 400 signatures to warrant an election. She said the date of the election depends on the date the signatures are submitted. However, she said the deadline has already passed to put the measure on the August ballot.
"We have a lot of work to do," Nanney said. "We're going to work very hard to collect as many signatures as we can as soon as possible."
Filipiak said he was not privy to the details of the petition but did receive a call from the county informing him a recall petition had been submitted against him and several of his fellow council members.
"It's all part of the political process," Filipiak said. "That's their right."
Filipiak said he wouldn't change his mind on the decision he made last year because he didn't see any other options.
"I always do what I think is best for the community, and I don't do it in a vacuum either," he said.
Nanney did not give a specific example of another option City Council could have taken when he was asked. He said the petition is about City Council's fiscal mismanagement.
Sebestyen said the recall election, if approved, could cost more than $7,000 if it isn't on the November ballot. She said that cost would be placed on the city.
More General Fund Payments
As part of a recommendation made by Karen Hart, Ypsilanti's director of planning and development, City Council approved earmarking an additional $250,000 from the city's general fund for Water Street debt payments.
The approval was made in a 5-1 decision on June 5, with Robb dissenting and Richardson absent from the meeting due to medical reasons.
The recommendation came as the city is expecting $1.4 million in debt payments in the 2009 to 2010 fiscal year. To make up for the remaining costs, the adopted plan calls for selling city property, including a possible chunk of Water Street, levying some or all of the remaining millage allowed by the city charter next year and perhaps asking voters to approve an additional millage the following year.
Another aspect of the adopted plan calls for the city to hire a national real estate firm to handle the project. The portion of the plan asks that council be more open-minded about usage and dividing the property. One option in the plan is to auction off separate plots within the 38-acre area.
Robb said his contention with the plan rested with the last portion, which was to eliminate barriers to development. Hart said there is an obligation to the closing Ford ACH plant for a railroad spur through the Water Street Project.
During the meeting, Robb asked Hart where the obligated railroad would run if the city had to install it. He also asked what the installation of that line would cost.
Hart said she had no definitive answers for either question.
"I'd be glad to get more information on this," she said.
As the motion was up for consideration, Robb had asked to table the matter until more information could be provided. However, he did not make a motion to that effect.
"We're still six, seven years into this project and we're still asking how much stuff costs," Robb said. "If we have to put six million dollars into a railroad spur, we're going to have to sell the beloved Freighthouse or something like that.
"The cost of this project has been nebulous," he said. "I'm not comfortable with the numbers."
Gawlas said, "I don't view this document as nebulous legislation. It offers very concrete elements for proceeding."
Schreiber had asked Hart for monthly statements to be delivered on the Water Street Project's status. Hart agreed.
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