by P. D. Lesko

The City of Ann Arbor cut the collection of Christmas trees to save $34,000—a move that has led to Christmas tree dumping in parks and even in the Huron River. The city also stopped leaf collection to save $280,000. In 2011, A2Politico wrote about the fact that city managers were pushing service cuts while compensating themselves with millions from the city’s General Fund for car allowances, cell phones, expensive meals out and travel to luxury resorts, such as various spas, as well as the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. In that 2011 piece, Third Ward Councilmember  Stephen Kunselman commented that the issue of whether city staff should enjoy such a wide variety of perks costing taxpayers millions has already been addressed. He commented via email on the issue of perks for city staff members in light of cuts to police, fire and other citizen services: “I have been under the impression that these issues have been addressed where needed; if they haven’t then they will be if there is any impropriety.”

A search of the Council minutes back through 2008 revealed no resolutions by any City Council member related to the issue of staffer perks such as meals out, stays as luxury resorts and spas, car allowances to staffers with desk jobs, or the cell phone spending. In response to questions about the cell phone allowances paid out between 2009 and 2012, Kunselman did not respond to a request for comment.

The fact is that there have been improprieties. The city’s auditor has repeatedly caught Ann Arbor’s CFO Tom Crawford (total cell phone allowance $6,528) sleeping on the job. In 2006 and again in 2010 the auditor cited Crawford’s department for sloppy controls over city-provided credit cards. The auditor randomly sampled charges paid, and found that 25 percent of the time there was no documentation. In 2013, the city’s new auditor found that employee expenses were being paid without documentation, and that city employees with car allowances were also being reimbursed for mileage (double-dipping). It was revealed that City Attorney Stephen Postema (total cell phone allowance $5,712) was among those bilking taxpayers. In a 2013 letter, Crawford assured auditors that “controls” had been put in place to keep double-dippers from repeating their scams. However, years earlier the city’s auditor had caught then City Administrator Roger Fraser misusing his city-issued credit card and charging the city for mileage while receiving a $400 monthly car allowance.

Fifth Ward Council member Mike Anglin is running for re-election. He had this to say in response to A2Politico’s questions about the cell phone perk: “As Ann Arbor moves towards spending reductions, all items of the budget need to be examined as to their benefits. A guide in this direction would be a commitment to providing services to the tapayers. Spending that does not meet this criterion needs to be examined and discussed through the Budget Committee, and City Council at large. As a member of the Budget Committee I will bring these issues before the City’s CFO so that other Council members can be aware of them and take needed actions. Savings to the Budget will allow for increase in services to the community.”

Anglin’s newly-elected Ward 5 colleague responded quite differently. Chuck Warpehoski wrote in an email: “According to the City Administrator, the City does have a cell phone and pager policy. I believe that there are valid reasons for some City employees to have cell phones, and I believe that the Section Area Administrators are better positioned to evaluate a particular employee’s need for a cell phone than is Council.”

It’s 2013 and despite continued cuts to services, cuts to police and fire, and hikes in fees for parking, parking fines, water, sewer, solid waste and city programs, cell phone allowances for city staffers, many of whom have desk jobs, continue to be paid out. In fact, between 2009 and 2012, the amount paid annually for cell phone allowances almost doubled. According to data provided by city officials in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from A2Politico, between 2009 and 2012, Ann Arbor taxpayers forked over $683,352 to city employees for cell phone allowances alone. According to city records, 196 of the city’s 709 full-time employees receive a monthly cell phone allowance. To view a list of city employees who received cell phone and car allowances between 2009 and 2012, click here. The monthly allowance, however, is only the beginning. The city’s six monthly cell phone bills run 200 pages, and include charges for data, texting, calling packages and any overages incurred.

Verizon currently charges $40 per month for 700 minutes of calling, with texting and data extra. Texting and data plans cost between $70-$100 per month, depending on the number of texts sent and the amount of data transferred (uploaded and downloaded). Thus, each city-owned cell phone could be costing in excess of $1,680 per year in addition to the phone allowances. What this means is that taxpayers could be paying, in addition to the $218,702 in phone allowances paid out on 2012, an additional $329,280 in calling, texting and data charges. Conservative estimates would, then, put the total amount spent on city-owned cell phones given to staffers in 2012 alone between $420,000 and $520,000 per year.

Newly-elected Ward 2 Council member Sally Hart Petersen, who ran a campaign for office that stressed her business background, as well as her desire to push fiscal responsibility, thinks paying for cell phones and pagers “reasonable.” She wrote in response to an email asking where she stands on the issue: “The city does have a 9-page policy regarding city-issued cell phones and pagers. Generally, employees who must be available 24/7, or those who must be away from their office to perform their jobs (such as Park and Rec employees) are issued phones or pagers. I assume that employees who must be available 24/7 include senior and middle management. This is reasonable to me.”

Petersen’s Ward 2 colleague Jane Lumm, an Independent, whose popularity is enormous thanks to her consistent and outspoken support of fiscal responsibility and funding citizen services, when told of the amount being spent on cell phone allowances, texting, data and calling plans sighed deeply and said, “Seriously? You’re joking, right? That’s ridiculous!”

The $420,000 to $520,000 paid out of the General Fund for the cell phone perk corresponds to a significant portion of the $2.4 million dollar 2009 budget deficit Ann Arbor CFO Tom Crawford used to justify service cuts and fee hikes built into the budget he’d prepared along with then City Administrator Roger Fraser. In fact, in 2010 Fraser recommended eliminating 14 firefighter positions to save the city $400,000.

When A2Politico asked City Administrator Steve Powers via email whether it was his opinion “that increased spending on cell phone allowances and other cell phone costs and car allowances for city staffers is an expense that should be continued?” He replied that, in essence, the cell phone allowance policy and implementation had little to do with him. He wrote, “As most of the time period of concern predates my arrival in Ann Arbor, I can’t answer your specific questions at this time. When are you planning on running your piece?” When it was pointed out the number of city staffers given cell phone allowances had increased by 25 percent in 2012 (he took over from Roger Fraser in April 2012), Powers back-tracked, again via email: “I believe cell phone expenses should be paid by an employer for employees whose job responsibilities require 24/7 access or being away from their offices to perform their duties. The administrative policy in effect since 2009 provides the purpose and procedures for the city-funded mobile communication expense. I have eliminated vehicle allowances for service area administrators.”

It appears, however, that Powers and the managers whom he supervises aren’t adhering to the 2009 administrative policy. Cell phone allowance money has been paid to 15th District Court Judge Christopher Easthope, a former Ann Arbor City Council member. Easthope, in fact, is among the top three in cell phone allowance pay-outs since 2009, some $6,258 dollars. The administrator of the 15th District Court, Keith Zeisloft, has collected $6,392 in cell phone allowance money. According to officials at the 15th District Court, Easthope is not expected to be on call 24/7, and has never been expected to be on call 24/7 during the course of his duties. Easthope’s colleagues on the bench, Judges Elizabeth Pollard Hines and Joseph Burke got on the cell phone allowance gravy train in 2012. It ‘s not clear whether these taxpayer-funded allowances began before or after Steve Powers took over for Roger Fraser. The list of city employees receiving cell phone allowances includes the names of dozens of staffers who work 9-5 shifts in their offices each day, who are not required to be on call 24/7.

Ward 1 Council member Sumi Kailasapathy is a CPA. She is focusing her efforts on hunting down waste and finding savings in the city’s $320,000,000 budget in order to restore lost services. When asked about whether she supported the expenditure of money from the General Fund for cell phone allowances and city-owned cell phone expenses, her answer was clipped. “No. Send me that information. I want to see it.” Ward 1 Council member Sabra Briere forwarded A2Politico’s email sent to her requesting a comment to the City Administrator, and never responded.

Finding out how much the city is spending each month on calling, texting and data plans for those 196 cell phones is complicated by the fact that according to city officials bills for texting and data plans are not combined, or tracked in a unified spreadsheet. No one at City Hall knows exactly how much General Fund money, total, is being spent to provide 196 city employees with cell phones. A2Politico originally filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the city-owned cell phone text and data plan charges paid between 2009 and 2012. City officials responded that the request would involve combing through, at minimum, 9,600 pages of material to find the texting and data charges and to redact information, as necessary, from the materials related to phones provided to police.

While Ann Arbor city staffers continue to be allowed to spend General Fund money on themselves like there’s no tomorrow,  throughout the country, cities and counties are trying harder than ever to make ends meet. The day after Democratic Governor Jerry Brown took office in January 2011, he asked department heads to collect 96,000 state-provided cell phones. A June 17, 2011 piece published in the Long Beach Post reports that, “The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors directed county department chiefs to review their respective cell phone and data card use following an audit of the Department of Child and Family Services identified $514,000 wasted on phones and devices that were never used or used for what was deemed ‘questionable’ purposes, such as calling other countries.”

In June of 2010 Jim Fouts, Mayor of Warren, Michigan cut the cell phone allowances of all the 125 municipal city employees who had been receiving the money. Fouts also eliminated the monthly car allowances paid to city employees. Fouts told the Macomb Daily, “These are austere times, and sacrifices have to be made by everyone.”

In 2009, Washtenaw County Commissioner Kristin Judge turned in her county-provided cell phone and suggested that Washtenaw County could save $350,000 per year by cutting the cell phone perk. Ann Arbor County Commissioner Conan Smith accused Judge of “grandstanding.” In an October 2009 interview with A2Politico Judge said, “In my opinion, the cell phone budget is one of the most obvious places to find immediate savings. As much as I dislike this statement, ‘Everything is on the table,’ I will continue to look at the entire budget line by line. Some people think commissioners should not look at each line of the budget, but I disagree. I have been accused of micromanaging because I want to see where all the money is going, but I will not vote on $1 unless I understand the purpose of the spending and what we get for that $1. The people of Washtenaw County expect and deserve that from their elected officials.”

by P.D. Lesko

Michael Woodyard is either Gandalf or Saruman, it just depends on whom you ask. He is challenging Judge Timothy Connors for his seat on the 22nd Circuit Court, a seat Connors has either warmed, or filled admirably, depending on whom you ask. In Washtenaw County, local lawyers simply don’t run against judicial incumbents. Lawyers will explain that it’s because a lawyer who challenges an incumbent and loses could then end up appearing before the incumbent. The obvious fear is that the incumbent judges would hold grudges against their opponents and then make them suffer for it. Considering the fact that judges are supposed to be the adults in the room while lawyers and litigants squabble and scrabble, the prospect that judges would behave vindictively because they had to run for elective office rather than get a free ride every few years should get a little more press than it does.

In Oakland County five incumbent circuit county judges are fending off challengers this election season. It is suspected that a single litigant may be secretly targeting one or more incumbent judges, as the challengers have been the beneficiaries of a million-dollar ad blitz funded by an unknown donor or donors using out-of-state corporations to conceal their identity and motives.

Michael Woodyard (right) lives in Washtenaw County, but works for the Wayne County Prosecutor. Thus, he stands to suffer little professional fall-out as a result of his run against Judge Connors—at least in Wayne County. Here in Washtenaw County, an anonymous letter allegedly mailed to Woodyard urging him to withdraw from the race suggests that his name will be mud should Woodyard “force” local members of the Bar to pony up money to fund Connors’s campaign. Of course, the letter writer implies the local Bar Association and its members are forced to pony up to cover the campaign costs of the sitting judge. Perhaps members of the local Bar prefer to think of it as extortion, rather than blackmail.

A2Buzz.org was created in 2005, and the domain name doesn’t expire until 2014. In a nutshell, the site claims to have been “instrumental in exposing the behavior of  Timothy Connors – Washtenaw  County Circuit Court judge.” The site is outdated, and many of the links broken. Rob Packard, the reporter who allegedly had this to say about Connors in a quote from A2Buzz.org, works at WNWO in Toledo, Ohio:

“As an award winning television journalist, I am frequently required to attend court hearings.  I have a great deal of respect for judges and their position.  In the hearings I attended in this matter, I observed Judge Connors to be rude, constantly interrupting, inattentive, rolling his eyes, sighing, yelling, avoiding eye contact, staring out the window.  I was shocked. There was a clear sense of bias in Judge Connors demeanor.  I have covered federal, civil and criminal court cases for more than a decade. I have never witnessed such a mean and biased behavior in any Judge before.”

Several comments posted anonymously to AnnArbor.com in response to Woodyard’s announcement that he intended to run for the Circuit Court were similarly pointed about Connors’s demeanor in his courtroom. In both 2000 and 2006, Judge Melinda Morris pulled down thousands more votes than her colleague Judge Timothy Connors when they both ran for re-election unopposed. In 2006, when he last ran for re-election, Connors got a little over 65,000 votes out of the 135,126 ballots cast.

To be sure, Michael Woodyard will be outspent, and he will have to make do with just a fraction of the endorsers and endorsements the incumbent will have. However, over the past three years, voters in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County hasve delivered some rude surprises at the polls both to entrenched political candidates, as well as to supporters of ballot proposals that seemed sure to pass, then didn’t. Could Woodyard win? In a 1999 issue of Court Review, a piece about public confidence in our court system argues that, “For most of our nation’s history, perceptions of, and public trust and confidence in, the U.S. Supreme Court have served as the bellwether of the public’s attitudes toward the judiciary. Indeed, people’s opinions about the U.S. Supreme Court seemed to dictate the general attitude toward the judiciary.” If this is true, it’s bad news for Connors. According to a July 2012 piece in the New York Times, the U.S. Supreme Court has an approval rating of just 40 percent. The Pew Research Center’s measure of favorability concerning the U.S. Supreme Court for 2012 is the lowest in 25 years.

A2Politico: Tell us a little about yourself, your connections to Washtenaw County.

Michael Woodyard:  My family moved to Southeastern Michigan in 1976, when I was 10. I lived in Ypsilanti while I attended Eastern Michigan University, graduating in 1997. In 2002 I bought a home in Ann Arbor. I’ve lived here since, and my kids, now 10 and 8, are enrolled in the city’s public schools.

I find the question of community ties for judicial candidates fascinating. Voters who are choosing a candidate for a policy-making elective office like city council or state representative probably would want someone in office who is just like them. Having someone who has lived their whole life in town might be a good way to tell if someone is like you. But a judge doesn’t make laws or policy. A judge interprets the law as it is written, and the law is the same in Ann Arbor as it is in Ishpeming and in Detroit.

We are very fortunate that Washtenaw County, with the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University and various auto suppliers and tech companies, is a destination for people from all over the world. So it’s quite possible that you will find tremendously qualified people who haven’t lived here their whole lives. Basing one’s decision on who to support whether the candidate’s parents went to Huron High School sort of ignores the well-qualified folks who came here later in life.

The law requires that a judge live in the circuit in which he or she serves. So in that respect, my connection to Washtenaw County is important. This is my home, this is where my child was born, were my kids go to school. But insofar as a connection to the community makes it more or less likely that I’ll be a “good” judge, I don’t think that’s an apt data point.

I think a more appropriate question is: how much experience do I have in court, what sort of experience do I have in advocating for justice, will I hold everyone equally accountable before the law, no matter if they’re rich or poor, black or white. And on those points, I am proud of my record, and confident I will serve with distinction.

A2Politico:  Generally, sitting judges get free rides during elections because lawyers who work in the same county are afraid to challenge them for office. You live in Washtenaw County, but work in Wayne County. That explains why you don’t have to fear professional retaliation in Washtenaw County for challenging an incumbent judge, but what makes you think you’ll do a better job than a jurist whose been there since 1997?

Michael Woodyard:  The Circuit Court has jurisdiction over felony criminal cases, certain civil cases, divorce, adoption, child protection, child custody, juvenile delinquency, and other matters. All of these are important areas of law, but the heart of the court lies in its administration of criminal justice. And as a 10-year veteran of the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, I have an expertise and depth of experience in law and the administration of justice that is not matched by any other candidate.

According to the Michigan Code of Professional Responsibility, a prosecutor has the responsibility of a minister of justice and not simply that of an advocate. So as a “minister of justice,” I have fought for 10 years on behalf of children and families. I’ve represented the People of the State of Michigan in 20 different district courts and in front of 27 different circuit court judges. I’ve tried more than 100 cases to verdict before juries and judges. I’ve handled more than 800 arrest warrants. I have an intimate and deep familiarity with the workings of the system of justice.

My opponent has been assigned a civil docket for the past 15 years. These cases are important, with real people trying to resolve important questions. But my opponent simply doesn’t have the depth of experience that I have in criminal law, in advocating for justice under difficult, adversarial circumstances. It is that rich experience that makes me uniquely qualified to serve as judge.

A2Politico:  Who’s on Team Woodyard, helping you with your campaign?

Michael Woodyard:  My campaign is a completely grass-roots effort. The everyday staff consists of me and my girlfriend, Veena Kulkarni, a magnificent concert pianist, teacher, and gracious thinker. Ebru Uras, a friend and former United States Foreign Service officer, is contributing her expertise. Several attorneys I work with are involved. We’ve got a number of strong supporters at our church, and of course, my kids are a big help, too.

A2Politico:  Both you and Judge Connors are on Facebook, and you’re on Twitter. Is social media playing a significant role in your campaign?

Michael Woodyard:  Social media is a great way to keep supporters up to date on what’s going on, to invite folks to events, and to share information about the campaign.

In fact, we recently updated my website (woodyard4judge.com) to provide direct links to court opinions and government documents containing information about my record and my opponent’s record, so voters can see the facts, without any spin or campaign gloss. This is a terrific way to fold important campaign information and digital technology into a seamless presentation.

A2Politico:   Judge Connors was appointed by a Republican governor (Engler). While judgeships are technically non-partisan, politicos-in-the-know understand that Michigan’s bench has become politically polarized. Where do you fall on the political spectrum?

Michael Woodyard:  I’m a life-long Democrat, and my perspective on the law is formed with a background in prosecution. I believe that we all have a responsibility to work to improve society, and I also believe that people must be accountable for their conduct. I think that interpretation of statutes should be careful, and precedent must be followed. The law is the law, and my conviction is to apply it fairly and with integrity, regardless of who the lawyer is standing in front of me, regardless of the social status of the litigants.

A2Politico:  A2Politico has been getting emails from local lawyers about the fact that Judge Connors works for the University of Michigan as a Lecturer (with a .9 appointment and a pro-rata salary of $609,145.78 as of 2011) and yet he refuses to recuse himself when cases involving the University of Michigan come before him. Should a Circuit Court Judge recuse himself from hearing and ruling on cases that involve his employer, or is this a tempest in a judicial teapot?

Michael Woodyard:  Michigan Court Rule 2.003 lists a variety of situations in which a judge might disqualify himself, or in which a party may seek a judge’s disqualification. One circumstance is when the judge has “more than a de minimis economic interest in the subject matter in controversy that could be substantially impacted by the proceeding.”

I suppose one would have to argue that my opponent could get fired from his $54,000 a year teaching job at U of M if he doesn’t rule in favor of the university, and he therefore has a direct interest in the outcome of the cases. But that is nothing more than speculation, and probably not true, anyway.

What isn’t speculative, however, is that his substantial paycheck from the university – and his wife’s new appointment as a family law professor at the university’s law school – raises fair questions about the appearance of impropriety. And that is the subject of a few provisions of the Michigan Code of Judicial Conduct.

“Public confidence in the judiciary is eroded by irresponsible or improper conduct by judges. A judge must avoid all impropriety and appearance of impropriety. A judge must expect to be the subject of constant public scrutiny. A judge must therefore accept restrictions on conduct that might be viewed as burdensome by the ordinary citizen and should do so freely and willingly.” M.C.J. Canon 2 (2)(A)

In particular, while a judge is encouraged to teach and take part in activities that promote understanding of the law, the “judge should refrain from financial and business dealings that tend to reflect adversely on the judge’s impartiality or judicial office, interfere with the proper performance of judicial duties, exploit the judicial position, or involve the judge in frequent transactions with lawyers or persons likely to come before the court on which the judge serves.” M.C.J. Canon 5 (C)(1).

If a judge takes in about $54,000 from a teaching job at the U of M, and his wife also is employed by the University as a law school professor, at the same time that the judge regularly rules on controversies involving the University, those facts alone do not appear to violate any specific canons or rules of ethics. The situation may, however, raise a legitimate question about the appearance of impropriety. And that is a question that each judge will have to answer for himself.

A2Politico:  In May, you allegedly received an anonymous letter (which you posted to your Facebook page) urging you to drop out of the race. It wasn’t a threat, per se, but nonetheless it wasn’t very sporting to suggest anonymously that you have no business running for office because you don’t practice in Washtenaw County, and will cost members of the local bar money when they are be forced to contribute to Judge Connors’s re-election campaign. The letter does make a fair point that few in the political/legal communities in the county know you, professionally. Someone recently suggested to A2P that you’re either very brave or extremely foolish. Which is it? A little of both, maybe?

Michael Woodyard:  Judges are required to act on behalf of litigants and the community, not on behalf of their friends or local attorneys or the political classes. So the question is really whether the voters think my decade of experience fighting for the rights of children and families who have been victimized by crime in one of the largest and busiest and most violent jurisdictions in the United States qualifies me to fairly and justly determine controversies as judge.

I also think it’s fair to point out that “professional,” for a lawyer, has to do with written and oral advocacy, and the lawyer’s demonstrated abilities to be just. That is a different question from whether one talks to a lawyer at bar association functions, or if one thinks the lawyer is a nice guy.

That said, I’m neither brave nor foolish. I am dedicated to public service, and committed to the ideas of accountability, safety and community. Since at least 1954, Michigan law has provided for contested, non-partisan election of circuit court judges. Local media has reported that this race is the first time that an incumbent Washtenaw Circuit judge has been challenged. I think that’s a shame. I think that a judge, like any elected public servant, should be proud of their record and should place that record before the electorate every chance he gets. And if the electorate thinks another person has the qualifications needed to fulfill those specific duties, than someone else should be elected.

A2Politico:  How’s the fundraising going? Care to share how much money you’ve raised thus far for your campaign? Have you self-funded at all?

Michael Woodyard:  Our campaign is a grass-roots labor of love. I haven’t raised tons of money, I haven’t gotten donations from PACs or Super PACs. I am supported by friends, family, members of my church, and the many, many people that I meet and talk with about my record.

I predict that when financials are reported by the state Bureau of Elections later this month, you will see that my opponent has crushed me in terms of raising money from local attorneys, PACS and members of the political and social establishment.

A2Politico:  You endorsed a candidate in the August primary. A2P got a tip that this is against the Judicial Code of Ethics for Michigan Judges. You’re not a judge, of course, so it’s a moot point, and we told our tipster to take two aspirin and call us in the morning. However, one would expect a candidate for judge to know the rules about endorsing in political contests. Then again, Michigan Supreme Court candidate Bridget McCormack, just endorsed Judge Connors and he graciously accepted it via his blog. Care to comment?

Michael Woodyard:  It’s not a moot point. The particular canon prohibits the endorsement of candidates for non-judicial elected office, and applies to judges and candidates for judicial office as well. Frankly, I was very surprised when you asked me this question, because I haven’t endorsed any candidate for non-judicial office. (In fact, I had to ask you whom I had endorsed!)

It turned out that I attended a fund raiser in May, 2012, for Chuck Warpehoski (my girlfriend serves on the board of the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, an organization of which Chuck is the director), and the names written down on the sign-in sheet ended up on Chuck’s website under the heading “endorsements.” When you brought this to my attention I immediately asked Chuck to take my name off the list, and he did.

A2Politico:   You write on your website: “As judge, Mike will bring his passion for service to every decision he makes. He will respect the law, not bend it to favor rich or poor. He’ll respect the office, recognizing that a judge, like everyone else, has to earn your trust every day. And Mike will respect the people who appear before him, treating everyone fairly, ensuring that justice is served.” Certainly, several comments in response to the AA.com article in which your candidacy was announced, suggest Judge Connors should be voted out of office. Are you intimating that Judge Connors bends the law to favor certain groups, or treats petitioners and attorneys unfairly?

Michael Woodyard:  I am simply sharing what I value, how I will comport myself as judge. I will respect the law, the litigants and the system of public justice. I will devote myself to improving the community through fair, evenhanded and predictable application of the law. I’ve seen the comments and talked with lots of people in the community, but I have not appeared in front of Judge Connors. I would let attorneys and others who have appeared in front of Judge Connors discuss his judicial temperament.

A2Politico:  Campaigns for judgeships are the condiciones sine quibus non for a game of insider political baseball. Can you finish up by explaining (without using Latin) why the race for this circuit court judgeship should matter a lot to the average citizen? How does a circuit judge touch the life of an average voter?

Michael Woodyard:  Circuit judges are involved in the most important issues affecting a person’s life: child custody, divorce, felony criminal cases, civil disputes, and family matters of various types. A circuit court judge has a far more direct and immediate effect on the individual appearing before the court than do all of the larger structures of government. And by assuming such a direct role with the individual, the court, by extension, plays an essential part in the community.

These are the things I’ve learned over the past decade, representing the People of the State of Michigan in court every day of the week. The circuit court can be a partner in the community, working to foster a sense of accountability, to improve and maintain safety and to strengthen the community by dispensing justice in a fair, evenhanded and predictable manner. As judge, that is what I will do.

by P.D. Lesko

Second Ward City Council member Tony Derezinski has get-togethers for Ward 2 constituents in the know at bars, and in March had a Ward 2 meeting at his home where, again, those in the know showed up and got to rub elbows with AATA Board member Jessie Bernstein. Derezinski marches in the city’s 4th of July parade every year, unlike his Council colleagues who participate only when running for office.

Derezinski (pictured, left) served in the Michigan Legislature when Gerald Ford was in the White House. His attendance record on City Council is abysmal, according to information available on the city’s web site. He has spent his time on Council voting in lock-step with the Hieftje Hive Mind Collective—all of whom are charter members of the Ann Arbor Council Dems for ALEC Club. Along with Ward Five Democratic candidate Chuck Warpehoski, Derezinski is a player in the effort to “re-imagine” Washtenaw Avenue using the oldest Republican game plan in the book: the public-private partnership. Derezinski supports using public tax dollars to fund development done by private developers—who then realize all of the profits. If there are losses, the public is on the hook.

ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, loves the public-private partnership model, the use of which Derezinski recently identified to the Press as his “major accomplishment.” Progressive political organizations, however, don’t have a lot of love for ALEC, the businesses and politicos who are members of ALEC. Think Progress describes ALEC is a secretive collaboration between conservative politicians and big business. The Center for Media and Democracy has won awards for exposing the cozy relationships between big business, developers and state governments that Reimagining Washtenaw hopes to rely upon, and local Democratic politicos throughout Washtenaw County are trying to sell to the public.

Sally Hart Petersen’s campaign web site has a catch phrase: “A Fresh Voice for Ann Arbor.”  She was described by one Ward 2 resident as a “real” Democrat. Why? One reason could be because when Derezinski was collecting campaign funds for his Council run, Washtenaw County campaign finance reports reveal that he accepted large donations from the Chair of the Michigan Republican Party and the man’s wife.

There are crystal clear political differences between Petersen and Derezinski, many of the same differences that surfaced in the race between Second Ward Council member Jane Lumm and her opponent, long-time incumbent Stephen Rapundalo, whom Lumm trounced in November 2011.

For example, on his campaign web site, a sparsely populated and sporadically updated blog, Derezinski, like Fourth Ward Council incumbent Margie Teall, is suddenly not-so-public about supporting the city’s controversial Percent for Art program. The two have been strong supporters, going so far as to vote this past May 2012 to take money from the water, sewer and road repair millage funds to use on art installations. Petersen told AnnArbor.com: “She believes the city’s Percent for Art Program is well intended, but she’s concerned about the process by which art projects are chosen and what she perceives to be a lack of public involvement.” Derezinski has also been a vocal supporter of using acres of river-front parkland as a construction site for a parking garage for the University of Michigan (where he is employed as a part-time lecturer). Petersen does not. Rather than build a new train station for Amtrak, she would like to see the existing Amtrak station refurbished and expanded.

The differences between the candidates are clear. Derezinski is hauling around much of the same political baggage that did in former Second Ward Council member Stephen Rapundalo in November 2011, including his support for a city income tax.

Sally Hart Petersen answered A2Politico’s questions via email.

A2Politico: Why now? Why run for City Council at this moment in time?

Sally Petersen: Running for City Council is something I have thought about for quite some time. But it was about a year ago on a long marathon training run, the switch finally flipped. Maybe I was just dehydrated at the time =), but I found myself debating city issues in my head on these long runs and the belief grew in me that I could contribute something unique to the City Council table. I am a Democrat with an MBA; a combination not currently represented on Council. I expect that my experience in business and non-profit leadership will prepare me well to tackle the City’s challenges with a focus on bottom-line fiscal sustainability and transparency. And the timing now is right for me. I will have two children at Huron in September, so necessarily my tenure as Tappan PTSO President is ending. I am deliberately creating room on my plate ( I recently resigned from the Racquet Club of Ann Arbor Board) in order to take on the work of the campaign, and ideally one day soon, City Council.

A2Politico: Councilmember Derezinski is solidly behind the public-private partnership model to reshape the Washtenaw Avenue corridor? Do you support public-private partnerships in development, such as this one?

Sally Petersen: There seems to be a school of thought that public-private partnerships don’t work. Could this be because the two parties engaged don’t truly appreciate each other’s core competencies? I spent four years in Columbus, IN working for Cummins Engine Company, and have witnessed the numerous benefits to the community when a corporate partner steps up. Midland Michigan is another positive example of public-private collaboration. Regarding Washtenaw Avenue, I don’t think the City can develop the corridor without private sector investors.  As with any large scale capital project, a strategic plan needs to be thoroughly vetted by both sides before commitments are made and work begins. The roles and expectations of the partnership need to be clearly understood. If the private investors (developers) are putting up the capital, the public sector needs to make sure the process runs smoothly, eliminating potential roadblocks and red tape along the way. The City of Ann Arbor needs to ensure it is easy for the private sector to do business with us.

A2Politico: Which downtown projects built during the last few years, exactly, can you identify as ones that would qualify as “over-development.”

Sally Petersen: Evidently, I need to clarify what I mean by “over-development.” I don’t think the downtown area is currently over-developed, but I fear there is a particular “over-zelousness” for development without a clear and consistent strategy within or between projects. It appears that the lack of a plan for a structure on the liberty lot, and the fact that the University pulled out of the Fuller Road Transit Center project is a result of not having a strategic, actionable pan that is fully agreed upon with the City’s partners in these projects. We seem to have gone too far down the road before we realized that the original projects, as intended, weren’t economically sustainable.

Development is good, but I envision a more balanced approach to development downtown that makes best use of the vacant spaces by combining a mix of green and commercial space. We are fortunate to have a University in our midst that spins off a new company every 4-5 weeks. Many of these companies provide commercial support to the University’s core mission of education, research and healthcare. The commercial real estate in downtown Ann Arbor provides fertile ground for the birth and growth for many of these companies which typically employ fewer than 100 people at the outset. We don’t need to build skyscrapers on every open lot in downtown Ann Arbor to attract companies, we need a balanced of medium-sized commercial space immersed in a downtown that is walkable, healthy and green.

A2Politico: The saying goes that it’s not possible to “cut one’s way to profitability.” Would you favor crafting and implementing a PILOT (payment in lieu of property taxes) program to collect revenues from the non-profits that do business in Ann Arbor to increase tax revenues?

Sally Petersen: I don’t think the University of Michigan would ever go for a PILOT program. I recently met with Jim Kosteva, Director of Community Relations at the University of Michigan and he identified for me the key interests of the University: Education, Research, and Healthcare. One of the reasons it is difficult for the City to collaborate with the U is that there are few areas of mutual interest.  Regular communications do occur at the functional level, between the AAPS and DPS, and between our respective transportation and constructions divisions. But I sense that the tone of these communications is typically reactive and defensive, with both parties protecting their turf, so to speak.

On the one hand, Ann Arbor needs to appreciate that the presence of the University of Michigan in our city creates goodwill among property owners. For example, during the boom years of 2001 to 2008, Ann Arbor property values increased generously by 42.9%, compared to other Michigan cities such as Farmington Hills (25.3%), Livonia (23%), and Kalamazoo (29.6%).  During the bust years between 2008 and 2011, Ann Arbor seems protected with property values falling only 5.4% compared to Farmington Hills (25.5%), Livonia (19%) and Kalamazoo (6%). What’s more, the University added close to 9,000 jobs between 2001 an 2011.

But that’s not to say that the City should be at the University’s mercy in collaboration either. We need to recognize that our goals are not necessarily mutually exclusive either. If the City and University of Michigan worked together better, perhaps opportunities for GILOT (Goodwill in lieu of taxes) could be explored with some innovation and creativity. It is time for the University and the City to work together to create an intentional culture of collaboration and innovation. At the Mackinac Policy Conference, I spoke with EMU President Sue Martin and Washtenaw Community College President Rose Bellanca about Town Gown relationships. I learned that a culture of collaboration within Ypsilanti exists, and it begins with the Regents. This is an area I would like to continue to pursue with the University of Michigan.

A2Politico: There have been long-time complaints of ethical lapses on the part of City Council members in their campaign fundraising, appointments of friends and business associates to city boards and commissions, and voting on resolutions that impact their full-time employers. Would you support an ethics ordinance like the ones in San Diego and Chicago?

Sally Petersen: This is my first foray into city politics and I have not been privy to ethical lapses among City Council members. I think its fare for residents to demand transparency when such threats occur. It is my understanding that the mechansim to protect and promote transparency is though FOIA. Back in 1991, the first course I took at Harvard Business School was Business Ethics. I learned quickly that you cannot “teach” ethics and I don’t think you should try to legislate it either. Either one is an ethical being or not, and while there are always shades of grey, ethical people tend to rise to the top, are easy to identify, and should be easy to elect!

A2Politico: There is a political push afoot to hand the $10 million dollars in perpetual millage money paid by taxpayers to AATA to a county-wide transit authority. Do you use AATA regularly? Would you favor handing over our millage money to such an authority which may or may not use the same amount for transit within the city limits?

Sally Petersen: I do not use the AATA and I don’t think I am the intended customer. As a stay-at-home (but never actually “at home” for very long), I put about 200 miles on my car per week within or just outside the city. I don’t think any transit system other than my own auto could support my needs. That said, who are the intended and projected customers for a regional transit system? I am not an expert on transit systems, but through my discussions with Ward 2 residents I have learned that the current hub and spoke model of transportation may not be feasible if the City hopes to expand coverage. In general, I am in favor of enabling more people to come to work, live and play in Ann Arbor. But, we need to better understand who our customer is, and what the most efficient transportation model is to get them here first.

A2Politico: Council member Derezinski supports the new pedestrian ordinance that requires motorists to stop and allow pedestrians entering a crosswalk to cross the street. A law that has resulted in much confusion on the part of drivers and multiple accidents on major roads. Do you support the new ordinance?

Sally Petersen: State law requires motorists to stop for pedestrians as they enter a crosswalk. What the city tried to do was to broaden the defintion of “approaching a crosswalk”, and yes, this was confusing until they repealed that portion of the ordinance. Pedestrian Safety is a key component of my message. Whether it is state law or a city ordinance, requiring motorists to stop is not easily enforceable, and does not protect pedestrians or drivers. I think we need to just use commone sense, regardless of who has the right of way. In Williamstown, MA, albeit a much smaller College town, the city has painted “Stop, Look, and Wave” at major road crosswalks. This cautions the pedestrian from entering the crosswalk until they’ve made eye contact with the driver. You can see a picture of such a cross walk on my website: wwwa2sally.com. Essentially, this simple signage places the responsibility for safety on both the pedestrian and the motorist, regardless of right of way.

A2Politico: Ann Arbor is exempted from the city’s own living wage ordinance and currently employs hundreds of temp workers who earn low wages and no benefits. These temps (often the same people) are hired year-after-year to save the city money. The majority of the city’s low-paid temps are women. Do see you this as an acceptable strategy used to makes ends meet?

Sally Petersen: I need to know more before I comment. What percentage of these low wage temps are college students? What kind of the jobs are the temp workers doing? Are any of these seasonal jobs?

A2Politico: Would you vote in favor of a budget that further reduced the city’s police and /or fire staffing levels? What are your thoughts on public safety funding and staffing?

Sally Petersen: I don’t think we need to reduce the public safety staffing levels because the levels of overtime indicate we are still understaffed. But I am not sure we need to increase to the level the national standard dictates either. What is the optimal number of staffing for a city such as Ann Arbor where the incidence of violent crime and fire may also be below the national standard? The maximum number identified by the national standard ma be different from the optimal number for Ann Arbor. Answering this question for our constituents would be a priority for me if elected to City Council.

A2Politico: At the moment, there is an ideological/political split on City Council between John Hieftje and those whom he supports politically, and those Council members whom he does not support politically. Council member Derezinski is solidly on the side of Hieftje and his allies. Where will you fit in, politically/ideologically, do you think?

Sally Petersen: I am a Democrat, like the majority on City Council, but my ideology of fiscal sustainability may feel a bit more conservative than the majority. My goal is to represent a “fresh voice” on City Council, and a fresh perspective and agenda that resonates with Ward 2 residents. As I answered in Q1: I bring experience and education not currently represented on City Council. I expect my role on City Council will create a “new normal” that is characterized by a greater diversity of perspective as we resolve the City’s challenges.

by Hannah Wallace

When he was seven-years-old, Malik Yakini, inspired by his grandfather, planted his own backyard garden in Detroit, seeding it with carrots and other vegetables. Should it come as any surprise that today, Yakini has made urban farming his vocation? The Executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN), which he co-founded in 2006, he is also chair of the Detroit Food Policy Council, which advocates for a sustainable, localized food system and a food-secure Detroit.

It’s well known that Detroit has been hard hit by the economic crisis—it’s unemployment rate is a staggering 28 percent—but it also has one of the most well-developed urban agriculture scenes in the country. Over the past decade, resourceful Detroiters and organizations such as DBCFSN have been converting the city’s vacant lots and fallow land into lush farms and community gardens. According to the Greening of Detroit, there are now over 1,351 gardens in the city.

I spoke to Yakini (left), one of the leaders of Detroit’s vibrant food justice movement, about  the problem with the term “food desert,” how Detroit vegans survive the winter, and what the DBCFSN is doing to change the food landscape in Detroit. “We’re really making an effort to reach beyond the foodies—to get to the common folk who are not really involved in food system reform,” says Yakini.

A2Politico: Tell me about the origins of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network.

Malik Yakini: It grew out of some earlier work. I was principal of an African-centered charter school in the Detroit area called Nsoroma Institute Public School Academy. In 2000 we started doing organic gardening on a serious level and developed a food security curriculum. That initial garden evolved into something we called the Shamba Organic Garden Collective, where we had parents and teachers planting gardens in their backyards and in vacant lots next to their houses.

We had a team called the groundbreakers who would go out and till peoples’ gardens for them—because that was the most labor-intensive part. We had about 20 gardens spread out over the city as part of this collective. And as the work continued to grow, we were looking for a way to expand it and involve more people. Informally, the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network grew out of this work.

In February of 2006, I called together a group of 40 people who I knew were either gardeners, chefs, raw foodists—people who had some connection to food—for the purposes of starting the DBCFSN.

A2Politico: One of the main activities of the organization is to influence public policy. Is there a political leader in Detroit who has become a powerful advocate for the food justice movement and has helped push through laws that protect community gardeners and promote food security?

Malik Yakini: The one who has been most supportive has been councilwoman JoAnn Watson. And councilman Kwame Kenyatta has been supportive as well. In fact, it’s through JoAnn Watson that we were able to have the City Council approve the Food Security Policy that our organization wrote. She was able to give us the traction we needed to get the City Council to appoint members of the Detroit Food Policy Council.

A2Politico: What policy goals are the DBCFSN working on right now?

Malik Yakini: The big issue right now in Detroit is creating ordinances to regulate urban agriculture. There’s a big impediment and that’s a state law called “the Right to Farm Act.” Essentially it says no municipality has the authority to create ordinances that regulate agriculture within their jurisdiction, because of this state law that supersedes it. Just last week therewas a bill introduced to the Michigan house to exempt Detroit from the Michigan Right to Farm Act, which was passed in the early 1980s. It was passed to protect rural farmers from suburban sprawl and from complaints from people who were moving into rural areas where farming was taking place, who wanted it to be like a city. So the law was to protect the farmers, but it didn’t anticipate the urban agriculture movement we have now.

At this point, our policy work is primarily done through our involvement in the Detroit Food Policy Council. Our farm manager is a member of the Michigan Food Policy Council. So we are trying to move policy forward through our involvement in those two organizations.

A2Politico: Do you think there’s a chance the Michigan legislature will pass this bill?

Malik Yakini: It’s a question of building the proper coalition on a statewide level. We have to find a way to get enough Michigan state legislators to vote for that exemption. But that’s challenging because Michigan is a very large agricultural state. In fact, it has the greatest diversity of crops outside of California. But most of what is grown in Michigan, like every other state in the United States, is corn and soybeans. And so these corn and soy farmers are not the natural allies of the sustainable ag folks in Detroit. It’s gonna take some networking across traditional interests in order to build the kind of support politically that we’d need to get an exemption.

Flint and Grand Rapids have very large urban ag movements, too, and they’re handcuffed in the same way. So there are some natural allies out there. But in order to move this thing forward we have to have some allies in rural Michigan—the traditional farmers.

A2Politico: Does that mean that urban farmers in Detroit are technically defying the law right now?

Malik Yakini: There’s a woman on the Food Policy Council who is an employee of the City Planning Commission. She says there are some things that are illegal and some things that are unlawful. It’s illegal to have farm animals like cows in the city of Detroit—there’s a law prohibiting that. But there are other things like bees that the law doesn’t speak to specifically. So there’s no law that permits it and there’s also not a law that prohibits it. It’s not lawful but it’s not illegal. So we’re kind of caught in this grey area right now.

It’s been estimated that Detroit has about 6,000-10,000 acres that are vacant—that’s about a third of the city. So you have a lot of commercial interests beginning to look at Detroit as a place to do agriculture. Because the city doesn’t have the ability to regulate it right now, we don’t have the ability to say to these large commercial interests that we don’t feel that this scale of agriculture is appropriate for Detroit. Getting the exemption from the Right to Farm Act would allow Detroit to define what is appropriate in terms of scale and in terms of things like composting.

A2Politico: What about policy on the national level. Does the DBCFSN have any position on the farm bill?

Malik Yakini: Several of us have been involved in webinars and meetings to bring us up to speed on the farm bill. But we haven’t actively taken a position as a group.

We’re more focused on local policy. After studying the farm bill over the last several months, I have a concern about what it takes to build the type of support nationally, across various interests, to get anything passed in the farm bill. It’s much easier to build that level of consensus on a local or state-wide basis.

I think big ag will continue to get billion dollar subsidies. Some of the things that were added in the last farm bill were good: Our organization got a hoop house from the USDA as a result. But when you look at a hoop house that cost $8,000 and maybe there are 5-10 of ‘em in Detroit, that’s $40,000 to $80,000. But then you’re looking at billions of dollars that are going to these folks who are growing corn and soybeans.

So really, if we want to have a major impact on the food system in the United States, the paradigm has to be shifted. So that sustainable agriculture is incentivized and this unsustainable model of industrial farming is dis-incentivized. The best way to do that is through money. Of course, that is a big fight because the food lobby is one of the most powerful lobbies that exists. And I really haven’t heard answer of how you build the level of power, how you galvanize that level of support, on a national level.

A2Politico: The DBCFSN has a “What’s for Dinner?” lecture series.  What speakers have you had and what are they about?

Malik Yakini: This year we had four lectures. The first was called “Is my garden legal?” by Kathryn Underwood, the woman who is on the Detroit Food Policy Council. She spoke about the laws or lack of laws regulating agriculture in Detroit. The second lecture was a guy named Kilindi Iyi and he’s a mycologist. His was on adding mushrooms to your garden and the technologies of growing mushrooms. The third lecture was the board president of our organization, Ife Kilimanjaro, and it dealt with the global food shortage and how that is a man-made phenomenon how it has been manipulated through these multinational companies that are are controlling much of the food supply.  The final lecture was one I did on the impact of global warming on agriculture.

So this lecture series—as well as some of the other things we do—is geared towards raising public consciousness. Because we realize that it’s not just a question of greater access to food. But people have to have knowledge about the food, and have to have some understanding about why sustainable growing is better than the industrial food system that provides most of the food. They have to have some understanding about food culture. Because much of our traditional food culture has been lost over the past generation, due to the rush towards convenience in the post World War II period, and then the fast food proliferation which occurred in Detroit and other places throughout the country. Our families today rarely sit down and eat a meal that’s prepared from scratch. So there’s a lot of education that has to go on in order to support the growing of fresh produce. And creating markets in which to sell it. We have to increase demand at the same time as we’re increasing access.

A2Politico: Is D-Town Farm the DBCFSN’s only garden? Or do you have others?

Malik Yakini: We just have one location. We started out initially with two acres and we currently have seven acres—so it’s a pretty large project. We’re trying to stay focused and not have various locations around the city. Frankly we don’t have the capacity to manage that. Even managing the seven acres we have now is challenging!

We consider ourselves to be a model. Rather than trying to start gardens all around the city, what we’re doing is creating a learning institution where people who are interested in doing this work can come and learn various techniques and strategies that they can take back to their neighborhoods. So we see ourselves as a catalyst.

A2Politico: So the produce that’s grown at D-Town Farm—is it sold there at a farm stand or at Eastern Market?

Malik Yakini: We sell it at Eastern Market and also at a few farmers’ markets. We also sell to a few restaurants. We’re working on a project called “Take it to the Marketplace” that will put some of our products in grocery stores. It’ll be a producers’ co-op that we’ll be part of and we’ll invite other local food entrepreneurs to be part of. But it will sold under the D-Town brand. And we’ll collectively market and promote those products, and collectively distribute those products. So that’s our next move: to have locally grown options available at stores that people normally shop at.

A2Politico: Speaking of grocery stores, you said something interesting at the Community Food Security Coalition conference in Oakland: that implicit in researcher Mari Gallagher’s definition for “food desert” is the notion that grocery stores are the only solution to food deserts. In fact, what she and others including you stress is that multiple solutions are needed—farmers’ markets, food co-ops, urban farms. But don’t Detroit residents—even those who buy their food from D-town Farm—rely on grocery stores in the winter? Even with hoop house technology, you can’t possibly grow enough produce in the winter months for people to be food secure—can you?

Malik Yakini: Not at all. We don’t even grow enough in the ground in the summer to be self-sufficient. We’re producing a very small amount of the produce consumed in Detroit—probably less than 1 percent. We are at the embryonic stages. We think we have much greater capacity. But we’re nowhere near that point right now.

People are accustomed to going to grocery stores to buy food and they’re used to these large, pretty pieces of produce. Often, organic food is not as large and sometimes it has flaws. So we have to re-educate people about the aesthetics of food and the nutritional value of food, at the same time as we educate people about the value of eating whole foods.

We’re not self-sufficient even in the summer time—less so in the winter. We are producing food in the winter using hoop house technology, but of course you can only grow limited crops in the winter using hoop houses unless you have some external heating source. People are primarily growing salad greens, collards, kale, and things like that. They clearly aren’t growing peppers, tomatoes, and squash in the winter in hoop houses.

A2Politico: Without a full-service grocery store, where do you find sustainable dairy, meat, or bread? Does Detroit have any meat CSAs?

Malik Yakini: Because I’m a vegan, I haven’t done a lot of investigation about sources for eating meat and dairy. Although that’s my personal dietary preference, that’s clearly not the dietary preference of the majority of the people in Detroit. So since the majority of people do eat meat, we need to find ways of finding high quality meat at affordable prices. I’m very ignorant about what those options are, but that’s an area I intend to educate myself about in the near future.

A2Politico: But even as a vegan, it must be a challenge to find enough healthy food in Detroit in the winter. Do the locally-run bodegas in town—the “party stores”—have any fresh produce?

Malik Yakini: Unfortunately, many of us, particularly those of us who are trying to eat organic foods, have to leave the city to find those. I’m privileged enough to have an automobile. [Note: 1/5^th of all Detroit households are car-less.] I’m able to drive the couple of miles from my house to get to Ferndale, where they have food outlets that sell organic food. They do sell some local produce but of course during the winter that selection is very limited. And so although I am dedicated to eating local foods, I’m not able to do that to the extent that I’d like to during the winter time.

A2Politico: I read an article that asserted that Detroit and Cleveland have plenty of corner stores, many of which sell produce. The USDA overlooks such stores when they designate a neighborhood a food desert. (They define supermarkets as grocery stores with at least $2 million in annual sales.) But don’t these so-called “fringe stores” sell mostly processed food, liquor and cigarettes?

Malik Yakini: There are small grocery stores in Detroit. Mari Gallagher’s 2007 study said there were something like 1,075 food outlets in the city of Detroit. The vast majority, though, are convenience stores or what we call party stores. The problem is that far too many of them sell food that is of an inferior quality, sometimes at inflated prices. And the sanitary conditions in the stores often leave something to be desired. I don’t want to paint with too broad a brush, because there are some very good independently-owned grocery stores in Detroit. A few. So I don’t want to leave the impression that they’re all terrible. Many of them are terrible. But even the decent ones aren’t selling organic produce. And for me, eating organically is very important.

A2Politico: Your friend Malik Shabazz of the Marcus Garvey movement has been videotaping some of the blatant health violations at “party stores” such as rat feces, and is reporting them to the Department of Public Health.

Malik Yakini: He’s also finding meats that have another label placed over the expiration label. He’s finding stores that are selling alcohol to minors. He’s documenting all of these things. His organization creates the kind of pressure and public scrutiny that’s needed to close down drug houses, too. It’s part of an overall effort to create a higher quality of life in Detroit’s African American community.

A2Politico: In Oakland, you cautioned that racism is prevalent in the food movement—that some white food activists will come into an African American community and tell them what to do. Can you give an example of a white food justice organization in Detroit who is a good ally of the DBCFSN, who works with you in a collaborative way?

Malik Yakini: The main ally we have is Earthworks Urban Farm. The manger there is Patrick Crouch. We do quite a few things together including participating in the “Undoing Racism in the Detroit Food System” initiative. They are probably our best predominantly white allies.

A2Politico: One of the goals of the DBCFSN is to promote healthy eating habits amongst Detroit’s youth. Any tips on how to do this?  Kids can be tough critics.

Malik Yakini: When children are involved in growing food, they feel a sense of ownership. Like, “I grew that carrot, I planted those seeds.” That’s a big incentive right there. But also just bringing in fresh greens and having the kids taste them. Typically they enjoy it—they like it.

We have a youth program called Food Warriors youth development program that functions at Nsoroma. Also, there is a food security curriculum that’s woven into the fabric of the school.  Every teacher has to have one lesson per week that has a food security tie-in. We look at food security in a very broad sense, not just in terms of providing access to food but we look at all aspects of the food system. With some of the younger children, rather than inundate them with a lot of theory, their food security lessons are more hands on. Preparing things, tasting them. Exposing them to foods that they don’t normally eat.

Healthy eating is part of the culture at the school—and it has been for some time. Gum, candy, and soda pop are not allowed in the building at all—either by students, staff, or parents. That’s been a long-standing policy. There’s a catering company that provides lunch every day. So we have whole grains—no white rice is served—it’s always brown rice. There’s no red meat served. And so we’ve created a cultural environment that is supportive of healthy eating. So the Food Warriors are building on a culture that already exists in the school.

A2Politico: What about public schools in Detroit? Are there people putting pressure on them to improve their food?

Malik Yakini: The food service director of Detroit Public Schools, Betti Wiggins, is very progressive. She was recently elected to the Detroit Food Policy Council and she’s very active in the food movement. She has reached out to local growers. Of course she’s working for a bureaucracy that slows down what she’d like to do. But there couldn’t be a better person in place pushing for this to happen.

She is involved in the farm-to-school movement and has piloted that in several schools in Detroit, and has encouraged several schools to start gardens. So she is a very strong ally in this movement.

A2Politico: What do you think of entrepreneur John Hantz, and this ambitious plan he has to create “the largest urban farm” in Detroit?

Malik Yakini: That is the inevitable question. All interviews lead to that question.

I find it to be problematic for several reasons. The first reason is because the city is 77%  African American (according to the latest Census Data), and the key players in the Hantz project are white men. That’s problematic.

Secondly, they are not committed to organic agriculture. They propose some type of mixture of the traditional industrial farming model and sustainable techniques.

Thirdly—and most alarmingly—they don’t have any sense of using urban agriculture to empower communities. They are driven by the profit motive. The current urban ag movement is clearly steeped within the social justice movement and clearly is trying to empower people, communities, and community organizations. And none of that is on the radar of the Hantz project. So that is very troubling.

Although Mr. Hantz is proposing this very large farm, what a lot of people don’t know is that he’s proposing that only ten percent of what he grows is produce. The rest is Christmas trees! Most people think he’s going to have thousands of acres of tomatoes and peppers and lettuce, but that’s not the case.

Mr. Hantz has also said that really what he’s trying to do is create scarcity, thereby driving up the value of the land. At a public forum, someone said to him, “Well that sounds like a land grab.” And he said, “Yes, it is a land grab.” That’s another problem. There are major questions around use and ownership of land. And how land serves the common good as opposed as trying to serve the interests of wealthy individuals who are trying to make a profit.

A2Politico: Has he reached out to the black community in Detroit in any way?

Malik Yakini: After much criticism, there has been some reaching out to community members. But it seems to be an afterthought, after he received so much criticism. He’s also made overtures to me. I’ve been involved in a couple discussions about trying to sit down with him to understand more fully what he wants to do.

I have a good relationship with Mike Score, who is the president of Hantz Farms. Mike is the person who is leading the farm effort right now. He’s a legitimate farmer and an honorable human being with a very high level integrity. He and I have talked about trying to set up a meeting with Mr. Hantz and some of the key people in the urban ag movement. But Hantz has been resistant to meeting with a group of people.

A2Politico: You were awarded a two-year fellowship with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. Do you mind my asking how you’re spending the $35,000 stipend? What project or projects are you working on?

Malik Yakini: I proposed a project called Be Black & Green. What I’m doing is video documentation of black farmers, gardeners and food activists throughout the country. I just posted an interview with David Hilliard (of the Black Panthers) that I shot in  Oakland, and I have five others in the can that I’ll be posting soon. What I’m doing is creating a network of black farmers, gardeners and food activists so they can know each other. I’m also raising the profile of black farmers, gardeners, and food activists in the larger food movement.

We want to assert that black people have always been involved in agriculture in this country and we’ve always been involved in sustainable agriculture. And that we have as much claim to this movement as anybody else does. And so by telling these stories and really allowing others to tell their own stories, and raising the profile of of black people doing this work, I hope to help people understand the role that we play in this movement historically.

A2Politico: It’s out of the bag: kale is your favorite food.  What’s your preferred way of preparing it?

Malik Yakini: Raw kale salad. I’m just addicted to it. I serve it with a special dressing: toasted sesame seed oil, nutritional yeast, cayenne pepper—those are three of the main ingredients. I can’t tell you the rest of the ingredients, but I can say that people really seem to like it.

A2Politico: What’s your definition of food justice?

Malik Yakini: Food justice is people being treated justly by all of the venues that they interact with to obtain food. The other part of food justice has to do with economic justice: that when people spend money on food, they need to derive some benefits from the money that they spend beside just trading food for money.

The money that they spend on food needs to enrich their community. In too many cases, we have wealth extraction strategies—where people spend money in their communities on food and money is taken out of their communities and creates jobs and wealth in other communities. So part of food justice is circulating the money that people spend on food in their community for their own benefit. It also has to do with simple things like people being spoken to respectfully at the places that they go to purchase food, with their human dignity being upheld. Having equal access to good food sources—that’s a big part of food justice. So I would say, the access piece is key, upholding peoples‘ dignity is key, and the economic justice part of it is key.

by Betsy McMillin

I truly don’t know how to do justice to long-time Ann Arbor Public Schools teacher Rick Dekeon. Anyone who knows him knows exactly what I am talking about. He is by far one of the most amazing teachers you will ever come across, and I have hundreds of people who are nodding their heads in agreement. He has been the physical activity teacher at Northside Elementary School for 24 years and has also been a coach of soccer, hockey, baseball and gymnastics (to name a few), at all levels from Rec and Ed to travel. But that is the tip of the ice burg.

Rick Dekeon is an Ann Arbor native and Pioneer High School graduate who lives on the city’s west side. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in physical education and health from Eastern Michigan University with minors in marketing and biology. In 2008, he was named Elementary Teacher of the Year for the Michigan Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. The Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education awarded him a Celebration of Excellence Award in 2003.

On any given weekend you will find “Dekeon”—as he is known by so many students— meeting students of his (past and present), to run along with in a marathon or race.  You will find him at a try-out, a game, a scrimmage, tournament or race—often clicking away with his camera so that he can add pictures to his school website. He is so darned proud of all “his” kids. He is there to cheer them on, or be there for moral support, more often than not running alongside as he does so. He lets kids know “you matter to me and what you do matters to me. I am here to let you know how proud I am of you for doing your personal best.”

This is not a teacher who comes in, does his daily job then leaves. Rick Dekeon lives promoting physical activity for kids as well as positive body image, diet and self-esteem. Add to that Northside Pride. Any time you go to Northside, if you want to talk to Rick, take a number. He always has students milling about his office or the gym, waiting to share some snippet of their day with him. More often than not, a parent is waiting as well (or a few!) to find out how to help out on one of the many extra school activities or fundraisers Rick is in charge of, or to just share a story about their kid with him. He always finds the time for everybody and make everyone feel important.

Rick has many funny or inspiring pictures, comics and posters up around the gym and his office. One says: Don’t say “I can’t do it.” Say “I can’t do it right now.”

I believe that his is one of Rick’s main messages: you may not be able to do something right this minute, but with patience, hard work and perseverance, you will be able to.

I guess if I had to explain Rick to someone who didn’t know him, I would tell this story:

At the end of Ricks’ successful Northside Elementary School Cross Country Kids season (see explanation of program below), there is a final run. Kids walk away with medals, goody bags (another of Rick’s gifts: getting amazing sponsors!), snacks, sweaty bodies and the feeling of accomplishment. Their run is timed and a display clock shows finish times as they end the course. Music blares from speakers while kids enjoy the fruits of their labor and show off their medals.

Off in the distance, there is one boy still running. He is the last one, the only one, and behind by a huge margin. Not many people even notice him, as everyone wants to celebrate with Rick, circling around him, calling his name, and showing off their running time. For this last runner, finishing this race is a struggle at best. Physical activity doesn’t come easily to this student and he is often picked on for being overweight. But there he is, walking at times, but still going. And along side him is Rick Dekeon, talking him through it, encouraging him every step of the way. Letting him know that there will be no celebrating for Dekeon until this boy finishes. And finish he does, with a medal around his neck and the praise and recognition of one of the coolest teachers ever.

Sadly, my kids don’t go to Northside anymore, and no longer have the benefit of Rick’s teaching. I caught up with him and asked him a few questions.

A2Politico: You have a gift of making physical activity work for almost every kid. How do you do it?

Dekeon (the tall kid with ‘stache, left): Wow tough question… I haven’t ever considered it a gift but I suppose just make it fun! Think about it: what things do you or others do that don’t have a “fun” component to it? Otherwise why do it?? Also know my kids, talk to them and see what interests them. At Northside the students are allowed to make up activities. They have to have an objective, purpose and meaning to why it is being played. I also think that variety and freshness is important. I stay creative and mix up what we do. When I teach a lesson or do an activity I want my kids to know that these are things they can do for a lifetime! Regardless of their ability to do it.

A2Politico: Last week I wrote about the link between physical activity and higher academic performance, not to mention better self esteem and overall behavior. Do you see evidence to support this?

Dekeon: Yes! Definitely self-esteem and academic success. In PE we can take a subject and present it in a kinesthetic manner. This helps all of the students, but especially those that are kinesthetic (big muscle) or visual in their learning style. An example may be the difference between pushing and pulling. We do an activity that has pushing and pulling in it. By playing this activity, children learn how to distinguish between what a push is and what a pull is. This is a part of the classroom curriculum for first grade students and is in their science unit. Regarding overall behavior… I often, many times of the day in fact, get students who open the door and peek in or wander in on their way to somewhere else. I feel complimented by this because many of these kids are not good academically and the gym is a place where they feel safe, successful and are able to do well.

A2Politico: You have the unique ability to make every kid feel like you are their advocate and friend, yet you have their utmost respect and are seen as an authority figure. How do you make this balance work?

Dekeon: Well this one is pretty easy. Get to know them as a person. Find out what they like, get to know their personality. Are they timid, aggressive, outgoing, shy? Talk to them about concerns or interests. Form a relationship with them. I really like when the former Northsidians come back to visit. Either they have moved and are coming to see their old school, teachers and friends, or they are now in middle school. I also ask then about their outside pursuits and go see them play a sport or do a play etc. This allows them to know that I care about them as a person and I care about their pursuits. By knowing the kids I know what type of structure and how much is necessary for them, I also know which can take some “teasing” and humor and which can’t. If there was an issue I touch base with them the next day to see how they are doing and make sure they feel secure. Let let them know that I care about them.

A2Politico: Tell me a bit about your extremely successful programs Northside Cross Country Kids and Kid Rock Camp. How do you get kids to want to be involved?

Dekeon: Word of mouth! Kindergarten doesn’t usually get a flyer for CrossCountryKids. When a sibling or friend is doing it, a parent usually asks how their child can join. Then one or two other students join, and so on. Word starts to get around and we then get kindergarten children to participate. When we start, I see some of the children who aren’t involved and say “I didn’t see you at cross country today” and they usually respond “I’m not doing it…” and I then say “Why not???” This starts the ball rolling and I get a hold of the parents and they usually end up signing up. Having something for everyone and making it FUN! Changing routes, changing the club, adding things, timed mile, heart break hill, ten in twenty, etc. We have things that all children can do, again, for all abilities and not just making it an elite activity or program. We also put up a bulletin board and have the participants stand up at the end of the year assembly.

For KidsRockCamp,  we can only take seven students at a time and they learn how  climb/boulder for six weeks. They learn how to safety check and learn how to channel their fear of heights in a positive  way. This also is word of mouth and when the kids see the pictures outside my office they ask if they can do it. I currently have a wait list of about forty kids! We limit it to third through fifth grades.

A2Politico: In Phys Ed class, you have all sorts of silly names for stations, and amazing, creative games. How does this change the way kids see physical activity and gym class?

Dekeon: They know that almost everything can be a movement or activity. For example it isn’t a “traditional” activity or game like baseball or football, but has the same skills involved. So if a child has a fear or apprehension of doing a specific sport, this helps disguise the skill being presented, even though it may be one or several of the skills used in those activities. For example: we do an activity called Crazy Kickball. It still has base running, kicking, throwing, catching, etc. The difference is that it has silly rules such as: as many people as you want can be on a base at one time, everybody automatically has a turn to be the pitcher, you RUN forever (this disguises that you are running long distances). It has goal setting because the students set a goal on how many bases they can get to by the end of the activity. If we play Movement Tag they are doing a dance when they are frozen, and to get rescued someone else has to come by and copy their dance at the same time to unfreeze them. It just make it seem stress free and also FUN!

A2Politico: You are always asking kids to come up with new games that they invent, then with your approval, they teach it to a younger gym class. Why is this important and how do you see it help your students?

Dekeon: Leadership and accountability, for their own learning. While making up their activity or game they have to “invent” it from beginning to end.  Finding out what objective they want to teach, how to properly do and teach that objective, how safety concerns come into it, set-up, and also when they teach it they are in charge. I am of course next to them but some students freeze when they teach it and need to be given prompts or asked questions to help them break the ice especially while teaching other classes. It allows them to be the leader of the group, and also helps them start to learn how to speak in front of small or large groups.

A2Politico: You always have student teachers from EMU and UofM. They are all extremely lucky to learn under you. What are three things that you see as the most important things that you are sure to teach them?

Dekeon: Respect the students and their time, always be prepared, teach all of the students, not just the better athletes or better skilled individuals. I try to get them to think of how to teach the kids in a friendly non-intimidating or frightening environment.

A2Politico: What is the one thing that you wish all physical education teachers would teach their kids? The one thing you wish they didn’t?

Dekeon: Respect for all others, and perseverance! Not everything is always competitive but there is a time and place for competitiveness. Also, I do not like the sport model… not everybody is an athlete and not everybody needs to be an athlete, yet there is a place in everyone’s life to be able to lead an active healthy lifestyle.

Everyone is well aware of the extra hours you put in with kids, above and beyond what is expected of you.  Just about how many hours a week do you put into the physical education and betterment of kids? Don’t be modest Rick! I know it must be at least 90!

During the school year it is approximately A LOT! Let’s just go with the ninety hours that sounds about right!

A2Politico: If you had an unlimited budget to use for physical fitness, what would be some of the things you would do with it?

Dekeon: I would like to have more access to things like heart rate monitors. Maybe take a room in the school and make a fitness center for everyone, students, staff and parents. Maybe have a small track on the back playground, etc.

A2Politico: What is your advice to parents of kids who are in dire need of physical activity, but resist?

Dekeon: Make it fun and be their role model, take them with you when you walk the dog, plan a run or walk each night and have them join you, make statements like: “did we really just walk TWO miles???”  Take a class with them that encompasses fitness and or health, something like yoga or a fitness class. Just do active things as a family: toss and throw a football, do calisthenics , play catch, play on the swings or playground.