Ann Arbor AF

Today we are talking about the next City Council meeting, coming up April 5th. We touch on fair access to housing, the Trans Day of Visibility, and as we often do, defunding the police. 

Links from today's episode: 

• This week's Council agenda 
•  The Ann Arbor Tenants Union is re-forming, and we should also have a Renters Commission
• The sidewalk gap prioritization framework
• The CAHOOTS program in Denver as a model for an unarmed responder program

If you write to Council in support of the unarmed-responder resolution (and we hope you do), here are some points you can make:

• This model has the potential to operate with a vision of helping communities resolve problems internally without the justice system. Public safety is about more than just policing; when residents experience crime or disorder, they should have tools beyond the police at their disposal. 
• By adopting an alternate model, we have an opportunity to reduce the volume of calls to which police must respond, mitigating the negative impacts that can result from an overreliance on policing.
• Our local public and nonprofit housing providers have all dealt with police engagement where an unarmed/non police response would have been a more appropriate fit for the circumstance. 
• The funding for this should come from the police budget, not elsewhere.

Finally, we didn't get to mention this last resolution on the podcast, but we wanted to thank Council for bringing forward resolution DC-4 "Condemning Hate Crimes, Hateful Rhetoric, and Hateful Acts against Asians and Asian Americans, Encouraging Ann Arbor Residents to Report Hate Crimes and Harassment to the Proper Authorities."

Thanks to the generosity of our listeners, we have launched a website! Come find episodes, show notes, and transcripts over at www.annarboraf.com. For our ko-fi donors, thank you for making this possible. And thank you to each one of our listeners. If you'd like to find and talk to each other, come check out the thread for each episode in Ann Arbor Humans Who Wonk.

Support the show

Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.

In today's episode we talk with Addy Finch of ANSWER Detroit about sex worker labor rights and advocacy.

More on ANSWER:

• send them your follow 
• send them your dollars 
• check out their podcast
• check out Black Mamas Bailout
• Addy's twitter

More on national legislation pertaining to sex workers:

•  SISEA is a bad bill
•  FOSTA/SESTA were also bad bills 

Support the show

Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.

Today we are taking a deeper dive into the Healthy Streets program that Ann Arbor implemented in response to reduced car traffic and increased demand for safe walking and biking space.

Links and references:

• Ann Arbor's Healthy Streets website, and 2021 survey. You can also see the current 2021 survey results on a map.
• Dr. Destiny Thomas, ‘Safe Streets’ Are Not Safe for Black Lives. 
• If you want to get deep into the data the city collected on the 2020 Healthy Streets program, it's all here. Or you can just read the summary memo.
• A2 Council resolution for downtown street closures and citywide street closures in 2020.

Support the show

Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.

Today we are talking about the next City Council meeting, coming up March 15th. We touch on fair access to housing, the Trans Day of Visibility, and as we often do, defunding the police. 

Links from today's episode: 

• This week's Council agenda
• The University of Michigan Presidential Commission on Carbon Neutrality (PCCN)
• Reporting trans discrimination to the City of Ann Arbor and to the State of Michigan
• what trash thing?

And, for our Beyond Council Advocacy Corner, 

• The Planning Commission agenda covering ADUs, which includes info on how to dial in to voice your support for the meeting on Tuesday, March 16th; or you can email [email protected] anytime between now and then
• Learn more about ADUs here
• And make sure to press A2 congressional reps Debbie Dingell, Debbie Stabenow, and Gary Peters to make sure Ann Arbor gets its proper allocation of the federal American Recovery Plan funds

We've launched a ko-fi! If you'd like to support the podcast beyond listening, you can now send a few bucks our way. Listening will always be free! This just helps defray our hosting costs of hosting the podcast. Thanks to those of you who have already found and supported the ko-fi; you have covered our first year of fees, and gotten our hamster wheels turning about new projects...

Support the show

Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.

Today we are taking a deeper dive into City leadership, because there's more to council than just the resolutions. We’re talking about different visions for the city and how those affect the choices our leaders make, along with personalities, power, and local news. We even get into our first conspiracy theory.

Links from the show:

•  Chuck Marohn's article on the good party/bad party analogy
•  More information about the weak-mayor system (Ann Arbor is a version of Version 3)
•  The a2council hashtag on Twitter
•  Cohost Michelle's Twitter, in case you want to mainline those good good civics
•  If you're not sure why we talked about spoons

Thanks to those listeners who have thrown a few dollars our way! If you'd like to do the same, you can find our ko-fi here.

Support the show

Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.

Today we are talking about the next City Council meeting, coming up March 1st, including a little bit about development, a little bit about rules, and a lot about sidewalks.

Links from today's episode:
- themeeting agenda
-materials from the Transportation Commission meeting on sidewalk snow removal
- thePedestrian Safety and Access Task Force
- the latest SnowBuddy report

And, for good measure, the full text of the sidewalk snow removal resolution we fangirled so hard.

We've launched a ko-fi! If you'd like to support the podcast beyond listening, you can now send a few bucks our way. Listening will always be free! This just helps defray our hosting costs of hosting the podcast. Thanks to those of you who have already found and supported the ko-fi; you have almost covered our first year of fees!

Support the show

Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.

We speak with Trische' Duckworth of Survivors Speak.  We have a conversation about policing and the work that Survivors Speak does.

Visit the Survivors Speak website to learn about the upcoming events she mentions: https://www.survivorsspeak.info/

During the course of the episode, we talked about a lot of related issues.

Other organizations that she mentions working with, who are doing good work:
Washtenaw My Brothers Keeper: https://wmbk.org/
Ypsi Can I Share: https://www.ypsicanishare.com/
Poor People's Campaign of Washtenaw County: https://www.facebook.com/ppcwc/
Interfaith Coalition for Peace and Justice (ICPJ): https://www.icpj.org/

HR 7085, the Ending Qualified Immunity Act (federal level). It failed, but information about it is here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/7085
Breathe Act: https://breatheact.org/

We also talk about holding local politicians accountable for actions that perpetuate racism.  Trische' mentions the "Chickengate" incident.  Find out more about that here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AnnArbor/comments/ghfvdy/three_ann_arbor_city_council_members_mock_housing/

Support the show

Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.

Today we are talking about the next City Council meeting, coming up Tuesday, February 16th. We discuss site plans, Council shenanigans (again), sidewalk snow removal (also again), and take a little trip back to last week's conversation on the budget.

References:
- this week's agenda, including items PH-2/DB-2 (site plans), DC-2 (Council rules reconsideration), and DC-3 (snow removal in the downtown)
- the next Transportation Commission meeting on Wednesday, Feburary 17th, will be talking more snow removal
- Ann Arbor's Community Academy is accepting applications now through February 19th for this year's (virtual) cohort. A2AF listeners should definitely apply!
- Also, Ann Arbor's annual bike summit is on Valentine's Day. A2AF listeners should definitely dial in! It's free for everyone.
- the next public hearing on the budget is May 3rd. There will be a lot of work sessions between now and then, but put it on your calendar now if that's something you think you might want to watch.

We've launched a ko-fi! If you'd like to support the podcast beyond listening, you can now send a few bucks our way. The pod will always be free! This just helps defray our costs to broadcast. Thanks to so many of you who have already sent a few bucks our way!

Support the show

Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.

Today we are taking a deeper dive into Ann Arbor's city budget. We talk about the public process; revenues, expenditures, and the challenges of budgeting in a pandemic; and end on next steps you can take if you'd like to learn more, or even get involved yourself.

Links from today's episode:
- Ann Arbor fiscal year 2020-2021 budget
- The 2/8/2021 Council work session: fiscal year 2021-2022 budget
-Michigan Municipal League one-pagers; we referenced "Adopting the Budget," "Municipal Expenditures," "Municipal Finance," and the Revenue Sharing Fact Sheet
- December 2020 community budgeting priority survey results
- Community organizers Liberate Don't Incarcerate

If you'd like to support the podcast, check out our ko-fi fund. Thanks to our listeners, we've got most of our hosting fees for the pod's first year covered! 

Support the show

Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.

Today we are talking about the next City Council meeting, coming up Monday, February 1st. We discuss sidewalks, well-intentioned white people, and whether Council shenanigans may be going extinct.

References:
- this week's agenda, including items DC-3 (snow removal), DC-4 (community engagement equity policy), and DC-5 (Council rules)
- Ann Arbor's snow and ice removal rules
- Washtenaw County's One Community initiative
- Ann Arbor's Community Academy is accepting applications now through February 19th for this year's (virtual) cohort. A2AF listeners should definitely apply!

We've launched a ko-fi! If you'd like to support the podcast beyond listening, you can now send a few bucks our way. The pod will always be free! This just helps defray our own costs. 

Special thanks to Juliet the Greyhound for her brief audio cameo.

Support the show

Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com. Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebook. And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.