Homes for People, Not for Profit

Our city is in a housing crisis. Current leadership believes that granting subsidies and zoning benefits to private developers are the main tools to alleviate this crisis. Yet, homelessness is skyrocketing, tenants are being squeezed out, and affordable homes are still out of reach for the working class. The “trickle-down” myth isn’t working. It never has. The city’s free market approach means affordable housing may take decades, if ever, to be realized. Worse yet, more market-rate housing creates demand for more workers who are further priced out of the city. 

We need a new housing approach. 

  • Housing is a human right. The immediate expansion of public housing, cooperatives, and land trusts that meet the needs of the people guarantees this right.

  • To protect all of the city’s renters, we need the AATU’s tenant bill of rights that includes the right to organize, rent control, and eviction protections.

  • Landlords maintain vacancy to control the supply of housing. A vacancy tax compels landlords to rent units at lower rates and house tenants faster.

  • Stop cruel surprise sweeps of homeless encampments. A city-wide protocol providing encampment residents with social services and reasonable sheltering options is vital.

  • Airbnbs impact affordability by taking long-term housing off the market. Dave will enforce bans on non-owner occupied short-term rentals in areas where they have been prohibited.

The Climate Crisis:

Real Talk. Real Action.

Our city set a clear goal: that by 2030 we would achieve carbon neutrality. But our current leaders have not even begun the fight to achieve this goal. City Council recently voted down two resolutions to acquire DTE’s outdated grid and move towards renewable public power. Their excuse? Trump says green energy is too risky. Instead, they created the Sustainable Energy Utility, which was established by a former DTE executive. It’s clear that achieving our emissions goals will require taking local control.

We need big solutions for a greener future.

  • Support A2P2’s ballot initiative to establish a municipal electric utility to be governed by a utility board. We need a city-owned, 100% renewable energy grid controlled by Ann Arbor residents instead of private, profit-seeking monopolies.

  • The toxic Gelman 1,4-dioxane plume continues to migrate closer to Ann Arbor’s water supply. This environmental disaster must be remediated with support for Superfund cleanup status from the EPA. 

  • Build modern, comfortable, and more dignified bus shelters across the city. Add dedicated lanes for rapid transit that can connect multiple high-density hubs with residential neighborhoods where workers live. We also need more community engagement on transit in the city.

  • Everyone should have the freedom to enjoy nature. We must retain mature trees and support native plantings on public and private properties. Public park land must also be retained for both open space recreation and natural areas. Sidewalk gaps must also be thoughtfully managed by balancing hardscape and greenscape.

  • Ann Arbor must pre-emptively protect against data center development and publicly support nearby municipalities in their struggle against these polluting data centers.

Squeezed Workers in Ann Arbor

The Washtenaw County housing study reports that income inequality is worsening, with the top 20% having an average income 19 times that of the bottom 20%. According to the MIT Calculator, Individuals must earn at least $23.82 an hour to afford their basic needs, while single parents with one child need $41.32 an hour. But minimum wage is a paltry  $13.73, and $5.49 for tipped workers. Ann Arbor has the power to set better standards that keep workers out of poverty and afford dignified living. 

We need to build labor power.

  • State law prevents cities from setting wages for employers. We need a powerful coalition of Michigan cities and counties applying relentless pressure on Lansing to restore “Home Rule” for wages. Only then will Ann Arbor be able to set a wage that reflects our cost of living.

  • A job should keep you out of poverty, not keep you in it. Dave will support local unions in their struggle for fair contracts with the raises and benefits that workers deserve.

  • The city must model appropriate union contracts along with cost-of-living adjustments and proper family leave affordances. The city can also use their regulatory, tax, and purchasing powers to promote better employment practices in the private sector.

  • Keep essential municipal services controlled and operated by the city instead of privatizing them to non-union profit-seeking enterprises.

  • Ban city procurement sources that rely on exploitative labor in sweatshop conditions, including digital sweatshop labor that powers AI.

Public Peace

Ann Arbor has failed to implement appropriate  emergency response programs for non-violent mental health crises. The new Supportive Resources and Outreach Team (SPROUT) provides co-response between law enforcement and social workers, but this does not meet the community’s needs. Meanwhile, the city council consented to the AAPD’s collaboration with ICE to access public buildings while private security is being considered for the downtown area.  

Ann Arbor deserves a city council responsive to the demands of abolitionist social movements for the full delivery of bold, lifesaving change – not heavier policing and surveillance. We all deserve to live in a sanctuary. 

We need public peace. 

  • Establish an unarmed emergency response program completely independent of the AAPD and embed community social workers in the neighborhoods they serve.

  • Our immigrant neighbors are under attack from a rogue federal agency and we have already seen ICE start to operate in our community. We must stand up to Trump and ICE’s agenda. Dave will introduce an ordinance to prohibit all city resources, personnel, or property from being used for immigration enforcement and to prevent collaboration between municipal agencies and ICE.

  • ICE and other law enforcement agencies must be subject to transparency, accountability, and should not be able to operate in anonymity. Dave will fight for an ordinance banning all law enforcement officers from wearing masks and requiring them to provide identification.

  • Dave will push for a resolution to divest all city funds from companies and other entities that profit from genocide as well as call on our federal representatives to oppose military aid to Israel.