Steve Pierce & the DDAs…

…for or against?

Nondiscrimination Ordinance

If you were mayor in 1998 and/or 2000, how would you have voted on the inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance for our city?

Handling A Mistake Differently

You’ve all been involved in local leadership over the past several years in one form or another. During that time, you undoubtedly made mistakes. What was your biggest mistake, and, if you hade it to do over again, how would you have handled the situation differently?

Employees and Your Business

I’d like each of the candidates to describe how many employees they have supervised and in what capacity. This is relevant to the role of the mayor in both setting policy and seeing that it is followed. If any candidate has created jobs through private business, where are those employees and have those workers reported to the candidate? Has any candidate had employees of public organizations report to them, and if so, in what capacity?

Campaign $, Landlords, & Yard Signs

How much money have you spent on your campaign for mayor, and who are your main campaign funders? Have you gotten campaign funds from landlords?

I ask this question of all the candidates, but I specifically wonder about Mr. Pierce’s financial supporters, since so very many of his campaign signs are in the yards of landlord-owned properties rented to students.

Leave A Message

In the last decade, experience has shown that automated, prerecorded messages to be telephoned to voters before an election are both highly annoying to most voters, and yet rather effective. What do you think of the use of such impersonal campaign methods here in Ypsilanti? Why has your campaign used, or not used, this method?

Bedroom Community

Is Ypsilanti a “Bedroom Community” of Ann Arbor? Will it be, someday? Would that be good or bad, in your opinion?

Ypsi Housing Commission & Schreiber

During the Normal Park debate, Mayoral candidate Schreiber stated that he has been a member of the Ypsilanti Housing Commission for the past eleven years and president for the past 3 years. Subesquent infighting between the Ypsilanti Housing Commission and City Council resulted in the HUD sale of Parkridge to an absentee slumlord. As the Housing Commission and City Council pulled their resources to fight each other, HUD negotiations were in progress. Ultimately, City Council voted unamiously to strip the Housing Commission of it’s authority to enter into agreements associated with Parkridge as the ink was drying on the HUD sale. Can Paul Schrieber really work for what is in the best interests of the city?

Declaration Time

Why did Steve Pierce wait until June 2, 2006, to declare himself a Democratic candidate with the Washtenaw County Clerk (verifiable online)?

Pierce’s Yard Signs

Why is there such a striking similarity between Steve Pierce’s yard signs and other Republican yard signs and why is there no party affiliation on the signs? Is this code for him being a Republican as he has stated he was repeatedly before June 2006?

Small Businesses

Our Ypsilanti small businesses have two major disadvantages. 1. competition of the big corporations 2. the perception that our down town and cross street areas are unsafe.

What would your administration do to make people feel safer in the Yypsilanti area, including downtown and West Cross? What can you do to make people want to go shop downtown or on West Cross instead of driving towards Ann Arbor?