Posted on 04/30/2005 3:30:53 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Lone Republican won't run for re-election
Reid to give up seat on Ann Arbor City Council
Saturday, April 30, 2005
BY TOM GANTERT
News Staff Reporter
Saying he wants to spend more time with his family, the Ann Arbor City Council's lone Republican said he will not seek re-election to a third term.
Mike Reid, R-2nd Ward, said he is stepping down after four years.
Reid's departure gives Democrats an opportunity to claim all 11 seats on the council.
"That would be - I hate to say the word 'travesty' - but it would be," said Marlene Chockley, treasurer of the Washtenaw County Republican Party. "It would be a sad day for the city if that were to happen."
Joan Lowenstein, D-2nd Ward, said an all-Democratic council would still have differing views.
"I don't think it is a concern," Lowenstein said. "When you have everybody with one party, it is almost like having it nonpartisan. We don't always agree on everything. There are a lot of differing points of view, even among people of the same party."
The clerk's office didn't know the last time the council was dominated by a single party.
In 1992-93, the only Republican on the council was Peter Fink of the 2nd Ward. In 1990-91, the city Republicans held a 6-5 advantage.
The 2nd Ward has traditionally been the strongest in the city for the Republicans. For years, the party held both seats until Lowenstein was elected to the council in 2000. Reid beat her in 2001 but Lowenstein ran again in 2002 and knocked off challenger Jeff Hauptman.
Matthew Schneider, chairman of the Washtenaw County Republican Party, said the Republicans will field a candidate to replace Reid.
Lowenstein said her party would also have a candidate.
The deadline for filing to run as a major party candidate is June 20.
Reid said being married with four children and serving as managing director and investment adviser of Exchange Capital will keep him from maintaining the level of dedication he has had the last four years.
"There are a lot of important things going on in the Reid household that I don't want to miss," he said.
Reid said he and his wife, Janet, made the decision together after a lot of discussion.
Reid was often on the losing side of 10-1 votes. He was the lone no vote in a 2004 resolution opposing a proposed state constitutional ban on same-sex marriages.
But Reid's biggest contribution was in the area of finance. He served on the city's Budget/Finance Advisory Council and a committee that is reviewing the city's pension program.
"Mike brought a balance to the council table by making sure that all views were heard as issues were debated," said Council Member Marcia Higgins, a 4th Ward representative who switched from the Republican to the Democratic party last year. "His different financial skill set was valuable during the budget process."
Well Dan. I lived in Seattle for 13 years and now I'm in Tacoma. I've had nothing but flippin idiots for city council members since day one. I feel your pain!
Well, duh.
Since there's only one party, you can't very well have partisan struggles, then, can you?
[ snip ]
"Mike brought a balance to the council table by making sure that all views were heard as issues were debated,"
Some "balance".
I gave up on Washington six months ago and fled for my life, resigning the fact that the West side is going to try to achieve some socialist eutopia and then cram it down the throats of people that lived on the East side of the state.
darn it. We need all the conservatives we can get! BTW, I think Rossi's chances are 50-50 that they will void the Nov. election. I would be elated!
Exactly. Ann Arbor is a mecca for socialist nut cases. I'm not even sure I'd call them Democrats. And it's been like that at least since I was there in the 70s.
Yeah, when I moved here I got a ballot in the mail, but doing the right thing, I voted in Nevada. Of course, no matter how many times I voted, Gregoire was going to win that election. I hope Rossi gets a re-vote.
My goodness Dan I didn't know there was a Republican in the people's republic of Ann Arbor!
When I lived in Ann Arbor from 1974-1977, the city was closely balanced politically. Ford carried Ann Arbor, including student dorm precincts. But that was when economic rather than cultural issues held sway.
Leftist communities like Ann Arbor deserve leftist governments - and the consequences that come with them. Disillusioned residents will vote with their feet.
Indeed, there are differing points of view in the 'Rat party. You have your Marxists, and you have your Stalinists.
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