City Council

Quite the MSAmeeting last night. The Michigan Daily had 5 people in attendance, which I think is the largest coverage they've ever given us, and here is their take on what happened at the meeting.
I think overall it was a good characterization of what happened, but here it is from my point of view. It is part of the External Relations Committee's jurisdiction to "monitor local, state, and national government actions concerning MSA and the University." We as a commmittee have always tried to make it a priority to keep an eye on what is going on in City Council, and I mentioned both in my campaign as a Representative, and when I was trying to get elected to be chair of this committee, just how important this role was. As such, we had talked about it during our last meeting (we meet Thursdays at 7pm in the 3rd floor of the Union, and all are welcome), and about how we were going to send a rep to every meeting. I even went so far as to send an email to the City Council, asking them how we could get more involved. I have already received prompt responses from the Mayor, Jean Carlberg, and Leigh Greden, and we will follow up on them soon. I am also in contact with Dale Winling of the New West Side Association and the Ann Arbor Alliance about putting on a panel to discuss City Council issues and how they affect students.

It is in this backdrop that the resolution was proposed. I believe the entire MSA agreed with Jesse that City Council deserves our full attention, but here is the kicker: his resolution, which called for codifying a role for a "city council liasion," while well-intentioned, was rushed through the Assembly without going through the proper channels. He made no attempt to talk to Tim or myself about what we were doing as a Committee, did not seek input into this resolution, and was not present at Steering to explain his motives for proposing it. So when it was moved from New to Old Business there was no way that Tim and I could possibly support it. There are certain checks and balances, and areas of jursdiction and we both felt like he stepped over ours. We are in the process of a lot of different projects with City Council, and to just stop halfway and hand that responsibility to another person is not fair. That is why I am glad that an overwhelmingly large number of the Assembly agreed with us in rejecting the resolution in its current form, in order for us to approach this the proper way. There needs to be more commmunication between members and the leadership before we rush ahead and create more committees and positions.

In other ERC news, myself, Tom Church and Dan Taylor will be attending the AMU Conference this weekend at Oakland University in Rochester Hills. I will follow up with an update when I return. Also there will be a Midwest Student Leadership and Action Conference taking place this October 14, 15 and 16 in Madison,WI to figure out ways to stop the raid on Student Aid, and we will be sending representatives. Let me know if you are interested.