DISTRICT
Ann Arbor City Council Ward 3
PHONE
248-703-3127
WEBSITE
RyanBforWard3.com
Number of years as resident
2 at my current address; 13 years in and around the Ann Arbor area
I have 2 degrees in Public Policy from U of M’s Ford School (BA and MA) and I have spent the last 3 years serving as Ann Arbor State Representative Carrie Rheingans’ policy director working on progressive legislation at the state-level.
More than all of that though, I am the best qualified candidate for this position because of my lived experience as part of a working family in this city. My wife is an AAPS teacher, and we’ve seen working-class people, families, and seniors be pushed further away from Ann Arbor because it has become too expensive. The people who serve our city – our teachers, nurses, municipal employees – deserve to not only live here, but thrive here. I will be a council member that ensures they have a seat at the table
Ann Arbor should be the progressive beacon we say it is. This means ensuring that working-class people, families, and seniors’ needs are prioritized over corporate interests. I will:
Prioritize building housing that people can actually afford, not luxury condos
Lower the cost of childcare
Empower renters
Stand up to utility monopolies and fight the construction of AI data centers
Stop the privatization of city services and ensure municipal workers are well-paid for the work they do
Ensure residents feel heard
Stand up to ICE
We can pay for these by reining in the reliance on consultants, using public dollars solely for public purposes, using our AAA bonding capacity to build affordable housing, and budgeting more intentionally
We are in the midst of an affordability crisis. Ann Arbor has the most expensive rent and childcare of anywhere in Michigan. It costs $2700 per month for infant care on average. This country club-ification of our city has led to working-class people, seniors, and families being pushed out and declining enrollment in our public schools for 15 years.
I would tackle this crisis head-on by trying to lower the cost of both rent/housing and childcare. I would do this by:
Prioritizing building permanently affordable, publicly-owned housing over luxury condos
Banning software that is artificially keeping market rate rent high
Rein in non-owner occupied short-term rentals
Creating a municipal-run childcare pilot to heavily subsidize childcare
I want Ann Arbor to be a place where the working-class people, families, and seniors can afford to not only live, but thrive. I’m in favor of gentle density and mixed use zoning, but I want to ensure this is done thoughtfully.
Our immigrant-run business along the Packard corridor makes Ward 3 the special place that it is. I do not want their rents to become so high after redevelopment that they are pushed out.
I also want to ensure that the housing we build is actually affordable for the people who serve our community, not $1 million condos that folks can’t afford. Instead of using our tax dollars to bail out corporate developers, we should prioritize building more social housing like co-ops and land trusts, ensuring they stay affordable
In my boss, State Rep. Rheingans’ office, we take our constituent services very seriously. Every month, we hold a coffee/happy hour at a different place in her district so we can hear from folks about what issues are top of mind for them.
Being a public servant means making yourself available to your constituents and actually listening to their concerns. Many folks across Ward 3 have told me that they have not felt heard by their elected officials for some time. My pledge to Ward 3 is that I will hold monthly coffee/happy hours, answer emails, and send out regular correspondence about what is going on in city hall.
For the faith and trust you are putting in me to represent you on city council, it is the bare minimum that I could do
DISTRICT
Ann Arbor City Council Ward 3
PHONE
7346868028
Campaign Phone
7346868028
Number of years as resident
8
To begin, I am not a politician. So I feel that makes me uniquely qualified for the position. I am not beholden to donors, party lines, committees, etc. My mission is in the voice of my constituents. I feel the common person is under represented at any level of political office leading to choices being made that has negative effects on those that live and work in our city.
For almost the past decade I have worked in a maintenance and repair technician in Ward 3. I wake up every day to fill the needs of my community. I find and solve problems on a daily basis. This gives me an insight into the needs and wants of my neighbors across our city. I work to keep our department running efficiently and fiscally solvent.
I don't bring my own ideas and ideals to the table. I am only here to be the megaphone of the denizens of Ward 3. The most important resource available to me is their voices and needs. I will be the broadcaster of their voice at the table when and where it matters most.
The issue at the forefront for everyone right now is affordability. Be it in housing, groceries, energy, health care, you name it.
Housing could be solved by incentivizing development of low cost affordable housing that is actually affordable. When you look at the cost of what is called affordable housing in our area it is appalling.
By creating a partnership between the builders and developers of any incentivized housing program, we would work together to maintain accountability and integrity for the financing and construction of homes for our families across our city.
Everyone wants to be convieniently located close to everything. Believe me. I deal with this regularly in my personal and professional life. Not everyone wants to be crowded in on top of each other. However, as our city continues to grow, we must stake a balance between the two. With the University, healthcare system, and Ann Arbor being generally awesome, growth will happen organically. I would support maintaining density inside the downtown district and major corridors to the university, while easing restrictions on development and growth to the outskirts. If the only single family homes being built are starting at over half a million dollars the affordability hurdle can never be overcome.
However I can. Call me, text me, email, stop by for coffee, smoke signals, whatever works.
