I have served Ann Arbor in public office for 16 years: six years on the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, including as Chair from 2013-2014; and six years in the Michigan House of Representatives, including four years as the Democratic Floor Leader. In 2023, I returned to the County Commission, where I now serve, in addition to working as the Legislative Director for the Michigan Nurses Association. I am the only candidate to have served in both state and local government.

I am a graduate of Ann Arbor Public Schools and the University of Michigan. I began my career at the City of Ann Arbor and have spent my entire professional life building connections with constituents and community leaders to make our city a better place.

Ann Arbor is completely unaffordable to working families and seniors. Government should exist to lower costs and make life easier. As your next mayor I will: -Make historic investments in publicly-owned, permanently affordable housing by leveraging our bonding capacity and land without increasing taxes. -Fix the roads and infrastructure while expanding direct public services by eliminating bloated consultant contracts and shrinking administrative overhead. -Ensure public work is done by public workers, public land is used for public purposes, and public money is used for public services. -Put our community in the center of the decision making process. No more performative public engagement where the outcome is pre-ordained.

Local businesses are closing, our infrastructure is crumbling, desperately needed services are not being offered all while our rent, rates and taxes skyrocket. At the same time, corporations, consultants and well connected developers find seemingly endless public cash to benefit their bottom line. It's time to change that. The budget is a moral document. We can do big things like build a reliable, affordable and 100% green public power system; pass a real ICE-Free zone ordinance and defend it from the Trump administration’s overreach; and construct housing for workers, seniors and those experiencing homelessness. We can support our local businesses, repair our infrastructure and expand services all while giving city workers a fair contract.

Ann Arbor will be a beautiful, vibrant, and safe community where housing is a human right. To achieve this we must Democratize Density meaning the community has an actual say in what happens and is given tools to add housing from the ground up not “trickle down”. We must adopt an anti-gentrification unit, Tenant’s Bill of Rights, and a community benefits ordinance while making major investments in the Housing Commission, co-ops, and community land trusts. Future growth is mixed-income, mixed-use, and transit oriented with more housing options like ADUs, duplexes, and triplexes built into our community fabric. New buildings are unique, well designed and inspire joy and curiosity. Historic buildings are preserved and green space is expanded.

I have been a progressive leader as Ann Arbor Mayor, fighting to build a community that is safer, more affordable, and more equitable for people of all backgrounds.

I believe that local government's mission is to improve basic services and enhance quality of life. Over the last 4 years, we have invested $220M+ into fixing our roads. We have provided clean water, beautified parks and natural areas, deployed professional police and fire services, and maintained a AAA bond rating. Beyond this focus on the fundamentals, I have led initiatives to improve street safety, develop an unarmed crisis response program, build 1200+ units of new, permanently affordable housing, and work toward our A2Zero carbon neutrality goals.

My goals include continuing the realistic and progressive work Ann Arbor has been doing under my leadership. Ann Arbor is making transformational and unprecedented investments in affordable housing, road repairs, and the core services residents use every day.

A combination of publicly owned affordable housing and market-rate housing are critical to address our supply shortage and address our affordability crisis. I support Ann Arbor’s Community Land Trust, incentives for affordable and mixed-income housing developments, and zoning changes along our transit corridors to support growth and end Ann Arbor’s housing shortage. I will continue to employ all of these tools to make Ann Arbor more affordable.

Housing Affordability - 1200+ units of new, permanent affordable housing built or in the pipeline & more on the way. Duplexes and triplexes enabled across the city & more missing middle, senior, and workforce housing allowed. Renters protected by eliminating junk fees, creating a right to renew, expanding inspections, and more.

Fixing our Roads - In the last 4 years, Ann Arbor has invested $220M+ in fixing our roads. This year’s budget includes $4.5M secured by our partners at the State and dedicated to road repairs, street improvements, and quick-builds.

Exceptional city services - Ann Arbor delivers exceptional city services. From reliable trash and recycling to clean water to beautiful parks, we take pride in Ann Arbor’s performance.

Ann Arbor must support reasonable growth and density to solve our affordability crisis. I support building more housing so our teachers, nurses, service workers, seniors and more can continue to live in Ann Arbor.

I championed our Affordable Housing Millage to build more publicly affordable housing, but that’s not enough. Market-rate housing is critical to address our supply shortage and to fill our gap in missing middle units for those who make too much to qualify for public housing. I support Ann Arbor’s Community Land Trust, public-private partnerships, and zoning changes along our transit corridors to enable sustainable growth.

Finally, property taxes are high enough for us to get the job done; I will oppose any new City millage.