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City Council considers ‘right to sit’ update to city’s nondiscrimination code, welcomes delegates from Tübingen
Editor’s Note: Cydney Heed is a former Daily staffer. Heed did not contribute to this article.
The Ann Arbor City Council met at Larcom City Hall Monday evening to welcome visiting German delegates, discuss future downtown infrastructure changes and consider updates to city codes.
The meeting began with a proclamation welcoming visiting delegates from Ann Arbor’s oldest sister city, Tübingen, Germany. Boris Palmer, Lord Mayor of Tübingen, brought city staff gifts to celebrate their relationship, including a bicycle bell inscribed with the phrase “Tübingen goes blue” for Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor.
“Thank you very much for your hospitality,” Palmer said. “We really enjoy being here. Especially, the blue sky is wonderful since we come from a very cold period at home.”
Next, the meeting moved to an update from the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority regarding their ongoing downtown area circulation study, which will work to inform future capital improvements by the city. Executive Director Maura Thomson explained that the study has four main components: expanding the downtown bikeway network, improving local transit, restoring Fifth and Division streets and improving event street infrastructure. Thomson said the final component of the study has shifted to more broadly benefit the public following input from residents and stakeholders.
The DDA will also aim to consider how infrastructure improvements can support seasonal street closures for public events the city hosts throughout the year. Thomson cited Liberty Street as an example of a place that might benefit from this sort of improvement.
“It is really the main connector from the State Street neighborhood down to the Main Street neighborhood,” Thomson said. “That street has not been touched in a long time. We really believe that Liberty Street is ready for a major infrastructure project, and that could be really transformational for our downtown.”
The study will also consider other ways to improve public spaces. The next public input meeting hosted by the DDA will take place on Oct. 23, and will be open for all city residents to provide their perspective on the downtown area circulation study.
During the public commentary period, six speakers expressed support for a “right to sit” ordinance, which calls for expanding the city’s nondiscrimination code, Chapter 112. The ordinance would require Ann Arbor employers to allow employees to sit down to rest as long as doing so will not interfere with their responsibilities, regardless of disability status.
LSA senior Cydney Heed said the ordinance was personal to her. Heed explained that prior to pursuing higher education, she worked in the hospitality and food service industries for several years. However, as someone with scoliosis and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, the work impacted her long-term physical health.
“I actually had to leave the industry, and my pain worsened to the point where I had to have major spinal surgery, which also resulted in life-threatening surgical complications,” Heed said. “Turns out, being on my feet so much probably wasn’t good for me, but honestly it isn’t good for anybody.”
Heed argued the right to sit is not only an issue of disability and economic justice but also of human rights.
“This legislation is a human rights issue because it ensures that people have the right to take care of their bodies and are not forced to sacrifice their health to long-term wear and tear based on the preferences of their employer,” Heed said.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, two speakers advocated for a resolution on how the city should spend the Washtenaw County millage to support mental health and public safety. Voters will determine this November whether the millage, first approved in 2017 in a two-to-one vote, will be renewed for another eight years. The resolution allocates 40% of the potential funding toward an unarmed emergency response team, 40% toward supportive services for residents of Ann Arbor Housing Commission properties and 20% toward improving pedestrian safety.
Ann Arbor resident Matthew Weber described the millage as critical to addressing housing and mental health crises. As a professional who works in a nonprofit addressing homeless systems of care, Weber said he has seen the importance of supportive services firsthand.
“I think ultimately it’s saving money because we’re not sending people out for even more services, even more support on the public coffer,” Weber said. “So I really just wanted to applaud the city for its commitment to providing those services with that millage funding.”
Before considering the consent agenda, Taylor briefly commented on a recent antisemitic assault that took place near the University of Michigan campus Sept. 15.
“This entire council — indeed, the entire municipal organization — declares that to be intolerable and we condemn it,” Taylor said.
After approving the consent agenda, the council moved to hear from the public regarding an ordinance to amend Chapter 75 of the city code. The ordinance would create an exception for the city to use gas-powered leaf blowers to monitor controlled ecological burns or to restore property immediately after an emergency. The exception comes in light of a phasing out of gas-powered leaf blowers by the city by 2028 in order to meet its A2Zero climate goals.
Two Ann Arbor residents spoke against the proposed exception, arguing that the city needed to do further testing of electric leaf blower models before pursuing it. Resident Alex Lowe suggested the exemption should at minimum exist temporarily.
“Maybe the way to do this would be to have this be a temporary exception that gets renewed every two years, three years, five years, something like that, so that … the exception would have to be reevaluated each time,” Lowe said.
Councilmember Jenn Cornell, D-Ward 5, suggested that the city spend more time evaluating new technology and postpone the ordinance vote for the next council meeting.
“I would be very comfortable postponing this and putting a time to come back to council with some data around what has been done to advance this so that we are actually having a focus on it,” Cornell said.
Derek Delacourt, Ann Arbor community services area administrator, said while staff would be willing to utilize electric leaf blowers, they have not yet been able to find electric leaf blowers suitable for conducting ecological burns.
“Currently, we do not have electric powers that we would be comfortable doing burns with to date,” Delacourt said. “I would be stunned, (if) in two weeks, there’s any technology or anything that would change staff’s opinion about this direction.”
After considering the issue, Cornell and Councilmember Erica Briggs, D-Ward 5, proposed amending the ordinance, adding a sunset clause under which the amendment would expire on Dec. 31, 2026. The motion ultimately failed, with five members voting for and five against.
Councilmember Travis Radina, D-Ward 3, said he did not support the amendment because it seemed arbitrary and could strain businesses making the transition to electric technology.
“I am not necessarily comfortable imposing an artificial deadline on the sunset without knowing where the technology is going to be,” Radina said.
The council ultimately voted in favor of the original exception in an 8-2 vote.
Members also voted to postpone the vote regarding the “right to sit” ordinance, which will now take place Oct. 7. The change was proposed by the ordinance’s primary sponsor, councilmember Ayesha Ghazi Edwin, D-Ward 3.
“This is an important ordinance change, and I believe it’s essential to engage with both the labor and the business communities to address any remaining questions and clearly outline the benefits, impacts and implications of implementing this ordinance,” Ghazi Edwin said. “I would appreciate more time to ensure that this is done thoroughly.”
Daily Staff Reporter Amanda Venclovaite Pirani can be reached at amandavp@umich.edu.
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