{"id":5667,"date":"2026-06-30T12:49:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/06\/30\/taylor-and-rabhi-spar-at-mayoral-candidacy-forum\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T12:49:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:49:07","slug":"taylor-and-rabhi-spar-at-mayoral-candidacy-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/06\/30\/taylor-and-rabhi-spar-at-mayoral-candidacy-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor and Rabhi spar at mayoral candidacy forum"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the Ann Arbor mayoral race heats up, incumbent Christopher Taylor and challenger Yousef Rabhi faced off in a<a href=\"https:\/\/aadl.org\/node\/669856\"> public forum<\/a> attended by hundreds of local residents at the Ann Arbor District Library Wednesday evening. During the event \u2014 which was hosted by the<a href=\"https:\/\/my.lwv.org\/michigan\/washtenaw-county\"> League of Women Voters of Washtenaw County<\/a> \u2014 each candidate responded to questions regarding housing supply, a potential city takeover of Ann Arbor\u2019s energy grid and an ongoing union dispute with the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.afscme.org\/\"> American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Housing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The opening questions of the forum addressed creating more affordable housing, with both candidates expressing support for future developments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After intense<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/ann-arbor\/ann-arbor-city-planning-commission-approves-comprehensive-land-use-plan-at-public-hearing\/\"> debate<\/a> earlier this year, the Ann Arbor City Council<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/ann-arbor\/this-vote-is-the-turning-point-city-council-unanimously-adopts-comprehensive-land-use-plan-2050\/\"> passed<\/a> the<a href=\"https:\/\/engage.a2gov.org\/comprehensive-land-use-plan\"> Comprehensive Land Use Plan<\/a>, which aims to build more duplexes and triplexes to increase the city\u2019s housing stock. Taylor said his administration has already successfully<a href=\"https:\/\/concentratemedia.com\/ann-arbor-millage-yields-big-results-in-affordable-housing-development\/\"> added<\/a> affordable housing units.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are already creating affordable housing,\u201d Taylor said. \u201c(There were) 600 units of affordable housing in the first 200 years of our history. Over the next five years, we have built or packed in the pipeline 1,200 units of new permanent affordable housing. This is not fantasy \u2014 this is real.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rabhi said, if elected, affordable housing would increase greatly under his leadership. Rabhi criticized Taylor\u2019s plan to repurpose the <a href=\"https:\/\/engage.a2gov.org\/309-s-ashley-klines-lot\">Kline\u2019s lot<\/a> for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlive.com\/news\/ann-arbor\/2026\/04\/developer-unveils-plan-for-luxury-high-rise-apartments-on-ann-arbors-old-klines-lot.html\">construction<\/a> of luxury condos, arguing the city could instead use the land to build affordable housing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have seen a town that has a City Council and mayor that is looking to sell off the Kline\u2019s Lot, a publicly-owned facility that could be used to build affordable housing, but instead is going to be used to build private luxury condos,\u201d Rabhi said. \u201cPeople are wondering why (they are) paying high taxes and not getting the services that (they are) paying for. It\u2019s because the city is giving away tax dollars to developers, selling off public land (and) privatizing city services.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rabhi also discussed increasing housing affordability through the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.a2gov.org\/housing-commission\/\"> Ann Arbor Housing Commission<\/a>, cooperative housing and the city\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.a2clt.org\/\"> Community Land Trust<\/a>, a nonprofit providing less expensive housing to working-class residents. Responding to Rabhi\u2019s criticism, Taylor claimed new private developments have<a href=\"https:\/\/www.zumper.com\/rent-research\/ann-arbor-mi\"> decreased<\/a> Ann Arbor\u2019s rent prices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen we have an opportunity for housing \u2014 for market housing \u2014 I\u2019m gonna vote yes, because market housing increases supply, and we have a supply problem in our nation and in our city,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cIt\u2019s supply and demand, and it\u2019s real, and it\u2019s already having effects: The rent in Ann Arbor is going down.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rabhi argued rent for many Ann Arbor residents\u2019 hasn\u2019t decreased. He believes the cost of living has<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlive.com\/news\/erry-2018\/09\/bf55a070399250\/old-neighborhood-residents-rec.html\"> displaced residents<\/a> \u2014 especially who belong to minority communities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI have yet to meet somebody whose rent has actually gone down in this community,\u201d Rabhi said. \u201cWe have seen displacement and gentrification as a result of some of the policies that have come out of this administration. We have lost not just homes for people of color, for communities that traditionally have been targeted by development, but also our small local businesses that are minority owned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Former Councilmember Kathy Griswold \u2014 a vocal critic of Taylor \u2014 told The Michigan Daily many people support Rabhi because they feel officials have not been responsive to resident <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/ann-arbor\/city-council-meeting-features-increased-police-presence-councilmembers-call-for-anti-displacement-plan\/\">complaints<\/a> about displacement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think that people were very disappointed and frustrated by the Comprehensive Land Use Plan,\u201d Griswold said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t feel that they were heard. They felt like it was pre-determined based on who was appointed initially, and I believe that has increased the turnout, and more people are engaged in local politics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>City Takeover of the Electrical Grid<\/strong><\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/annarborpublicpower.org\/\">Ann Arbor for Public Power<\/a> is currently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/ann-arbor\/ann-arbor-for-public-power-to-draft-ballot-proposal-for-november-2026-election\/\">drafting<\/a> a proposal to purchase the city\u2019s electrical grid from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dteenergy.com\/\">DTE Energy<\/a> to create a publicly owned utility, and is collecting signatures to put the matter to a vote in November. Rabhi said he believes a shift to a <a href=\"https:\/\/annarborpublicpower.org\/faq\">municipalized power grid<\/a> is necessary because DTE prioritizes profits over customers and uses <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dteenergy.com\/content\/dam\/dteenergy\/deg\/website\/common\/about-us\/company-information\/corporate-governance\/political-participation\/DTEMichiganPACContributions.pdf\">campaign contributions<\/a> to influence politicians.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDTE spends a lot, and by a lot, I mean hundreds of millions of your rate-payer money to influence our legislators and to buy lawmakers,\u201d Rabhi said. \u201cDTE spent money on lobbyists, they spent money on dark money accounts \u2026 I came to the conclusion that there is only one way to achieve 100% renewable energy, to achieve reliable energy, to achieve cheaper energy, and that way is municipalizing our power grid here in the city of Ann Arbor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rabhi also expressed support for the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.a2gov.org\/sustainable-energy-utility\/\"> Ann Arbor Sustainable Energy Utility<\/a> initiative, which will provide residents with an option to supplement DTE\u2019s electricity with renewable energy. The program is being<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/ann-arbor\/ann-arbor-sustainable-energy-utility-launches-pilot-program\/\"> piloted<\/a> through solar panel installations in the Bryant neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Taylor praised the SEU, but said he does not support municipalizing Ann Arbor\u2019s power grid because it would increase costs for both the city and taxpayers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have to buy DTE\u2019s assets in their janky condition \u2014 hundreds of millions of dollars,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cWe need to buy DTE\u2019s perpetual profits interest that they have in this city as a result of state law \u2014 hundreds of millions of dollars. We need to fight DTE in court \u2014 decade plus, tens of millions of dollars \u2014 your dollars. We don\u2019t have it. It\u2019s not realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-4    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>AFSCME Union Contract<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The AFSCME<a href=\"https:\/\/localwiki.org\/ann-arbor\/AFSCME_Local_369\"> Local 369<\/a> \u2014 a union of city employees \u2014 has been working without a contract since the start of 2026, and is engaged in an ongoing dispute with the city over cost-of-living increases. Taylor said the city reached out to AFSCME over a year ago to begin negotiations, but claimed the union\u2019s requests were unrealistic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe AFSCME business agent communicated to us \u2026 that completing this negotiation by the end of the year was not his priority,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cAFSCME, for months, insisted on a cost-of-living wage (increase) of 12% in the first year, 12% in the second year, 12% in the third year, with additional economic benefits layered on top of that. \u2026 That\u2019s just not sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rabhi expressed support for the union \u2014 which has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.voteyousef.com\/endorsements\">endorsed<\/a> his mayoral candidacy \u2014 and its contract demands, citing his participation in a recent City Council meeting where AFSCME members protested a 0% wage increase in 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur workers deserve a fair contract because they\u2019re the ones doing the actual work of running this community,\u201d Rabhi said. \u201cWhen I was on the picket line with them before the last City Council meeting, I interacted with folks that work at our water department that make sure that the water that comes out of our tap is not contaminated. I want those people to be well-compensated and well-paid and to get a fair contract.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-5    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Taylor said he feels those ideas are easier said than done.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cServing as mayor is pretty different than walking a picket line,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty different than attending a rally and holding your fist in the air and shaking at the clouds and talking about what\u2019s wrong in the world. It\u2019s about actually getting things done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Data Centers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the last year, Washtenaw County has become home to an increasing number of current and potential data center sites. In Saline, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oracle.com\/\">Oracle<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/openai.com\/\">OpenAI<\/a> are jointly<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/business\/openai-data-center-planned-for-farmland-in-saline\/\"> constructing<\/a> a data center to run their upcoming artificial intelligence project, <a href=\"https:\/\/openai.com\/index\/announcing-the-stargate-project\/\">Stargate<\/a>. In Ypsilanti Township, the University and Los Alamos National Laboratory plan to build a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/administration\/umich-wants-to-build-a-data-center-in-ypsilanti-township-local-officials-say-theyve-been-left-out-of-the-loop\/\"> data center<\/a> which will be used, in part, for<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/news-briefs\/los-alamos-confirms-umich-data-center-to-be-used-for-nuclear-weapons-research\/\"> nuclear weapons<\/a> research.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Though no data centers are currently being developed in Ann Arbor, Rabhi told the audience he was \u201cabsolutely\u201d opposed to data centers, and pledged to propose a moratorium on their development if elected. He also vowed to support anti-data center efforts in Saline and Ypsilanti, arguing developments in neighboring communities also negatively impact Ann Arbor residents.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-6    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Saline data center \u2014 one of the largest data centers in the entire country \u2014 needs to be powered somehow,\u201d Rabhi said. \u201cGuess who just proposed to build one of the largest natural gas power plants in the entire state? Consumers Energy in Lima Township. Guess who\u2019s going to be breathing that air? All of us. That\u2019s why we need to show up in Saline to make sure that they\u2019re not getting screwed, because them getting screwed means we\u2019re getting screwed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Taylor said he believes communities have the right to reject data centers, he did not pledge to support a moratorium, arguing the city is naturally unappealing to data center developers because of high land costs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCommunities have a right to decide for themselves,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cHere in the city of Ann Arbor, it is not going to be an issue. We are not going to have data centers. It is a scare tactic. In the city of Ann Arbor, we don\u2019t have a lot of land. The land that we have is valuable. It is valuable because we have so much of a need for housing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rabhi disagreed with this perspective, arguing developers could construct smaller-scale data centers within city limits. A similar urban data center development was planned for downtown<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilx.com\/2026\/04\/06\/company-behind-downtown-lansing-data-center-project-withdraws-application-city-council-president-says\/\"> Lansing<\/a> earlier this year, though it was not ultimately constructed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA lot of these hyperscale data center companies are pivoting, because they\u2019re seeing the resistance in the community for hyperscale data centers,\u201d Rabhi said. \u201cThey\u2019re trying to go smaller to infiltrate into more urban areas. They\u2019re coming for Ann Arbor to put data centers in our community, and we need to prepare for that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Democratic primary for Ann Arbor\u2019s mayoral election will take place Aug. 4.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Daily News Editors Dominic Apap and Glenn Hedin can be reached at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/ann-arbor\/taylor-and-rabhi-spar-at-mayoral-candidacy-forum\/mailto:dapap@umich.edu\"><em>dapap@umich.edu<\/em><\/a><em> and <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/ann-arbor\/taylor-and-rabhi-spar-at-mayoral-candidacy-forum\/mailto:heglenn@umich.edu\"><em>heglenn@umich.edu<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Ann Arbor mayoral race heats up, incumbent Christopher Taylor and challenger Yousef Rabhi faced off in a public forum attended by hundreds of local residents at the Ann Arbor District Library Wednesday evening. During the event \u2014 which was hosted by the League of Women Voters of Washtenaw County \u2014 each candidate responded [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[5033,5034,5032,4773,5031,1944],"class_list":["post-5667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-candidacy","tag-forum","tag-mayoral","tag-rabhi","tag-spar","tag-taylor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5667"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5669,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5667\/revisions\/5669"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}