420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com NISA KHAN Editor in Chief 734-418-4115 ext. 1251 nisakhan@michigandaily.com JUEUI HONG Business Manager 734-418-4115 ext. 1241 jueuih@michigandaily.com EDITORIAL STAFF Dayton Hare Managing Editor haredayt@michigandaily.com Jennifer Meer Managing News Editor news@michigandaily.com SENIOR NEWS EDITORS: Andrew Hiyama, Kaela Theut Sarah Khan Editorial Page Editor tothedaily@michigandaily.com Jacob Shames Managing Sports Editor sportseditors@michigandaily.com Will Stewart Managing Arts Editor arts@michigandaily.com SENIOR ARTS EDITOR: Dom Polsinelli Alexis Rankin and Max Kuang Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com Michelle Phillips Managing Design Editor design@michigandaily.com Emily Miiller Managing Copy Editor copydesk@michigandaily.com SENIOR COPY EDITOR: Ashley Woonton Christian Paneda Managing MiC Editor michiganincolor@michigandaily.com Abe Lofy Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com Ishan Vashinta Managing Web Editor ivashi@michigandaily.com Ellie Homant Managing Social Media Editor CONTACT INFORMATION Newsroom Office hours: Sun.-Thurs. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m. 734-763-2459 opt.3 News Tips news@michigandaily.com Corrections corrections@michigandaily.com Letters to the Editor tothedaily@michigandaily.com or visit michigandaily.com/letters Photo Department photo@michigandaily.com Arts Section arts@michigandaily.com Editorial Page opinion@michigandaily.com Sports Section sports@michigandaily.com Magazine statement@michigandaily.com Advertising Phone: 734-418-4115 Department dailydisplay@gmail.com The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published every Thursday during the spring and summer terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $110. Winter term (January through April) is $115, yearlong (September through April) is $195. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press. 2 Thursday, June 1, 2017 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com NEWS Ward 1 candidate Anne Bannister looks to bring transparency to city council Bannister, a life long Democrat, said she was encouraged to run by her neighbors By ANDREW HIYAMA Summer Daily News Editor On Tuesday, August 8, Ann Arbor residents will vote in the primary election for City Council. In Ward 1, Democrat Anne Bannister is challenging the incumbent, Democrat Jason Frenzel, who lost to Councilmember Sumi Kailasapathy in last year’s election, but was appointed by the council to fill a vacancy left by Councilmember Sabra Briere’s abrupt resignation. Bannister, a lifelong Democrat, University of Michigan alum and now Certified Financial Planner, said she was encouraged to run by neighbors who felt their voices weren’t being heard by City Council. She joined the Daily for an interview Monday to discuss who she is, why she’s running, and what she sees as the main issues facing Ann Arbor city government. TMD: Let’s start with the basics. Why do you want to be on City Council? AB: Well, I’m a 43-year resident of the town, and I moved into the first ward — so I’ve been 27 years with my neighbors down here in the first ward. And I’m a personal finance educator. That’s my background. Running for City Council was not on my radar. I do volunteer, I’m going to Huron High this Wednesday as a guest speaker in the economics class, and my main work is in educating people in the basics of personal finance. But then in April, community activists started to get concerned about the existing council members that were not listening to the residents enough, that they were disregarding a little bit of the public process in things that we, as residents, feel that we need a bigger voice in. They’re also a little bit brushing aside local business too. As an educator, I want to help people understand a little bit more about — you know, we all understand national politics, and even quite a bit about state politics — but when it comes down to the city decisions that are affecting long-term effects on the future of Ann Arbor, I find that people don’t know what ward they’re in, they don’t know who their council member is, and they’re not sure about anything. So that’s one of the reasons I’m running, is to help people understand the decisions that are being made that affect us, without having to decipher — I want to decipher it for them. It’s not about Anne Bannister’s opinion about anything. It’s about listening to the neighbors and the voices, and what they feel are priorities in the city, and then trying to represent those voices at the council meetings. TMD: By running for a Ward 1 seat, you’re going to inherently be challenging the incumbent Jason Frenzel. What are your thoughts on your opponent? AB: I’ve been a friend of Jason’s for years. I bump into him out on the hiking trails in our neighborhood, and I’m also friends with his (step)mom, Sandi Smith. So it’s not a big divisive race — we’ve all been friends. But I think, back in April, when community activists were concerned about some of the vote ... we have a public lot downtown next to the public library, and our taxpayers own that lot, and we own the parking structure underneath it. That’s a public piece of land. There were petitions; 5,647 people signed that they wanted a bigger voice in creating some sort of different development on that lot. I want to put people first and bring that voice to City Council and make sure that we are represented in these decisions that are forever going to change Ann Arbor. TMD: You’re a Certified Financial Planner. Can you explain a little more about what that means, and how you think it prepares you to be on Council? AB: The Certified Financial Planner designation — roughly only half of the people in the country who sit for that exam actually pass it. It’s sort of a gold standard for people in financial planning. And not only does it show that we’ve really studied taxes — so I’m a lifelong financial person, I started out as a bank teller when I was at U of M. One of the things — and maybe this is too big of a word — is fiduciary. I’m a big believer that the person sitting across the table from you, whether you’re their financial planner, or whether they’re your neighbor and you’re on City Council, people need to know that person is representing your best interests. We call it the fiduciary. In order to be a CFP, you have to take ethics courses every two years to make sure that you understand that you don’t represent any particular investment or commercial interest, you represent the best interests of the person who’s seeking your advice, who thinks you’re protecting them. If my neighbors tell me that they want better safety at the crosswalk, then I want to take that voice and work to make sure that the city’s actions and budget priorities reflect what people are saying they need. So it’s a code of ethics, where I’m just a plain old resident, and I’m not running for a political career, I’m not running because I’m a real estate developer or anything, I’m running just because I’m 53 years old, and it feels good to me to do the right thing for the people for the greater good and to listen to what their priorities are. TMD: Walk me through your political experience. I know you served a variety of roles in the Ann Arbor Democratic Party, but what kinds of things did you do, and what did it provide you? WARD 1 CANDIDATE ANNE BANNISTER COURTESY OF ANNE BANNISTER Read more at MichiganDaily.com