The Ann Arbor City Council 
met for the first time in 2020 
on Monday night to discuss a 
federal lawsuit filed over anti-
Israel protests at Beth Israel 
Congregation and increasing 
regulations 
for 
short-term 
rental properties.
Anti-Israel protester Henry 
Herskovitz spoke during public 
comment about the political 
demonstrations. 
Herskovitz, 
who leads the groups Deir 
Yassin 
Remembered 
and 
Jewish Witnesses for Peace 
and Friends, is listed as a 
defendant on a recent lawsuit 
filed by a member of Beth Israel 
Congregation. 
The 
lawsuit 
claims the protest group led by 
Herskovitz use hateful, anti-
Semitic speech.
The lawsuit also lists the 
city as a defendant for letting 
the protests continue over the 

past 16 years. 
Herskovitz 
explained 
why 
his 
group 
chose 
to 
protest in front of Beth Israel 
Congregation, 
citing 
it 
as 
both a house of worship and a 
political institution.
“We 
noted 
that 
Beth 
Israel flies a foreign flag 
in its sanctuary, that the 
congregation recites a prayer 
for the state of Israel every 
week, that many congregants 
wave Israeli flags as they drive 
into the parking lot and that 
some even sport Jewish-Israeli 
license 
plates,” 
Herskovitz 
said.
Councilmember 
Zachary 
Ackerman, 
D-Ward 
3, 
responded 
to 
Herskovitz’s 
comments, calling him racist 
and anti-Semitic. Ackerman 
said he grew up as a member 
of Beth Israel Congregation 
and 
later 
said 
Ackerman’s 
comments were of his own 

opinion.
“Anti-Semitism in modern 
America looks exactly like Mr. 
Herskovitz,” Ackerman said. 
“Anti-Semitism 
in 
modern 
America looks like embedding 
distrust in your neighbors. I’m 
accusing Mr. Herskovitz of 
being an anti-Semite and using 
his 
platform 
of 
protesting 
a house of worship for the 
last 16 years as racist and 
anti-Semitic, and I think it’s 
important to call out.”
Later 
in 
the 
meeting, 
councilmembers 
discussed 
implementing a revised solid 
waste management plan. The 
outlined 
plan 
advised 
the 
City on how to keep its solid 
waste, recycling and compost/
organics 
management 
programs 
financially 
responsible and sustainable. 
Councilmember Jack Eaton, 
D-Ward 4, said he would like to 
refer the plan back to city staff 
and table the resolution.
“Rather than being a 
planning 
document, 
it’s 
really just a list of to-do 
items 
that 
we 
can 
do 
without a plan,” Eaton said. 
“This really falls short in a 
variety of ways.”
Councilmember 
Jeff 
Hayner, D-Ward 1, agreed 
with 
Eaton, 
saying 
the 
revised plan did not support 
Ann 
Arbor’s 
goals 
for 
combating climate change.
“Zero 
waste 
is 
you 
don’t generate any waste, 
or you generate as little 
waste as possible and what 
waste has to be generated 
is then dealt with in an 
ecologically 
appropriate 
manner,” Hayner said. “I 
really want the best deal 
for the community and 
the environment, with our 
climate action goals, so I 
will happily support tabling 
this.”
Concilmember 
Jane 
Lumm, I-Ward 2, disagreed 
with Eaton and Hayner 
and said the plan was 

comprehensive 
and 
logical, 
adding that it would generate 
savings for taxpayers.
“In all my years I can say, 
unequivocally, this is the most 
thorough, 
well-researched, 
documented, 
data-driven 
report I have ever seen the city 
produce,” Lumm said. “It is 
exceptional.”
The council voted in favor of 
tabling the resolution, moving 
on to discuss a resolution 
that would implement more 
restrictions 
on 
short-term 
rental properties in Ann Arbor. 
Councilmember 
Kathy 
Griswold, D-Ward 2, said she 
thought the city had waited too 
long to address the regulation 
of short-term rentals.
“We need to balance the 
needs of the neighborhoods, but 
I still think that there needs to 
be some type of grandfathering 
in of the existing short-term 
rentals,” Griswold said.
While Councilmember Ali 
Ramlawi, D-Ward 5, said he 
hopes City Council can find 
common ground on this issue 
so companies such as Airbnb 
can 
still 
operate 
in 
Ann 
Arbor, he said having short-
term rentals often negatively 
impacts the community.
“I have an issue when you 
set up a business in an area 
that’s not zoned for business,” 
Ramlawi 
said. 
“We 
can 
extrapolate for quite some time 
what that means, but these 
single-family 
zoning 
areas 
of our community were not 
intended for this type of new 
phenomenon.”
Councilmember 
Julie 
Grand, D-Ward 3, said she 
saw both sides of the issue but 
supports moving forward with 
regulating short-term rentals. 
“I 
do 
think 
there 
are 
providers of short-term rentals 
that 
provide 
services 
that 
are of value to people who 
are visiting our community,” 
Grand said. 

M AYOR CHRIS

2A — Wednesday, January 8, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News

File Photo/Daily 
Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor presides over a city council meeting.

TUESDAY:
By Design 
THURSDAY:
Twitter Talk
FRIDAY:
Behind the Story

MONDAY:
Looking at the Numbers

WEDNESDAY:
This Week in History 

BARBARA COLLINS
Daily News Editor

Members examine federal ligitation surrounding demonstrations at Beth Israel Congregation 

City Council discusses rental property 
regulations, lawsuit filed over protests

4

5

9
5
7

1

8
2

3

7

4
6

3

7

7
2

1

8
3

8

5

6

1
4

3

7
6
8

6
2

4

Sudoku Syndication
http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/

1 of 1
2/5/09 12:56 PM

AND SO IT BEGINS
puzzle by sudokusyndication.com

Jan. 7, 1999: President Bill Clinton’s impeachment 
trial set to open before jurors in United States Senate

“A time it was, and what a 
time. And this is a time for 
the president.” 
Political science Prof. Mel 
Laracey used the famous 
Charles Dickens quote to 
start his first class of second 
semester in political science 
415: The American Chief 
Executive.
Today is a day that will go 
down in the history books 
as the second impeachment 
trial for an elected president 
is 
scheduled 
to 
begin. 
Although the trial dominates 

headlines, 
most 
political 
science classes - even those 
dealing directly with the 
presidency 
and 
American 
government - will not change 
dramatically, professors said. 
Laracey 
warned 
his 
students yesterday to keep 
from getting too wrapped up 
in the trial.
“It is necessary to keep 
some perspective. This will 
pass and become part of 
history,” Laracey said. “This 
looks 
like 
an 
important 
occasion, but I don’t think 

that it will make any huge 
impact on the functioning 
of the office or its integrity. 
Regardless, we will have a 
new president in two years.”
But students in the class are 
looking to the impeachment 
trial to have a significant 
impact on the course.
“I think that the trial will 
make the class a lot more 
interesting and more relevant 
to everyday life,” LSA senior 
Josh Meyers said.
Political science professors 
at other universities plan to 

give the trial a little more 
weight in their curriculum.
“I will make references to 
it, of course. I have students 
analyze newspaper articles, 
so we will be trying to link the 
ongoing events to the themes 
of the class,” said James 
Eisenstien, a political science 
professor 
at 
Pennsylvania 
State University. “We will 
use 
the 
trial 
events 
to 
teach theories. I will draw 
examples from impeachment 
to bring home points about 
American politics.”

David Rohde, a political 
science professor at Michigan 
State University, said he will 
refocus his class only by 
teaching that impeachment 
has become a reality.
“If I were teaching two 
years ago, impeachment was 
only a theory. Now it is actual 
and will have to occupy more 
time,” Rohde said.
The historical significance 
of the trial also is destined 
to affect American history 
classes 
as 
well, 
some 
professors said.

“The 
debates 
over 
impeachment 
have 
given 
students 
a 
feeling 
of 
immediacy and invigorated 
class 
discussions,” 
said 
history Prof. Rebecca Scott, 
who chairs the University’s 
department. “It really gives 
legitimacy 
to 
discussions 
about 
the 
separation 
of 
powers, along with checks 
and balances. The faculty 
will link the events of the 
trial to the material of the 
course.”

The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during 
the fall and winter 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 September-April are $250 and year long 
subscriptions are $275. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription 
rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. 

ERIN WHITE
Managing Editor 
 ekwhite@michigandaily.com

SAYALI AMIN and LEAH GRAHAM 
Managing News Editors news@michigandaily.com

Senior News Editors: Barbara Collins, Claire Hao, Alex Harring, Ben Rosenfeld, 
Emma Stein, Liat Weinstein 

EMILY CONSIDINE and MILES STEPHENSON
Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Senior Opinion Editors: Alanna Berger, Brittany Bowman, Zack Blumberg, 
Timothy Spurlin, Joel Weiner

JOHN DECKER and JULIANNA MORANO
Managing Arts Editors 
 arts@michigandaily.com

ALLISON ENGKVIST and ANNIE KLUSENDORF
Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com

MAGDALENA MIHAYLOVA
Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com 

Deputy Editors: Emily Stillman, Marisa Wright

MADISON GAGNE and SADIA JIBAN
Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com

Senior Copy Editors: Olivia Bradish, Sophie Kephart, Silas Lee, Olivia Sedlacek, 
Ellie Scott

TIM CHO and SIMRAN PUJJI
Managing Online Editors 
 webteam@michigandaily.com

Senior Web Developers: Parth Dhyani, Abha Panda, Rohan Prashant, Jonathan 
Liu

ALEC COHEN and ELI SIDER
Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com

Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Zoha Bharwani, Lora Faraj, Ayomide 
Okunade, Gabrijela Skoko
Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Cheryn Hong, Anamkia Kannan, Vaishali 
Nambiar, Sean Tran, Angela Zhang

Senior Sports Editors: Aria Gerson, Bailey Johnson, Ben Katz, Jacob Kopnick, 
 
Anna Marcus, Rian Ratnavale
Assistant Sports Editors: Connor Brennan, Lily Friedman, Lane Kizziah, 
Brendan Roose, Kent Schwartz, Molly Shea 

Senior Video Editors: Ryan O’Connor, Joseph Sim

Senior Social Media Editors: Jessie Norris, Mya Steir, Kristina Zheng 

Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327
www.michigandaily.com

ARTS SECTION
arts@michigandaily.com

SPORTS SECTION
sports@michigandaily.com

ADVERTISING
dailydisplay@gmail.com

NEWS TIPS
news@michigandaily.com

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
tothedaily@michigandaily.com

EDITORIAL PAGE
opinion@michigandaily.com

ANITA MICHAUD
Business Manager
734-418-4115 ext. 1241
tomedye@michigandaily.com

ELIZABETH LAWRENCE
Editor in Chief
734-418-4115 ext. 1251
esla@michigandaily.com

PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION
photo@michigandaily.com

NEWSROOM
734-418-4115 opt. 3 

CORRECTIONS
corrections@michigandaily.com

THEO MACKIE and ETHAN SEARS 
Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com

Senior Arts Editors: Jo Chang, Elise Godfryd, Zoe Phillips, Jonah Mendelson, 
Ally Owens
Arts Beat Editors: Samantha Cantie, Dana Pierangeli, Andrew Pluta, Cassandra 
Mansuetti, Anish Tamhaney, Sophia Yoon

SHERRY CHEN and CHRISTINE JEGARL
Managing Design Editors 
design@michigandaily.com
Senior Design Editor: Lizzy Rueppel

MAYA MOKH and ANA MARIA SANCHEZ CASTILLO
Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com

JACK GRIEVE and BEN KORN 
Managing Social Media Editors

Editorial Staff

Business Staff

RYAN KELLY
Sales Manager

Senior Photo Editors: Keemya Esmael, Asha Lewis, Miles Macklin
Assistant Photo Editors: Olivia Cell, Ryan Little, Emma Mati, Alexandria 
Pompei, Alexis Rankin

MOLLY WU
Creative Director

SAMANTHA SMALL and SONYA VOGEL
Managing Podcast Editors

See COUNCIL, Page 3A

