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.
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Members examine federal ligitation surrounding demonstrations at Beth Israel Congregation
City Council discusses rental property
regulations, lawsuit filed over protests
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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.”
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