Three 
candidates 
for 
Washtenaw County prosecutor 
spoke to a group of about 
60 
community 
members 
regarding 
the 
upcoming 
election for county prosecutor 
at the Arrowwood Community 
Center in Ann Arbor on Sunday 
afternoon.
Arrowwood 
Democratic 
Party hosted the event, which 
was moderated by Ann Arbor 
City 
Councilmembers 
Anne 
Bannister, D-Ward 1, and Jeff 
Hayner, D-Ward 1. 
The candidates — Arianne 
Slay, Hugo Mack and Eli Savit — 

emphasized a need for change 
to the current local prosecution 
system and proposed unique 
plans to solve criminal justice 
problems facing Washtenaw 
County. 
Slay 
spoke 
first 
about 
her 
platform, 
arguing 
that 
Washtenaw 
County 
is 
at 
a 
crucial 
moment 
and 
underscoring 
the 
need 
to 
reform the criminal justice 
system. 
“The 
criminal 
justice 
system of Washtenaw County 
is at a point of catastrophic 
institutional failure,” Slay said. 
“And that’s a big statement. We 
have policies in place in our 
current administration at the 

prosecutor’s office that have 
reinforced these institutional 
harms. We have a lack of 
flexibility, we have a lack of 
looking at our community in the 
same respect that we have not 
just humans on the prosecution 
side with our victims but we 
have humans on the other side, 
we have lost compassion and 
empathy and I will bring that 
change back.” 
Slay asked attendees to back 
her campaign, emphasizing the 
changes she would implement if 
elected. 
“I’m not just asking for your 
support today, I’m asking for 
your support indefinitely to be 
committed to this cause and 

please, by all stretches of the 
imagination, vote,” Slay said. 
Hugo 
Mack, 
a 
defense 
attorney based in Ypsilanti, 
then discussed what he hopes 
to bring as Washtenaw County’s 
next prosecutor. 
“I am a law enforcement 
officer; I make law enforcement 
first, and reform second,” Mack 
said. “And if that costs me 
the election then so be it, but 
know where I’m coming from. 
I believe that incarceration 
should be the final option, not 
the first choice.” 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, February 10, 2020

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Michael Cox, police chief 
of 
the 
Ann 
Arbor 
Police 
Department, has been placed 
on paid administrative leave 
for two weeks, according to an 
email from City Administrator 
Howard 
sent 
on 
Friday 
afternoon.
The email was addressed 
to the mayor, members of City 
Council and Lisa Jackson, the 
Independent Community Police 
Oversight Commission chair.
“I am writing to inform you 
that I have placed Police Chief 
Cox on Administrative Leave 
due to a personnel matter,” 
Lazarus wrote. “Deputy Chief 
Forsberg will serve as the 
Acting Chief.”
Deputy Chief Jason Forsberg 
will assume Cox’s duties while 
Cox is on leave. Forsberg was 
one of three finalists who 
interviewed for the police chief 
position over the summer.

In 
an 
interview 
with 
The Daily, Jackson said the 
commission was not told the 
specifics of the situation.
“I do not know as much as I 
would like to know,” Jackson 
said. “The commission is a 
little concerned that we were 
given the same amount of the 
information as the public was. 
We were not told why.”
However, 
Jackson 
added 
she has been told the leave 
is not due to Cox’s “personal 
misconduct” or an “allegation 
of 
him 
personally 
doing 
something improper.” When 
asked where she acquired this 
knowledge, Jackson said she 
was reassured by “people with 
more information” but declined 
to specify, as she said these 
individuals were likely not 
supposed to have told her.
Jackson 
said 
some 
members of City Council 
have also expressed their 
frustration to her about being 
“in the dark.”
See CHIEF, Page 2A

ACADEMICS

Dhani Jones, former U-M football player, endorses presidential candidate

Troy 
Carter, 
venture 
capitalist 
and 
founder 
of 
Atom 
Factory, 
a 
talent 
management 
and 
production 
company, 
spoke to a crowd of about 
250 students, alumni and 
guests 
about 
mentorship 
and diversity in business at 
the University of Michigan 
Ross School of Business on 
Friday evening. 
He was the guest speaker 
at 
the 
44th 
Alfred 
L. 
Edwards Conference, the 
longest-running conference 
at the Business School. The 
Black 
Business 
Student 
Association 
held 
the 
conference. Edwards was a 
professor and mentor at the 
University before he died in 
2007. 
Danielle Lomax, Business 
graduate student and BBSA 
member, said this year’s 
theme 
was 
mentorship. 
According to Lomax, the 
team picked Carter as the 
speaker 
because 
of 
his 
accomplishments 
in 
the 
business community. 

Troy Carter 
highlights 
importance 
of diversity

BUSINESS

Entrepreneur shares 
experience in investing 
during BBSA colloquium

SARAH PAYNE
For the Daily

Approximately 100 community 
members attended a panel hosted 
by Rackham Graduate School 
titled “Adapting to Change and 
Maintaining Excellence” as part 
of an all-day faculty symposium 
on advancing graduate education 
Friday morning. 
The 
discussion 
was 
moderated 
by 
Earl 
Lewis, 
professor 
of 
history, 
Afroamerican 
and 
African 
studies and public policy as 
well as the founding director 
of the University of Michigan 
Center for Social Solutions, and 
featured academic leaders from 
different institutions in the 
nation. 
The panel discussed topics 
such 
as 
diversity 
during 
business recruiting, incentives 
to keep graduate students in 
academia and how to predict 
student success.
Robin 
Garrell, 
chemistry 
professor 
at 
the 
University 
of 
California 
Los 
Angeles, 
discussed how her institution’s 
faculty 
members 
seek 
to 
minimize risk while recruiting 
graduate students.

Panel examines future 
of higher education at 
day-long symposium

VARSHA VEDAPUDI
Daily Staff Reporter

City administrator: department head 
sidelined, acting chief will fill role

CLAIRE HAO
Daily News Editor

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 66
©2019 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 A

OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4A

CROSSWORD................6A

M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 A

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 A

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B
michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit
Follow The Daily 
on Instagram, 
@michigandaily

Graduate
school hosts 
educational 
conference

About 100 people dressed 
in campaign shirts, pins and 
various accessories gathered 
into 217 S. Fourth Ave. on 
Saturday to support Michael 
Bloomberg, 
Democratic 
presidential 
candidate 
and 
former New York City mayor. 

Democratic 
presidential 
candidate 
Michael 
Bloomberg’s campaign opened 
an office in Ann Arbor this 
weekend, bringing together 
students 
and 
community 
members 
to 
support 
his 
candidacy 
and 
hear 
from 
Dhani 
Jones, 
former 
University of Michigan three-
time All-Big Ten linebacker, 
and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, 
D-Mich.

About 100 people dressed 
in 
campaign 
shirts, 
pins 
and 
various 
accessories 
gathered into 217 S. Fourth 
Ave. on Saturday to support 
Bloomberg, a billionaire and 
former New York City mayor. 
The 
event 
started 
with 
remarks 
from 
Michael 
Kurtz, 
Bloomberg’s 
state 
director, who spoke about 
the 
campaign’s 
efforts 
to 
organize throughout the state, 

including here in Ann Arbor. 
“What we’re doing in this 
state is we are organizing it 
every quarter, we’re not going 
to concede one inch to Donald 
Trump,” Kurtz said. “We are 
building momentum. You see 
the turnout today. We are 
building this campaign and 
there is real momentum on the 
ground.”

Bloomberg 2020 campaign opens 
downtown Ann Arbor headquarters

BECCA MAHON/Daily
County Prosecutor candidate Hugo Mack presents his platform at the Arrowwood Community Center Sunday afternoon.

See BLOOMBERG, Page 2A

AAPD Chief 
Michael Cox 
placed on leave 
for two weeks

County prosecutor candidates 
discuss criminal justice system

Hugo Mack, Eli Savit, Arianne Slay vie for voters’ support at town hall

JULIA FORREST &
EMMA RUBERG
Daily Staff Reporters

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

PENNY LAM/Daily
State Director Michael Kurtz speaks at presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg’s Ann Arbor office opening Saturday afternoon.

Deliverance

Isaiah Livers returns and helps lead 
Michigan to a potentially season-
changing win over Michigan State
» Page 1B
SPORTSMONDAY

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

MICHAL RUPRECHT
Daily Staff Reporter

