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The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) 
is publishing weekly on Wednesdays 
for the Winter 2022 semester by 
students at the University of Michigan. 
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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
2 — Wednesday, July 27, 2022

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Michigan Court of 

Claims restores 2018 

petition initiative, 

increases minimum wage
Judge Douglas Shapiro restores two public acts from 
2018, increases minimum wage and paid sick leave

The Court of Claims restored two 

public acts (P.A. 368 and P.A. 369) 
from 2018 that sought to raise the 
minimum wage and increase paid 
sick leave on Tuesday. Judge Douglas 
Shapiro’s Mothering Justice v. Dana 
Nessel (2022) opinion reinstates the 
acts in their original form, removing 
amendments put in place in 2018, 
increasing the current $9.87 minimum 
wage in the state of Michigan to $12 an 
hour, with the tipped minimum wage 
increasing from $3.75 to $9.60. 

One Fair Wage is a national coalition 

of service workers which sponsored 
the minimum wage initiative, while 
the MI Time to Care coalition backed 
the paid sick leave initiative. One Fair 
Wage president Saru Jayaraman said 
the restoration is a victory for minimum 
wage advocates in a statement. 

NIRALI PATEL 
Summer News Editor

GOVERNMENT

“Workers have been fighting this 

subminimum wage, which has been a 
source of sexual harassment and racial 
inequity, for decades …,” Jayaraman 
said. “Today, the courts in Michigan 
vindicated the rights of these millions 
of workers, and millions of voters, to 
demand that workers in Michigan be 
paid a full, livable wage with tips on 
top.”

In Sept. 2018, two ballot initiatives, 

one for increasing the minimum wage 
to $12 and another mandating paid 
sick leave for employees, were passed 
to the state legislature after receiving 
400,000 signatures from Michigan 
voters.

Rather than passing the initiatives 

as they were, then-governor Rick 
Snyder 
and 
the 
Republican-led 

legislature preemptively adopted the 
two initiatives and went on to pass 
other bills that weakened them.

Read more at michigandaily.com

Regents hold first meeting 
in UP to discuss research, 
appoint interim Dean of 

Public Policy

Celeste Walkins-Hayes will serve as interim dean 

effective July 19, 2022

The University of Michigan Board of 

Regents met Thursday afternoon at Little 
Bear East Arena in St. Ignace, MI, marking 
the first time the regents have held a 
meeting in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. 
Interim University President Mary Sue 
Coleman attended the meeting virtually 
after testing positive for COVID-19, an 
announcement she made at the beginning 
of the meeting.

Regent Paul Brown related the 

location of the meeting to the University’s 
Inclusive History Project, which is focused 
on engaging and understanding the 
University’s history with diversity, equity 
and inclusion. 

“We’re here today because all of the 

Regents are acutely aware of the debt 
that the University owes all of the citizens 
of Michigan,” Brown said. “For our 200 
year history, we’ve been supported by the 
taxpayers, and because of that obligation, 
we’re here hopefully to present … the value 
that we create for your tax dollars, as well 
as listen to each of you in person from this 
region, what we can do to serve you better.”

Adele Bromfield, Vice Provost for 

Enrollment Management, shared a 
presentation regarding the Northern 
Michigan and UP admissions enrollment 
data, which showed an increase in 
students from Northern Michigan and 
the UP — 5% and 18%, respectively — 
graduating from the University over the 
past five years. 

ANNA FIFELSKI & 

IRENA LI 

Summer News Editors

Rent hike roils Ann 
Arbor South Grove 
community

Residents of suburban apartment complex in Ann 

Arbor affected by increased rent prices

Editor’s Note: The sources Ethan 

Jones, John Doe and James Leo, 
referenced in this article, have had 
their names changed in order to 
protect their identities and housing. 
The Michigan Daily has verified their 
identities and their stories.

When Ethan Jones moved out of 

his apartment due to unaffordable 
rent and started searching for a 
two-bedroom unit over a decade 
ago, South Grove Apartments, a 
1970s suburban apartment complex, 
immediately stood out to him. 
Sitting near the city limit with 
several major bus routes passing by, 
South Grove (formerly Pheasant Run 
Apartments) offered easy access to 
the University of Michigan, where 
Jones was employed. According to 
Jones, his monthly rent then was 
around $600, whereas the median 
rent in the city was around $900. 

“We were just looking around on 

Craigslist when we found this place, 
and it was cheaper than anything 
else by a couple of hundred dollars 
a month,” Jones said. “So we’ve 
basically been here the entire time, 
and the buses are just as convenient 
(as they were before).”

Jones said he felt a sense of 

impending 
doom 
earlier 
this 

year. In recent years, the rents 
in 
many 
previously 
affordable 

suburban 
apartment 
complexes 

were adjusted to the market rate. 
South Grove recently switched 
their management from Hartman 
& Tyner to Village Green, a rental 

CHEN LYU 

Daily Staff Reporter

ANN ARBOR

company with one of the largest 
portfolios in Ann Arbor. Jones said 
the switch alarmed him. 

“I checked the website, trying to 

get an idea of what the rent increase 
for next year is going to be, and then 
I noticed that (our rent) went up to 
$1,350,” Jones said. “I’m thinking, 
‘Holy cow, that’s like a $350 
increase. That’s a big jump over 
(the) $45 (increases in past years).’” 

Village Green did not respond to 

The Daily’s request for comment. In 
interviews with The Daily, multiple 
residents of South Grove confirmed 
the rent hike; their rent increases 
ranged from 20% to 33% based on 
room types. In comparison, the 
city’s median rent increase is 13.6% 
from last year, according to the 
data published by Apartment List, 
a rental research website. The rent 
hike could potentially affect more 
than 800 people currently living in 
the community.

John Doe, who has lived in 

South Grove for almost seven 
years, told The Daily he believed 
the rent increase was unjustified. 
He said the property’s rebranding 
effort with the name change seems 
inconsistent with its declining 
amenity and service quality.

“Everything’s…expensive in this 

area, but it used to be like Pheasant 
Run was outdated,” Doe said. 
“Since (Village Green) took over, 
the outdoor pool hours have been 
reduced and indoor pool was done 
away with. The washer and dryer 
prices have gone up. So I kind of felt 
like it went from bad to worse.” 

Read more at michigandaily.com
Read more at michigandaily.com

Jennie Vang/Daily

