SO (cont.): Now that I’m on the
ground here, there’ll be more face-
to-face interactions. On Wednesday,
I’ll be on both Central and North
Campuses meeting with students.
I hope to also drop in on classes and
other venues so I can interact with
people spontaneously.
TMD: Over the past few years,
the Board of Regents has taken
steps to facilitate the process of
ratifying new unions. Despite these
steps to improve labor relations on
campus, the University has still seen
numerous stalled negotiations and a
strike since 2020. What do you view
as your role in working with the
unions and how do you envision the
University’s relationship with labor
on campus?
SO: I’ve come from two other
universities that have many unions.
One thing that’s really important
is that I don’t interfere with the
processes and policies around the
negotiating table. I won’t do that. But
I think it’s very meaningful for me to
meet and listen to leaders and unions,
and I’ve started to do that and I hope
to continue to do that. It’s got to be
something where it is really clear
that the agreed-upon procedures
of negotiating and bargaining are
adhered to.
TMD: At the University of
Cincinnati, you were active in
promoting the school’s athletics. How
do you view your role in approaching
issues like name, image and likeness
(NIL) in college sports, especially
when some critics have claimed that
Michigan Athletics has fallen behind
other schools in NIL?
SO: Yeah, it’s pretty early days in
terms of NIL. The great thing is that
all the great universities that are
part of the Big Ten are having these
conversations, so I don’t think it
makes sense for one university to go
off on their own.
There are issues of parity, issues
of values that are embedded in those
decisions, and there are legal issues
as well that are jurisdictional from
state to state. So a president has to
be involved because these are major
decisions. One of my roles as president
is to understand the landscape and to
understand the specific jurisdictional
policies and laws, and also to be a
team player in all NCAA sports.
TMD: Can you speak on what
values specifically you want to see
inform these NIL decisions?
SO: We have a broad spectrum
of sports here at the University with
different positions and different
teams, which brings certain ethical
considerations in the recruitment
of athletes. What Michigan values
is that we can do things in a way
that we can be proud of, so being in
compliance with the NCAA is one
thing that is really important to me.
With NIL, certain players are
more prominent than others, but
the success of a team isn’t just the
quarterback or the wide receiver or
the running back who might have
more popularity in the NIL space
— the whole team is important. J.J.
McCarthy has done something,
which I think is indicative of
Michigan values, to donate his NIL
earnings to his offensive line and
that’s something I applaud.
TMD: You are coming to not only
the University but also the state of
Michigan as a representative of a
public university, in the middle of
a particularly contentious election
cycle. What race or issue do you view
as the most important going into
November?
SO: I think it is really important
for me as a president of a university
with a diversity of views to not
insert my own particular personal
views into any kind of election, or
anytime, actually, as president. I
think it is really important for me
to facilitate and support active
debate and to encourage people to
vote. Unfortunately, I have only just
arrived and there appears to be a
30-day residency requirement for
me to vote, so I just miss being able
to vote. But, I am going to encourage
people to vote and to be involved in
the democratic process of opining
about and advocating for things that
they believe in.
TMD: The University of Michigan
has been plagued recently with
sexual misconduct scandals, from
the decades-long allegations against
former
athletic
doctor
Robert
Anderson to more recent allegations
against former American Culture
Professor Bruce Conforth. What
are the biggest problems you see in
terms of sexual misconduct at the
University? And, how do you plan to
begin to rectify them?
SO: Having been president to other
universities, I can tell you that sexual
misconduct is pervasive. It is not just
in this sector, but it is in every sector of
society. It is not just at the University
of Michigan. Nevertheless, it is a very
important thing to address, and I plan
to be actively involved in addressing
the situation here. We have been
hard at work over the past three
months and intensively over the past
several days. You should stay tuned
for the actions that I will take and
statements that I will make regarding
this issue, but it is a little bit early for
me to say. But I have, during the three
months, listened and talked to many
people who have made it clear that
this is something important for me to
address, and I will do so.
TMD: In August, Students Allied
for Freedom and Equality (SAFE)
released a statement criticizing a
May 2014 trip to Israel you went
on as president of the University of
Cincinnati. SAFE also criticized an
April 2022 decision of yours to decline
to have the University of British
Columbia divest from companies
located in the West Bank. What do
you have to say to these criticisms
and how do you plan on engaging
students on both sides of this very
contentious issue?
SO: The trip that we went on to
Israel when I was president of the
University of Cincinnati was really
focused on technology, innovation
and academic linkages. There are
great universities in Israel, and I’ve
visited universities across the world.
Since 2017, Michigan legislators
have been debating whether or not
to prohibit local governments from
imposing more controls on short-
term rentals. The push for restricting
local control gained new momentum
in the past year following the
passage of bills banning short-term
rentals in residential neighborhoods,
such as the banning of Airbnb
houses in Ann Arbor. House Bill
4722, introduced by state Rep. Sarah
Lightner, R-Springport, would limit
the local governments’ ability to
enact zoning restrictions on short-
term rentals. The bill, which passed
in the house last year in a late-night
session, was advanced by a Senate
panel this September and referred to
the Committee of the Whole.
State Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann
Arbor, said in an interview with The
Michigan Daily that he opposed the
intention of the bill.
“I think the communities should
have some limited authority to
make rules about these things,”
Irwin said. “(They should have)
limited authority to make sure that
(short-term rentals) don’t present
a
persistent
problem
to
their
neighbors, that they are positioned
in a way where it’s more fair to the
hotels.”
For Ann Arbor, a college town
and popular tourist destination,
short-term
rentals
have
long
symbolized its tourism paradox.
The
thriving
tourism
industry,
buoyed by weekend football games,
has benefited property owners
who convert their properties into
short-term rentals to host visitors.
However, city officials have said
short-term rentals contribute to
the city’s affordability challenges
by taking housing stock away from
prospective buyers and long-term
renters.
In 2020, City Council passed
an ordinance banning dedicated
short-term rentals in residential
neighborhoods.
In
2021,
amid
possible
legal
challenges
from
affected short-term rental owners,
City Council updated the previous
ordinance
to
allow
existing
dedicated short-term rentals to
continue operating. However, the
continued to prohibit the creation
of new dedicated short-term rentals
in residential neighborhoods. The
city also introduced a new licensing
system requiring annual renewal by
all short-term rental owners.
The
House
bill
bans
local
governments
from
restricting
short-term rentals to lower than
30% of total residential units. In
2020, 1400 out of 47,214 housing
units in Ann Arbor were short-term
rentals. While Michigan Realtors,
a
statewide
organization,
has
advocated for the bill, in interviews
with The Daily, the Ann Arbor Board
of Realtors said they didn’t take a
stance on this legislative initiative.
Prentice 4M is a local real estate
company that operates dozens of
short-term rental units. Founder
Heidi Poscher said the current city
regulations reflect a reasonable
compromise.
“(The cost of operating short-
term rentals) is more expensive
(than in the past) because there are
licensing fees to pay,” Poscher said.
“But I understand that because the
licensing fees are necessary to police
the program … there hasn’t been any
real change. We have continued to
adhere to the regulations and try to
be good neighbors to the people that
surround us.”
Jennifer
Rigterink,
assistant
director of state and federal affairs
at Ann Arbor-based policy advocacy
group Michigan Municipal League
(MML), said the bill has gone
further than in the past.
Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher
Taylor told The Daily in an interview
that
the
city
would
leverage
communication channels with state
officials to prevent the bill from
passing.
“Certainly we are communicating
to our delegation,” Taylor said.
“Also, in the event that (the bill)
passes in the Senate and gets onto
Governor Whitmer’s desk, we would
encourage her to veto it.”
Rigterink
also
said
MML
encourages representatives from
college towns to look into adding
exemption language to the bill
grandfathering in their policies.
The bill allows cities that have
restrictions before 2019 that don’t
explicitly
discriminate
against
short-term
rentals
to
continue
to enforce them. Ritgerink said
East Lansing might have already
been exempted since the city has
restrictions on rentals in general
before 2019.
“The bill doesn’t name a specific
municipality, ” Rigterink said. “But
the only one that we have found
that fits that kind of language is
the city of East Lansing … In other
communities that host universities
or are college towns, I would be
asking my legislator, ‘Why is that
community carved out and not going
to have to deal with this, but we’re
preempted in our regulations?’”
State Senate 14th District
Tim Golding (R) and Washtenaw
County Commissioner Sue Shink
(D) will face off for Michigan’s 14th
District State Senate seat. The seat
is currently held by state Sen. Ruth
Johnson, R-Holly, who is running
for the Senate seat in the 24th
District. The 14th District has been
held by a Republican since 2014,
but Shink is looking to flip the seat.
She has centered her campaign on
climate policy, supporting small
businesses and improving access
to healthcare. Shink won the
Democratic primary with 75% of
the vote. Golding’s campaign has
focused on pandemic recovery,
defending
Second
Amendment
rights and restricting access to
abortion. He ran unopposed in the
Republican primary.
State Senate 15th District
Scott Price (R) will challenge
incumbent state Sen. Jeff Irwin,
D-Ann Arbor, for the 15th District
state Senate seat. Price won the
Republican primary with 72% of
the vote. Price did not respond
to a Michigan Daily request for
comment during the primaries and
has not spoken to other outlets.
Price does not have a website and
has not shared his platform on
social media. Irwin was elected
to the state Senate in 2018 after
serving as a state representative
from 2011 to 2017. Throughout his
time in office, he has focused on
public education, climate action
and
infrastructure.
Irwin
has
campaigned on accomplishments
in these areas, including passing
legislation to increase support for
students with dyslexia. Irwin also
touted legislation he supported to
increase corporate accountability
for environmental damage and
provide
support
to
Michigan
residents
harmed
by
disasters
resulting from climate change.
6th Congressional District
U.S.
Rep.
Debbie
Dingell,
D-Mich.,
will
face
Whittney
Williams
(R)
for
the
6th
Congressional
District
seat.
Dingell has been the representative
of the 12th District since 2015,
winning the seat after her husband,
at the time the longest-serving
congressperson, died. Dingell ran
unopposed for the Democratic
Party. Williams won 53.7% of the
vote in the Republican primary.
Dingell is focused on the auto
industry for jobs, protecting the
environment and increasing access
to health care. Williams has a focus
on lowering taxes, securing the
border and restricting abortion.
Attorney General
Matthew
DePerno
(R),
incumbent Dana Nessel (D), Joe
McHugh (L) and Gerald T. Van
Sickle (Tax) are running for the
position
of
Michigan
attorney
general.
Trump-backed
candidate
DePerno is an attorney currently
under criminal investigation an
alleged plot to tamper with voting
machines . He believes the 2020
presidential election result was
fraudulent, abortion and Plan B
should be banned and critical race
theory should be outlawed.
Nessel is a former prosecutor
and civil rights attorney. She is
focused on protecting consumers,
defending
civil
rights
and
protecting the environment and
health care.
McHugh is a Marine Corps
veteran. Based on his campaign
website, he supports the legalization
of all drugs, protection of the
environment and free speech. He
believes in a debunked conspiracy
theory that there is a “Shadow
Government”
manipulating
elections and the Supreme Court.
He also thinks the September 11
terrorist attacks were orchestrated
by the U.S. government and planned
to use COVID-19 “to collapse the
economy and move the world onto
Bitcoin.” These theories have been
disproven.
Van Sickle is also vying for
the position of attorney general,
representing the U.S. Taxpayers
Party. The party’s priorities are
limiting government control and
intervention, including opposing
education
regulations
such
as
compulsory
attendance
laws
and standardized curricula and
protecting
Second
Amendment
rights.
Secretary of State
Jocelyn Benson (D), Kristina
Karamo (R), Larry Hutchinson Jr.
(Green), Christine Schwartz (Tax)
and Grego Stempfle (L) are running
for Secretary of State.
Benson was elected Secretary
of State in 2018. She is a graduate
of Harvard Law School and was
the dean of Wayne State University
Law school from 2012 to 2016. She
was the youngest woman to lead a
top-100 accredited law school. She
is a supporter of voting rights and
has transformed customer service
by
creating
a
ballot-tracking
website for voters to monitor the
status of their absentee ballots.
Karamo is a former community
college instructor. According to her
campaign website, she currently
leads a research team focused on
identifying election inefficiencies.
Karamo gained public attention
after claiming she witnessed voter
fraud in 2020 in Detroit while
working as a poll watcher.She
supports fair auto shop inspections,
eliminating election fraud and
preventing identity theft.
Hutchinson ran for Lansing
mayor in 2021 and lost. He believes
in publicly funded elections. In
his 2021 campaign, Hutchinson
supported
campaign
finance
reform and said he was passionate
about gun control, school safety,
education and taxes. Hutchinson
did not elaborate on these issues
and did not share a secretary of
state platform on social media.
On the U.S. Taxpayer Party’s
website,
Schwartz
included
a
statement outlining her platform,
which
focuses
on
limited
government
and
building
safe
communities. “I am 100% Pro-
Life, a traditional family supporter
and a 2nd Amendment defender,”
Schwartz said in the statement.
Stempfle
was
a
clinical
laboratory scientist at the Henry
Ford Hospital organ transplant lab.
He has 25 years of experience as a
political activist. Stempfle believes
in election security. His initiatives
include
introducing
ranked-
choice voting for state elections,
nonpartisan
county
and
local
elections and stopping subsidies for
Democrats and Republicans.
Michigan
Supreme
Court
Justice
Five candidates are running to
fill two open seats on the Michigan
Supreme
Court,
including
incumbent
Richard
Bernstein,
Michigan state Rep. Kyra Harris
Bolden, attorney Paul Hudson,
attorney Kerry Lee Morgan and
incumbent Brian Zahra. The race
is nonpartisan, though candidates
can be nominated by political
parties.
Bernstein,
a
University
of
Michigan alum, was elected to the
Supreme Court in 2014, becoming
the first blind justice to serve in
the state of Michigan. Bernstein
has also previously served on
Wayne State University’s Board of
Governors. Bernstein and Harris
Bolden have been endorsed by The
Michigan League of Conservation
Voters,
Michigan
Association
for Justice and the Michigan
Democratic Party. Harris Bolden
is currently serving in her second
term as a representative for the
35th House District. If elected,
Harris Bolden will be Michigan’s
first Black woman justice on the
state Supreme Court.
Former Michigan Gov. Rick
Snyder appointed Zahra to the
Michigan
Supreme
Court
in
2011 following the retirement of
former Justice Maura Corrigan.
In November 2012, Zahra was
elected to serve a partial term
and was reelected for a full
term in 2014. Zahra dissented in
September decisions to place two
constitutional amendments on the
Nov. 8 ballot. Zahra and Hudson
have been endorsed by the Michigan
Chamber of Commerce, Michigan
Farm Bureau and the Michigan
GOP. On his website, Hudson says
his platform is “grounded in his
commitment to the Constitution,
the rule of law, and respect for the
separation of powers.”
Morgan has been endorsed by
Michigan’s
Libertarian
Party.
Morgan ran for the Michigan
Supreme Court in 2020, 2018,
2016, 2014, 2012 and 2006. Morgan
also filed a brief on behalf of the
LONANG
Institute
opposing
affirmative action before the U.S.
Supreme Court. In it, Morgan states
he supports petitioners’ challenge
to Harvard’s use of racial factors in
college admissions.
Gubernatorial
The Nov. 8 midterm election
marks a historic gubernatorial race
for Michigan, as two women from
major political parties are facing
off for the first time in Michigan’s
history.
Incumbent
Gov.
Gretchen
Whitmer was first elected as
the 48th governor of Michigan
in 2018 when she ran against
Republican
candidate
Bill
Schuette, attorney general under
the
Snyder
administration.
Whitmer’s platform has largely
focused on reforming Michigan’s
abortion policy and highlights
her May lawsuit, which resulted
in the ruling currently blocking
the enforcement of a 1931 abortion
ban. Whitmer has also said she
supports policies to prevent school
shootings, including red flag laws
and safe storage requirements.
Whitmer
gained
national
attention in 2020 due to her
pandemic response, which is a
large talking point of opponent
Tudor Dixon’s (R) platform. Dixon
was endorsed by former U.S.
President Donald Trump on July
27, days before the primary, and
joined Trump at his “Save America”
rally on Oct. 1 to garner more
support for her candidacy. Dixon
has emphasized her anti-abortion
views as a part of her platform, in
addition to vowing to make parents
more involved in their child’s
education. Specifically, Dixon has
promised to limit education on
gender and sexuality in schools
and to outlaw critical race theory,
an academic theory not generally
taught in K-12 schools.
Whitmer and Dixon faced off in a
televised debate hosted by WOOD-
TV on Oct. 13. They are scheduled
for a second debate at Oakland
University on Oct. 25.
Donna Brandenburg of the U.S.
Taxpayers Party, Mary Buzuma,
the Libertarian candidate, Kevin
Hogan of the Green Party and Daryl
Simpson of the Natural Law Party
are also on the ballot for governor
this year.
Brandenberg,
a
business
owner, has built her platform
on maintaining the integrity of
elections,
limiting
government
overreach, and rebuilding mental
health
services.
Buzuma’s
campaign includes promises to
cut taxes and allow individuals
the freedom to choose their own
health care, including revoking
vaccine
and
mask
mandates,
lifting restrictions on abortion
and
decriminalizing
marijuana.
Simpson said the three main points
of his campaign include economic
growth,
improving
public
education and having a “common
sense approach to every issue.”
Hogan has not shared his platform
on social media.
Wednesday, October 26, 2022 — 3
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
What’s on your midterms ballot?
CAMPUS LIFE
Ann Arbor restrictions threatened by
short-term rental proposal in State House
The Daily’s government beat outlines the races and proposals Michiganders are voting non Nov. 8
House Bill 4722 looks to limit cities’ ability to regulate services like
Airbnb, VRBO
Design by Sophie Grand
CHEN LYU
Daily Staff Reporter
ANN ARBOR
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
ANNA FIFELSKI,
SAMANTHA RICH &
CAROLINE WANG
Daily News Editor & Daily Staff
Reporters
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
ONO INTERVIEW
From PAGE 1