Doug Friedman is (anything but) a politician. Friedman, who lives in the Northwood apartments and attends the University (of Michigan), is (simply) an everyday citizen running for City Council (in order to make a difference). In fact, he views his background as an advantage. It's an alternative to his opponents' who, in his words, "offer only more of the same." "Things need to be fixed.", he says.
Poor relations between the university and the council have are one of the main reasons that prompted Friedman to run. He jokingly likened the tumultuous relationship between the two (organizations) as similar to that of "Hamas and Israel." According to Friedman, the council views students primarily as a "revenue source". He sights the "oppressive" number of parking cops as an example of this. Moreover, he claims that the council deliberately split up the different voting districts in order to prevent students from having a say in local elections. ("They made sure that the students wouldn't have a voice.", he explains.) As a student himself, he would work "with" the university and try to provide cohesion between the two organizations (that can mutually benefit from each other).
Friedman also plans to drastically reduce what he views as overly-bureaucratic or inefficient city projects. He plans to eventually do way with public housing, and invoke an "urban homesteading" plan that would enable residents to purchase housing for a period of 5 years and make them responsible for damages. This would supposedly lower costs (lower taxes from selling of government's real estate) and make tenants feel a sense of responsibility for their residence. Also, this would hopefully lead to a reduction the abnormally high level of crime in public housing developments.
Other programs he proposes to cut include the Ecology Center & Multiple Resource Facility. This would supposedly save $100,000. Also, he is contemplating shutting down the Downtown Development Authority, Housing Commission, and public housing in general. The total savings would amount to around $6 million dollars, Friedman said.
Indeed, Friedman (seems) very adamant about cutting taxes. The neighboring town of Scio, he noted, had a tax rate 16 times lower than Ann Arbor's. "Higher taxes are pushing business out of Ann Arbor.", he exclaims. Friedman strongly supports private funding for programs currently supported by the city council, but fails to note the lower amount of regulations facing businesses.
Ironically, Friedman realistically acknowledges the lack of recognition and respect for Council members. "It's a thankless job", he sighs, "but somebody has to do this."
**** He also mentioned something about cutting down the time and bureaucracy of City Council meetings. Also, said running as a Lib. to prevent "thoughtless partisan voting." You might want to squeeze this in somewhere if you want to. *****