Tobi Hanna-Davies (D-1st Ward) and Jean Carlberg (D-3rd Ward) are not at all worried about the upcoming City Council elections - both are running unopposed.
But neither councilmember is ready to take it easy just because they've got the election in the bag.
"The campaign has not been any different for me, except I can relax a little," Carlberg said. "I'm still out every day knocking on doors and talking with constituents."
Hanna-Davies said she, too, was actively persuing the opinions of her constituents as well as helping to campaign for Democrat Chris Kolb's bid for mayor.
Hanna-Davies said that even though her ward has the highest concentration of students, students today are not as interested in city politics as they used to be. Since the Department of Public Safety was created independent of the Ann Arbor Police Department, students have not been as directly influenced by the city.
"Ever since the University separated the two police forces, students have not been very interested or involved in city affairs anymore," she said. "But things like the condition of off-campus housing and parking are still very key issues in students' eyes."
Carlberg said one of her most important goals for her second term would be to expand community-oriented policing.
"Students are expressing a real need to be safe," Carlberg said. "Community-based policing is working now in some areas of downtown and needs to be expanded to other parts of the city."
Both candidates said a clean environment was important.
"Students, like everyone else, expect us to treat the environment right and not to abuse the Earth that the way people sometimes can," Hanna-Davies said.
Hanna-Davies said the property tax increase being reviewed independently would have to have a student exemption to keep from raising students' taxes.
"For renters, a lot of whom are students, I'm concerned they will have to pay Ann Arbor's same high rent without getting a break on property taxes because they don't own the property," Hanna-Davies said. "If the income tax increase does pass, we would have to work to exempt students, or make the tax more progressive based on income levels."
Hanna Davies said that even though a higher income tax may put students in an awkward position, it is a good way to raise city revenues.
Hanna-Davies has been on council for four years and is set to begin a third term. Carlberg has been a councilmember for two years and will begin her second term next month.