Democrats take four of ve seats on A2 Council

Upton only GOP to gain seat

Four of the five Ann Arbor City Council seats up for grabs went to Democrats in the election race last night.

Joe Upton, the only Republican to win a council seat this term, is the only one of the five who is not a returning council member.

Upton accounted for 82.63 percent of the votes in his race with 52 of 62 precincts reporting in Washtenaw County, while his Libertarian opponent Kurt Verhoff had 17.37 percent.

Upton said he is optimistic about his term despite the small number of Republicans on the council.

"We're going to be a strong minority," Upton said. "When you're an 8-4 minority, you have to be realistic. We won't drive the agenda, but we will be able to shape the agenda."

Jean Carlberg (D-3rd Ward) won her race against Libertarian opponent J.P. Denoyer. With 52 of 62 precincts in Washtenaw County reporting, Carlberg held 89.49 percent of the vote over Denoyer's 10.51 percent.

Carlberg said she wants to work on affordable housing for students and area-wide long-range planning development during her third term in office.

"I plan on working more closely with the students," said Carlberg, whose ward includes East Quad Residence Hall and some other student housing.

Tobi Hanna Davies (D-1st Ward) ran unopposed for her fourth term in office. She said she plans to solve M-14's traffic problem, focusing on the Barton Road exit.

Her campaign also emphasized non-violent student participation in anti-racist movements, referring to last May's reaction to the Ku Klux Klan demonstration in Ann Arbor.

Stephen Hartwell (D-4th Ward), also unopposed, said having a Republican mayor leading the Democrat-heavy board will not change the city council's objectives. Hartwell said he wants to strengthen the city employee-administration relationship during his third term and work on a "quick-response" problem-solving team for the city.

"The city needs to be more pro-active," Hartwell said. "When something happens, the citizens shouldn't have to come to us to complain."

The third Council member also winning without opposition was incumbent Elisabeth Daley (D-5th Ward). She said she will be involved in "the whole issue of development and congestion in Ann Arbor and in the county. It affects us in a lot of ways."

As a Rackham and Business second-year student, she said her presence on campus puts her in a better position to hear students' problems.

"I'm looking into the way the city enforces noise ordinances," said Daley, adding that parking and commuter busing rank among important student issues.

LSA junior Elizabeth Emerson said she feels one of the biggest issues for the Council members should be housing.

"I would like them to work on the condition of low-income housing in Ann Arbor," said Emerson, citing the local YMCA as an example. "The facilities are adequate, but they could be improved."

11-04-98