3 candidates vie for mayoral seat

By Jeremy W. Peters

Daily Staff Reporter

For the first time in 10 years, Ann Arbor will not vote a woman into its top administrative position.

With Mayor Ingrid Sheldon deciding she did not want to run for re-election, three candidates - all men - are battling each other to become Sheldon's successor.

The two major-party candidates, Democrat John Hieftje and Republican Stephen Rapundalo, at first glance have little that distinguishes them from one another politically. Libertarian Charles Goodman is by far the most politically unique of the candidates.

Hieftje, a real estate agent and City Council member, described himself as a "centrist Democrat interested in fiscal responsibility with a very, very strong environmental bent."

One issue he said he would attempt to tackle as mayor is the availability of affordable housing in the city.

"Affordable housing is an issue Ann Arbor can either solve or lose its diversity," Hieftje told The Michigan Daily's editorial board. "What we've been saying is if a person doesn't make $100,000 a year, then we don't have a place for you."

One way in which Hieftje said he would accomplish this task is through a millage cut.

"I realize we can't do anything about housing if we don't have a tax cut," he said. "What I don't want to happen is for Ann Arbor to become a community of the elite. A lot of our diversity is threatened and what we're going to do is lose our middle class."

Rapundalo, a research scientist at Pfizer and longtime community activist, said his Republican label is not all that defines him politically.

"I'd define myself as a moderate, but even more as an independent," he told the Daily's editorial board. "I'm about as moderate a Republican as they come."

Rapundalo said he likes to think of himself as similar to the current mayor in terms of his political philosophy.

"She's been able to charter nonpartisan action when it comes to the City Council, and I am certainly a cut of the same cloth," he said.

Rapundalo said his public service more than qualifies him for the job.

"I have a 10-year public record with working in the community, in front of City Council and on the Planning Commission," he said.

Goodman, a philosophy graduate student at the University, is making his second run for city office. Last year he lost his bid for a City Council seat.

ANN ARBOR MAYOR

Charles Goodman       Party: Libertarian Incumbent: No Occupation: Graduate student

John Hieftje       Party: Democrat Incumbent: No Occupation: Real estate agent

Stephen Rapundalo       Party: Republican Incumbent: No Occupation: Research scientist