Brater forced to step down after 3rd term

By Hanna LoPatin

Daily Staff Reporter

After serving three terms as a representative from Ann Arbor, term limits are bringing an end to Liz Brater's career in the Michigan Legislature.

A champion of mental health issues, Brater said she still does not know what she wants to do when her term ends in January.

"I obviously would like to continue the work I've been doing on the issues," she said.

Brater, a Democrat who served as Ann Arbor's mayor from 1991 to 1993, said this is not necessarily the end of her political career.

"I certainly am going to consider" running for office again, she said.

Brater has been involved in politics her entire life.

"The first campaign I remember is Stevenson versus Eisenhower," she said of the 1956 contest between Sen. Adlai Stevenson and the incumbent president.

Her best achievement during her six years in Lansing, she said, was being able "to focus concern of the criminalization of mental patients."

"Knowledge is power and when you have the information, you have more ability to make a change," Brater said.

"Liz Brater is going to be a tremendous loss," said House Minority Floor Leader Michael Hanley (D-Saginaw), who called Brater a "leader" and "very responsive." Hanley also is being forced out by term limits.

Even lawmakers on the other side of the aisle acknowledge Brater's dedication in the Legislature. Outgoing House Speaker Chuck Perricone (R-Kalamazoo Twp.) praised Brater as "very focused and very bright."

"She speaks from the heart, and I've enjoyed speaking with her," Perricone said.

Term limits forced dozens of Michigan lawmakers out of office in 1998, drawing criticism for the number of freshman legislators elected in their place.

Michigan voters in 1992 approved a constitutional amendment creating term limits for state legislators. Representatives are limited to three two-year terms, while state senators can only be elected to two four-year terms.

"The people spoke and I respect the people's voice," Hanley said.

"I'm not bitter about it," he said. "This has been a great privilege. I've gone a lot farther than I thought I could."

But Hanley does not believe term limits are the right way to keep politicians lively.

"The idea that people become dead wood in a while doesn't play out in real life," Hanley said.

"We missed the target. ... The answer is campaign finance reform, not term limits," he said. "The state government is very complex and it takes a lot of time to know the budget ... who's in charge of what in the state beauracracy and where they hide the money."

Brater said term limits prematurely flush experience out of the Legislature.

"The whole balance gives more power to staff people that tend to stay on as legislators come and go," she said. "There are some good staff people, but they're not elected."

Bob Bykowski, the Republican candidate for Brater's seat, said in a recent debate with Democratic opponent Chris Kolb that he supports term limits, although he admits they do cause some problems.

"There are some procedural issues," Bykowksi said.