March 3, 2011 - 5:10pm
Bostic withdraws his candidacy for Ann Arbor mayor
BY BRIENNE PRUSAK
After getting accepted into the Taubmen College of Architecture and Urban Planning, William Bostic has withdrawn his candidacy for Ann Arbor’s mayoral election.
Bostic said this is an opportunity to pursue an education in urban planning in order to learn more before trying his hand at politics.
Bostic added that another reason for his withdrawal from the race was the fact that City Hall had some problems verifying the signatures on his petition to run for election.
Bostic said that a few of his signatures were disqualified because there was no year listed when the date was asked, but instead only the day and month were written.
This is against the rules, and Bostic admits that he should have known to include the year.
Ann Arbor City Clerk Jacqueline Beaudry confirmed that the petitions were unable to be certified, and without certification he could not have run for mayor even if he had chosen to continue in the race.
Specifically, Bostic was unable to get enough signatures because some of the signatures lacked complete dates, and some of the signatures were of people who lived outside the voting area, said Beaudry.
Beaudry continued by saying that Bostic submitted approximately 260 signatures, but only about 220 were verified. 250 signatures – 50 signatures from each ward – were necessary in order to secure candidacy for mayor.
Despite this decision, Bostic said he still sincerely thanks his supporters and is eager to see how the election plays out.
