When it comes to tackling all the popular student issues of the day – housing, parking, the right to adorn our porches with unattractive upholstered furniture – the Ann Arbor City Council should not be left to its own devices. There are individual exceptions, but as a body, the Council has demonstrated that without student input, it will generally misconstrue and ignore students’ perspectives.
- Sarah Royce
Take Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje’s proposed lease-signing ordinance. His tentative plan, as of last month, would prevent landlords from showing apartments and houses less than one-quarter into the lease term. Should the housing ordinance make it to the City Council table, the debate will certainly be interesting. It would seem that by now, City Council would be at least somewhat familiar with this plan – both The Michigan Daily and The Ann Arbor News covered the proposal, and Hieftje has discussed it informally at Council meetings. But as of two weeks ago, City Council member Marcia Higgins (D