A nameplate reading “Yousef Rabhi” sat alongside 10 others in the boardroom of the Washtenaw County Administration Building. Behind the plate sat its namesake, a 22-year-old who graduated from the University last month.
Last night, the Program in the Environment alum Rabhi assumed a very different role — commissioner on the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners.
Rabhi won November’s general election with 74 percent of the vote after defeating his primary opponent by a mere two-vote margin. During the months leading up to the August 2010 Democratic primary, Rabhi went door-to-door canvassing through neighborhoods in the student-heavy 11th district.
Rabhi’s hard work finally paid off yesterday, when he sat down for his first meeting with the Board of Commissioners.
During the first part of yesterday’s meeting, Rabhi said he felt both nervous and out of his element.
“My heart is racing,” Rabhi told the assembled crowd of roughly 60 attendees after he was sworn in.
As the board launched into a lengthy discussion of the meeting rules for the coming year, Rabhi said after the meeting that he still felt a little out of place at that point.
“It was kind of intimidating,” Rabhi said, “at least for the beginning.”
Midway through the meeting, however, Rabhi said he began to feel comfortable participating, and the moment he started partaking in the discussion, he realized the board was where he belonged.
“When I started talking I started feeling like, ‘Hey … my feedback is valuable,’” Rabhi said.
In a group of commissioners between ages 35 and 65, Rabhi is not only the new guy, but also the young guy.
According to his colleagues, however, that isn’t a problem — quite the opposite, in fact.
In an interview before the meeting, the three other incoming commissioners, including Rob Turner, spoke enthusiastically about Rabhi’s youth and his ability to serve on the board.
“Here’s someone who’s new, young and energetic,” Turner said. “I know his heart is to serve the people. I’m excited.”
Despite having nine years of experience on a school board in Chelsea, Mich., Turner said he doesn’t see a difference between himself and Rabhi in terms of qualifications for serving on the Board of Commissioners.
“We’re (working) together to give the people of this county the best services we can,” Turner said.
Turner added that he believes Rabhi’s status as a recent University graduate will work to his advantage on the board, noting that the University is one of the most influential employers in Washtenaw County.
“Who best to know what’s going on with the people within the University than a freshly-graduated student?” Turner said.
Incoming commissioner Dan Smith expressed similar thoughts about Rabhi, and said Rabhi’s youth provides him with a fresh and unique insight in board meetings.
“He has no preconceived notions of anything,” Smith said. “He brings a completely different perspective from the rest of us—a lot of fresh thinking I think we’re going to get from him.”
Commissioner Alicia Ping said she thinks Rabhi is “fabulous” and will do a great job in his position on the board.
Ping added that her political career began at age 26 — a head start that served her well later.
“I think that being younger brings you a different perspective and oftentimes (you) ask questions that generate new ideas,” Ping said.
Rabhi’s mother, Peggy, pointed out yesterday that her son’s political involvement began as early as preschool, when he participated in an environmental advocacy presentation in front of the Ann Arbor City Council.
“He went to the council meeting to talk … (and) he was like four years old,” Peggy said.
After years of activism, Rabhi now finds himself on the other side of the political podium.
“I don’t know how to describe it,” Rabhi said of his nerves at the start of the meeting. “It’s almost as if I’m not supposed to be there.”
Rabhi’s excitement about his first meeting as commissioner was heightened toward the end of the meeting when he was unanimously elected chairman of the board’s work sessions — a biweekly meeting Rabhi described as “the discussion section of county business.”
In his capacity as chair, Rabhi will be in charge of leading the meetings and setting the agendas.
“It’s a crazy feeling,” he said.