ADRIAN — Ten candidates are running to be elected to three available seats on the Adrian City Commission. To narrow the field for the November general election, six will advance from the August primary election.
The candidates are Bob Behnke, Tom Faulhaber, Steve Gonzales, Chad Johnson, Joaquin Ramos, Mary Roberts, Matt Schwartz, Scott Jay Smith, Patrick Ulanowicz and Brad Watson.
Roberts is seeking reelection. Current city commissioner Allen Heldt is running for mayor against incumbent Mayor Angie Sword Heath. They will be on the November general election ballot. Commissioner Lad Strayer is not seeking a third term on the commission.
Polls will be open Aug. 8 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Lenawee County Fair and Event Grounds for all precincts. Voters should select no more than three candidates.
The term of service is four years, and the candidates elected in November will take their positions on the commission at the city’s next meeting immediately following the election.
The Daily Telegram provided questionnaires to all 10 of the candidates. This is the second of three planned stories to be published in print and online at www.lenconnect.com. The following are the responses from Roberts, Smith and Ulanowicz, lightly edited for clarity. The first candidate responses, which appeared in the July 31 edition of The Daily Telegram, included Behnke, Faulhaber and Johnson.
More:Adrian City Commission candidate profiles: Bob Behnke, Tom Faulhaber and Chad Johnson
Mary Roberts
Age: 58.
Occupation: Associate director for SHU Global at Siena Heights University.
Spouse/kids: Married to John Roberts, 34 years; Rose, John, Carolyn; all Adrian High School graduates.
Government experience: Five years as an Adrian city commissioner; Adrian Planning Commission member, 2022.
Volunteer/service/involvement with city of Adrian: Lenawee Chamber ambassador, Downtown Development Authority participant, First Fridays committee, E-Race the Stigma committee, Gus Harrison liaison advisory committee, The More the Merrier Downtown Adrian Pub Crawl creator and in its 10th year.
Why are you running for this position? This has been the best and the hardest position I’ve ever held. Balancing individual concerns with community concerns takes thought and research, time and collaboration, listening and asking questions, responding to concerns, coming up with solutions, making difficult decisions. I believe I bring a positive voice to bridge divides and to move Adrian in a positive direction.
What do you think are the one/two major issue(s) facing the city of Adrian and what should be done about it/them? Crime and blight are two areas that continue to be an issue for Adrian, but both are being actively addressed. We have been battling blight with the addition of another code enforcement officer and the hiring of a community revitalization coordinator. We have focused specifically on rental property owners and been making great strides in ensuring that our residents have a safe and healthy living environment. Creation of the $250,000 loan fund that is available to homeowners. Homeowners can apply for and use the loan to fix needed items at a low interest rate. The city attorney has been very active with the court system and getting those who are choosing not to fix or clean their properties into court and making them aware that fixing their property is a citywide priority. Crime is being addressed by the addition of more police officers, the reassigning of some of the officers to have more officers in the field and the purchase and roll out of the license plate reader system with two of the 10 cameras already in place.
What are some of the achievements taking place in Adrian? How can these be sustained? Adrian has made great strides over the past several years and I am confident that we will continue to grow and improve. Hired firefighter/paramedics and brought the ambulance service inside Adrian, creating faster response times. Purchased license plate system to catch vehicles likely involved in crimes. Purchased bollards to increase safety of those enjoying downtown events. Hired a recreation director who is bringing a focus on our park system: splash pad, pickleball courts, extending the Kiwanis Trail. Hired a Main Street director, bringing bathrooms to the Farmers Market. Obtained Michigan Main Street Select level status which enables us to apply for grants for downtown businesses and amenities and assisted us with rebranding our DDA. Having a healthy tax base and being fiscally responsible will ensure we can continue to improve the quality of life for our residents.
Why should people vote for you? John and I have lived in Adrian for more than 30 years, raised our children here, and in all areas of our lives, we have been involved in making it better. I am and will always be a volunteer, a servant-leader: Girl Scout leader, PTO president, Tau Delta president, Maple Fans Club secretary and concessions coordinator, Maple Blues Blast co-chair, E-Race the Stigma chairperson, Chamber ambassador and many others. When there is a need for someone to step up and be a leader, I have been there. It has been my privilege to serve for the past five years as your positive, solutions-based city commissioner.
Scott Jay Smith
Age: 54.
Occupation: Community relations and information specialist.
Spouse/kids: N/A.
Government experience: I have been active in local, state and federal politics since I was 14 years old.
Volunteer/service/involvement with city of Adrian: Worked with county departments, state and EGLE to knock on doors in the target area of Crimson Holdings to encourage residents to participate in a daily diary documenting the odor that reduced the quality of life for our Eastside residents. ReTree Tecumseh; street, highway, park and River Raisin clean-ups. Organizations that serve: the houseless population, people with addiction, people with disabilities and people in our aged population. Formerly sat on boards that served low-income families and also education. Currently seated on a committee that focuses on health education.
Why are you running for this position? I am running for city commission because we need better. I will fight for the residents of Adrian, all of them. I will increase the quality of life for residents by increasing city services, investing in the people of Adrian, addressing our non-existent affordable housing and providing additional recreational spaces.
What do you think are the one/two major issue(s) facing the city of Adrian and what should be done about it/them? Housing is likely our largest issue and greatest opportunity to do the right thing. We have empty lots as well as abandoned properties throughout the city, mostly the Eastside. There is funding for development of affordable housing properties. In addition to this funding provided by the American Rescue Plan Act and the infrastructure bill that has largely sat in Lansing (waiting for our state representative to bring to our community), I would encourage local nonprofits and businesses to invest in the city that they operate. The easiest issue to resolve is city services. The people of Adrian have been conditioned to accept the constant decline in our city and the services provided. I would work with the commission to create an expectation of services outline and request that the city administrator respond with a timeline of implementation for the strategies to achieve our expectations.
What are some of the achievements taking place in Adrian? How can these be sustained? We are adding to and improving recreation spaces. This is a value add to our community not just residents of Adrian but also potential investors. In order for people or companies to move to Adrian there must be a vibrant community with housing, a strong public education system and a variety of things to do. Unfortunately, most of the investment in Adrian’s recreation spaces is occurring outside of Adrian’s city limits. Let’s change that. We are also reducing blight. It is occurring at a painstakingly slow rate; it may be hard for most of us to see it at all. We also have not put anything in place to maintain a “cleared” property. Both of these can be sustained by city accountability, thoughtful investment in people and communities and lastly all sectors working together.
Why should people vote for you? I’d like people to vote for me because I’ve proven myself to be a city resident that identifies opportunities and also the plan to correct. While the city commission is a non-partisan position, I am a very visible and active member of the Lenawee County Democratic Party. I say that only to say this, we’ve tried the other way for decades. If you’re not satisfied with the current state of our city, maybe consider a different option. Diversity is not just gender/race/ethnicity, it is also different ideas, thoughts and work. I’ve dedicated my life to service and to the people of Adrian long before campaigning for any political office. I do so freely and without seeking praise, visibility or money. I’d like you to cast your vote for Scott Jay Smith because I will continue to speak facts and truth with full transparency and work tirelessly for the people of Adrian.
Pat Ulanowicz
Age: 55.
Occupation: Electrician, 30-year IBEW member.
Spouse/kids: Married for 36 years, two children and three grandchildren.
Government experience: None. But I’ve done quite a lot of work for local and state governments as an electrician.
Volunteer/service/involvement with city of Adrian: Member of NAACP Lenawee Branch. Volunteering with Share the Warmth of Lenawee making and serving meals one day per month with the Lenawee Democratic Party.
Why are you running for this position? I want to bring my common sense, working-class ethos to the table on the commission. I would like to start policies to reverse the trends I have witnessed over decades and raise the standard of living for all Adrian residents. I want to represent and advocate for the underserved residents of Adrian.
What do you think are the one/two major issue(s) facing the city of Adrian and what should be done about it/them? We need to ask the question: What would cause a young family to move into Adrian? We need to set up policies to make that happen over the long term. A lot of this centers around diversity, inclusion, equality and affordable housing. In the short term, we need to be making sure we are doing things like filling out grant applications and following the programs to get these grants to fix many of the things that are either failing or becoming obsolete. The Biden Administration has laid out a lot of money in the Infrastructure Act; are we going to put forth the effort to go out and get it? If we get it, are we going to put line items in the budget for administration, preventative maintenance and put an end-of-life date on things so we are not unpleasantly surprised as much? There’s also plenty of grant money from the state for business that we should be following up on. We need to be attracting a diversity of business outside of the service and manufacturing sectors. We need to look at our water system. We need to address community mental health access.
What are some of the achievements taking place in Adrian? How can these be sustained? I have seen a vast improvement in the downtown area over the last few decades. It no longer looks like the ghost town I remember in the ’90s. We need to keep up on the grant monies available to sustain rehabilitation or replacement of these old properties by businesses who would want to move into Adrian. Fixing these buildings is a big-ticket item as I know being a member of the construction trades. Our city parks and recreation has been improved. We need to sustain these by budgeting to maintain our parks; the example is Trestle Park.
Why should people vote for you? I will be a public servant for Adrian residents. I will present the hard, inconvenient questions to raise Adrian residents up and propose solutions on how to get there. I bring construction and infrastructure experience to the table, something we need badly. We need to put long-term policies in place to attract different types of business, be forward-thinking, not reactive, and get more diverse as a community so that the average Adrian resident can have a little more jangle in their pockets to do the things to fix up their properties or just spend money within the community. I have been fighting for your voting rights, the middle class and democracy itself behind the scenes for years. I’m in support of keeping the Human Relations Commission. Most importantly: vote for me or don’t vote for me, please vote in your local elections. These elections are absolutely the ones that hit your pocketbook the hardest.