Daniel Adams
@danieladams
Lawyer, A2 Planning Commissioner, Notorious Density Whisperer. Views expressed are my own.
Mayoral candidate cozying up to an infamously toxic local attorney who once lobbied his pals on the bad City Council to fire the city attorney because "it is better to get a new puppy and train it to your style." What could go wrong?
#a2council Candidate Rebecca Arends’ response to the Library Lot questions: perfection. A candidate boldly keeping the Hayner/Bannister “who are you, how dare you, your political engagement makes me angar” political tradition alive.
“This campaign is going to be a people’s campaign,” [Rabhi] said. “The whole purpose of running and what I’ve always been about as a public official is restoring power to people.” Ope. #a2council
"Classes struggle to mix well." I'll let you decide how to interpret this comment by #a2council candidate Rebecca Arends: as an argument against including affordable units in market-rate housing projects, or an as argument in support of exclusionary zoning writ large. Either way: A doozy.
Rabhi's comments at Monday's forum should alarm #a2council voters. Every central plank of his platform--housing, public power, in-sourcing staff work--is unfunded, and Rabhi's plan to pay for it all is literally (a) hope it pays for itself, and when it doesn't (b) load the city up with debt.
Now, she says she's not asking the city to discipline me (a Ward 1 resident) for gently poking fun at her campaign. She’s just asking questions. Qs like: What standards would apply? How would that work? Who files the report? All questions a person might ask innocently, without any agenda.
I don't get it. Rabhi got arrested in college for trespassing into Mary Sue Coleman's office. What possible relevance does that have to anything? Does he think that qualifies him to urge unarmed civilians to confront masked, heavily armed ICE goons in the streets? #a2council
Reasonable minds can differ on Arbor South, but Rabhi's opposition ("disgusting," "revolting") is overheated and alarming. In the range of outcomes, a 2nd downtown is a best-case scenario: a boon for residents, businesses, and the tax base. Rabhi would turn that down? Wild. #a2council
Controversial take: People who actually agree on a lot will tend to be represented by people who actually agree on a lot, and if that happens it's a not a symptom of a problem but a sign that the system is working well and producing policy results that accurately express voter preferences.
2019: Elections have consequences. 2020-24: Elections are rigged. 2025: Elections are not a sufficient basis for legislative action. 2026: The next election will have consequences.
The petitioner’s conditions limit building height to 35 feet, which is in line with existing zoning, until you’re at least 300 feet from an R zone.
Before she was a 1st Ward candidate, Rebecca Arends was a vocal Jeff Hayner defender, even writing a long email to #a2council defending him as "a devoted father, [and] compassionate neighbor" and arguing that his use of a homophobic slur in a FB post was "none of [Council's] or my business."
I have two kids at Wines Elementary. A few weeks ago, the principal emailed the community about a construction-related closure of the Sunset sidewalk, and warned parents to "alert" their kids to the closure. "I know many kids walk to and from school alone on Sunset."
The lobbying effort was successful. The city's plans--which were, at that time, in the advanced stages of public engagement and which targeted summer 2022 for project completion--were shelved in favor of a more ambitious "holistic" redesign of the entire Sunset corridor.
In August and Sept 2021, a group of anti-sidewalk activists lobbied the city to cancel the construction of a sidewalk on the north side of Sunset Road from Brooks to Newport. They argued, among other things, that Sunset is "adequately" served by the single sidewalk on the south side. #a2council
Perhaps you haven’t read LGC’s crack legal team’s response to the allegations, which rebuts the charge by relying on the well-known common-law doctrine of “‘slander’ territory.” Nah nah nah na boo boo, stick your head in doo doo. Res ipsa loquitor. They rest their case.
Today's reminder that Library Green is an unserious organization run by unserious people. Prop A/B stand on their own merits, but anyone on the fence ought to shudder at the thought of giving LG another 5-10 years to cosplay fundraising and park planning. #a2council
The lawyer for Save Our Heritage Parking Lot has his conspiracy theory to respond to this piece already in the can: Anyone claiming to have soured on parking-lot preservation is a fake or a plant, unless parking-lot preservation bonafides are authenticated with contemporaneous evidence. #a2council
Alan Haber, in 2018, was a named LGC board member. Here’s Al boasting about the groups he had lined up to contribute to the project if the DDA balked.
This is how Will Hathaway explained the slide, in his capacity as an officer of Library Green Conservancy. “We” expect to “raise funds” are reasonably specific words with reasonably precise meanings.
“No one with any authority to speak for the Library Green Conservancy or the Ballot Committee ever made such a promise.” Will Hathaway was LGC’s secretary, treasurer, and public spokesperson in 2018. This is the slide he presented to the public on who would pay for the park. #a2council
And if Mlive is going to finally ask some questions of Library Green, instead of just credulously reprinting the things they're making up to preserve their parking lot, I have some other suggestions. Like why they quietly booted Alan Haber off their board of directors around 2023ish. #a2council
Mary Hathaway, LGC’s then president, in October 2018: “Nobody will be forced to do anything.” Tom Wieder, lawyer for Vote No on A and B, yesterday: Prop A “direct[ed]” the city to spend millions and millions of taxpayer dollars to build a parking deck park. #a2council