2 GROUNDCOVER NEWS GROUNDCOVER Response to the library lot announcement ALAN HABER Ann Arbor Community Commons Initiating Committee While they brought it forward with smiles and promises of a new jewel in the Center of the City, this new Library Lot action is a bad deal and it should be reversed. First, it was a betrayal of the agreement made in 2023 between the City Council and the Council of the Commons, that the next stage in the implementation of the 2018 vote would be to issue a Request for Proposals seeking "consultants” to evaluate the work done so far by the Center of the City Task Force, the Council of the Commons, community groups and neighbors. Then they would suggest positive next steps forward in developing an urban central park and civic center commons. This RFP was not written because, we were told, City staff was so busy with bicentennial activities that it had to be delayed. But now, with the cause of the delay past, would not a good faith, honest government write and issue the RFP? The City Councilmember who arranged the deal between the City Council and Council of the Commons (involving disbanding the Council of the Commons because the question would be in professional hands) was absent when the matter was debated, and no other City Councilmember provided the answer, and my public comment was not heard. Good faith would reconsider their March 3 meeting action on the Library, and when those two tied-together proposals are back before the Council, one or more members familiar with the Commons development should move a vote to postpone consideration until at least after the consultants' report is requested, received and evaluated. The City promised $40,000 to join with $70,000 raised by the Library Green Conservancy from individual private donors. When last year the City was discussing what to do with unexpected excess money, I reminded them to include their existing commitment of $40,000 for the consultants' cost. Instead they set up a contingency fund for the possible effects of Trumpism. They said there was no money for development. This is untrue. The previous City Council provided a development fund from the revenue generated by surface parking until the parking is terminated. The current Administration refuses to account for or release this money. It could be more than $800,000 after maintenance overhead is deducted. Also, at the beginning there was no need for a lot of money. Those who were trying to activate the space raised what was needed, and improvised the stage and sound and lighting and tables and chairs and benches as best could be done — which was good enough, and getting better with every program. The actual programs have demonstrated the space is very good for open, casual use and also concerts, flea markets, free markets, food and food trucks, art and fun for kids. Worse than the false assertions of under-utilized and unfunded, the City disrespected the vote itself. “Let the people vote — but the government will do what it wants;” this is what I have called “totalitarian democracy.” They call the Library Lane Lot "an under-utilized site." The fact is the current City Administration has refused to allow any motion in the implementation of the People's Vote. They have refused to remove car parking to allow the casual, unprogrammed use of the central park. They have refused to call the neighbors together to activate community involvement, as the City Administrator was directed by the Center of the City Task Force and City see COMMONS page 11 MARCH 21, 2025 PROVIDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR SELF-DETERMINED INDIVIDUALS IMPACTED BY POVERTY, PRODUCING A STREET NEWSPAPER THAT GIVES A PLATFORM TO UNDERREPRESENTED VOICES IN WASHTENAW COUNTY, PROMOTING AN ACTION TO BUILD A JUST, CARING AND INCLUSIVE SOCIETY. Groundcover News, a 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in April 2010 as a means to empower lowincome persons to make the transitions from homeless to housed, and from jobless to employed. Vendors purchase each copy of our regular editions of Groundcover News at our office for 50 cents. This money goes towards production costs. Vendors work selling the paper on the street for $2, keeping all income and tips from each sale. 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