Mark Alan King
for
Ypsilanti City Council
Ward 3

The combination of extremely high taxes and the city not being friendly to economic development affects us all, including myself as a renter. It makes homeowners have to pay more and it forces landlords to charge more to cover that expense. This also causes the trend in Ypsilanti for single family homes to be converted into several unit apartments that are not maintained. It also drives people away from the city to find work. We have consistently lost residents over the last 10 years. If we are doing the job right, people should be able to stay, affordably live, and work in our community.

When it’s all said and done, the budget has to be balanced. Some members on the council want to implement non-armed response with no real plan to fund it. While the idea of having social workers help in times of crisis over police sounds very nice, it isn't practical right now. The care based safety organization council insists on working with is brand new with no history. This same agency was also rejected by the City of Ann Arbor. Let's work with what we have and take this a step at a time. Our tax dollars and safety should not be a total unplanned experiment. 

I want to actually make sure that your rights are respected, that you can do what you want to do, and that government doesn't stand in your way. That's the libertarian stance I believe in. People should have the power and should be personally responsible.  We should stop spending energy policing grass height and house colors. Start using resources to grow our economy and support our citizens. 

In recent years we've had a lot of great businesses come into Ypsilanti. Unfortunately, several of them have left due to the city ignoring requests for what they need. The council needs to be a partner for small businesses and acknowledge the role they play in keeping our community attractive, thriving and vibrant.