Sandi Smith, First Ward

I am happy to endorse Sandi Smith, Democrat, for First Ward in Ann Arbor City Council.

One of the joys of the internet is that I can write, and people around the globe can read what I write. (I know I have one reader in Geneva). It would appear from the first sentence that I am ignoring that potential global audience and only writing for a very local audience.

Yes.

And No.

The actual endorsement is indeed to encourage First Warders to vote for Sandi, and that is a very local action. However, there is a bit of history that might make interesting reading for all.


A Bit of History

In 1972 Ann Arbor elected Nancy Wechsler to the City Council. She was a member of the Human Rights Party (HRP). While a member of the Ann Arbor City Council Nancy came out, becoming the first out lesbian elected official in the history of the United States.

In 1974 she declined to run for reelection. Kathy Kozachenko ran for her seat, and won, becoming the first openly gay candidate to successfully win an election in the United States.

Think on that! Ann Arbor holds two significant firsts in the history of LGBT politics.

We have not had an out lesbian on the City Council since then. We have had one openly gay man, Chris Kolb. That’s rather sad commentary after having achieved such a significant “First” so many years ago.


The Current State of LGBT Politics

There are many organizations that support LGBT, as well as LGBT-friendly candidates, but as far as I know there is only one organization out there whose sole function is electing out LGBT candidates, The Victory Fund. The Victory Fund has a priority of electing officials in “Horizon States”. A Horizon State is a state with no openly LGBT officeholder. Amazingly there are still several.

Electing openly gay candidates just because they are gay remains an important goal in many places. Meanwhile an important evolution is happening. There are openly LGBT candidates running throughout the country whose reason for running and whose platform are only peripherally related to the fact that they are gay or lesbian. Certainly their sexual orientation informs their politics. However, they are not single-issue candidates. They are running to serve a multitude of communities: geographic, demographic, economic, ethnic, etc.

We do not yet live in a post-gay world. In Michigan we live under the hateful Constitutional Amendment enacted by Proposition 2 in 2004. Yet in Ann Arbor we have laws that protect sexual orientation as well as gender identity. While we may have to yet win some hearts and minds in our town, our battles with City Hall are minimal. We have lawmakers and public servants who truly want to protect and serve all of the citizenry. As Sandi said to me in one of early discussions about the possibility of running, “If Ann Arbor’s statutes need some tweaking, I am sure Jim Toy will tell me about it and we will get it changed”. In other words, she is happy to advance LGBT causes, but recognizes that in this town and at this time there are not major battles we need to fight. And even more important, she knows who to talk to when she needs advice on LGBT political issues.


Endorsement

I am always thrilled to advance LGBT rights and LGBT political power. For that reason alone I would consider an endorsement of Sandi.

And yet, I endorse Sandi not because she is a lesbian. She is very open about her sexual orientation. She and her partner, Linda Lombardini, own a business together and are an integral part of the city’s LGBT Community. She is running, however, on her solid progressive values and her history of accomplishments.

Sandi’s campaign stresses sustainability, both economically and environmentally. While a member of the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), and as chair of that organization, she supported a variety of progressive initiatives, including installation of bicycle lockers and bicycle hoops, construction of pedestrian friendly sidewalks, funding for several non-motorized transportation studies, getDowntown program, go!passes, The Link, and more.

She supported Art in Public Places, historic preservation, the Farmer’s Market renovation, and soon, thanks to Sandi, we will see Recycling Containers next to trash containers throughout downtown.

Sandi has served on boards and volunteered for organizations as diverse as the Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project (WRAP), the Ann Arbor Board of Realtors, the Greenway Taskforce, FestiFools, websiteTask Force on Sustainable Revenue for Affordable Housing, and more.

In short, Sandi has progressive values, a belief in a better Ann Arbor, and a history of accomplishment. Others may talk about what they WANT to do. Sandi has a history of “Getting It Done”. She has gotten it done as a businesswoman in the First Ward, as an active citizen, as a member of the DDA, and as a member of the LGBT community. These are challenging times in Michigan and in Ann Arbor. We need someone with a proven record representing us on City Council.