In this week's "Civic Matters," WEMU's Patrick Campion talks to Mary Morgan, executive director of the CivCity Initiative, about the latest civic issues, including Ann Arbor Police looking for public feedback and how to get involved in your local neighborhood watch.
Mary Morgan brings a wealth of experience to the airwaves. While heading up the CivCity Initiative now, Mary was previously co-founder and publisher of the Ann Arbor Chronicle. Prior to that, she served as a reporter and editor for the Ann Arbor News when it was a daily, print-edition newspaper.
• The Ann Arbor police are asking for feedback about how safe you feel in the city at different times of day/night, and for your opinion about police-community relations. The online survey is anonymous and lets you rate various problems within the city, including aggressive panhandling, graffiti/vandalism, noise problems, theft and a range of other issues.
• If you'd rather give feedback in person, the Ann Arbor police are holding a series of Neighborhood Watch meetings this year. The first one is for the westside area of the city on Tuesday, Feb. 13. It starts at 6:30 p.m. at Forsythe Middle School, 1655 Newport Road. Click here for info about other upcoming meetings.
• We're not quite done with public safety topics: Sunday, Feb. 18 is the deadline to apply for this spring's 10-week Ann Arbor Police, Fire & Courts Academy. It's free!
• A community forum on Thursday, Feb. 15 focuses on how to fight the school-to-prison pipeline and will include student panelists describing their own experiences. The event is moderated by State Rep. Adam Zemke and begins at 6 p.m. at Forsythe Middle School, 1655 Newport Road.
• Zemke's seat is one of several spots in the state legislature that will be on the ballot later this year. Candidates have started filing to run in the August primaries, though the field is still thin so far. There's plenty of time for that to change, however, since the filing deadline for most races isn't until April 24. Check out the list of current candidates in this Washtenaw County Elections Division spreadsheet.
• As always, there are a raft of public meetings this week, including a working session for the Ann Arbor City Council, the first meeting in 2018 for the UM Board of Regents, and the monthly meeting of the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority Board. Look to CivCIty's newsletter for details of times/agendas.
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— Patrick Campion is the WEMU Program Director. You can contact Patrick at734.487.3363, on twitter @WEMUPC, or email him at pcampion@emich.edu
