President Mark rang the bell to start our meeting and pianist Jody Tull de Salis accompanied us on the piano as we sang America the Beautiful. In his inspirational welcome, Brandon Black shared that the message of the emancipation proclamation took 2-1/2 years to get through, yet the news of Willie Mays’ death was heard by the entire world within minutes. He closed by quoting from Mays’ 1979 Hall of Fame induction speech: “What can I say? This country is made up of a great many things. You can grow up to be what you want. I chose baseball, and I loved every minute of it. I give you one word — LOVE.”
With the summery-bedecked musician Tull de Salis, songmeister Downs Herold led us in singing Smile, Sing a Song, then channeled summer camp with My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean.
President Mark thanked Tull de Salis and the other members of today’s meeting team: Linda Kentes, Barbara Eichmuller, Dawn Johnson, Ugur Cetin, Steve Kessler, Leo Shedden, and Mary Steffek Blaske. Guests were introduced and birthday greetings were shared. President Mark continued in his punny one-liners, today’s focusing on our current heat dome: It’s SO Hot ... How Hot Is It?
Roy More took the podium to excite our group of plans for this year’s Golf and Pickleball Outing (GPO). It will take place on Monday, Sept. 16 at Barton Hills Country Club. GPO’s sole purpose is to help our club fund projects which help kids succeed. This year’s keynote speaker will be Barbara McQuade on the topic of “Defeating Disinformation.” She will autograph her new book, Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America. Early bird GPO sign-up is July 1. More encourages everyone to: 1) recruit a sponsor; 2) donate items for the auction; 3) invite friends and colleagues to participate on Sept. 16; and 4) volunteer at the golf course or set up/registration.
President Mark gave a shout-out to Bob Mull, who organized the extraordinary GPO auction item of the in-person tour of the newly restored Michigan Central Station in Detroit. The tour was a thrill for all who saw the transformed building.
Ashish Sarkar came to the podium to present Ugur Cetin the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow Award. Cetin has been a member for just two years and has served weekly as a volunteer to the club’s service on many projects – from being our photographer, to running the zoom operations, and from participating in highway cleanups to helping members get to meetings. Cetin will be joining the Naval Reserves and promises to be back after training. Thank you for all you have done for our club and for Rotary, Ugur!
Jody Tull de Salis came forward to encourage us to come to the August 17-18 yoga retreat at the Kensington Hotel. She shared how important yoga is for mobility, inner peace and self-empowerment. “Yoga is for everybody.”
Rob Shiff announced that there will be a tour for Rotarians of Menlo Innovations courtesy of Rotarian Rick Sheridan. This will take place in September. Watch The Rotarian for more details. Shiff continued with a zoom update: the club has purchased a wireless camera which has reduced the weekly cost to the club from $300/meeting to $100/meeting. Thank you to the club members who have helped with their financial support to make this happen on behalf of all of our members.
Dennis Burke came to the podium to ask for two volunteers to go with him to attend the Washtenaw District Environmental Conference on the afternoon of June 26.
John White introduced today’s speaker, Maura Thomson, the Executive Director of the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) speaking on Building a Community: The Impact of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority / Infrastructure, Placemaking, Parking.
Thomson clarified that the DDA is a component unit of the City of Ann Arbor. The DDA focuses on enhancing and building a strong environment in its 67-block purview. It is funded by Tax Increment Financing (TIF). TIF captures a portion of taxes within an established district to fund capital improvements.
The DDA’s mission is to undertake public improvements that have the greatest impact in strengthening the downtown area and attracting new private investment. Ann Arbor’s DDA was created in 1982 with a 30-year development plan. Thomson said that the DDA is currently working on an updated renewal plan to be submitted ahead of the 2033 sunset.
The DDA has two components: a) operating our City’s parking system and b) working on infrastructure projects, placemaking and annual repairs through TIF. While the parking facilities are City assets, the DDA manages, operates and maintains the City’s public parking. The pandemic severely reduced downtown parking revenues which, in turn, deferred expenditures.
Infrastructure Projects and Placemaking
Thomson shared some visible examples of the DDA’s capital infrastructure projects including: a) the reconstruction and streetscape at Fifth Avenue at Detroit Streets (whose result is an eye-popping increase from 48% to 97% of drivers stopping for pedestrians); b) the Huron Street streetlight installation; c) the William Street bikeway; d) First and Ashley 2-way restoration and reconstruction; e) the Division Street bikeway; f) the Miller/Catherine bikeway and water main installation; and g) the State Street reconstruction and streetscaping. She emphasized that placemaking is an economic driver for the community. She announced the start of ELEVATE, a new public art and placemaking project.
Repairs
Thomson noted that the DDA’s ideal is that any repairs are made before any degradation or issue arises. Some repair projects include replacement of brick sidewalks, landscape maintenance, amenity zone and tree grate repairs, and general repairs.
Thomson was given a warm round of applause and stayed after the program to answer individual club members’ questions.
President Mark asked all to stand to recite the 4-way test:
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Steffek Blaske
