Election Section

As the City of Berkeley and the University of California tackle the problems of the LRDP 2020, it seems they are both avoiding the real issue of cooperation to solve the problems it creates. It is useful to see how other large public universities manage their relationships with their host cities, and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor provides a good example. 

In a search to determine how other great public universities treat the communities they preside in, U of M in Ann Arbor has the right approach. U of M is considered one of the top universities in the world. The physical layout is strikingly similar to UCB and Berkeley. The U of M is located in the city of Ann Arbor just as UCB is in Berkeley. 

Now comes the striking differences on how the two universities treat their host cities. According to an article from the Ann Arbor Regional Business to Business September 2004, Volume 24, No. 9, the U of M is a partner in the community. 

In 2002, the U of M paid $14,262,245 to the city of Ann Arbor and city affiliates. Yes—this is a public university just like UCB. 

“The U of M property rentals and leases contributed to the city and affiliates through direct payments and property taxes”. Examples are $149,000 to the public school system for use of the district’s parking lots for athletic events. U of M paid Ann Arbor nearly $3,500,000 in property taxes, imputed in rental fees. This amounts to about 5 percent of the city’s total tax revenue. 

Ann Arbor received more than $6,000,000 for water and sewer services. $600,000 was donated to analyze the city’s sanitary system to assess its adequacy against current and projected needs, and U of M does much more.  

The Ann Arbor Police Department has received more than $102,000 for supplemental police services. The university’s own 56 police officers in turn provide assistance to the city police force. 

The U of M also is a partner in many capitol improvement projects in the city. “They have helped construct and fund projects such as the 1996 Main Street and Stadium Boulevard street widening project, Fuller Road/Oakway storm sewer project, and the South State Street AATA commuter parking lot.” U of M donated the land for the last project. For the Forest Ave. parking structure, the university contributed $5,751,000. “The U of M pays an average of $250,000 per year for its share of the annual city street repaving program. The city and U of M teamed up to research ways to improve lighting and opportunities for restoring two-way traffic on one-way streets. The university paid $30,000 of the $130,000 projected cost. 

The Ann Arbor Fire Department is called upon in the event of a campus fire, just like UCB does. The difference is the level of support both planning and financial. The U of M is also an environmental leader in its community. It constantly monitors overall environmental performance to the benefit of the outlying community. 

All of the above and more can be found on the U of M web-site under community relations. In light of the lawsuit filed by the city against the university the above facts should be the goal of Berkeley. This is true university-city cooperation which benefits all. 

Ann and Dean Metzger 

ô