Ann Arbor mayoral candidates Christopher Taylor and Yousef Rabhi sparred over housing, energy, and money in politics at a forum Wednesday night.
Over 150 community members packed into the Ann Arbor District Library for the event, which was hosted by the League of Women Voters of Washtenaw County.
Taylor has served as the city’s mayor since 2014. During the forum, he highlighted his administration’s work to address the city’s housing crisis, including the passage of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, which is set to change zoning restrictions to increase density in the city.
“I am always here for housing,” Taylor said. “We need that in our community. We need the affordability that more housing will bring. This is our existential problem. It's a distraction to talk about anything else.”
Rabhi is a Democratic Socialist currently serving as a Washtenaw County Commissioner. He also highlighted growing affordability in the city, but said he doesn't believe in “trickle-down housing,” preferring to build more low-income public housing and opposing large subsidies or public land deals for private developers.
“Instead of selling our land off to private developers to build for-profit luxury condos, let's use that land to actually build housing for working and middle class people in this community,” he said.
Taylor responded, saying he is focused on expanding housing quickly within existing fiscal constraints. He said building at a variety of price points will increase supply and reduce prices overall, and shared that 1,200 units of new permanent affordable housing are currently in the pipeline for Ann Arbor.
The candidates also sparred over approaches to the city’s carbon neutrality goals and the feasibility of public ownership of the city’s power grid. Rabhi said DTE, the statewide energy utility serving Ann Arbor, will never be an ally in work toward renewable energy.
“DTE spends a lot, and by a lot, I mean hundreds of millions of your ratepayer money to influence our legislators and to buy lawmakers,” Rabhi said. “I came to the conclusion that there's only one way to achieve 100% renewable energy, to achieve reliable energy, to achieve cheaper energy, and that way is municipalizing our power grid here in the city of Ann Arbor.”
Taylor said that the goal of public power was financially and legally unrealistic in the short run. However, he pointed to the successes of the current Sustainable Energy Utility, which helps residents access renewable energy while remaining connected to DTE’s electric grid.
Later in the debate, each accused the other of talking like a reformer on money in politics while quietly benefiting from corporate and dark‑money backing. Taylor said he condemns corporate influence in elections, accusing Rabhi of taking thousands of dollars of corporate PAC money.
Rabhi said he has always worked against dark‑money accounts and has not taken corporate PAC money, accusing Taylor of being behind unsolicited attack mailers funded by Michigan Deserves Better.
“The fact that that dark money mailer ran it in your mailboxes at pretty much the same time that his mailer did should tell you something,” Rabhi said.
Taylor denied having anything to do with the mailers. He said voters should trust him because of his proven unflashy track record of delivering for the city.
“Basic services are fundamental to everything we do: clean water, fire, and firefighters that show up on time; parks; free and fair elections,” Taylor said. “Each and every day, we do the boring work, and we keep it boring.”
Catherine Murau, the president of the League of Women Voters of Washtenaw County, moderated the panel. She said an in-person forum provides a unique opportunity to engage with local politics.
“There's nothing like that in-person experience, and also being given the chance to ask your own questions and to just kind of feel — not just see a recording — but feel the atmosphere and be surrounded by people who care,” Murau said.
Voters will choose between Taylor and Rabhi in the Democratic primary August 4. There are no Republicans running.
Editor's note: DTE is among Michigan Public's corporate sponsors.
