I am a believer that Michigan really only has one problem. 

I know this sounds strange. You're probably thinking: “Michigan has tons of problems.” 

But I believe that all of those examples you're thinking of right now - the economy, the budget, the funding cuts to our educational system and social safety net, our ailing environment, our decaying urban areas, our crumbling roads and bridges, our lack of sound mass transit- they are all symptoms. They are symptoms of our one underlying problem: We are either unwilling or unable to craft and enact a long-term vision for Michigan. 

Everything we have done lately has been a one-off, quick fix, politically expedient answer - "How do we get through this budget crisis?", "How do we get through this two year or four year term?"  This would be fine, if the kind of challenges we faced today had quick fix, two-year solutions. Unfortunately, they don’t, and the truth is, they never really did. We’re in the midst of  a massive structural upheaval. Globalization is rewriting the rules and changing our world in profound ways. And Michigan is feeling the full brunt of its impact. 

Time and again, we've put off the hard decisions for tomorrow. And, now we've discovered that tomorrow is today.

I wish I could tell you that the deep social and economic changes we're experiencing will be over in 2 years or even 5 years and that then the world will be back to "normal".  I wish I could tell you that I or anyone else had an easy solution. But there is no quick fix. There is no magic bullet.

The way I see it, we have two choices: 

(1) We can get dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century (like we are now) and the changes will still come (make no mistake about that) but the process will take 50 or 70 years and at the end of it Michigan will have 8 million people (half the electoral votes we have now) and a standard of living far worse than we see today. 

Or, (2) We craft a long term vision for our state based on our values, develop an aggressive plan of investment in that vision, and consistently execute on that plan. It will take discipline, creativity and even some sacrifice, but if we commit to the process, in 10-15 years, we’ll be on the other side of this. We’ll be more diversified, more flexible, more entrepreneurial. We'll be healthier.

From my perspective, developing a strategy for Michigan's long term success requires rethinking our attitudes and approach to education, the environment, urban policy and our economy. I believe that in doing so, not only do we have a moral obligation to adhere to principles of social justice, to protect the civil rights of all of our citizens, and to preserve our social saftey net, but also that if we do so, we will be better off as individuals, as a community and as a state.

To read about my vision for each of these topics click on the links in the box above.

Ultimately, I am running for State Representative because I want our community to take a leadership role in recasting our state's vision.  I want to take the best of what the Ann Arbor area has to offer and make it part of Michigan's future self.  We are our state's most creative, innovative region, and with the right kind of leadership --leadership I believe I can provide-- we will be invaluable and instrumental contributors to Michigan's success.