By BTL Staff
Ann Arbor's Jim Toy Community Center (JTCC) has released the results from its first municipal candidate questionnaire for the 2014 Washtenaw County primary elections.
The survey was designed to gauge and elicit candidates' commitments to LGBTQ issues and equality. Every candidate filed with the Washtenaw County Clerk's office was delivered the questionnaire, which asked them to describe their level of personal involvement with the LGBT community and also included statements where candidates could agree or disagree with certain topics. Those topics included same-sex marriage, domestic health benefits and same-sex adoption. Each candidate was allowed open-ended responses to each question or statement.
The 25 candidates who responded were rated on a scale of 1-5, with 1 showing no support for LGBT equality and 5 showing the most support and understanding of LGBT equality and issues.
The results found:
Candidate Office Rating
Veronique Liem Washtenaw County Circuit Court 5
Jane Bassett Washtenaw County Probate Judge 5
Constance Jones Washtenaw County Probate Judge 5
Tracy Van den Bergh Washtenaw County Probate Judge 5
Kent Martinez-Krantz Washtenaw County Commission (District 1) 4
Felicia Brabec Washtenaw County Commission (District 4) 5
Victor Dobrin Washtenaw County Commission (District 5) 4.5
Wilma Gold-Jones Washtenaw County Commission (District 5) 5
Ruth Ann Jamnick Washtenaw County Commission (District 5) 4.5
Andrew LaBarre Washtenaw County Commission (District 7) 5
Jeffrey Gallatin Washtenaw County Commission (District 8) 2
Yousef Rabhi Washtenaw County Commission (District 8) 5
Conan Smith Washtenaw County Commission (District 9) 5
Amanda Edmonds Ypsilanti Mayor 5
Peter Murdock Ypsilanti Mayor 5
Brian Robb Ypsilanti City Council (Ward 3) 5
Christopher Taylor Ann Arbor Mayor 5
Sabra Briere Ann Arbor Mayor 5
Sally Hart Petersen Ann Arbor Mayor 5
Sumi Kaliasapathy Ann Arbor City Council (Ward 1) 4.5
Kirk Westphal Ann Arbor City Council (Ward 2) 5
Nancy Kaplan Ann Arbor City Council (Ward 2) 4.5
Julie Grand Ann Arbor City Council (Ward 3) 5
Samuel McMullen Ann Arbor City Council (Ward 3) 3
Chuck Warpehoski Ann Arbor City Council (Ward 5) 4
JTCC, as a non-profit, does not give out endorsements and has created the ratings system to aide the LGBT community. The center is located at 319 Braun Ct., Ann Arbor. Call 734-995-9867 or visit www.jimtoycenter.org for more information.
