The city of Ann Arbor is preparing for everything that could happen, from reduced federal funding to President Donald Trump’s deportation roundups of the immigrant communities that have formed over the years, with shifts in federal policy being considered. The response to all of this was the City Council of Ann Arbor approving a $1 million rapid-response fund they called to deal with the bad things that could happen with the federal changes.
One of the council members, Lisa Disch expressed that the need to prepare for the unknown is very important, she also said, “It is extremely prudent to think about political resilience, and we do not know what is coming.” This was a feeling by another person involved in the city Howard Dohoney a City Administrator, he was the person who explained the rapid-response fund and how it would benefit the city to quickly act on any urgent issues that happen.
Dohoney stated, “We’re simply trying to be as prepared as we possibly can for the uncertainty that we still start to experience on Jan. 21.”
According to the information that was sent to the City Council to get approved, the $1 million fund would be a support bridge for any programs or businesses that get affected by the federal policy shift. To give an example, if the funding that is given to a shelter gets pulled from the federal people, then the city of Ann Arbor could support that shelter and fill the gap for them until they can find a different type of funding.
