About Mayor Hieftje

Experienced Leadership for Ann Arbor:

Mayor of Ann Arbor (2000-present); Ann Arbor City Councilmember (1999-2000)
Re-organized City bureaucracy, now saving taxpayers over $15,000,000/year
Created the Clean Communities Program to protect our neighborhoods from trash and blight
Founded the Washtenaw Metro Alliance to foster regional planning with neighboring communities
Championed the Parks and Greenbelt Initiative to forever save open space and farmland
Created the Mayor’s Green Energy Challenge to increase energy conservation and City government’s use of renewable energy
Created the non-motorized initiative to move Ann Arbor to the forefront in cycling and pedestrian infrastructure
Promoted the building of new affordable housing and expanded human service funding to help Ann Arbor’s most vulnerable residents
Holds open office hours every week to meet one-on-one with Ann Arbor residents
Led investments in new infrastructure, including a $100,000,000 renovation of the City’s 80-year old sewage treatment plant (underway), expansion of the City’s world-class recycling system, and replacement of deteriorating water and sewer pipes
Appointed to the Michigan Climate Action Council by Governor Granholm (2007 – present)
Board of Directors: Huron River Watershed Council 1998-2008 (Some of this time was served as an alternate.)
Member: Downtown Development Authority (2002 – present)
Chair of the Board of Directors: Recycle Ann Arbor (1989 – 1990)
Chair: Urban Core Mayors of Michigan (2004-05)
Member: The Wolfpack of the Great Lakes Office of the National Wildlife Federation
Board of Directors: Lake Superior Conservancy and Watershed Council, Sault St. Marie, Ontario (2004 – present)

Awards:

Environmental Leadership Award, Michigan League of Conservation Voters (2008)
Local Official of the Year, Michigan Parks Association (2004)
Conservation Leadership Award, Greater Detroit Audubon Society (2004)
Preservationist of the Year, Washtenaw Land Trust (2003)

Personal:

B.S., Political Science, Eastern Michigan University, magna cum laude
Married to pianist Kathryn Goodson; one son (Josh)
Graduate, Ann Arbor Pioneer High School