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Bob Dascola in his downtown Ann Arbor barbershop just before filing a lawsuit against the city in March.
(Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News)
After winning a lawsuit against the city of Ann Arbor, downtown barbershop owner Bob Dascola is officially a candidate in the 3rd Ward race for City Council.
"I feel great," Dascola said when reached by phone on Tuesday. "I think this is so cool the judge has ruled in our favor. I'm very, very excited about this."
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Zatkoff ruled on Tuesday the city had no legal justification for keeping Dascola off the Aug. 5 primary ballot.
Dascola will now compete against fellow Democrats Julie Grand and Sam McMullen for the open seat being vacated by Christopher Taylor, who is running for mayor.
The judge agreed with Dascola that the eligibility requirements in the city charter that the city claimed Dascola didn't meet actually were deemed unconstitutional by the federal courts back in the 1970s and thus no longer applied.
The case wasn't about whether the city's requirements, if enacted today, would or wouldn't survive constitutional analysis under the current standard of review. But rather, the judge opined, the fact that they were deemed void more than 40 years ago meant they ceased to be relevant at that point.
City Attorney Stephen Postema said he's glad to get that clarification and he won't be appealing the decision.
"The intention of this case was to obtain a clear ruling for the benefit of all. That has been done and the city clerk intends to put Mr. Dascola on the ballot pursuant to this direction," Postema said in a statement.
Dascola and his attorney, Tom Wieder, filed a lawsuit in late March challenging the city charter's eligibility requirements, which state that someone running for office must be a resident of the ward in which they're running for a year before being elected, and that one must be a registered voter of the city for a year before being elected.
Dascola readily admitted he didn't register to vote in Ann Arbor until Jan. 15. It also was debated how long he actually has lived in Ann Arbor.
Though he grew up in Ann Arbor, Dascola moved away and lived in Grass Lake for some time, but he has worked downtown on State Street for many years and says he has been living with his fiance on Baldwin Avenue for the last year and a half.
Either way, Dascola and Wieder argued, none of that mattered because the city's residency requirements were struck down decades ago. The judge agreed with them, stating that the city is permanently enjoined from enforcing the provisions of the city charter that were declared unconstitutional in the 1970s.
"Obviously, Bob Dascola is thrilled he's going to get on the ballot. That was the purpose of all this," Wieder said. "To him, it's a matter of being able to run. From the standpoint of the legal contest, it's very rewarding because the court essentially agreed with us point by point and disagreed with the city point by point."
Throughout the 17-page ruling, the judge was heavily critical of the city's position, calling its arguments unconvincing, misplaced and fatally flawed.
Postema had argued that even if the city charter provisions were deemed void in the past, they no longer were void in light of changes in case law that support the kind of residency requirements the city was trying to enforce.
Given the circumstances, Postema said, it was necessary for a federal court to provide clear guidance on the issue to protect the integrity of the election process.
Following the ruling, the city is now temporarily without residency requirements for running for office in the city. City officials will have to craft new requirements and put them on the ballot for voter approval to be written into the city charter.
Dascola has been awarded "all reasonable costs and attorney's fees," which the city must pay. Wieder said he put a lot of hours into the case so it's going to be a good amount of money, though he hasn't calculated everything yet.
Ryan Stanton covers Ann Arbor city hall for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com or 734-623-2529 or follow him on Twitter.