Return of the GOP

continued

"I see us getting back to 750 [employees] at some point in the next five or ten years, but I'm not going to still be here. I'm staying until I'm sure we've turned the corner."

When it comes to Ann Arbor's heavily Democratic city council wards, even Tea Party evangelists seem to falter. Republicans are represented in only one race.

Republican Stuart Berry calls his first bid for council last year, when he got 20 percent of the vote, a "learning opportunity." He says he's running this year in west-side Ward Five because "too many on council think of expanding government and expanding taxation ... I would be another voice on council like Jane Lumm. She's been a breath of fresh air fighting for limited government."

Democrat Chuck Warpehoski believes that "what most residents want is that government provide the core services they depend on: safe streets, trash and recycling pickup, safety services, and so on. My job, if elected, will be to make sure these services function as best they can as we continue to rebuild from the after-effects of the housing bubble, the loss of Pfizer, and the reduction of state revenue sharing."