October 2025 Meeting

Meeting agenda:
9:30 - 10 am:   Meet, greet, and eat
10 - 10:30 am: Elected Official Updates
10:30 - 10:40:  Mark Totten - Candidate for Attorney General
10:40 - 10:55:  No Kings Update
10:55 - 11:15:  Countywide Proposal A: Career Technical Institute
11:20 - noon:   ACLU Legislative Director, Kyle Zawacki

During this meeting we will discuss the Career Technical Education Millage Proposal:
On the November 4, 2025, ballot, voters residing in school districts served by the WISD will vote on this 1.0 mill, 10-year proposal to expand countywide access to PreK-12 CTE programs. This proposal would support operational costs to provide Career Technical Education (CTE) learning experiences from preschool through high school graduation. If approved, the CTE millage would be used by Washtenaw ISD to reimburse all local public school districts for existing CTE expenses and also develop new countywide CTE learning opportunities. 

To speak for this proposal we have Naomi Norman, Superintendent, and Ryan Rowe, CTE Director. Speaking against we have Kathy Griswold. 

Speaker Bios:

Mark Totten grew up in Kalamazoo, where he lives today. His mom was a first-grade teacher and single parent; his dad was a long-distance truck driver. He began his legal career at the U.S. Department of Justice. From 2019-22 he served as Chief Legal Counsel to Governor Gretchen Whitmer, where he led the Governor’s effort to protect the 2020 election, defend reproductive freedom, and restore prevailing wage. From 2022-25, Mark served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, representing 49 counties, including the Upper Peninsula and the western half of the Lower Peninsula. There he protected children from predators, seniors from fraud, democracy from public corruption, and vulnerable communities from hate crimes.

Kyle Zawacki is the Legislative Director for the ACLU of Michigan, bringing a variety of experience in policy advocacy and civic education. Prior to joining the ACLU, he served as a Legislative Director in the Michigan House of Representatives, and spent nearly a decade as a high school social studies teacher in Michigan, specializing in U.S. Government and Civics, Ancient History, and Native American Studies. 

Kyle is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University's School of Education with a B.A. in Secondary Education and is completing an MSW in Policy and Political Social Work at the University of Michigan