Annie Somerville · The Ypsilantian

Annie Somerville represents District 6 — covering the City of Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township, and Superior Township — on the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners. She was first sworn in January 4, 2023, and was re-elected in November 2024, defeating Republican Mike Eller with 81% of the vote. She defeated three primary challengers — Kat Layton, Ryan Hunter, and Ricky Jefferson — with over 60% of the primary vote.

Her stated priorities: human services, housing access, youth investment, senior services, climate resiliency, and economic justice. She is the commissioner whose district includes every Ypsilanti address named in The Ypsilantian's accountability reporting.

Supreme Felons Inc. — $1.2M ARPA Vote (July 2022) Somerville voted yes on the unanimous Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners grant awarding Supreme Felons Inc. $1.2 million in federal ARPA funds. At the time: the organization's president (Billy Cole) was on parole for murder, its co-founder (Alan Fuqua) was a registered sex offender, its grant proposal contained fabricated school partnership claims (confirmed via FOIA), and the organization had never filed a federal tax return. Violent crime in the target zip codes rose 56% during the grant period.

August 15, 2023 — Township Board Ambush Somerville was among four county commissioners who appeared without notice at an Ypsilanti Township Board meeting on August 15, 2023 — what the township attorney characterized as an attempt to intimidate trustees who had raised concerns about Supreme Felons dispatching untrained members to 911 calls in place of Sheriff's deputies. The other three commissioners present: Justin Hodge, Caroline Sanders, Crystal Lyte. All four had voted yes on the SF grant.

Nicole Brown Endorsement (2026) Somerville has endorsed Mayor Nicole Brown for re-election in the 2026 mayoral race against challenger Amber Fellows.

Asberry Payne / Mackinac Conference Somerville is in the documented orbit of commissioners who attended the Mackinac Policy Conference during the period when county Administrator Alize Asberry Payne was charging approximately $115,000 in unauthorized personal and political expenses to her county card. The extent of Somerville's specific Mackinac expenses is not fully documented in The Ypsilantian's archive.

Somerville represents the exact geography of The Ypsilantian's primary accountability reporting — the city where McMullan stole and paid $125, where Supreme Felons took $1.2M and crime rose 56%, where the Water Street encampment has been unenforceable for over a year, and where the August 4 primary will determine control of city council and the mayoralty. She was first elected to represent these residents in 2022 and re-elected in 2024. The accountability failures documented in this archive occurred entirely within her district.