Vivienne Armentrout - Ann Arbor

Vivienne Armentrout is a freelance writer and prominent anti-development activist. Her articles appear in publications including the Ann Arbor Observer. Her blog is Local in Ann Arbor; Local in Ann Arbor.

Since moving to Ann Arbor with her husband Charlie (a physicist) in 1986, Vivienne has focused on community service and on her work as a free-lance editor, writer, and publisher. Previous to the move to Michigan, Vivienne was a college professor at California State Polytechnic University and holds a Ph.D. in Botany and Plant Pathology.

Armentrout has edited several urban planning and science-related books, including Gleason’s Plants of Michigan, written by Richard K. Rabeler of the University of Michigan Herbarium and published by the University of Michigan Press.

January 11, 2010: Vivienne Armentrout announced today that she will not run for any elective office this year. Armentrout ran for City Council – 5th Ward, Ann Arbor – in the Democratic primary of 2008 and was defeated by Carsten Hohnke in a close race. She says, “I have received a number of inquiries about my intentions in this coming year and I want to make it clear that I will not be a candidate for City Council or any other office in 2010. I ran for Council in 2008 because I was very concerned about a number of directions that the Mayor and Council majority were taking the city. I remain concerned about those issues, but believe that I will be more effective as a citizen advocate rather than as a candidate. It also frees me to work for other candidates whose views I support.”

Vivienne was a 2008 and 2012 Democratic candidate for the Fifth Ward in Ann Arbor. She lost both elections.

She no longer lives in Ann Arbor, but continues to be involved in city politics.