Before he ran for governor six years ago, long before he faced intense criticism over the Flint water crisis, Rick Snyder was a respected Ann Arbor businessman.

The former president of computer-maker Gateway Inc., Snyder returned to the home of his alma mater in 1997 to start a successful career as a venture capitalist.

Snyder's Ann Arbor-based venture capital firms -- one founded in 1997 and another in 2004 -- raised $100 million each for investments in high-tech companies in Michigan and elsewhere, including some University of Michigan spinoffs that went on to employ hundreds of people in the Ann Arbor area.

Two of those U-M startups, HealthMedia and HandyLab, sold for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Celebrating the formation of economic development group Ann Arbor SPARK in 2005, co-founder Rick Snyder is pictured with then-Washtenaw County Administrator Bob Guenzel and then-University of Michigan Vice President of Research Fawwaz Ulaby.

Snyder's roots in Ann Arbor trace back to 1976 when he arrived here as a U-M student from the small town of Battle Creek.

He went on to earn three degrees from the university by the age of 23, including a bachelor's, MBA and law degree.

"My years (at U-M) were amazing," Snyder told a graduating class while delivering a commencement speech at Michigan Stadium in 2011.

Now five years into his reign as governor, things aren't so amazing. The Republican millionaire who recently moved from a gated community just outside Ann Arbor to a condo in the middle of downtown is at the center of a national controversy.

The regrettable decisions and inaction that resulted in lead-poisoned water being pumped into homes in Flint, one of the state's poorest cities, happened on Snyder's watch while Flint was under state-appointed emergency management.

Snyder has apologized for what he considers a failure of government on all levels, and he's vowing to fix the problems his administration helped create, but many, including fellow Ann Arborites, aren't letting him off the hook easily.

Since he moved downtown, there have been regular protests outside the governor's Main Street condo, and he's been heckled and shouted at in public.

The governor faces continued pressure to resign and threats of recall, and whether he's welcome in Ann Arbor any longer depends on whom you ask.

This past Tuesday, a group of about 70 mostly U-M students and other residents gathered for a "Snyder's Not Welcome Here" protest on the Ann Arbor campus, calling for Snyder's arrest as they chanted "Flint lives matter!"

"He can live here if he wants, but, I mean, we don't want him to think what happened was OK and that it will just blow over with some PR," said Ann Mulhern, a longtime Ann Arbor resident who was among those protesting. "He can live here if he wants, but he should resign -- and go to jail."

"As empty nesters, governor and Sue Snyder wanted to downsize and move to the heart of the city -- and still be close to their three children," Murray said.

"The couple is very committed to the area, and Sue Snyder is active in a number of Ann Arbor-based nonprofit and advocacy organizations, such as Ele's Place, a healing center for grieving children. Gov. Snyder is a strong supporter of the University of Michigan and its football and basketball teams."

The news that Snyder and his wife were moving to downtown Ann Arbor was well received by community and business leaders last year.

"I'm delighted that the governor will be moving to Main Street," Mayor Christopher Taylor said at the time. "Although we differ on a number of things, I think we're all proud that Michigan's governor calls Ann Arbor home."



Rich Sheridan, CEO of Ann Arbor-based software firm Menlo Innovations, is among those who continue to support the governor here.

"I am saddened for everyone in our state by what has happened in Flint," he said. "I know emotions are running high about this critical situation and that is not only expected, but appropriate. The extra noise being caused by those who simply want to jump on this bandwagon or that one isn't actually helpful to the people of Flint."

Sheridan said Snyder is a good friend who has been committed to Ann Arbor and Michigan, and Snyder will remain a friend in spite of all that has happened.

"My opinion of his time as governor will ultimately be based on his personal leadership ability to marshal the resources available to help Flint citizens as quickly and effectively as possible," he said. "I continue to believe he is the person to lead our state and lead us out of this crisis."

As Snyder continues to face hostility even in Ann Arbor, Bob Guenzel, Washtenaw County's now-retired county administrator, said he feels sympathetic.

"I know there's a lot of anger out there, and I'm not criticizing anyone in Flint or anyone who feels strongly about this, but we need to move forward," he said. "And I would think Rick Snyder could provide that leadership if he's given a chance."

Guenzel credits Snyder for helping to form Ann Arbor SPARK, the region's public-private economic development group, in 2005.

"When I was county administrator, I worked closely with Rick on a couple things," Guenzel said. "He was helpful in talking about a countywide plan and gave us quite a bit of input as a private entrepreneur/developer type, but probably the biggest connection we had was the formation of Ann Arbor SPARK.

"He was really the driving force behind that -- of course, with the support of Mary Sue Coleman and the University of Michigan. It really was a game changer for economic development in Washtenaw County."

Guenzel said U-M historically had taken a mostly neutral stance on economic development. Snyder helped persuade the county's business and community leaders that the old model -- the Washtenaw Development Council -- was ready for retooling, and the creation of SPARK pulled in U-M.

"We merged the WDC into Ann Arbor SPARK, and it really became a full-service economic development organization, and he was the first chair of that group and I was the vice chair," Guenzel said. "He was really committed to the community and to economic development, so that was a very positive partnership."

Guenzel said Ann Arbor SPARK, along with many other things Ann Arbor has going for it, is one of the reasons why the local economy is so strong today.

'Not how he imagined things'

While criticism of Snyder has intensified as of late, the Republican governor never really had much political support in left-leaning Ann Arbor.

City leaders and residents have been speaking out against Snyder's policies since his first year in office.

In Ann Arbor, Snyder has been heavily criticized at different times for banning domestic partner benefits for same-sex couples, cutting education funding, implementing controversial right-to-work legislation and slashing business taxes while increasing taxes on pensioners, among other measures. Hundreds marched down Geddes Road to the gates of Snyder's neighborhood in 2012 in protest of the state's emergency manager law.

The governor's office points out there was a loss of federal stimulus money for schools his first year in office, but that was a federal decision, not one made by the state, and K-12 schools funding overall has increased since Snyder took office.

Snyder's office also argues there was one year of higher education cuts, and funding there has increased each year after those first-year cuts.

Snyder also defended Michigan's ban on gay marriage, another move that put him at odds with many in Ann Arbor. Snyder said opposing same-sex marriage was his constitutional duty because state voters decided the issue in 2004.

When Snyder first ran for governor in 2010, there was some evidence that moderate Democrats in the Ann Arbor area crossed over and supported Snyder, whose campaign mantra of creating jobs appealed to a broad spectrum of voters. Some said they supported Snyder in the primary that year as a strategic move to avoid a more right-wing conservative from advancing to the general election.

Snyder declined to make his opinions on social issues known during his first run for governor, saying they weren't on his agenda.

"I think his support base locally vanished a while ago," City Council Member Kirk Westphal, D-2nd Ward, said of Snyder.

"Between his regressive, anti-union, anti-equality legislation, my feeling is that he lost the support of centrist Democrats a long time ago."

Democrat Virg Bernero still won Ann Arbor with 62 percent of the vote compared to Snyder's 35 percent in November 2010, although Snyder won statewide.

By the time Snyder was up for re-election four years later, his support in Ann Arbor had declined. Democrat Mark Schauer won Ann Arbor with 69 percent of the vote compared to Snyder's 29 percent in November 2014.

Snyder's statewide approval rating has dropped since the Flint water crisis made national news, with a recent EPIC-MRA poll showing only 39 percent of people surveyed in late January said Snyder was doing a good job as governor. However, only 29 percent of those surveyed said he should resign from office.

Commenting on the demonstrations against Snyder in Ann Arbor, Westphal said people have every right to be furious about the situation in Flint.

"For me, I think before we know everything about who knew what and when, it's a good opportunity to reflect on how we got to this point and the larger issues surrounding our decaying infrastructure," he said. "Michigan has had it tough for many reasons, but the policies of this and past legislatures haven't helped our urban areas. Issues of revenue sharing and a refusal to allow cities to take more local control or think more regionally have just accelerated the decline."

Local blogger Mark Maynard has chronicled some of Snyder's recent troubles in Ann Arbor, questioning whether the governor will be able to stick it out here.

"While I'm sure there are still places that he'd be welcome, like the West End Grill, where he's a regular, I have a feeling, as evidenced by what just happened at the Old Town, that our governor's beloved Ann Arbor is growing smaller and smaller with each passing day," Maynard wrote in a blog post last month.

Maynard said he hasn't been involved in any of the protests, but he's glad people in Ann Arbor are making the governor aware of how they feel.

"I think, if we're going to see meaningful action from him, it will likely be because of things like the reception he received tonight at Old Town, and not because of protestors at the capital, or Facebook posts by the likes of Michael Moore," Maynard wrote on his blog the night Snyder was heckled at Old Town.

"I think it's incredibly important to Snyder how he's perceived by his peers in Ann Arbor, and I know that, when he ran for governor, this is not how he imagined things playing out. He wanted to be the 'tough nerd' who solved all of our problems and put us on the path to a brighter future. Sadly, though, it didn't turn out that way. He tried to run our state like a business, and, as a result, a city and its people have been ruined. And I'm afraid, now, he's lost his hometown, too."

Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com.