WHISPER: A legal source very close to the action says that City Attorney Stephen Postema is taking a gamble. First, let’s dispel any notion that the Ann Arbor City Attorney works for the citizens of Ann Arbor. He doesn’t. He works for the Ann Arbor City Council, and we taxpayers simply pay him $200,000 a [...]
On the AnnArbor.com site today, it was reported that City Administrator Roger Fraser told reporter Ryan Stanton that it would cost the city between $35,000-$45,000 to retrieve the emails sent by City Council during public meeting over the past seven years. That would be email messages sent during 172 meetings. This comes from Stanton’s piece: [...]
On September 21, 2009 when Fifth Ward Council member Mike Anglin and First Ward Council member Sabra Briere introduced a resolution to release all of Council’s emails sent during public meetings over the past six years, their colleagues became, suddenly, forward-thinking. It was time, the email nay sayers said, to move forward and get back [...]
Just because I think you might get a hankering to write: (JHieftje@a2gov.org;ssmith@a2gov.org; Sbriere@a2gov.org; SRapundalo@a2gov.org; TDerezinski@a2gov.org; CTaylor@a2gov.org; LGreden@a2gov.org; MHiggins@a2gov.org; MTeall@a2gov.org; CHohnke@a2gov.org; MAnglin@a2gov.org). WHISPER: Looking though the City’s web site where recruitment listings are posted, evidently, has the draw of a great garage sale to some people. You never know when you’re going to find something fascinating. [...]
Ecorse and Ann Arbor. Twin cities separated by little more than an investigation by the FBI? There are some striking similarities between machinations that led to the arrest and arraignment of Mayor Worthy of Ecorse, and recent “streamlining” of waste management services in Ann Arbor. The Detroit News is reporting today that the Mayor of [...]
Sometimes politicians get confused about the facts. It’s bound to happen. Other times, politicos just tell whoppers. Most do it because the local media don’t bother to check out the facts. Often, politicos get their political friends to corroborate their whoppers. I think the idea is that the more politicos who repeat a whopper as [...]
From June-November a couple of years ago, my family and I embarked on an journey to eat locally grown or produced food. If six months seems a short time compared to, say, Barbara Kingsolver’s year-long extravaganza, believe me when I say sometime around the middle of October there were murmurs of mutiny from the tots. [...]
Yes. Those initials stand for William F. Buckley, Jr. Bill to his wife Pat. Pup to his son Christopher. I recently read a book about William F. Buckley, Jr. Well, it was the book Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir by Christopher Buckley. The memoir was funny, touching and made me stop and remember that [...]
Ann Arbor City Council members knew Fifth Ward Council member Mike Anglin’s resolution to release the emails was coming. They faced a collective test of character. True to what we learned about their characters from their private emails in which they mocked each other, mocked their jobs and constituents, and lied to constituents about plans to [...]
POLL REOPENED. THIS WEEKEND POLL IS HANGING ON AS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR POSTS. SO, IF YOU DIDN’T GET A CHANCE TO VOTE, PULL THE LEVER. I’LL CLOSE THE POLL ON TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 22ND. Pull the lever whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, Independent or Green. Poll closes at 7 p.m. on September 16th. [...]
