by P.D. Lesko Ann Arbor voters have been surly as of late. They want the potholes filled, their leaves collected, and their safety services funded. They don’t want their parkland used for parking. They don’t want to pay $45 million to build a train station. They don’t want Huron Hills Golf Course operations outsourced. They [...]
by P.D. Lesko Bernie Madoff sold a “sure thing.” He went to prison for life. Single-stream recycling was sold as a “sure thing” by Ann Arbor city staffers, politicos and their cronies. It would double collections and save taxpayers millions. Since its launch in July of 2010, it has, in fact, done neither. According to a draft [...]
by P.D. Lesko On June 30, 2012, the The Sierra Club, Huron Valley Group, and Sierra Club, Michigan Chapter announced that the groups had bestowed one of the most sought after political endorsements in the United States onto Fifth Ward Council candidate Vivienne Armentrout (left), a Democrat who spent four terms as a Washtenaw County commish [...]
by P.D. Lesko The Sierra Club, Huron Valley Group, and Sierra Club, Michigan Chapter announced on June 30, 2012 that the groups had bestowed one of the most sought after political endorsements in the United States onto Fourth Ward Council candidate Jack Eaton, a Democrat challenging long-time incumbent Ward 4 City Council member Margie Teall. The [...]
by P.D. Lesko “John Hieftje has the strongest environmental record of any Mayor in the Midwest. He’s championed the city’s Greenbelt, the clean energy initiative, commuter rail, bicycling and our terrific parks system. These programs set Ann Arbor apart. John’s leadership has set the standard for progressive mayors everywhere.” —Mike Garfield, Environmental Activist So why [...]
In 2000, there were 8 miles of bike lanes in Ann Arbor. Today, there are 37 miles of in-road lanes. John Hieftje’s administration has added just a little over 3 miles of lanes per year, on average, over the almost 12 years he has been in office. Hieftje frequently crows that Ann Arbor now has [...]
by P.D. Lesko Let’s start with a quiz: 1. Has Ann Arbor City Council voted to approve the construction of a train station in Fuller Park? 2. As the city Charter requires, have the citizens of Ann Arbor voted to give over the 10-acre river side parcel of park land valued at between $4-$10 million [...]
by P.D. Lesko It’s no surprise Republican Rob Steele couldn’t unseat Representative John Dingell in 2010. However, Steele’s run, which campaign emails intimated would be financed with the doctor’s own “fortune,” rattled Team Dingell. Former President Bill Clinton came to Michigan and stumped for the Dean of the House prior to the November election. It’s [...]
by P.D. Lesko Despite her continued opposition to the city’s Greenbelt millage, money that city officials have used to purchase thousands of acres of land (tip o’ the keyboard to Rita Mitchell), including farmland, in the area surrounding Ann Arbor, The Sierra Club, Huron Valley Group, and Sierra Club, Michigan Chapter today announced its endorsement of [...]
by P.D. Lesko Make no mistake. One look at the last three years of audited financial statements of Recycle Ann Arbor, and the company’s losses make it clear that CEO Melinda Uerling was struggling to keep the company, controlled by the Ann Arbor Ecology Center, afloat. Most recently, city staffers went before Council with a [...]
