by P.D. Lesko Fifth Ward Council member Carsten Hohnke has had enough. In his email to constituents, Hohnke told readers he was stepping down after two terms to “spend more time with his family.” A classic political dodge. Norman Fowler, a member of Margaret Thatcher’s Cabinet, was supposedly the first politician to give the “spend [...]
by P.D. Lesko Fourth Ward Council member Margie Teall has talked a good game for a long time. The incredibly incurious (Ann Arbor News/AnnArbor.com), overly obsequious (Ann Arbor Observer) or just plain naive (Michigan Daily) local media have made it possible for her to talk a good game. To date, the city’s local media have rarely [...]
by P.D. Lesko In November 2011 Second Ward Council member Stephen Rapundalo sent a damaging email to AnnArbor.com in which he painted himself as a disingenuous opportunist, writing that he wanted to “look engaged” prior to the election. AnnArbor.com went on to endorse Rapundalo in the City Council race, but the scathing comments by AnnArbor.com readers left [...]
by P.D. Lesko Former Second Ward Council member Stephen Rapundalo was not popular. He had earned a reputation among constituents and city staffers as being nasty. One police officer, when asked about Rapundalo prior to the November 2011 general election in which Rapundalo was ousted from office, said with a chuckle, “Oh, we don’t like [...]
by P.D. Lesko The University of Michigan picked up its marbles and is going home. Officials there are now looking to build the U.’s next parking garage anywhere but on a 10 acre parcel of riverside parkland on Fuller Road. While the U walks away having shelled out relatively little money, Ann Arbor taxpayers are [...]
by P.D. Lesko It’s February, and in another 60 days or so those in the mood to run for mayor and City Council as Democrats or Republicans will have gone to the City Clerk’s office and taken out petitions. Those running as Independents have until August 2012 to turn in nominating petitions. City Council candidates [...]
by P.D. Lesko I read it, and I laughed. Out loud. I read it again, and laughed even more. I kept reading. Sometimes, I get bored and quit in the middle. Other times, reading this stuff is like taking flax seed oil. It’s good for me, so I do it. This time, however, I was [...]
by P.D. Lesko How many direct hits from within can the Hieftje-Hive-Mind-Collective Cube withstand? In summer 2009, the Cube took its first hit from within: Ann Arbor residents woke up to a front page piece in the Ann Arbor News that was either hysterically funny or horrifying, depending on one’s political affiliation and, perhaps, one’s [...]
by P.D. Lesko DDA Board member and former Second Ward City Council member Joan Lowenstein (right) is having a really tough time of it, politically speaking. Should you care? Absolutely. It’s a better show than “Real Housewives,” but with some of same characters, crazy plot twists, and zany attempts to make the 1 percent look [...]
by P.D. Lesko City Council committee appointments are out, and it looks as though newly elected Second Ward Council member Jane Lumm worked some black magic to get herself spots on two of the most powerful Council committees. For starters, Lumm got herself appointed to the Budget Committee. According to an August 2009 piece in the AnnArborChronicle.com, [...]
