by P.D. Lesko

Ypsilanti is a Third World country thanks to the stunning ineptitude and ethically suspect conduct of the City’s elected and appointed officials.

• Public records show Ypsilanti’s former City Manager Frances McMullen stole $20,000 by charging personal items to her city-issued credit card, including the rental fee for a banquet hall.

McMullan’s year-long joy ride with her employer’s credit card is currently being investigated by the Michigan State Police. She was caught and paid back the money, but it took years for the fraud to be made public and investigated by police.

• Months before the news of McMullan’s theft of $20,000 was made public, the Ypsilanti Economic Development Dir. John Meyers resigned after submitting a formal complaint that then City Manager Frances McMullan was targeting him. In his Mar. 2023 complaint against McMullan, Meyers alleged, among other things, she was defrauding the City of Ypsilanti financially. Meyers also alleged in his complaint that McMullan was, without reason, planning to demote him.

Ypsilanti’s freelance City Attorney John M. Barr investigated Meyers’ complaint. The final report, which The A2Indy obtained through a FOIA request, did not corroborate Meyers’s allegations.

• During City Manager Frances McMullan’s 14 years at the helm in Ypsilanti, the number of residents in the City fell by 18 percent. From a high of 25,000 residents in 1990, by 2021 Ypsilanti’s population had plummeted to 20,448.

• Ypsilanti Mayor Nicole Brown wrote a glowing letter of endorsement to Trial Court Judge Timothy P. Connors in support of the now defunct Ypsilanti Twp. club Men Like Us.

Brown did this in the face of dozens of police reports documenting attempted murder, assaults, sexual assaults, shootings and other criminal activity at the Ypsilanti Twp. building rented by Ardis Lewis, Jr. for his non-profit Men Like Us.

The Ypsilanti Twp. Board of Trustees had instructed a local attorney to file suit against Lewis and the owner of the building. The suit asked Trial Court Judge Timothy P. Connors to padlock the Michigan Ave. building for a year. Unsurprisingly, the landlord evicted Ardis Lewis, Jr.

Nicole Brown’s letter to the judge lauded the good work of a fine fellow who Trial Court records show fought paying child support for years, a guy who skipped out on his child support by leaving the State, who has a string of unpaid creditors, and who stiffed his landlord for upwards of $80,000 in rent.

It’s kind to say that Nicole Brown needs her vision, hearing and judgement checked by qualified professionals.

• Homelessness, panhandling and the open sale of drugs in the downtown area are rampant in Ypsilanti, according to local business owners.

• There is the current covert op to gut the Ypsilanti PD and replace it with Washtenaw County Sheriff’s rent-a-deputies at $125,000 each.

The persistent rumor among Ypsi and Ypsi Twp. politicos and the Sheriff’s own deputies is that Sheriff’s candidate Derrick Jackson has promised brand new Ypsi PD Chief Kirk Moore a job as a highly-paid undersheriff should Jackson be elected in 2024.

• Depot Town business owners begged for free parking to encourage their customers to patronize local shops. In response, the geniuses on the Ypsilanti DDA (whose members are appointed by City Council) installed paid parking kiosks.

Among the members of the DDA are Mayor Nicole Brown and Brian Jones-Chance (realtor involved in the “stinks-to-high-heaven” real estate deal for 599 Mansfield [see below]).

Throwing Gasoline on the Dumpster Fire

In Nov. 2023, the Ypsilanti City Council voted to spend $3.7 million to purchase a building for its Dept. of Public Services (DPS). They did this in a closed session. But wait, there’s more: the real estate agent cooking up that deal is a former Ypsilanti City Council member Brian Jones-Chance.

The deal for the building at 599 Mansfield, which Ypsi officials want to use as a new DPS building, is being brokered by Jones-Chance. Never mind the 599 Mansfield property had been purchased for $1.1 million in 2020, according to Assessor’s records.

In a phone call, Jones-Chance, confirmed he works for himself at Jones Chance & Company. When asked how he ended up as the realtor of record, Jones-Chance said he “had been contacted.” He added that Ypsilanti City Attorney (John Barr) had given his stamp of approval. Barr, Jones-Chance said, told him it would be better to have someone with experience on City Council and with knowledge of the city broker the deal.

It’s hard to believe any attorney would conclude there was no conflict of interest on Jones-Chance’s part. Then again, John Barr was apprised of Frances McMullan’s credit card theft, but he did not make it public. Barr also permitted Ypsilanti City Council to go into closed session to vote to buy the Mansfield property. This was a flagrant violation of the Michigan Open Meetings Act.

Ypsilanti has an ethics ordinance that allows anyone to file an ethics complaint against any “Officer or employee” of the city, and that includes John Barr.

Math and Priorities

Then, there is the math. Why would Council vote to pay $3.7 million for a building whose taxable value is assessed by the City Assessor for $1.68 million? In addition, tax records show by buying the building and taking it off the tax roles, cash-squeezed Ypsilanti will cancel out $58,000 in tax revenue annually.

• Ypsilanti’s 2022-2023 budget shows the City’s total general fund revenue is $19.1 million. Projected general fund revenue in 2023-2024 is $16.1 million with $18 million in projected expenditures, a deficit budget.

Chuck Bultman is an architect specializing in timber buildings (the current Ypsilanti DPS building is a timber structure from the 1800s). Bultman spoke at the Nov. 9 Council meeting. He has 20 years of experience in heavy timber construction and restoration of heavy timber buildings from the 18th century onward. Bultman–who had toured the wooden DPS salt shed–told Council members that repairing the wooden structures would be possible. Engineers for the City recommended a $750,000 demolition.

• The $3.7 million purchase of 599 Mansfield was approved by Council without a building inspection or an updated property assessment, both of which any lender would require and both of which only fools would forego.

At the Nov. 9 Council meeting, Ypsilanti resident Frank Wright said, “This bum’s rush [to overpay for the building] doesn’t work for me.”

Tackling Shrinking Revenue and Fleeing Residents Ypsi Style

• The Mayor and Council paid a consultant to help them develop priorities for their 2023-2024 budget. The number one priority? “Retaining and attracting staff continues to be one of our biggest goals. To accomplish this, we must ensure that employees have the tools necessary through training and modernization of software to do their jobs well. Providing incentives for performance and opportunities for growth improves productivity and boosts morale. Creating a benefits plan that is appealing and allows diverse work arrangements foster a positive culture and adds to a great work experience.”

Dumpster. Fire.

• The Mayor and Council’s last two fiscal priorities out of five from the 2023-2024 budget? “Investing in infrastructure, both city facilities and parks enhance community pride and ensure those that live, play, and work in the community may do so safely. Generating revenue to provide adequate city services and examine different housing opportunities to meet a multigenerational need and economic need equitably.”

Generating revenue is the last priority in a city with a shrinking population, falling tax base and a deficit budget?

Dumpster. Fire.

On Nov. 9, 2023, after being begged, urged and lambasted by Ypsilanti residents who came to speak at the meeting, and by residents who phoned in to speak at the meeting, the Council members voted not to buy the property. They reversed their illegal closed session vote to purchase 599 Mansfield.

Minutes later, after the Director of DPS resigned in a huff, City Council reversed that decision and voted (this time in public) to spend the $3.7 million.

Dumpster. Fire.

Ypsi Council members’ former colleague Brian Jones-Chance, who owns Jones Chance & Co, is making out like a bandit. The taxpayers in Ypsilanti get to watch the flames of a Dumpster Fire burning out of control.