New Facebook Group to Provide “Town Square” For “Respectful” Discussion of Local Politics

Stephen Lange Ranzini is a local banker who has been involved in Ann Arbor politics for several years. He lives downtown with his wife, Lisa, and their three young children. While he has never run for local office, his advocacy on behalf of fire safety led to improvements in the response times of the Ann Arbor Fire Department. Ranzini created a Facebook group called Ann Arbor Politics on February 26, 2020.

This is in the description of his group: “On Ann Arbor Politics Facebook Group we will try to post all articles about Ann Arbor politics published by local media organizations. Feel free to comment or add your own content as long as it is relevant to politics in Ann Arbor. We welcome all perspectives.”

On February 20, 2020, MLive.com discontinued its comment section. The Ann Arbor Independent does permit commenting from registered users who are logged into the site.

In the description of his new Facebook group, Ranzini writes, “Be respectful and polite or you will be banned!”

Ann Arbor Townies—Politics is a Facebook group of about 1,500 people. It is moderated by Jaime Magiera, a local who twice ran unsuccessfully for City Council, and Marci Woolson. Woolson is a graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and the Eisenhower School for National Security. She is a self-employed military contractor who lives in Washington, DC. Ann Arbor Townies—Politics was described by former members as a “viper pit” and a “cesspool.” The locals allege they were targeted, bullied and tossed out of the group for straying from—or disagreeing with—the “party line.”

A former member complained she was recently banned for posting a link to an article from The Ann Arbor Independent. Magiera, who has repeatedly expressed anger at the A2Independent’s coverage of his 2015 and 2017 City Council races, recently posted a threat on his politics Facebook page that any member who linked to Ann Arbor Independent content would be instantly banned. Magiera’s threat was liked by group member Ward 3 City Council member Julie Grand (D).

According to members of the Magiera/Woolson Facebook group who have voluntarily left, they quit the group because Woolson and Magiera encourage targeting and bullying. An examination of the Facebook group’s comments going back only 60 days turned up multiple comments that corroborate the complaints. The comments included threats, targeting, multiple instances of libel, cyberbullying and lengthy conspiracy theories.

Former members of the Magiera/Woolson Facebook group sharply criticized Facebook for permitting the group to be a platform where members post conspiracy theories about, and cyberbully members of, the public. This includes people who don’t belong to the group or have been banned, and have no access to see and, if appropriate, report the comments and the commenters.

Among a particularly active group of cyberbullies on the Magiera/Woolson Facebook page is Ned Staebler, a Wayne State University Vice President. The cyberbullies also include several former local elected officials and individuals who were appointed by Mayors Taylor/Hieftje to serve on city boards and commissions: Ward 4 Council member Margie Teall, former Planning Commissioner Julie Weatherbee, former Transportation Commission member Robert Gordon, and others.

There is also Ann Arbor Townie Politics on Facebook. According to the description of that group: “This group was created in direct response to an existing group of a similar name [the Magiera/Woolson group]. This group supports all lives and especially the lives of People of Color, Women, differently abled…. We are here to facilitate discussions of politics in Ann Arbor and southeast Michigan.”

Ranzini said in a comment in response to a post on his Facebook group page: “My goal with setting up this Facebook Group is to build the ‘Town Square’ that is missing now that commenting on MLive articles doesn’t exist any longer. Our town needs a place where our fellow citizens can politely and respectfully discuss the issues of importance occurring in our town.

“We need a place to provide our own insights when the writers of political articles present biased or incomplete work; when citizens know something beyond what is written in the articles published. Our town will be a better place for having this place to discuss, debate and learn.”

Former Ward 1 Council member Sandi Smith suggested in a comment that Ranzini’s new Facebook group look to “thought leaders” to shape the discussions. Smith suggested that the Ann Arbor Politics Facebook group repost content from local blogs as opposed to newspapers. In response, Ranzini said, “Social media supports echo chambers rather than a true public square that enables vigorous public debate. People rarely hear opinions that differ from those of their immediate friends.’ Pulling all the content together in one spot can help counteract this unfortunate trend while giving voice to people and groups previously marginalized.”