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Ypsilanti Council Member Survives Recall Election
by P.D. Lesko
Democrat Desirae Simmons, the embattled Ward 3 Ypsilanti City Council member, won her May 7, 2024 recall election against challenger Democrat Rod Johnson. Simmons captured 52.06 percent of the vote. Turnout for the special!-->!-->!-->…
County DEI Director Fabricated Work, Education and Business Experience; She Got Hired and Makes $147K
Download and view Alize Asberry Payne's Dec. 2018 job application, cover letter and resume:
Letter-Resume-Application-Alize-Payne_RedactedDownload
by P.D. Lesko
Records, including public records, show the County's Racial!-->!-->!-->!-->!-->!-->!-->!-->!-->…
AADL 2022-2023 Annual Report: Big Ups, Big Downs and a Crossroads
3/7/24 Correction: AADL Board President Molly Kleinman resigned from the Ann Arbor Transportation Commission on February 28, 2024.
by P.D. Lesko
In the final years that former AADL Director Josie Parker captained the ship, Annual!-->!-->!-->!-->!-->…
County Sheriff Spends Mental Health and Public Safety Millage Money on New Boat, New Furnishings, Graphic Design, and Bogus Therapy Program
by P.D. Lesko
This article was made possible by The Ann Arbor Independent FOIA Fund.
At a recent "informational meeting" with officials from western Washtenaw County, the Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton, The Sheriff's!-->!-->!-->!-->!-->!-->!-->!-->!-->…
Bucking National Trends, A2Indy Readership in 2023 Jumped Almost 12 Percent to 90,657
During 2023, The Ann Arbor Independent's readership rose from 80,949 to 90,657, an 11.9 percent increase. The newspaper's readership in 2021 stood at 68,124. According to research by the non-partisan Pew Research Center published in Nov.!-->…
Former Ann Arbor City Employee Who Sued Over City’s COVID Vaccine Mandate Has Case Thrown Out
"Plaintiffs, former City of Ann Arbor (“City”) employees, filed this lawsuit claiming that their employment was terminated in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ('Title VII) and Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights!-->…
Leader of Non-Profit Cited as a Public Nuisance Says Ypsi Twp. Trustees Are “Missing the Good”
by P.D. Lesko
Men Like Us was created as a non-profit in 2021. Since leasing space in a building at 3011 E. Michigan Ave. in Ypsilanti Twp., Ardis Lewis Jr.'s "men's club" has been the subject of over 30 police reports. The police!-->!-->!-->…
Since 2016 County Administrator Pay Has Doubled and Commissioners’ Pay Has Risen 115 Percent
by P.D. Lesko
As the saying goes: One hand washes the other. In the case of County Administrator Greg Dill and the Washtenaw County Commissioners, they have worked together to more than double their own pay since Dill was hired in 2016.!-->!-->!-->…
Residents Refused Mental Health Services While CMH Spends Millage Money on Consultants, PR and Paid “News” Coverage
Despite the 2017 passage of the Public Safety and Community Mental Health Preservation Millage, Washtenaw County Community Mental Health turns away Washtenaw County residents who need mental health treatment. Meanwhile, CMH Exec. Dir.!-->…
Ann Arbor Independent Wins Investigative Reporting Award for “Supreme Felons, Inc.”
On May 15, 2023 the Society of Professional Journalists announced that The Ann Arbor Independent had won an excellence in reporting award for its investigative series about a $1.2 million grant handed over to a Washtenaw County non-profit!-->…