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Investigations
Council Members Discover Pedestrian Crosswalk Ordinance Passed Without A Professional Engineering (PE) Report
Editor’s Note: Katherine Griswold is the Chair of The Ann Arbor Independent’s Editorial Board.
WARD 1 COUNCIL member Sumi Kailasapathy conducted an email exchange this Fall with city staff, including the city’s transportation project…
Police, Fire, Parks, Millage Funds & Pools Dinged By City’s IT Fund For Millions In Assessments While IT Projects Remained Uncompleted
MAYOR HIEFTJE HAS repeatedly told the public that the cost of police and fire service is a strain on the city’s budget. In a 2012 interview he said this about the city’s safety services budget, “...All the water has been wrung out of the…
Downtown Area Citizens Advisory Council (CAC) Calls Resolution to Rein in DDA Board “Irrational.” Records Reveal All CAC Board Appointments Expired in 2012.
THE DOWNTOWN AREA Citizens Advisory Council (CAC) is supposed to be a group of no more than 15 mayoral appointees who, by Council resolution, live within the downtown area and "advise the DDA and City Council with regard to implementation…
19 Top-Level City Staffers Lose Car Allowances, Including Police Chief and CFO
UNDER FORMER CITY administrator Roger Fraser, the amounts paid out in tax dollars for cell phone allowances increased almost 95 percent between 2009 and 2012. By 2012, 196 of the city's 693 full-time employees had been given cell phone…
Dirty Air + Contaminated Water = Glowing Enviro Endorsements in One Michigan County
“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.…
Savaged: Snyder Treasury Appointee Who Implements EM Takeovers Abused City Credit Card, Ignored Auditor Warnings & Plunged Town Into Deep Debt
By Chris Savage
The Peter Principle: In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.
In February of this year, Roger Fraser resigned after nine years as Ann Arbor City Administrator to assume the role of Deputy…
City Managers Push Service Cuts While Spending Over $1.1 Million On Cell Phones & Texting
A2P Notes: This is filed under "Scoops & Scores" because you read it first here.
In response to multiple FOIAs, information released by city officials shows that perks including monthly car allowances, city-provided cars, mileage…
Savaged: Michigan EFM Outsources Water Treatment to Company Indicted By DOJ For Felony Violations of the Clean Water Act
by Chris Savage
A2PNotes: This is filed under "Scoops & Scores" because you read it here first.
Innocent until proven guilty? Better safe than sorry? What would you do? In 2009, Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm appointed Fred…
Ann Arbor Pays Thousands Monthly in Car Allowances and Mileage Reimbursements to City Employees With Desk Jobs
According to information provided to A2Politico in response to a FOIA, in Ann Arbor government, an attorney, planning department staffers, police officers, and even a DDA employee receive stipends worth $50 to $400 a month to put toward…
As Budget Woes Mount, City Managers/Staff Spend On Extravagant Meals & Luxury Resorts At Taxpayer Expense
A2P Notes: This is filed under "Scoops & Scores" because you read it here first.
Over the past 36 months Council has struggled with budget "deficits," threatened to close Mack Pool and the Burns Park Senior Center to make ends meet,…