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A2Politico
A2POLITICO: Biting the Hand That’s Under the Impression It’s Feeding You
By P.D. Lesko
THE EMAILS WERE clear: the PR rep. at Washtenaw Community College was not amused that The Ann Arbor Independent published an article about Dr. Gus Demas, a $500/day consultant hired by the college’s president. The college’s…
A2POLITICO: When the Koch Bros. Walk, People Listen
by P.D. Lesko
THE KOCH BROS. last week pulled $1.1 million in ads buys in the metro-Detroit marketplace. Well, not the Koch brothers themselves. They work through intermediaries. A powerful group funded by the Koch brothers pulled $1.1…
A2POLITICO: Toledo Water Crisis and the Ann Arbor Water Crisis
by P.D. Lesko
I AM AT work on an investigative piece about money allegedly mishandled. I don’t want to give away too much, but suffice it to say the people involved would rather the story not be told. We’re all guilty of wishing we…
A2POLITICO: Mayor’s Race: Looking Past the Platitudes to the Voting Records
By P.D. Lesko
IF A PLATITUDE falls from the lips of a political candidate and no one’s there to hear it, does it make a sound? The local media are breathlessly reprinting the platitudes offered up at the many mayoral forums sponsored by…
A2POLITICO: Economic Development Groupies Circle The Bentleys to Defend SPARK
by P.D. Lesko
AT A RECENT mayoral candidate forum, unabashed supporters of “crony capitalism”—what President Obama’s former economic expert Dr. Lawrence Summers called the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s programs—defended Ann…
A2Politico: Softball Questions and Myopic Politics
by P.D. Lesko
YOU PROBABLY DON’T know it, but sitting through a candidate forum in Ann Arbor is like watching paint dry. The same 50-60 people (many of whom are candidates in other races, office holders, political appointees or people…
A2POLITICO: AAPS Board of Education Members Leave District $35M Lighter
by P.D. Lesko
TRUSTEES GLENN NELSON and Irene Patalan have said they intend to step down from the Ann Arbor Board of Education. In 2003, they ran as a part of a slate of candidates and have, for a decade, served. In that time, they have…
A2POLITICO: The AAATA Bus Pass Blue Light Special
by P.D. Lesko
THE PRESIDENT OF Washtenaw Community College recently endorsed AAATA’s proposed $22 million tax hike. In a statement, WCC President Rose B. Bellanca said, “The AAATA is a valuable resource for our community and for…
A2POLITICO: AAPD Sources Dish on How Drug Crimes Might Get Classified as Trespass Violations
by P.D. Lesko
IN ANSWER TO how often the officers on Ann Arbor’s police department simply skip the step of filing official police reports, a source within the AAPD said: “Probably four times per month and all of the officers are doing…
A2POLITICO: Paying Attention to the “Public’s Perception”—Grudgingly
by P.D. Lesko
THE COUNTY EMPLOYEES had taken the majority of the chairs out of the waiting room and into a conference room, where a gaggle of them were gathered around a table having a meeting. The waiting room was full of people…