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City Council
Will New Green Rental Housing Ordinance Push Rents Even Higher? Landlords Say, “Yes”
by Jaime A. Hope
Ann Arbor's City Council recently passed a green-energy housing ordinance. The Exec. Dir. of the Washtenaw Area Apartment Association says the new ordinance will increase red tape and expenses for rental housing owners…
City Planning Commissioners’ Removal of Hundreds of Acres of Public Parkland From New City Land Use Plan Is Improper, Says Neighborhood Group
The unexplained deletion paves the way for development, subverts the will of the voters, and exposes the city to potential legal and financial fallout, says Ann Arbor Neighborhood Network group in its "Ann Arbor’s Parkland and Public…
City’s Action to Revoke Center of the City Charter Amendment is a Betrayal
Alan Haber serves on the Ann Arbor Community Commons Initiating Committee, AnnArborCommunityCommons.org
by Alan Haber
While they brought it forward with smiles and promises of a new jewel in the Center of the City, this new Library…
Mayor and Council to Ask Voters to Repeal 2018 City Center Charter Amendment, and Approve Sale of Public Parcel Once Valued at $10M for $1
by P.D. Lesko
Mayor Chris Taylor and his City Council allies voted unanimously on Tuesday March 4 to put what the pols claim are two connected ballot questions (Proposals A and B) on the Aug. 2025 ballot. Voters will be asked to not…
Residents Collecting Signatures to Vote on Ann Arbor Charter Amendment To Enact Non-Partisan Elections
Note: This article has been updated with comments from Ann Arbor City Clerk Jacqueline Beaudry, and corrected.
by P.D. Lesko
Mayor Chris Taylor has twice vetoed City Council resolutions passed that would have changed the City's…
A2Politico: City Bicentennial Celebrations Include a “Fun” Opportunity to Pay $795,000 to Pave a Parking Lot
by P.D. Lesko
So far, Ann Arbor's Bicentennial "celebrations" look like a "delicious" get together planned by out-of-touch, rich, white people: crustless mayonnaise sandwiches, only the best Lipton tea (but a charge for cracked cups for…
A2Politico: Ann Arbor Hires As Police Chief Candidate Who Allegedly Battered and Injured a Woman
by P.D. Lesko
On Dec. 19, Ann Arbor City Council voted unanimously to approve the City Administrator's recommendation to hire Andre Anderson as the City's next Chief of Police. In recommending Anderson despite his blemished service…
Who Derailed Ann Arbor’s Plans for an Unarmed Response Program?
by P.D. Lesko
In April 2021, City Council voted to adopt resolution R-21-129 which directed then City Administrator Tom Crawford to implement an "unarmed crisis response program in the City of Ann Arbor."…
Ann Arbor’s Police Chief Finalists: PPOs, Suspensions, Excessive Force and Civil Rights Violation Complaints
by P.D. Lesko
One of the candidates selected for the Ann Arbor police chief interviews scheduled for 8 a.m. on Dec. 1 is the former Chief of Police in Ferguson, MO. In 1996, this same candidate was suspended three times in one year and…
Ann Arbor City Council Virtue-Signalling: Why the Kathy Kozachenko Statue Doesn’t Make Sense
by Thomas F. Wieder
The Ann Arbor City Council’s recent passage of Its Resolution to Initiate a Statue to Honor Kathy Kozachenko is one of the odder and most ill-conceived Council actions that I have observed in more than a half-century…