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City Council
Fourth Ward Dem Incumbent Margie Teall Launches Campaign Website Fit For a Republican
by P.D. Lesko
Margie Teall is not one of the Ann Arbor City Council members who used to be a Republican, changed parties, then ran as Democrats. She's one of the Democrats on Ann Arbor City Council who votes like a Republican, squeezes pay…
“Green” Mayor’s Parkland-for-Train Station Scheme Underwritten In Part By Slush Fund
by P.D. Lesko
Let's start with a quiz:
1. Has Ann Arbor City Council voted to approve the construction of a train station in Fuller Park?
2. As the city Charter requires, have the citizens of Ann Arbor voted to give over the 10-acre…
Ward 5 Council Candidate Chuck Warpehoski: A Moderate Religious Voice Prone To Immoderate Lapses
by P.D. Lesko
Fifth Ward Council member Carsten Hohnke has had enough. In his email to constituents, Hohnke told readers he was stepping down after two terms to "spend more time with his family." A classic political dodge. Norman Fowler, a…
The Many Faces of Margie Teall
by P.D. Lesko
Fourth Ward Council member Margie Teall has talked a good game for a long time. The incredibly incurious (Ann Arbor News/AnnArbor.com), overly obsequious (Ann Arbor Observer) or just plain naive (Michigan Daily) local media…
Tony D Is Suddenly For Ann Arbor—Crass Political Opportunism Makes A Return
by P.D. Lesko
In November 2011 Second Ward Council member Stephen Rapundalo sent a damaging email to AnnArbor.com in which he painted himself as a disingenuous opportunist, writing that he wanted to “look engaged” prior to the election. …
Second Ward Council Member Tony Derezinski Trapped Under The Same Political Baggage That Crushed Rapundalo
by P.D. Lesko
Former Second Ward Council member Stephen Rapundalo was not popular. He had earned a reputation among constituents and city staffers as being nasty. One police officer, when asked about Rapundalo prior to the November 2011…
How Much “Fire, Ready, Aim” Leadership Cost Taxpayers This Time
by P.D. Lesko
The University of Michigan picked up its marbles and is going home. Officials there are now looking to build the U.'s next parking garage anywhere but on a 10 acre parcel of riverside parkland on Fuller Road. While the U…
Six Candidates Now Poised to Run For Mayor & City Council
by P.D. Lesko
It's February, and in another 60 days or so those in the mood to run for mayor and City Council as Democrats or Republicans will have gone to the City Clerk's office and taken out petitions. Those running as Independents have…
Look Out Boys! The Über Spinster Lets Down Her Hair
by P.D. Lesko
I read it, and I laughed. Out loud. I read it again, and laughed even more. I kept reading. Sometimes, I get bored and quit in the middle. Other times, reading this stuff is like taking flax seed oil. It's good for me, so I…
A Local Political Machine Gets Sabotaged From Within — Again
by P.D. Lesko
How many direct hits from within can the Hieftje-Hive-Mind-Collective Cube withstand?
In summer 2009, the Cube took its first hit from within: Ann Arbor residents woke up to a front page piece in the Ann Arbor News that was…