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DDA
Downtown Merchant Associations Say DDA Recommendation “Threatens” Merchants’ “Very Existence”
by Patricia Lesko
In a meeting held at lunch-time on Wednesday Mar. 1, over the objections of both the Main Street and State Street Area Association member business owners, the Downtown Development Authority Board approved the leasing of…
City Vendor Records Reveal Handful of Board/Commission Members Paid $1.33M
by Patricia Lesko
NextDoor is a city-wide listserv where neighbors can post everything from requests for babysitters to football tickets for sale. Neighbors have also taken to posting information about local city government. In Feb.…
Judge Kuhnke Rules Against Ann Arbor DDA
by P.D. Lesko
Circuit Court Refuses to Dismiss Pro Se Plaintiff’s Complaints
To download Judge Carol Kuhnke's April 2, 2015 Opinion in PDF format, click here.
ACCORDING TO HIS bio., local attorney Jerry Lax is currently in his…
Member Of Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority Board Of Directors Insults Residents And Criticizes Council Members In Public Rant
Please note: Kathy Griswold is the Chair of The Ann Arbor Independent's Editorial Board.
JOAN LOWENSTEIN, A long-time member of the Downtown Development Authority Board of Directors launched a website titled A2BetterCity.com. On her…
EDITORIAL: Neighborhoods Versus Downtown
OVER THE PAST decade, the city’s Mayor and Council members whom he has endorsed, and with whom he has allied himself, have neglected to tend to the basic infrastructure needs of Ann Arbor’s various neighborhoods. Roads and sidewalks have…
High Overhead & Debt Load Push DDA Parking Space Revenues Well Below National Average
MAYOR JOHN HIEFTJE’S propensity to populate the city’s boards and commissions with what City Council members allege are his political cronies has long irked political insiders.
This, among other reasons, is why there is a quiet movement…
Council Members Rebuke Mayor Over Proposed Appointee’s Perceived Conflicts of Interest
On August 20th, John Hieftje announced his intention to appoint Albert McWilliams to replace Newcombe Clark on the Board of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority. McWilliams, who works for Quack Media, is in his 30s and a self-styled…
Emails Reveal DDA Threatens to Cut Money That Funds Job of Council Member’s Wife
by P.D. Lesko
There are five solid votes on City Council to bring to heel the members of the Downtown Development Authority Board of Directors. Those are the votes of Sumi Kailsapathy, Jane Lumm, Sally Hart-Petersen, Stephen Kunselman…
Fighting Entrenched Cronyism One Vote At A Time
by P.D. Lesko
At the moment, Ann Arbor City Council members are trying to assert their Charter-mandated authority over the Board of the Downtown Development Authority like a parent trying to discipline a hopelessly out-of-control toddler…
In Ward 3 Debate, Kunselman Goes After DDA & Alleges Political “Cronyism” A Problem in Ann Arbor Government
The Ann Arbor chapter of the League of Women Voters sponsors candidate debates each election cycle for City Council races. On October 5, 2011, the League gave Third Ward Democrat Stephen Kunselman the chance to strut his political stuff…