Gov

CITY ADMINISTRATOR Steve Powers answers directly to City Council. The city’s Charter requires the 11-member group to annually review the City Administrator’s performance. Council sets his pay and has the ultimate authority to fire him. …

IN THE JUNE 2014 issue of The Ann Arbor Observer, writer Jan Schlain reports, “So drivers will be hitting this year’s bumper crop of potholes for a while. They just shouldn’t expect any compensation from the city when they do so.” Ward 2…

SENATE MAJORITY leader Randy Richardville introduced a bill last week, about three weeks before the deadline for backers of the higher wage hike to file signatures to put their initiated law before the GOP-led Legislature. Assuming…

DURING THE RECENT Ann Arbor mayoral race there have already been questions about the part “temperament” plays in a candidate’s fitness to hold office. At a mayoral candidate forum held in April, one of the first questions asked of the four…

THE AAATA MILLAGE vote was costly. Ted Annis, former treasurer of the AAATA Board of Directors placed the amount spent on the special election, staff time, surveys, consultants, marketing and materials by AAATA at around $1.5 million.…

by Cliff Weathers MICHIGANDERS WHO raise chickens, goats and honey bees on their residential property have had their right to keep livestock stripped away by the state’s Agriculture and Rural Development Commission, which says they are…

by P.D. Lesko IT’S USUALLY DEATH and taxes that define the inevitable. However, in the city’s 2013 National Citizen Survey, comments about roads and taxes dominated the open-ended question responses. Respondents were asked to record…

IN 2000 THERE were eight miles of bike lanes in Ann Arbor. City officials recently began touting the number of “lane miles” of bike lanes: 71.8 (a lane mile is a mile on one side of a two-land road). The mayor often tells media that Ann…

THE WASHTENAW COUNTY Board of Commissioners is looking for citizens to volunteer for a slate of positions with the various Boards, Committees and Commissions. The Board of Commissioners will make these appointments at their upcoming session…

By Jeffrey Hayner I’m an Ann Arbor resident and  I want to speak about the upcoming May 6th special election that’s been called to request a 34 percent increase in our transit millage.  I’ve paid 2 mills for transit since I’ve lived in…