Browsing Category
Gov
Ann Arbor’s State Representatives’ Independent PACS—Leadership Funds Or Havens For Special Interest Money?
MICHIGAN’S CAMPAIGN FINANCE laws, dating to the mid-1970s, require public disclosure of and set limits on many political contributions. Records for state offices are filed with the Bureau of Elections in the secretary of state’s office in…
Washtenaw County 14a District Court Employees Use County Credit Cards To Make Dozens of Purchases At Ypsilanti Tim Horton’s
WASHTENAW 14A COURT employees Colleen E. Turek and Lisa Mull have each used their county-issued credit cards to make dozens of purchases at the Ypsilanti Tim Horton’s. The most recent purchase was one for $57.42 made on February 7, 2014 by…
Q & A: Washtenaw Watch Dogs Founder Dr. Douglas Smith
DR. DOUG SMITH, a pathologist, isn’t a guy who rolls over and plays dead in the face of injustice. Prior to July 2011, the University of Michigan’s campus trespass policy permitted lifetime bans. Between 2001 and 2011, 2,050 individuals…
Bill Sponsor Says Year-Round Schools Will Prove Popular
by Ron French
A BILL TO encourage struggling Michigan schools to convert to a year-round schedule was approved by the House Appropriations Committee last week, and now moves to the full House for consideration. The proposal, sponsored by…
UPDATED: County Taxpayers Foot The Bill For County Employee Stays At Vegas Casinos, Michigan Resorts & Other Luxury Lodgings
Please note: This article was updated with a quote from Sheriff Jerry Clayton's Executive Assistant, Katherine Wyatt.
AN ANALYSIS OF credit card charges made by Washtenaw County employees between 2012 and 2014 shows multiple charges for…
OP-ED: Legislature Gives Big Oil More Tax Breaks
By David Schaeffer
AS YOU READ this op-ed, a package of bills aimed at giving big oil further tax breaks and expanding eminent domain rights has already passed through the Michigan House with barely even a glimmer of resistance. This…
HOUSE CALLS: Ann Arbor’s State Representative Discusses Lowering The Income Tax Rate Versus Entitlements
Representative Jeff Irwin, a Democrat, served for a decade as a Washtenaw County Commissioner. In January 2013, he began his second term in the Michigan House of Representatives. In his column, “House Calls,” The Ann Arbor Independent poses…
Better Transit Now Group Launches In Opposition To AAATA Request For Tax Hike
Please note: Kathy Griswold is the Chair of The Ann Arbor Independent’s Editorial Board.
SUPPORTERS OF LOCAL transit argue that Mayor John Hieftje has pushed everything but local transit—trains to Howell, park and rides and bus service…
Partners For Transit Group Backs AAATA Tax Hike Proposal—A Look At Who’s Who In The Coalition
A COMMITTEE CALLING itself Partners For Transit (PFT) filed papers to register with Washtenaw County’s Elections Division in 2010; the date the committee was formed is listed on the Statement of Organization as November 18, 2009. The…
Between 2009 and 2013, Cell Phone Allowance Costs For City Employees Rose 46 Percent
It appears that not only is Ann Arbor paying employees the total cost of their cell phone plans, but in some instances pays employees almost 2.5 times more than the monthly cost of popular cell phone/texting plans.
CELL PHONE COSTS paid…