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OFFICIALS IN THE Michigan Department of State determined that “WAR SUX” is a vanity plate request that is “offensive to good taste and decency.” David DeVarti, an Ann Arbor resident, former City Council member and former member of the…

Please note: This piece was corrected to reflect the fact that Ward 2 Council member Sally Hart Petersen was not seated on Ann Arbor City Council until November 2012. THE ANN ARBOR INDEPENDENT recently reported that 76 percent of city…

On a path where politics and principles meet.  AT POLITICAL GATHERINGS, Washtenaw County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi is often the tallest man in the room and at 24-years-old, often the youngest. He is serving as the Chair of the BOC, one…

Friends say: He’s measured.  Collegial. A leader. Detractors say: He’s a DINO. Anti-everything. Bad for Ann Arbor.    Jack Eaton speaks slowly, so slowly that sometimes you wonder how he doesn’t nod off in the middle of a sentence.…

Over the past 190 years, only two women have served as mayor of Ann Arbor. Can Sally P. be #3? Sally Hart Petersen ran a clever campaign to defeat two-term incumbent Tony Derezinski, a former state legislator. Mostly though, Sally…

ANN ARBOR’S 18th District State Senator Rebekah Warren introduced 27 bills between January and December 2013. All of Representative’s bills were referred to committees. Senate Bill 674: Establish statutory right to breastfeed in public was…

AT THE DECEMBER 16th Ann Arbor City Council meeting, Council members Eaton, Lumm and Kunselman introduced a resolution to allocate $125,000 to Police Chief John Seto’s department. The money will fund enhanced traffic enforcement in order to…

ANN ARBOR’S 53RD District Representative Jeff Irwin introduced 16 bills between January and December 2013. All of the Irwin’s bills were referred to committees, where they remain. Those bills included one to legalize marijuana, a bill to…

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 their opinions about…

WARD 2 COUNCIL  member Jane Lumm ran for re-election in 2013 on a a platform that included improving the transparency of city government. She was not only talking about the need for city government to do a better job of sharing information…