City Attorney Faces Council Scrutiny Of His Advice Memos Which Critics Claim Are Legal Opinions Delivered in “Secret”
ANN ARBOR CITY Attorney Stephen K. Postema has represented the City Council as its legal eagle since 2003. He advises the Mayor, City Council, City Administrator and oversees the City Attorney’s Office, with a staff of 10 attorneys and a…
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…
Insider Baseball: If Rep. John Dingell, Jr. Retires, Who’s Next?
by Joseph DiSano
THE BIGGEST PARLOR game played among political observers is “Will John Dingell retire?” And this year is no different — except there actually may be some merit to the speculation.
It will be a sad day when the…
Halbig v. Sebelius Could Be the Undoing of Obamacare
AT THE END of October, a federal judge denied a request from the Justice Department to dismiss a lawsuit aiming to block health care subsidies in states not running their own healthcare exchange sites. Put another way, if the plaintiffs in…
A2Politico: Politics Have Gotten Nasty? No. They’ve Been Nasty.
DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Board members Joan Lowenstein and Keith Orr took to the blog-o-sphere to endorse their candidates for Ann Arbor City Council. The irony of DDA Board members endorsing in local elections is as rich as Devon…
AAATA Community Relations Staff & Managerial Pay Up Significantly Since 2010
IN SEPTEMBER 2011 former Ann Arbor News government reporter Tom Gantert filed a Freedom of Information Act request for information concerning the compensation of then AATA managers. The FOIA revealed that while AATA was running a deficit of…
EDITORIAL: Term Limits for Ann Arbor Board and Commission Members
OVER THE PAST dozen years there has arisen what one City Council member recently referred to as a “professional class” of people who are appointed time and again to serve on Ann Arbor’s boards and commissions. These people are sometimes…
School Districts In Washtenaw County and Southeastern Michigan Roll Back Pay-To-Play Fees
ON MAY 14, 2012 the University of Michigan Mott Children’s Hospital released the results of a National Poll on Children’s Health which asked parents of middle- and high-school-age children nationwide about participation and cost of school…
Ann Arbor Area State Legislators Get Resolutions Passed (But Few Bills)
Editor’s Note: Representative Jeff Irwin contributes to the newspaper’s “House Calls” column.
52nd District State Representative Gretchen Driskell is planning to run for re-election in 2014. Over the past year, Representative Driskell…
The Future Of Books: A Dystopian Look Into The Crystal Ball
by Dan Spellman
With the success of the Kindle Fire, I thought it would be fun to write a little bit sci-fi and imagine what the publishing market will look like in the next ten or so years. I’m a strong proponent of the ebook and, as…