Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority

The only former Ann Arbor City Council member having a worse time of it politically than Downtown Development Authority Board member Joan Lowenstein (former Ward 2 Council member) is former Ward 3 Council member Leigh Greden. Lowenstein,…

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…

At the 4th of July parade as the Backwards Clown Brigade chuckled along the parade route, a man seated on the curb turned to his wife and said, loudly enough for others to hear, "The Backwards Clown Brigade. Ann Arbor City Council." People…

by P.D. Lesko Ward 2 Democratic City Council candidate Kirk Westphal moved to Ann Arbor in 2004 and in 2006 was appointed by John Hieftje to the city's Planning Commission. It was, perhaps, another example of what one local politico…

by P.D. Lesko John Hieftje is proposing to reappoint 10 people to the Downtown Area Citizens Advisory Commission (CAC) at City Council's May 13th meeting. By law the CAC Board is charged with advising the Board of the Downtown Development…

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…

by P.D. Lesko On November 6, 2012 the firmament trembled in Ann Arbor—the political landscape opened up and swallowed local politicos and their monied donors whole, casting the owner of Main Street Ventures, members of the Downtown…

by P.D. Lesko Librarians are all about the numbers—exact numbers: Dewey decimals, due dates, number of copies, and call numbers. The Executive Director of the Ann Arbor District Library (AADL) is all about numbers, too. However, her…

by P.D. Lesko Tony D.'s campaign finance forms turned in on time to the Washtenaw County Clerk's office show that he has raised $8,475 to finance his effort to defeat challenger Sally Hart Petersen. Interestingly, Derezinski reported…

by Rob Smith The 1 percent here in Ann Arbor are just different than us. They look at out-of-work folks and hungry children, homeless men and women tossed out of Camp Take Notice, struggling small businesses and cash-strapped school…