Kirk Westphal

by Patricia Lesko City web server log records turned over to the The Ann Arbor Independent in response to a series of FOIA requests show that yet another Ann Arbor City Council member used his city-owned computer to access Facebook and…

by Patricia Lesko Ann Arbor recently passed Detroit as the city with the highest assessed value in the state. In the realm of public safety, however, while the number of violent crimes and property crimes in Detroit have fallen, in Ann…

by Dave Alexander In recognition of Sunshine Week, a time that highlights the need for transparency and accountability in government, Progress Michigan is rolling out several major updates to the Sunshine Squad, an online tool that now…

by Patricia Lesko In a meeting held at lunch-time on Wednesday Mar. 1, over the objections of both the Main Street and State Street Area Association member business owners, the Downtown Development Authority Board approved the leasing of…

by P.D. Lesko KIRK WESTPHAL CAUSED the political firmament to tremble (convulse, really) when he was just rumored to be prepared to pitch the idea of changing the length of City Council members’ terms from two to four years. The…

THE AATA SPENT about $1.4 million on consultants, marketing and collateral materials to shape and pitch to Washtenaw County  residents a proposed $500 million regional transit plan. The amount spent did not include hundreds of hours of…

MICHAEL HENRY HAS served as the Chair of the Ann Arbor City Democratic Party since 2013. Prior to his 2013 election, he served as a co-Chair for two years. The Ann Arbor Independent was given documents and emails which addressed Michael…

WHILE THE CITY’S bankers, lawyers, developers, rich and influential poured over $75,000 into the mayoral primary election campaign of Ward 3 Council member Christopher Taylor, the balance of power on City Council hung in the balance of…

REP. ADAM ZEMKE, a Democrat, has chosen to endorse in the Ward 2 City Council Democratic primary election. We believe this is not only misguided, but demonstrates a singular lack of leadership from a state-level representative. Mr. Zemke’s…

SINCE NOVEMBER 2013, City Council members have shown they are prepared to more closely scrutinize proposed appointees to city boards and commissioners. Council’s newly-found backbone—comprised primarily of council members Mike Anglin in…