While spending increases on meals out, travel, luxury lodging and cell phones, monthly car allowance costs drop significantly from a high in 2010. UNDER FORMER CITY administrator Roger Fraser in 2009 and 2010, according to information…

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…

IN JANUARY 2014, Ann Arbor Fire Department Chief Chuck Hubbard will retire. His departure opens the door for the promotion of Assistant Fire Chief Ellen Taylor to the  top spot in the AAFD. Should she be moved into that job, Taylor will…

AS OF DECEMBER 1, 2012, Ann Arbor city engineer Homayoon Pirooz “retired” with a pension funded by the taxpayers of Ann Arbor. However, in a scenario that has become common, Mr. Pirooz did not retire. He took a new job—a full-time position…

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…

by P.D. Lesko Usually, employees get fired for filching money or abusing an employer-issued credit card. Except in Ann Arbor. Auditors past and present, in fact, have sent the city's Audit Committee letters of warning about sloppy…

In Ann Arbor, despite repeated cuts to services, cuts to police and fire, and hikes in fees for parking, parking fines, water, sewer, solid waste and city programs, cell phone allowances for city staffers, many of whom have desk jobs,…

Sue McCormick's (below) bouffant hair-do, a 60s throw-back, supposedly hides horns. At least this is what a fired forestry worker claimed when talking about his work for the City of Ann Arbor, and McCormick—who was his boss. McCormick, who…

by P.D. Lesko Dr. Susan Martin, Provost and Senior Chancellor at the University of Tennessee, is probably wishing right about now her parents had chosen a different name. The other Dr. Susan Martin, the President of EMU, is presently…

by P.D. Lesko Let's start with a quiz: 1.  Has Ann Arbor City Council voted to approve the construction of a train station in Fuller Park? 2.  As the city Charter requires, have the citizens of Ann Arbor voted to give over the 10-acre…