Browsing Tag
Roger Fraser
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…
While Citizens Bemoan Roads & Taxes, Spending On Meals Out And Four Star Lodging For City Staff Rises 30 Percent
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…
Could Assistant Chief Ellen Taylor Bring Needed Stability To The AAFD As Ann Arbor’s First Female Fire Chief?
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…
“Retired” Ann Arbor City Employees Earning $100K+ While Collecting Taxpayer Funded Health Care/Pension Benefits
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…
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…
Auditors Catch Ann Arbor City Attorney Double-Dipping & New Council Members Press For Full Details
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…
While Fire & Police Cut, Taxpayers Paid Over $1.5M Dollars For City Employee Cell Phones
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,…
Former Ann Arbor Public Services Administrator Starts Detroit Fire Then Throws Gasoline On It
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…
Locals Outraged Reprimand of EMU Prez Was Made Public, While Commentators in Academe Say: “Fire Her Now!”
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…
“Green” Mayor’s Parkland-for-Train Station Scheme Underwritten In Part By Slush Fund
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…