One of the hardest things to do as a parent is to know when to keep our mouths shut.  When to keep our all-important parent facts inside and just listen to what our kids have to say.  They are amazing little and big individuals and have incredible, personal thoughts.  Too often… Read full post »

The House Republicans, eager to be able to go back to their Districts in 16 months and tell the voters that they kept their promises to try to repeal Obamacare, wasted no time wasting everyone's time and money by forcing a symbolic vote on the issue. U.S. Congressman Representative&nbs/… Read full post »

I paddle my kayak regularly from Bandemer Park, the site of a Punk Week gathering that made big news in this town of ours. I wasn’t there the afternoon the Ann Arbor Police Department… Read full post »

This piece, below my comments, comes from Salon. I thought Alyssa Battistoni’s perspective was refreshing, and her look at backdoor privatization captures exactly what is going on in Ann Arbor. Here, in Lake Woebegone-on-the-Huron, where all the men have Ph.D.s, all the woman have Ph.D.s, but/… Read full post »

Imitation, as they say, is the most sincere form of flattery. Over the past few months, the off-brand blogger at Arborblahg has posted loads of entries in reaction to the original recipe content at A2Politico. Original content is hard to generate (no sarcasm intended), and so is a food fight when/… Read full post »

“Michigan is becoming the nation’s ex,” writes former Concentrate Media Gen Y blogger Katie Rose in a kerchief waving, not-so-tearful farewell/kiss-off to Ann Arbor. Off to a better job in California, Rose pens a blog entry in which she struggles to deal with her own decision to re/… Read full post »

Here’s a recent headline from AA.com: “How many people now work at Borders’ headquarters in Ann Arbor? Borders won’t say”  Sigh. When you pry, or at least try to pry into the business of other companies, it’s good to be slightly more industrious. The piece reveal/… Read full post »

David Jesse is a solid writer. His recent coverage of the Ann Arbor Public School pay frenzy has all of the facts, including a link to to the biggest problem with his piece. There is a link to a spreadsheet that shows quite clearly that there are teachers in the/… Read full post »

From Hamlet, Act I, scene 4.

Horatio: He waxes desperate with imagination.

Marcellus: Let’s follow. ‘Tis not fit thus to obey him.

Horatio: Have after. To what issue will this come?

Marcellus: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

So, the Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP) postc/… Read full post »

Ned Staebler, a Vice President at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, has out-spent his opponent by almost 5:1. Staebler has raised $90,000 to Irwin’s $45,000. At a recent debate, Staebler told those present that he had knocked on 18,000 doors. In a piece posted to AnnArbor.com, Sta/… Read full post »

The Michigan 18th District State Senate seat is going to go to either Representative Rebekah Warren or Representative Pam Byrnes, both Democrats. Warren’s web site has a nifty feature that scrolls endorsements from half a dozen supporters, including her mother-in-law, Representative Alma Wheel… Read full post »

It took the national media to expose the lunacy of the situation and out the incumbent’s spending priorities in their proper perspective. I’ve been asking this question since I launched my campaign in February: Do we refocus city government on the basics or fund luxuries and pet projects… Read full post »

On May 24th I wrote about the shape any negative campaign might take in this Mayor’s race of mine. I wrote:

….This is a dangerous position to take in a town where Green-compers have amassed the political power of the Vatican Curia, and it will mean that the chances are

… Read full post »

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is taking a beating in the Press. In case you don’t know, the MEDC is a state-funded entity that gives tax credits and tax dollars to venture capital firms, individuals and businesses through a variety of programs aimed at job creation. The results/… Read full post »

Last November, an A2Politico.com reader posted to his Twitter account that there was “an out & out Republican in at A2Politico.” Just for the sake of disclosure, I’ve since had the pleasure of meeting this local blogger and found him to be quite thoughtful, and his ideas about… Read full post »

Right now Ann Arbor is listing, much like a ship that’s taking on water. The recently approved 2010-2011 budget included a $1.5 million dollar deficit — a gap which, by City Charter, must be closed. So where do we begin the job of creating sound public policy and getting the ship… Read full post »

Last Friday afternoon, I went to a Meet the Candidate event sponsored by the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce. There were Chamber members from Ann Arbor, the surrounding townships and cities, as well as national, state and local candidates for office. I had a chance to meet numerous owners of/… Read full post »

Rene Greff and Jennifer Santi Hall are spilling the beans about the down and dirty inner-workings of the Downtown Development Authority to Ann Arborites, and anyone else who would care to know. At the most recent DDA meeting, at which Russ Collins, Leah Gunn, Roger Hewitt, Mayor John Hieftje, Jo… Read full post »

The developer of Ashley Terrace, Joseph Freed & Associates, just defaulted on $18 million dollars owed to its lender. The lender is doing what lenders are wont to do when borrowers get neck deep in missed payments—they’re foreclosing. Joseph Freed & Associates also operates 4 Eleven… Read full post »

On April 30th, I predicted the future. I wish I had the same luck with lotto numbers. I think the state jackpot is somewhere around $266 million dollars, and like everyone else out there, $266 million minus taxes could come in pretty handy right about now as my kids close/… Read full post »

In the 2010-2011 proposed budget, the General Fund is projected to bring in $76.3 million in taxes and state profit sharing, and spend $77.9 million dollars, with a $1.5 million dollar deficit (provided all of the City Administrator’s proposed cuts are adopted). Over the past three years, the… Read full post »