Category: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Opinion: Why the Ann Arbor city council should override the mayoral veto of a referendum on non-partisan elections

Earlier this month, the Ann Arbor city council achieved the 7-vote majority on the 11-member body that's required to place a charter question in front of voters: Should the city replace its partisan city elections with a non-partisan system? The council had voted without success on the question four times in the last four years … Continue reading Opinion: Why the Ann Arbor city council should override the mayoral veto of a referendum on non-partisan elections →

Opinion: Tools you can use when MLive won’t tell you why city councilmembers voted the way they did

In a recent piece, I presented a statistical analysis of some Ann Arbor's city council voting patterns. It was apparently received by some readers as an unwelcome challenge to what I think is a lazy world view. On that view, the Ann Arbor City Council is composed of two unanalyzable factions. Maybe the analysis done … Continue reading Opinion: Tools you can use when MLive won’t tell you why city councilmembers voted the way they did →

Analysis: Breaking down the two-faction framing of Ann Arbor’s city council politics

Not many Ann Arbor residents pay attention to the workings of local government. For many of those who do, a kind of popular wisdom frames their thinking: Ann Arbor's 11-member city council is made up of two opposing factions. A look at some voting data shows that the popular two-faction framing is too simplistic. Background … Continue reading Analysis: Breaking down the two-faction framing of Ann Arbor’s city council politics →

Opinion: Michigan Daily’s reporting on councilmember’s remarks at a meeting doesn’t do the job the paper defined for itself

The Michigan Daily published a piece by Ben Rosenfeld early last week related to the arrest three months ago and subsequent conviction of sitting Ann Arbor councilmember Zachary Ackerman. He was charged initially for violating Michigan's so-called "super drunk driving" law, and was convicted of a reduced charge of operating while impaired. Here's a link to … Continue reading Opinion: Michigan Daily’s reporting on councilmember’s remarks at a meeting doesn’t do the job the paper defined for itself →

Opinion: Ann Arbor ordinance misrepresents city charter

Members of city councils in Michigan are elected to office. So voters can toss an incumbent who stands for re-election, if they're dissatisfied with the representation they're getting from the councilmember. Or for any reason they like. Last year, Ann Arbor's city council enacted a new local ordinance that describes the procedure to be used … Continue reading Opinion: Ann Arbor ordinance misrepresents city charter →

Opinion: Prepping for Hash Bash 2019, Ann Arbor’s suspension of sidewalk permits isn’t supported by city code

The city of Ann Arbor is making plans for the Hash Bash, to be held on April 6. Advance preparations include clearing sidewalks of vendors, by suspending (for one day) some already-issued sidewalk occupancy permits. The one-day suspension appears to be unsupported by the specific local laws that the city administrator has cited to justify … Continue reading Opinion: Prepping for Hash Bash 2019, Ann Arbor’s suspension of sidewalk permits isn’t supported by city code →

Opinion: Better fare media, please

Appearing on change.org recently was a petition that calls on Ann Arbor's public transit board to make it easier for kids to board public buses, and claim the reduced fare to which they're entitled. Specifically, the petition calls  on the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority's board of directors "to revise its current policy on student fares … Continue reading Opinion: Better fare media, please →

Updated: Ann Arbor’s City Seal Ordinance: Less than an hour of legal work (turns into 13 more hours when the city rechecks records)

[Note: A week after this piece was published, the City of Ann Arbor appears to have checked through the city attorney staff electronic time records again. Some additional time records, were found and provided on Dec. 12. The additional records show 13 hours of work that was done on the city seal ordinance before the item was … Continue reading Updated: Ann Arbor’s City Seal Ordinance: Less than an hour of legal work (turns into 13 more hours when the city rechecks records) →

Four new councilmembers don’t mean Ann Arbor’s next city council will lack collective experience

When the newest edition of the Ann Arbor city council convenes its first regular meeting after the Nov. 6 elections, four out of 11 people at the table will have no experience as councilmembers. First-timers on the council are Jeff Hayner (Ward 1), Kathy Griswold (Ward 2), Elizabeth Nelson (Ward 4), and Ali Ramlawi (Ward … Continue reading Four new councilmembers don’t mean Ann Arbor’s next city council will lack collective experience →