The Detroit Free Press reports that Ann Arbor attorney Douglas Mullkoff has been appointed to represent former Detroit city councilwoman Monica Conyers in an appeal of her recent prison sentence. Conyers wants to withdraw a guilty plea she had previously entered for her role in a bribery scheme involving the city of Detroit and Texas-based Synagro Technologies. [Source]
On March 8, the Ann Arbor city council held its fourth meeting since the start of the calendar year devoted to deliberations on the budget for FY 2011, which begins July 1, 2010. The council will make its final budget decision in mid-May after receiving a budget proposal from city administrator Roger Fraser in mid-April.
Sue McCormick, the city's public services area administrator, showed the city council a map of streetlights during Monday's meeting. (Photo by the writer.)
On Monday, Sue McCormick, public services area administrator, was front and center, describing for council how the public services budget “lives within the general fund.” The basis for the discussion was budget impact sheets prepared for the public services area, which she distributed.
Councilmembers had several questions for her about a possible special assessment district (SAD) to fund streetlighting, with much of the discussion centered around what it means for an area to be “overlit.” A streetlighting SAD would require property owners to pay for streetlights.
Also generating a fair amount of discussion among councilmembers was the $100,000 annual cost for traffic control on University of Michigan football game days and the city’s plan to reduce that cost through judicious rescheduling of personnel to avoid overtime expenses.
McCormick also pitched to the council the idea of relaxing the constraints of the “box” defining how the parks maintenance and capital improvements millage is administered. The proposal would have the council rescind the part of a previous resolution that requires millage funding for natural area preservation to increase by 3% every year. That savings, McCormick said, could be put towards hand-trimming of grass in the parks. Reduction of hand-trimming, she said, would have a negative visual impact on the parks – they’ll look “fuzzy.”
Also related to yard-waste type issues, McCormick briefed the council on the idea of eliminating collection of loose leaves in the fall, and moving to an approach requiring leaves to be put into containers. She also told them about a proposal that would be coming before them in the next 30 days to transition the city’s composting facility to a merchant operation, similar to the city’s materials recovery facility (MRF) for recyclables. That proposal was met with strong criticism from Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3).
Councilmembers also heard from McCormick that residents will face a 3.88% increase in water rates, unless council directs that more budget cuts be made.
Towards the end of the meeting, city administrator Roger Fraser warned that accounting services manager Karen Lancaster and chief financial officer Tom Crawford would put them to sleep with an explication of how the city’s municipal service charge (MSC) works. However, Lancaster and Crawford were unable to make good on Fraser’s threat. [Full Story]
Entire b-b-b-building v-v-v-vibrating from L-L-Library L-L-Lot c-c-c-construction
John U. Bacon
In America, you’re “behind the eight ball,” if you will, if you can’t “Talk Sports.” Jay McInerny once wrote that sports fans constitute the largest fraternity in America, and not knowing how to talk about them will put you on the outside of every airport and elevator conversation you encounter.
Now, normally, that’s a wonderful thing – but on the rare occasion you actually need to make small talk in such situations, Coach Bacon is here to cut through the clichés so you can bull with the best of them.
First, you’ve got to see through the silly semantics. They love to talk about the “respective captains from each team,” which means “the captains from each team,” because “respective” adds nothing to that clause. And, of course, the “ensuing kickoff,” which means “next.” [Full Story]
Business Week publishes a Q&A with Tom Kinnear, executive director of UM Business School’s Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. He speculates on the entry of the millenial generation into B-school: “The millennials confronted a shock to their system with the economic downturn, because they grew up in pretty good times and have not been confronted with this kind of trauma before. There is a tendency among millennials to think they are entitled, but you are starting to see some breaking free of that. Many are smart enough to recognize what is going on and are realizing they have to make their own go of it. For many of them, entrepreneurship is a logical thing to pursue.” [Source]
Ann Arbor Greenbelt Advisory Commission meeting (March 10, 2010): After hearing from Ann Arbor Township supervisor Mike Moran, and meeting in closed session with Mary Fales of the city attorney’s office, commissioners passed a resolution of support for the acquisition of development rights on the Braun and Gould properties in Ann Arbor Township.
These deals have been in the works for more than two years. The city has binding purchase agreements with the owners based on appraisals taken when land values were higher. New appraisals, required to get funds from a federal program, came in with much lower values. That means fewer-than-expected federal funds will be available, and the city would be required to come up with the difference.
Saying that Ann Arbor Township was their partner, Moran urged commissioners to support the purchase of development rights. He called the Braun farm a “poster child” for the township’s land preservation movement, and said it would be a significant error to reject the deal simply because of the new appraisals.
Later in the meeting, commissioners also got an update on committee work being done to help support small farms in the greenbelt. [Full Story]
The New York Times poses the question “Does school size matter?” and asks several experts to weigh in, including UM education professor Valerie Lee: “In my research using data from a nationally representative sample of U.S. high schools and controlling for prior academic ability as well as other characteristics like social background, we found that there is an ideal size for high schools – ideal in terms of students learning more in mathematics over the four years of high schools. Students learned more in schools enrolling 600 to 900 students, and less in either larger or smaller schools. The relationship between school size and student learning is, thus, not linear.” [Source]
According to a Detroit Free Press report, state Sen. Liz Brater (D-Ann Arbor) opposed a provision in the state budget bill for higher education that would require universities conducting embryonic stem cell research to report details on how many human embryo stem cells they’ve used for research. The provision is in the budget bill approved by the Senate subcommittee on higher education funding, on which Brater serves. [Source]
A squirrel is scaling the exterior wall of Hatcher Library carrying a baby (squirrel).
The Gov Monitor reports that Gov. Jennifer Granholm is in California meeting with Google executives to push for choosing a city in Michigan to test its high-speed fiber optic network. From the report: “Granholm is encouraging Michigan communities to submit applications for the trial network with several already in the works including, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, and Lansing/East Lansing.” The article quotes Granholm: “Google fiber is a perfect fit here as no state can match the exploding new technology investment in Michigan in recent years.” [Source]
Ann Arbor Public Art Commission (March 9, 2010): AAPAC commissioners moved ahead on several projects during their Tuesday meeting, selecting an artist for a public art project in West Park, refining an online survey to get feedback from the public, and reviewing a gift policy for people who want to donate artwork to the city.
Jim Curtis shows other art commissioners the location for a potential public art installation in Hanover Park, at the northwest corner of Packard and Division. (Photo by the writer.)
There’s still no word from Herbert Dreiseitl, the German artist who’s been commissioned to construct a water sculpture in front of the new municipal center at Huron and Fifth. The city has been trying to contact him about two interior pieces for the building. Katherine Talcott, the city’s public art administrator, reported that he might be coming to town in mid-April to work on the larger project, which is budgeted for nearly $740,000.
In other business, commissioners approved a set of AAPAC guidelines that have been under review – mostly by the city attorney’s office – for nearly two years.
The group also hashed out some issues related to a partnership with the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority. As part of its Fifth and Division street improvements, the DDA has set aside about $60,000 to spend on public art at Hanover Park, at the corner of Packard and Division. They’re asking the art commission to take the lead on that project. [Full Story]
Old traffic light removed from service. [photo]
Tip of a tail on the sidewalk. A squirrel’s perhaps?
2:45 a.m. Lone man rapping while walking down an empty Main Street.
Passed by the construction site just as one of the workers was placing a TV set in one of the dumpsters. There were also four cement trucks on site, creating a sense of permanence.
On March 8, eight candidates vying for the one open seat on the Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) board of education dutifully answered the questions asked of them. But they also took advantage of the boilerplate board query at the close of each interview: “Do you have any questions for us?”
And questions from candidates led board members to hold forth on their personal motivations for serving the district, define what they see as the “new normal” in terms of school funding, and admit how challenging it can be for new board members to get up to speed.
The interview questions were written by the board’s executive committee, and approved by the board as a whole. Candidates discussed their backgrounds and motivations; their familiarity with AAPS; their commitment to diversity; cost and revenue options currently being considered in the draft budget; thoughts on the district’s greatest asset and how to leverage it; their ability to support board decisions with which they disagreed; balancing community input with public service; and the time commitments of being a board member.
After all interviews were concluded, the board reviewed its candidate selection process, and adopted a revision to their voting process. The new process is intended to increase the potential for consensus on candidate selection. This new voting process will be used to select the new board member at the next regular board meeting on Wednesday, March 10, after which the new member will be immediately sworn in and seated. [Full Story]
On Tuesday night at their regular monthly meeting, the Washtenaw County parks and recreation commission unanimously authorized up to $400,000 in matching funds for a skatepark being developed by the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee (AASAC). The future location of the skateboarding facility is planned for the northeast corner of Veterans Memorial Park on the city’s west side.
Three of nine parks and recreation commission members for Washtenaw County, who attended Tuesday's meeting. Front to back: Jimmie Maggard, Patricia Scribner and Robert Marans. Obscured is Bob Tetens, director of Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation. (Photos by the writer.)
The county’s parks and recreation program is funded by two separate, dedicated countywide tax levies at 0.25 mill apiece – for capital improvements and maintenance, respectively. The millages are separate from the county’s general operating millage.
The offer of matching funds came with the clear expectation from commissioners at the meeting that the county will be given its due – in terms of signage and participation in the project as it moves forward.
Bob Tetens, director of Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation, spoke at the meeting about the ability of the county to leverage the fundraising efforts of AASAC to achieve an $800,000 skatepark, instead of a $400,000 skatepark. For AASAC’s part, the plan all along was to build an $800,000 skatepark – plus establish a $200,000 endowment for maintenance.
The promised funds from the county will allow AASAC to leverage the match as part of their fundraising efforts. From that point of view, the timing of the county’s decision worked out to AASAC’s advantage. This Saturday, March 13, from noon-6 p.m. Red Belly Boardshop will sponsor The Grinds of March, a benefit for the Ann Arbor Skatepark fund to be held in a warehouse located at 704 Airport Blvd.
The Grinds will feature a pro skating demonstration by Garold Vallie and Andy MacDonald. MacDonald spent his summers in Ann Arbor, growing up skating.
The city of Ann Arbor has so far not offered dollars in support of the skatepark, but has approved use of the site, and struck a memorandum of understanding with AASAC. Ten out of 11 councilmembers also signed a letter dated March 8, 2010, urging the county’s parks and recreation commission to support the skatepark. [Full Story]
A blog posting for the Play Gallery takes a look at how some students at UM’s School of Art & Design spent their recent spring break: “With two months before graduation, Isaac and Alex move too fast for the camera. Hot wax, holes in their pants, and open-toed shoes. All rules are off on Spring Break, you rebels.” [Source]
Washteaw Literacy has a waiting list of people asking for help with basic literacy or English-as-a-second-language skills, and needs volunteers to do one-on-one tutoring. The nonprofit is encouraging potential volunteers to attend upcoming one-hour information sessions on March 23 and 29. More information can be downloaded from the group’s website. [Source]
Auto Week reports on Toyota’s efforts to fix the “unintended acceleration” in its vehicles. The article quotes Kristen Tabar, general manager of electronic systems at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor: “We don’t think there is a ghost issue out there,” she said, adding that “we need to verify claims, facts and evidence. Until we do that, we can’t say there is nothing.” [Source]
Eating Thin Mints recently got me thinking about locally produced food.
Many participants in the March 2 Homegrown Food Summit wore buttons like these, supporting locally grown food. (Photos by the writer.)
It’s Girl Scout cookie season, and on Saturday – after swinging through the Ann Arbor Farmers Market – I encountered a Brownie and her dad set up at the corner of Main and Liberty, their table loaded with boxes of Thin Mints, Samoas, Tagalongs and an assortment of other cookies that I remember selling too, back in the day. I bought three boxes.
At $3.50 per box, the cookies aren’t outrageously priced – though the boxes seem to get smaller every year. But later, in doing a quick calculation of all the food I’d bought that day, I realized that in buying those cookies, I’d failed to meet a challenge I’d heard earlier in the week: Spend 10% of your food budget on locally produced food.
The “10% Washtenaw” challenge was issued at the Homegrown Local Food Summit, a day-long event on March 2 that drew over 200 people to the Dana Building on the University of Michigan campus. Many of the people at the summit already surpass that goal in a fairly dramatic way. The real challenge, organizers acknowledge, is how to convince the rest of us to do the same. [Full Story]
U.S. flag at Ann Arbor District Library flown at half-staff. [Governor Graholm issued a proclamation in 2003 that U.S. flags would be lowered to honor Michigan servicemen and servicewomen killed in the line of duty. Today it's in honor of Marine Corporal Jacob H. Turbett of Canton. He was on active duty in Afghanistan.]
In her Local in Ann Arbor blog, Vivienne Armentrout describes the March 4 “Generational Divide” forum hosted by Concentrate magazine at the Michigan Theater. The forum included a talk by Dan Gilmartin of the Michigan Municipal League, and a panel discussion: “It was clear that moderator Jeff Meyers and the institutional host of this talk, Concentrate, wanted to make the discussion about density and development, though that was not the major focus of talk. The panel … neatly side-stepped most of his efforts to make the subject contentious on a generational level, as the title implied.” [Source]
The Wall Street Journal reports on Jeff Daniels taking on a new role – of a hardware salesman – in the Tony Award-winning play “God of Carnage”: “Mr. Daniels has grown a goatee for the part, saying he was inspired by the look of contractors he has known in the small town of Chelsea, Mich., where his family runs a lumber company.” [Source]
How is the hole for the underground parking garage getting dug? Answer: a guy with a shovel [photo]. Last week’s DDA meeting report indicated “real digging” would commence this week. And yes, there’s heavy equipment, too.
Responding to a March 2 Detroit News article comparing the University of Michigan’s financial situation favorably to Michigan State University, UM president Mary Sue Coleman writes that it didn’t tell the full story: “For the past several years, U-M and other institutions have been managing through state budget cuts in myriad ways. We have streamlined purchasing, aggressively increased energy efficiency, reduced health care expenses, and eliminated staff positions. In all, at U-M we have reduced $135 million from our budget in the past six years, and our work continues. This has not been easy. Our staff and faculty have sacrificed, and we have worked relentlessly to reduce costs.” [Source]
Crain’s Detroit Business reports that U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick is shifting her support from commuter rail projects, like the proposed Ann Arbor-to-Detroit route, to high-speed rail projects. In a letter sent to Crain’s, Kilpatrick wrote: “I have questioned both publicly and privately why, after more than six-and-a-half years of hard work by me and my staff; a total of $6.5 million in appropriations for this project since 2005; and the strong support of the members of Michigan’s congressional delegation, Southeastern Michigan is still without even the genesis of much-needed commuter rail.” [Source]
Maite Zubia, a native of Chile who sells her Maitelates Alfajores at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, reports collecting $1,050 at Saturday’s market to send to earthquake victims in her homeland: “That amount of money will build at least one house for an entire family, and even though that family might never meet you, they’ll know forever that no one is alone, that behind each individual in pain, there is ALWAYS someone willing to give a hand. … Thank you Ann Arbor for being a part of this recovery. Our families and friends will be eternally grateful for the response of Ann Arbor to our call.” [Source]
Two events related to the world of very small objects are on offer in mid-March. Writing on Eclectablog, Chris Savage reviews the exhibit “Nano, Micro, Macro – A matter of scale” art show at the Duderstadt Center on the campus of the University of Michigan, which runs through March 12. [Source]
And on March 13-14, the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum hosts “Nano Days,” which is a chance for attendees to explore “technology that’s a million times smaller than the head of a pin. Attendees will explore nano-sized structures and products that use nanotechnology, including liquid crystals and stain resistant fabric.” [Source]
