New
If we’d known we could have rung in the New Year at a Gourmet Dinner Trek along the Huron, we would have stuck around, but as it is, we’re spending this New Year’s Day in a city out east that we may tend to overrate at times. We’ll be back in a few days or sooner.
Baaston is a wicked overrated!
posted by Quimby on January 1st, 2005 at 7:41 pm eThe “quintessential” Ann Arbor experience is to take a brief walk along a polluted stream while stuffing oneself with Whole Foods purchases, and singing “we shall overeat.”
posted by Ass Arborean Pig on January 2nd, 2005 at 2:48 am eY’all are invited to my public swearing-in as County Clerk, this Wednesday at 4:30 pm, at 200 N. Main (corner of Ann), lower level.
The sheriff, prosecutor, county treasurer, and drain commissioner will also be sworn in at that time.
Food will be served.
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on January 2nd, 2005 at 9:58 pm eJust what is a Drain Commissioner? You’ve got to be kidding!
posted by Anonymous on January 2nd, 2005 at 11:04 pm eAlmost every Michigan county has a drain commissioner, in charge of all sorts of public works projects involving water runoff.
Washtenaw County’s Drain Commissioner is Janis Bobrin, and she is one of the most environmentally aware drain commissioners in the state. I worked with her when I was a member of the Statutory Drain Board (no kidding).
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on January 3rd, 2005 at 8:12 am eJust a general response really. If Ann Arbor is really so overrated–and I don’t intend to say whether it is or is not–why do you spend so much of your time ranting about it?
posted by Vav on January 3rd, 2005 at 8:13 am eVav - There’s an about page for this site that answers that. Short answer: AAiO is in grad school.
posted by George Hotelling on January 3rd, 2005 at 11:56 am eLarry- The word I got from someone who used to cover municiple Lansing was that Drain Commissioner was actually one of the most powerful local offices, because development is rarely done without their approval. I was told to always watch the drain-con races as closely as I could…
posted by js on January 4th, 2005 at 1:26 am eYup, the drain office does important work, including a whole lot of EPA water quality stuff. Janis hates the title “Drain Commissioner”, but efforts at the state level to change it to “Public Works Commissioner” or “Water Resource Director” or something have never gotten anywhere.
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on January 4th, 2005 at 10:52 am eMary Powers in Kalamazoo County goes to bat for the environment, in frequent conflict with city economic boosters, on a regular basis. One particularly interesting episode was a city attempt to have a drain considered a creek so the city could go over Powers’ head in approving some factory site. Powers’ relationship w/ the local conservatives was so bad that a state senator proposed a bill making any county drain commissioner serving a county w/ population between something like 200 and 250k (affecting only Kzoo county) appointed by then-governor Engler instead of elected by voters.
posted by Dale on January 4th, 2005 at 6:40 pm eOkay, I will concede that the Drain Commissioner might be a worthy office. Did anyone ever consider changing the name?
posted by Anonymous on January 6th, 2005 at 7:26 pm e