Hacking Away with Council
Nothing like City Council on CTN to get us through a nasty case of bronchitis. Last night’s meeting included such highlights as a public comment from 101 N. Main resident Michael Potter on proposed nearby tall building Ashley Terrace. “I’ve got a nice view out of…my condo right now,” he said, “and for you to rezone it just — I don’t like it.” Potter concluded, “Civil decisions should not be made with the predominance of the consideration motivated by greed.”
And we also find out that the City Council’s anti-PATRIOT Act resolution never would have passed if it weren’t for unsuccessful First Ward council candidate Tim Colenback. As much as we love those purely symbolic council resolutions that make living in A2 that much more exciting, we’ll have to get over Colenback’s non-selection somehow.
This Potter fellow is certainly adamant about his precious view:
http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1126104085191110.xml&coll=2
He and his cohorts at the tony 101 N. Main address also insist the new development be “attractive” and not be peopled with residents who do unreasonably annoying things like run air conditioners in the summer.
posted by Dave on September 7th, 2005 at 4:46 pmP.S. Hope your bronchitis clears up soon… what a bummer.
posted by Dave on September 7th, 2005 at 4:47 pmThe city council’s got an anti-Patriot act? How does the city override state and federal laws?
posted by eston on September 7th, 2005 at 5:36 pmEston -
It’s largely, as I understand it, a resolution ordering the Ann Arbor Police to do as much foot-dragging as legally possible when asked by the Feds to take part in objectionable activities, and the City Administrator to pester the Feds about their activities in A2.
(google google google….)
And, Here’s the text of the Ann Arbor anti-Patriot Act resolution.
posted by Murph on September 7th, 2005 at 6:39 pmAs I recall, in the same election in which the $5 pot law bit the dust, two other resolutions passed:
* the military may not transport nuclear weapons through Ann Arbor
* if abortion became illegal in the US, it would still be legal in Ann Arbor
posted by A Different Jon on September 7th, 2005 at 11:18 pmAll of which the city has about as much hope of enforcing as I do of fucking myself in the ear. As if any police in the world need any help dragging their feet? As if the city council is going to boldly step out on the tracks to stop of train full of fucking nuclear weapons? As if anyone would ever bring the fuckers through here in the first place? So is someone going to run for re-election on the slogan that they’ve been bravely “Keeping nukes out of Ann Arbor!”? I’d like to put a nuke in Easthope’s ass and shove him the whole length of the greenway with it.
If the city council would quit having bukkake style fantasies about shooting their loads all over things they have no control over, maybe they could figure out something as basic as how much a sidewalk square costs.
Fuck, I don’t want to threaten violence on anybody, but I’m feeling really twitchy lately.
posted by Parking Structure Dude! on September 8th, 2005 at 9:56 amPSD!, I feel your pain.
And I’m in East Lansing!
posted by Big John on September 8th, 2005 at 8:33 pmany katrina survivors re-locating to ann arbor?
posted by dr. diag on September 11th, 2005 at 12:01 amI don’t see how the city would have jurdisdiction over, say, a freeway that happened to pass through Ann Arbor. Isn’t that technically federal property? Or train tracts? I mean, if anything, the federal government would probably bring up that inter-state commerce act on ‘em. Just saying.
Not like I can imagine any sort of scenario where nuclear weapons would be transported anywhere NEAR Ann Arbor. Nuclear waste, yeah, possibility from Fermi II or Dow. Nuclear weapons, not so much.
posted by Jen on September 11th, 2005 at 12:26 pmTracks, tracks . Not tracts of land.
posted by Jen on September 11th, 2005 at 12:26 pmWhat is their stand on the reactor on North Campus?
posted by Kozzie on September 11th, 2005 at 1:47 pmOh, I thought you were speaking of those nuclear weapon bible tract trains…
posted by FAA on September 11th, 2005 at 1:48 pmThose were all referndum issues. If one of the politicos here could look the actual laws up, it would be interesting. Given the Supreme Court replacements, the abortion law might be worth a thesis.
posted by A Different Jon on September 12th, 2005 at 7:09 amThere is no reactor on North Campus, Kozzie.
Not anymore, at least.
posted by Jen on September 12th, 2005 at 10:23 amWow…Shows how much I keep up.
I think if it came down to it, the Federal Law would outweigh the local laws. But I think that all depends on the circumstances. Either that, in the case of the Patriot Act, the FBI might not be happy with the foot dragging and ends up doing the investigations on its own. Which leads to the question, who would Ann Arbor prefer poking in records, local police or the FBI?
but there are more pressing matters for the city. IMHO.
posted by Kozzie on September 12th, 2005 at 10:42 amAnn Arbor city elections used to be held every year in April. Turnout for those elections was typically low. For Democrats to have any chance in city elections, they had to get people to turn out to vote. Doing voter turnout door to door in the traditional way was hard work, and the number of campaign volunteers plummeted in the mid-1970s.
So Ann Arbor Democrats came up with a new strategy to pump up voter turnout: put interesting proposals on the ballot! Rent control! Save the whales! Protect abortion rights! Stop nuclear weapons! The idea was not so much to actually save the whales or whatever, but to get Democrats to turn out and elect Democratic city council members.
I wasn’t living here back in those days, but the Ann Arbor Democrats I knew at the time were openly cynical about it.
This strategy pretty much played itself out by the mid-1980s, leaving Republicans in control of city government until the sheer overwhelming numbers of Democrats (and the erosion of Republicans from death, emigration, and political conversion) turned things around.
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on September 12th, 2005 at 11:31 amOh, that, and the change of city elections to November.
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on September 12th, 2005 at 11:32 amAnyone who moves to a residence downtown should expect growth and potential condo-view-blockage. It’s such a whiney case of whiny-ness. Those that have the money seem to whine the most. Well, I guess if their contact said “no condo-view-blockage” they can always sue. More whining if they don’t win.
I’m more concerned about people who don’t have a roof over their heads right now. Sorry, a little selfish of me.
posted by AJ on September 12th, 2005 at 12:16 pmThat’s OK. No one noticed when it was there, no one really noticed when it shut down even though there was funding available and it was a relatively safe research reactor.
Hell, the fact that you knew it existed at some point puts you in a minority. Unless you just knew from that Lego James Bond movie at Film Farm a few years back.
posted by Jen on September 12th, 2005 at 5:25 pmActually, I used to know someone that worked there.
posted by Kozzie on September 12th, 2005 at 6:58 pmCool cool. I work in that building occassionally, although (obviously) not in a reactor-related capacity.
posted by Jen on September 12th, 2005 at 8:32 pmWhat still amazes me that two hypothetical and perhaps unenforceable proposals on abortion and against nuclear weapons passed on the same ballot that the $5 pot law was voted down on. Some people that voted for the abortion and nuke proposals had voted against the $5 pot law.
I remember sitting flabbergasted in the Half Ass with other flabbergasted people. Some of the women present were almost apologetic in tone.
posted by A Different Jon on September 13th, 2005 at 4:44 am