All Things Ypsilanti -- YpsiNews.com

City hires assistant city manager

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Fri, 04 May 2007 15:20:00 +0000

(May 4, 2007) The City of Ypsilanti has hired April McGrath as the new Assistant City Manager. McGrath will earn $73,946 per year plus retirement and benefits.

McGrath was Human Resources Director for the City of Monroe. Prior to that she worked in Grand Haven for nine years where she held several positions including Assistant Coordinator of Prevention, Director of Prevention in Public Safety, Human Resources Director and Assistant to the City Manager.

McGrath has an MBA from Baker College in Muskegon and a BBA from Grand Valley State University.

McGrath replaces former Assistant City Manager Bob Bruner. Bruner quit in December to become City Manager in Ferndale. Bruner was making $64,000 a year when he left Ypsilanti. McGrath's annual salary is some $10,000 more than Bruner.

This continues a trend of ever increasing salaries for newly hired department heads at the financially strapped City Hall. All the while the City has continued to layoff or not fill entry and mid-level positions in the Police Department, Department of Pubic Works, Clerk's office, Finance, and Assessors office. The City has also targeted other employees for cuts in the next three years.

To increase revenue, the City Council passed a resolution in February 2007 to put a City Income Tax before the voters in August or November of this year.

Arsonist released back into the community

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Wed, 02 May 2007 15:26:00 +0000

(May 2, 2007) An arsonist charged with setting a house on fire in the City of Ypsilanti has been released back into the community on a personal recognizance bond. Chris Kearns was charged with setting a house on fire on Ballard as well as setting fire to several trash cans in Ypsilanti.

Kearns was arraigned on April 30th in District Court 14A-2 and was released with little more than a promise to appear for a pretrial hearing on Tuesday May 8th. Magistrate Thomas Truesdell set the bond. Many in the community wonder how a potential serial arsonist could be released back into the community on his own recognizance, especially given that he was charged with setting a house on fire.

Washtenaw County launches video webcasts

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Wed, 02 May 2007 13:11:00 +0000

(May 2, 2007) Washtenaw County has launched a video webcast of all county meetings. The county has been broadcasting live meetings on the Internet for over a year. Now an archive of those meetings is available on the Internet.

One great feature of the service is the agenda is tied to the video. So you can quickly skip to a specific agenda item and immediately see the video. There are also links to supporting documents so you can watch the video and at the same time view a PDF of a written report that is being presented.

County officials said they had spoken with a number of vendors receiving bids of up to $70,000 for initial setup of the service plus some $1,700 a month in hosting fees. County IT was able to put together the system for around $1,500.

Perhaps the City of Ypsilanti could look at a similar system. It would save money on the recording of minutes and make it much easier for citizens to learn more about the inner workings of their government. In the mean time, YpsiNews will keep recording City Meetings and posting them on the web.

A tip of the hat to the County for putting their meetings on-line.

Picture of the week

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 19:54:00 +0000

(April 27, 2007) Students from Jason Malloy's third grade Chapelle Community School, pose with Ypsilanti city workers in front of the red oak tree they planted in Parkridge Park, Friday, April 27 in recognition of Arbor Day.

Photo courtesy Pat Chapman-Holm

Police release report on Ypsi shooting (Update1)

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:24:00 +0000

Officer cleared after internal investigation

(April 24, 2007) Ypsilanti Police Department have released a five page report on the shooting of David Ware on January 23, 2007. The report gives a detailed account of the incident including for the first time disclosing that Ware was shot three times. Officer Uriah Hamilton was cleared in the shooting death of Ware.

The report also makes significant mention of the Video "UNSIGNED Y-Town" from Midwest Entertainment, an Ypsilanti-based production company, as evidence in the report. Ware is alleged to have appeared in the video cooking crack cocaine and singing.

The first community meeting about the shooting was held on February 7th. Video of that meeting is available at YpsiNews.com. While a second community meeting has been discussed, there are no current plans for a meeting to discuss the report.

Update1 Posted April 24, 2007 8:24 PM Changed paragraph about Community Meeting. Harshberger approached Riverside Neighborhood Association to gauge interest in hosting a second community meeting. Riverside NA Executive Committee met and decided to not sponsor a second city wide meeting. No other community meeting is currently planned.

Original Posted April 24, 2007 5:02 PM

Picture of the week

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 00:06:00 +0000

Protest signs show up in Ypsilanti

(April 18, 2007) Signs protesting taxes in Ypsilanti showed up overnight. One is on Michigan Avenue across from the police and fire station. The second is on Summit just south of the Water Tower. The owner of these properties also owns commercial property in the downtown area. It is unknown if there are other signs up around Ypsilanti.

State denies tax abatement for Thompson Building

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 20:37:00 +0000

(April 17, 2007) The State Tax Commission has denied the Obsolete Property Tax abatement for the beleaguered Thompson Building in Depot Town. The decision was not much of a surprise as the state staff had already recommended a denial.

The reason given by state staff for the denial is because the state statute says that rehabilitation work cannot begin before the district is created. Beal, in previous presentations at City Hall as well as in court testimony before Judge Shelton, had indicated that he had already begun work which would likely void an application for an OPRA.

The Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act (OPRA) allows the city to create a district in which the city can freeze the property taxes for a certain period of time to encourage the redevelopment of the property. An OPRA was successfully used as part of the rehabilitation of the Kresge Building on Michigan Avenue into loft apartments and first floor retail.

Stewart Beal was asking for a 12 year tax freeze under OPRA which would have amounted to about $2 million. Beal recently held an open house on February 22nd, where many in the community got their first look at the building in years.

The Thompson Building has been the subject of protracted litigation between the city and David Kircher. Both the City and Kircher are appealing to the State Supreme Court the taking and sale of his building by the city. The court has not yet accepted the case.

Sheriff Deputy asked to leave High School

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 13:47:00 +0000

More fall-out from turmoil at High School

(April 12, 2007) The Ypsilanti Public School superintendent James Hawkins has sent a letter to the Washtenaw County Sheriff asking the High School liaison deputy be removed. According to Sheriff spokesman Cmdr. Dave Egeler, the Sheriff received a letter from superintendent asking that Deputy Sheriff Keith Flores be reassigned. Egeler said no specifics were given in the letter why the reassignment was requested.

According to Egeler, due to staffing shortages in the Sheriff's department, it is unlikely a new deputy would be assigned to the High School for the remainder of the School Year. School ends June 8th.

The Ypsilanti High School has been racked by a number of problems over the last several months. Parents and students have alleged there has been an increase in school violence and discipline problems.

Sources at the High School have told YpsiNews.com that administrators were unhappy with the sheriff deputy over his failure to notify the superintendent and school board about the confiscation of weapons on school property and other incidents. Some of these incidents go back to the beginning of the school year.

There was also frustration with Flores when it was alleged that he turned over incident reports and other documents to members of the school board. Information that apparently had not been given to the Hawkins until he got it from members of the School Board.

The reassignment of the deputy follows on the heels of the resignation of High School principal Layne Hunt under a cloud of controversy. His resignation was effective at the end of the school year. Hawkins then placed Hunt on administrative leave essentially ending his term over spring break.

Watch video of the April 2, 2007 School Board meeting where Hunt's supporters testify and School Board discuss problems at the High School.
Two school board members, Cameron Getto and Amy Doyle, resigned from the school board on April 6th. Two other board members, David Bates and Linda Horne, are now subject of recall petitions filed with the County Clerk last week.

The Ypsilanti Courier has written several excellent articles about the problems at the High School.

Incidents lead to questions -- April 12, 2007
School Board members resign -- April 12, 2007
Recall petition signed -- April 12, 2007

EMU students raise money for Darfur

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 02:42:00 +0000

(April 10, 2007) EMU Students are holding a concert and fund raiser to battle the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. The concert is this Sunday, April 15th from 7pm to midnight at Club Divine in downtown Ypsilanti. Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND) is a group of over 600 high school and college chapters raising money working to put an end to genocide.

The EMU chapter has been operating for over a year and this is their last event of the year. Local bands will be performing throughout the evening, there will be raffles for local merchandise and Save Darfur merchandise will also be available. For more information please contact Jennifer Williams (586) 764-5486 jwilliams10@emich.edu

Doyle is second member to resign from School Board

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 13:48:00 +0000

(April 7, 2007) Amy Doyle has resigned from the Ypsilanti School Board. In a letter sent to the board and superintendent, Doyle said that circumstances in her life have changed and she is no longer able to dedicate the amount of time she feels is necessary to perform this job.

Doyle is the second member to resign from the board on Friday. Cameron Getto resigned earlier in the day.

Getto resigns from Ypsi School Board

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 18:58:00 +0000

(April 6, 2007) Cameron Getto announced today that he is resigning from the Ypsilanti School Board effectively immediately. In a letter sent to the school superintendent Getto, 39, said that personal demands from his work and family requires more time than he can dedicate to Board service.

Getto said he is proud of the many accomplishments in the district over the past two and half years he has served on the board, though he points out he takes no special credit for those accomplishments.

In his letter he talked about the success in making Annual Yearly Progress (AYP), kids graduating and attending prestigious universities many on full-ride scholarships, and balancing the budget under extremely difficult circumstances.

While on the school board, the board hired a new a new superintendent, Dr. James Hawkins, and oversaw a revamping of the school financial controls and improved budgeting and reporting systems.

There will be many challenges facing the Board in the coming year including ability to balance the budget under ever increasing cuts in state funding. The School Board will also be negotiating an upcoming teachers contract. No date has been set by the Board to determine the next steps in filling the board vacancy.

Getto lives in Ypsilanti with his two daughters and says that he will be active in the community when time permits and he will continue to be a big supporter of Ypsilanti Public Schools and public education in the state.

Picture of the week

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:59:00 +0000

Moving Day

Amanda Edmonds from Growing Hope sent us this picture. Volunteers were moving a green house down Cross Street. Amanda tells us, "We obeyed all traffic laws as you can see here--We even stopped for the traffic light at Cross and Prospect."

Have a favorite picture and want to share it with the community, send it to us, News@YpsiNews.com.

Ypsi High Choir hits the Big Apple

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:08:00 +0000

(April 2, 2007) The Ypsilanti High School Concert Choir, under the direction of Elizabeth Patterson, traveled to New York City, March 28-April 1, to compete in the Festivals of Music Competition.

While in New York City, the choir attended the Broadway production of Mary Poppins, toured the United Nations building and NBC studios, and spent the last evening on the Hudson River Spirit Cruise. The choir also sang at Symphony Hall.

The Choir returned with a Third Place Choral Performance Trophy and a rating of "Excellent". This rating classifies a performance as 'excellent for the event and class of participants and worthy of distinction.'

Students that went to New York were Lewis Andrews, Ariel Atkins, Kenyatta Barbee, Elizabeth Dwyer, Jasen Freeman, Joshua Glassman, Molly Green, Marissa Harding, Raquel Hart, Adam Herring, Nicole Hinman, Matthew Hughes, Alek Koryzno, Mitchell LIlly, Ramon Lockett, Brittany Moore, Carly O'Neal, Savannah Peak, Hayley Pendergrass, Meredity Raney, Kimberly Tucker-Blake, Jessica Williams, Cara Zuhlke. Parent chaperone's were Jane Pendergrass and Beth Tiernan. The trip was made possible through the support of the Ypsilanti Choral Association and Endowment Committee.

Photo courtesy Ypsilanti High School Choir

Oil discovered at Water Street (UPDATE1)

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 10:00:00 +0000

(April 1, 2007) City officials will neither confirm nor deny the rumors. However, the results from Brownfield and other environmental tests leaked to YpsiNews.com indicate that substantial oil reserves have been discovered at the Water Street site.

After an exhaustive 6-month investigation and poring over thousands of documents, test results, consultant reports, and interviews with officials inside and outside Ypsilanti City Hall, YpsiNews.com has learned that substantial oil reserves have been discovered on the Water Street property. The 38-acre Brownfield site has been the subject of numerous public meetings because of the substantial pollution and underground contamination.

The discovery of commercially viable oil reserves on the Water Street property bodes well for the beleaguered project that has been struggling under ever increasing debt and no prospects for development. The city has been trying to convince residents that nothing was wrong with their original redevelopment plan to build over 800 condos despite the fact that the architects of the Water Street project had no experience building a housing development project of this scale.

City officials had their first hint of possible oil reserves in the summer of 2003 while digging exploratory environmental monitoring wells. These wells were paid for through an EPA grant to help the city identify and map the levels of contamination throughout the Water Street site. At first, the results were just thought to be signs of greater and greater contamination at the site. Despite repeated advice to stop digging, the city kept drilling.

Drilling continued through 2004 and the data was unmistakable, they had struck oil. This is not the first time oil has been found in Washtenaw County. For an interactive map of oil and gas wells in Michigan, visit the MDEQ website. However, this is likely the first time an oil reserve was man made.

It was difficult to keep the results from the developer or the community. To hide the continued work, City officials left buildings standing on the property to hide drilling and other equipment. When equipment needed to be located outside, city officials would tell citizens the developer was taking more samples.

However, the city needed to get rid of the developer hired in 2001 to build the condos. Despite delaying the project with endless meetings and more legal red tape, the developer, Biltless Developers of Troy, would not give up and go away.

Frustrated, the City simply fired the developer in December, 2004, claiming that they didn't have the experience to develop the property. The city was technically correct; Biltless Developers had never drilled for oil.

However, not knowing about the discovery of oil, citizens continued to press for a new developer. City officials were stunned when the former mayor, who was not in on the secret, brought in a new developer on her own. Especially frightening was the fact that the second developer, Greed and Associates from Chicago, actually had the financial muscle to build 800-plus condos on site.

City officials needed to get rid of Greed and Associates, and quickly. Having fired the first developer, City officials felt that firing a second developer would draw too much attention, especially from state legislators already fuming at EMU over the President's House debacle. The city was also cognizant of the ever increasing drumbeats from the public clamoring for progress.

Assistant City Manager Bob Blunder hatched a plan called operation “Hail Cherri". City officials again launched into their stall with Greed and Associates with endless public meetings and town hall visioning sessions in the hope the developer would conclude that Water Street was hopeless and pull out.

But this time, the City upped the ante by pressing the “impending financial doom for the city” button. Despite having budget surpluses and an increasing rainy day fund, the City released a “financial solvency plan” that showed the city would be bankrupt in five years. The City even went so far as to schedule a Town Hall meeting about a City Income Tax and held a public hearing to put an Income Tax on the ballot. All of this was done to convince any developer looking at Water Street to give up.

The city later canceled the Town Hall meeting and tabled the vote on a City Income Tax. Yet the plan was working. When the City made a public effort to solicit new developers in the summer of 2005, not one bid was received.

Besides wanting to blow off of the newest developer, the city had to get rid of all the planners working on the project. The former planners knew nothing about the test results which showed oil and had no experience reading geologic maps.

The City needed to bring in new experts who had experience in working with oil and gas companies and civil engineers rather than historic preservationists and condo builders. So the city convinced the planners that leaving now would be best for their careers.

The city also needed to move oversight from the local Historic District Commission to the state. Local preservationist would have fought the city at every turn if they knew the plan was to drill for oil. So working with the state, local city officials convinced the local Historic District Commission to cede control of Water Street to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).

However, many in the city didn't understand that SHPO, in conjunction with the State Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), overseas all oil permits in the state.

To make matters worse, the city planners, who were unaware of the oil, succeeded in getting a $350,000 state grant for Water Street. Frustrated city officials, still trying to move forward with the well drilling, now needed to deal with the grant. The City wasn’t about to give back the grant ─ it was taxpayer money, after all ─ and city officials were worried that returning the funds would anger local residents and make it appear that the City was giving up on Water Street.

Thanks to some fast work by City officials, a scheme was created by which the money would be diverted to an elevator construction project for the Riverside Arts Center (RAC). With the money safely tucked away at the RAC, City officials let loose their final plan.

Knowing there were continued leaks to the press from the planning department, consultants, and the builder, City officials transferred much of the work to outside legal firm Canner Millfield.

While the plan was risky, Canner Millfield was confident; after all they were billing $350 an hour. The state now controlled all permitting for the site. City officials had bypassed local plan review by City Planner XVIII Ethan Nought, the only city planner that didn’t quit.

In the final move, when Greed and Associates pulled out in December 2006 citing economic conditions, the city and Canner Millfield were also able to convince Greed to sign away any rights to the project. To reward his good work, Blunder got a job as Fronddale's new city manager at an annual salary of $100,000.

City officials had been chastised by local critics, including former mayoral candidate Steve Pierce, for taking over four years and paying millions of dollars to purchase the property at above market prices.

YpsiNews.com has learned that much of the delay was due to the City's insistence that mineral rights be included in all sales agreements. Learning of the discovery of oil, Pierce admitted he was impressed with the plan hatched by City officials. "The city took a heck of risk with public money purchasing both the pollution and mineral rights. But it looks like their gambit will pay off."

Pierce, born in West Texas, spent years in oil patch communities and studied Geology in college. While he was pleased to see Water Street finally moving forward, he said the community may not ready for the next phase of the project: drilling.

Drilling rigs are expected to arrive on site in early May and City officials say that for the first three years drilling will be a 24-hour operation. Pierce sees downtown booming with new restaurants, bars, and other adult establishments open 24 hours a day to cater to the workers at the Water Street Oil Company. Ann Arbor may have Google, but we have oil.

City officials dismissed any concerns over noise and smells, saying any inconvenience would be minor. Pierce, whose grandparents owned oil property in Lubbock, calls the smell of oil "money". He said it will be like living with a sewage disposal plant on one side of you and a major airport on the other and having David Kircher for a landlord. Ypsilanti will be forever changed.

Pierce said he can stop complaining about Water Street and City Hall. "We no longer have a Water Street problem. The city played this beautifully. They don't need me hounding them any more. The city has proven they knew all along what they were doing. I am very impressed." Pierce says he won't be coming to any future city council meetings. Instead he is going to spend more time playing with his dogs.

While Water Street has so far cost the city some $40 million, considering the 100’s of millions of dollars in now-expected oil revenues for the foreseeable future, no one at City Hall seems concerned that it is now impossible to build homes amidst producing oil wells.

City officials would not go on record. However, newly hired Planning Director Bambi Heart was seen at Hobbes restaurant downtown celebrating with officials from UP Petroleum. Also at Hobbes was current mayor Pauli Schwaibler, former mayor Gardener, and former Planning and DDA director Prim Broulet.

Gardener said, "Water Street Oil solves the City's fiscal problems just like I said it would for the past 11 years." Turns out she was right.

--

Read more of our favorite April Fools Day stories here and for a brief history of April Fools Day click here. Please enjoy responsibly.

Ann Arbor Symphony comes to Ypsilanti

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 20:42:00 +0000

Historic concert to be held at Pease Auditorium

Head to Pease Auditorium at 8 pm on Sunday, April 15th for an Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra concert with a special Ypsilanti flavor!

Eastern Michigan University professors Willard Zirk, French horn and Joel Schoenhals, piano will solo on Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 1 and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Zirk has played principal horn with the A²SO for 24 years and will retire after this concert.

The talented Ypsilanti High School Brass directed by Matthew Kazmierski will open the concert with a fanfare. Local Ypsilanti residents Barbara Zmich and Kathleen Grimes will also be performing.

Reserved seats for Intersection: The A²SO in Ypsilanti are $16. General admission tickets are $11 (or $6 for seniors, students and children). Tickets are on sale through the EMU box office at 487-2282 or www.emich.edu to purchase tickets. Contact Amy at amy@a2so.com with any questions.

Ypsi students show off winning car

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 19:31:00 +0000

Fresh from winning third place in the Detroit Autorama, the Ypsilanti Public Schools Regional Career Technical Center's Auto Collision Class displayed their handiwork outside Ypsilanti High School, March 29, during Parent/Teacher conferences. The 1967 Edlorado is cherry red and waiting for a buyer! The class is hoping to sell the vehicle to help fund their next car project. Details contact teacher Bill Burnette, (734) 482-8485.

City Clerk Resigns

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 12:01:00 +0000

(March 27, 2007) Ypsilanti City Clerk Rebecca Bintz submitted her resignation on Monday, March 26th. Bintz had been on the job for two months. Bintz came under fire for the alleged use of a racial epithet while at work.

Mayor Paul Schreiber (Dem) announced that Bintz had tendered her resignation during a special council meeting held Tuesday morning at 7:30. Schreiber told council that Bintz's resignation would not be effective until it was accepted by the council. Schreiber indicated that he thought that would happen at the April 3rd meeting of City Council.

Watch Video of March 27, 2007 Special Council Meeting

At the beginning of the meeting Schreiber asked newly hired Deputy Clerk Frances McMullan to introduce herself. McMullan began work last week on March 19th and is the only employee in the Clerk's office.

McMullan previously worked for the City of Ann Arbor for 16 years. She has held a variety of positions including work in the Ann Arbor Building department and the Clerks office where she was an election worker and also was the recording secretary for city council for four years from 1997 to 2000. Her last job was parking referee for Ann Arbor. McMullan lives in Ypsilanti Township and is a graduate of EMU.

New City Clerk under fire for racial remark

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 18:41:00 +0000

(March 26, 2007) Newly hired Ypsilanti City Clerk Rebecca Bintz, is under fire for allegedly making a racially insensitive comment. Bintz, who is still in her probation period, was hired in December by Ypsilanti City Council and started work on January 22, 2007.

Just two months in her new position, it is alleged that Bintz used a racially charged word after an incident at city hall with an elderly customer who had come in and asked for city records. It is alleged that Bintz did not direct the word at the customer. It was after the customer left that Bintz is alleged to have used the epithet.

Bintz, who makes $60,000 a year, has not returned repeated calls from YpsiNews.com for comment on this story and the allegations.

On Saturday, Mayor Paul Schreiber (Dem) was asked about problems in the Clerk's office. In a telephone call with YpsiNews.com, Schreiber said that, "Ms. Bintz has been a good employee and any decision about Ms. Bintz's status is up to the City Council or Ms. Bintz."

YpsiNews.com has learned that Schreiber met with Bintz twice last week. Schreiber would not confirm that he met with Bintz about the allegations saying that the subject of the meeting was personal.

On Saturday, Schreiber was specifically asked if he asked for Bintz's resignation and Schreiber replied, "I will neither confirm or deny that I asked her and that is all I am going to say about this issue."

Council members Lois Richardson (Dem, Ward 1) and Brian Robb (Dem, Ward 3) were contacted and asked if they were aware of the allegations against Bintz. They both said they were unaware of any problems in the Clerk's office.

Richardson said she was "surprised to learn there were problems in the Clerk's office or with Ms. Bintz." She said that Bintz had been there just over a month and in all her dealings, Bintz had been easy to work with.

City Council has scheduled a special meeting for 7:30 Tuesday morning, March 27th. Schreiber was asked if anything else was to be discussed at the Tuesday Special Council Meeting besides the water bonds that are already on the agenda and Schreiber said no.

Under the rules of the City Charter, the City Council hires just two employees, the City Manager and the City Clerk. It is the City Manager, not the Mayor or Council, that is responsible for the hiring of all other employees and for the daily operation of the city.

City Manager Ed Koryzno took a medical leave of absence on March 9th. Bintz was cast as the new interim City Manager on March 12th under provisions of the City Charter. Sources inside City Hall had indicated that Bintz was not happy about being appointed Interim Manager. Citing her unfamiliarity with the city and that she was the only employee in the department, the next day Koryzno appointed Building Inspector and Building Department manager Charles Boulard as Interim City Manager. Koryzno is recuperating at home and is expected to return to work May 1.

Bintz was hired in July 2002, as Rebecca Lightner, to be city clerk in Bangor, Michigan. Bangor, population 1,933, is on the west side of the state. Bintz started at $28,500 and was making $33,000 a year in Bangor when she left her job four years later.

On the Van Buren County website they tell the story about Ed Cable an African-American living in Bangor, Michigan. Cable was a barber and businessman at the turn of the last century. An inappropriate racial comment was printed in the Bangor Advance newspaper before 1910. Cable responded by writing a letter to the paper. At a time when many would be afraid to speak out, Cable did and his letter was published the next week. Today, local preservationists are working to save and restore Cable's home.

According to the 2000 Census, Bangor is 75.8% white, 12.7% African-American, and 12.2% Hispanic. By contrast Ypsilanti is 61.4% white, 30.6% African-American, and 2.5% Hispanic. (Hispanic is not considered a race by the Census Bureau which is why the numbers do not add to 100.)

Fairdata2000.com reports that Bangor has 798 registered voters. According to the Washtenaw County Clerk, Ypsilanti has 12,247 registered voters.

During the interviews with Ypsilanti City Council, Bintz cited her broad experience with a diverse community as one of the assets she would bring to Ypsilanti and why she would make a good clerk.

Bintz said during her interview that when she started working in Bangor there were four other people on her team. By the time she left, there was just one person in her office, Bintz.

See video of both of Bintz's interviews with City Council. Her first interview was October 31, 2006. (Begins at 1hr:43min:20sec) Bintz's second interview was December 12, 2006. (Begins at 3min:30sec)

This is not the first problem to befall the Ypsilanti City Clerk's office. The City Clerks office has been beset with problems over the last several years. Every employee that has worked in the Clerk's office in the last two years has either quit or transferred to a different department.

The Ypsilanti City Clerk's department consists of just two people. Bintz and Frances McMullan who was just hired as the Deputy Clerk. McMullan started her new job March 19th and has been on the job less than one week. Prior to that, McMullan worked for the City of Ann Arbor.

McMullan will be preparing for her first election as Deputy Clerk when the Ypsilanti School Board election is held May 8th, just seven weeks away. The school board election is a joint election between the City and the townships of Ypsilanti and Superior.

Ypsi's The Rocket to be profiled by Ikea

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:41:00 +0000

(March 27, 2007) Brian Robb at East-Cross.com scooped YpsiNews.com by announcing that The Rocket, downtown Ypsi's funkiest store, will be profiled by mega store Ikea in April.

Ikea profiles small businesses that "think Ikea" which means they use Ikea products in their business. Hats off to Paul and everyone at The Rocket for helping to promote Ypsilanti. I hope their ISP is prepared for the increase in traffic. If you think 1,000 people at a store opening is huge, wait until you are on Ikea's website.

Comedy in Ypsilanti

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:15:00 +0000

(March 26, 2007) If you didn't have enough fun at the mayoral debates last summer, here is your chance to watch more comedy in Ypsilanti. Comedy Productions, which just opened an office here in Ypsilanti, and Pub 13 announces YPSILANTI IDOL COMEDY NIGHT beginning Monday, April 2, 2007 - 8pm and continuing weekly at Pub 13, located at 13 N. Washington in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

If you think you have a funny bone or your friends are always telling you that you crack them up, this could be your shot.

Each week five contestant-comedians will take to the stage performing a comedy routine, with an allotted time of 10 minutes. In the back of the room, on the bar, will be five jars, each bearing the name of the contestant. Throughout the hour long show, the audience will be encouraged to "vote" for their favorite contestant by "tipping" - placing money in the jar of their choice. At the conclusion of the show, the money (votes) will be counted. The contestant with the most money in their jar will be declared the winner and return the following week as "Reigning Champion."

A 6th jar, along with a GONG, will also be placed on the bar. After a contestant has been performing for 5 minutes, the hammer for the gong will be placed on the bar. For $10.00, an audience member may "gong" a contestant off the stage. Upon being gonged, the performer must leave the stage without comment. A gonged performer is eliminated from the contest and their tip jar removed from the bar. An eliminated contestant still receives any monies placed in their jar before being gonged. The money in the gong jar will be given to the wait staff.

The House Emcee, armed with an official stopwatch provided by Comedy Productions, will keep time regarding the gong hammer and will also provide the performer on stage a 2-minute warning light within their 10-minute slot. At 10 minutes, the emcee will call out "Time!" and the performing contestant must immediately stop speaking. If the performer continues, they will be "gonged" and disqualified. Any money in their jar will be forfeited to the gong jar.

Interested performers should email Chrissy@ComedyPro.com by Midnight on the Monday prior. (To be considered for the April 2, 2007 show, the deadline is Midnight March 26, 2007.) Contestants will be chosen by Comedy Productions and notified via email the next day. Contestants are required to be at Pub 13 by 7:30pm on the day of the contest. Late arrivals risk losing their slot to an alternate.

To promote YPSILANTI IDOL COMEDY NIGHT, Pub 13 will be tagging their current radio & print advertising and soliciting vendors as possible sponsors. Often, a representative from Comedy Productions will be present to watch performers for possible future work with the agency.

Pub 13 offers a full-menu but is still regarded as a bar. Minimum age for admission will be 18 years old. Admission is free.

For more information, please email Chrissy@ComedyPro.com.

Cook resigns from AATA

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 19:32:00 +0000

(March 16, 2007) Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) has announced that Greg Cook intends to resign as Executive Director/CEO of AATA. No date has been set.

Recently, Cook has been at odds with some members of the Board of Directors over policies, travel and expenses, and fares charged in outlying communities. Board President David Nacht said that Assistant Executive Director Dawn Gabat will be the interim director while the board does a search for a new director.

In a one-page, tersely worded statement, Nacht said, "AATA will continue to thrive and continue to grow under Ms. Gabay’s direction. We thank Greg Cook for his years of service and commitment to AATA and the community"

City Council proposes scheme to borrow $3.1 million (UPDATE2)

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 13:17:00 +0000

(March 15, 2007) Ypsilanti City Council took the first steps on Tuesday night to borrow an additional $3.1 million dollars to pay for capital improvements. The already cash strapped city, buckling under an ever increasing debt load and running up against state mandated borrowing limits is proposing a creative financing scheme to fund a $3.1 million dollar loan over 15 years.

Honeywell has proposed an extensive set of heating and cooling upgrades, as well as window, light fixture, and bathroom updates for City Hall, Police and Fire, Parkridge, Senior Center and a number of other city owned buildings. Honeywell is proposing the city borrow this money and suggests that through a combination of reduced maintenance and reduction in the use of outside contractors, as well as energy savings, the city can pay back the loan over a 15 year period of time.

Watch Video of City Council Meeting

In reality, what the city is doing is borrowing money to do capital improvements that have been deferred since 1995. Bill Bohlen, Manager for Public Works, pointed out in his testimony before Council that elected officials had balanced the budget each year for the past several years by forgoing needed capital improvements and deferring maintenance.

Bohlen also noted that City staff had looked at a similar program four years ago and after the former Department of Public Works head and city manager had studied the matter, it was decided to not bring it before council. It is unknown what if anything were concerns over the program four years ago. It may have simply been that the city was in the middle of the local road project and decided to not undertake a second significant capital improvement program at the same time.

The City has already amassed a very high level of debt since 1995. Current estimates peg the city's debt near $70 million including water, road and sewer bonds, DDA street scape bonds, city hall facade debt, as well as some $25 million already borrowed for the struggling Water Street project.

The city council also squashed any chance for public input at Tuesday nights meeting while Honeywell officials were present and available for questions. John Gawlas (Dem, Ward 2) made a motion to remove audience participation after the Honeywell presentation. (3m:20s) Consequently, there was no opportunity to ask further questions about the proposal and plan presented by Honeywell. Only Mayor Schreiber (Dem) voted against removing audience participation.

After the presentation and discussion by Council, Schreiber polled the council members present asking if they wanted to proceed with a letter of intent. Gawlas, Schreiber, Lois Richardson (Dem, Ward 1), and Brian Filipiak (Dem, Ward 3) all said they wanted to proceed. Only Brian Robb (Dem, Ward 3) said he wanted to review the materials and carefully read the 120 plus page report from Honeywell before deciding if the City should proceed with a contract. While no final vote was taken by council, it appears Schreiber has the votes necessary to move forward with his plan that will burden the city residents with more debt.

Schreiber said the city plans to issue a letter of intent sometime in April. Brian Robb asked if a $3.1 million project would require a competitive bid under city rules. Council was told by city staff that there is no need to go out for bid, even for such a large capital project. Staff said Honeywell would be acting as the consultant engineer on the project and Honeywell would be sub-contracting the work to other companies and thus the city would not need competitive bids.

However, the largest single contract will likely go to Honeywell or a Honeywell subsidiary for well over $1 million. So it appears the City is using Honeywell to skirt around rules requiring competitive bids for any large project.

A copy of Honeywell's proposal and presentation is available here. (Warning, the file is a very large PDF, 30MB)

Updated: March 16, 2007 9:17a
Original Post: March 15, 2007 12:18a

Koryzno on four to six week medical leave (UPDATE3)

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 02:41:00 +0000

Charles Boulard appointed interim city manager

(March 13, 2007) Ypsilanti City manager Ed Koryzno has taken a four to six week leave of absence for medical reasons effective immediately.

In a statement released to city council, Koryzno said he had been readmitted to St. Joseph's hospital last Thursday and that he was suffering from anemia. After extensive diagnosis, Koryzno said a growth was discovered and he underwent surgery on Monday to remove the non-malignant growth.

Mayor Schreiber at Tuesday's City Council meeting announced the Mr. Koryzno had his gall bladder removed.

Koryzno had first been been admitted to St. Joseph's hospital several weeks ago for overnight observation. He was back to work the next Monday.

Koryzno said, "We are in the midst of preparing next year's budget and key administrative positions are vacant, so I hope to return to work as soon as possible."

Originally Mr. Koryzno thought he would be out for two weeks. Now he is expecting to be out four to six weeks. Koryzno had earlier said that newly hired City Clerk Rebecca Bintz, would become Acting City Manager during his absence. Bintz is the only employee in the City Clerk's office. Frances McMullan, who was hired as the new deputy clerk, won't start until March 19th. McMullan was working in the Clerk's office in the City of Ann Arbor.

Koryzno announced today that he is instead appointing Building Department manager Charles Boulard as Interim City Manager.

We at YpsiNews.com hope that Mr. Koryzno makes a speedy recovery and our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

Updated: March 13, 2007 10:41p
Original Post: March 12, 2007 10:26a

Fire destroys apartment near EMU

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 23:32:00 +0000

(March 11, 2007) Fire gutted the second floor apartment at 712 Washtenaw in Ypsilanti around 3:30pm on Sunday. According to Ypsilanti police on the scene, no one was injured and everyone got out of the apartment safely. Washtenaw Avenue was shut down for several hours this afternoon as firefighters from Ypsilanti Fire Department fought the blaze. Also responding to the fire were firefighters from Ypsilanti Township.

The 13-unit building is owned by Three Oaks Properties and is a landmark apartment building on the corner of Washtenaw and Emmet just east of the Water Tower. Three Oaks had acquired the property several years ago and had recently completed an extensive renovation of the entire building.

Picture of the week

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Pierce, Ypsilanti, Michigan USA) — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 06:01:00 +0000

Ypsilanti City Parking Enforcement vehicle parked on South Washington around 1 pm, Tuesday, March 6, 2007.

Have a favorite picture and want to share it with the community, send it to us, YpsiNews.com.