(August 27, 2008) YpsiNews.com has had a technical problem that kept us from uploading new videos. So we continued to record many community meetings while fixing the problem.

The technical problems have been solved so this will be the first of many meetings that we will post over the next couple of weeks.

This latest video is from the Ypsilanti School Board meeting. During the meeting, the board considered Jim Vick as assistant principal at the High School. After many impassioned pleas both for and against Mr. Vick, the school board, without any discussion, voted 6 to 1 to not hire Vick.

(August 7, 2008) Dearborn, MI – Federal and State lawmakers hoping to see more action and fewer roadblocks to stem cell research in Michigan held a legislative briefing at the Ann Arbor District Library at 7pm on August 7. U.S. Representative John D. Dingell (D-MI15) along with State Representatives Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor), Pam Byrnes (D-Chelsea) and Alma Wheeler Smith (D-Salem Twp.) joined the Director of the University of Michigan’s Center for Stem Cell Biology, Dr. Sean Morrison, to discuss the restrictions scientists currently face and what is happening at the state and federal levels to expand this vital research.

All the elected officials are supporters of the ballot initiative that would lift some restrictions on stem cell research in Michigan. In 2005, the Houston Chronicle described Michigan as one of five states with the most severe laws regarding stem cell research and last year The Toledo Blade referred to Michigan as “backward” because of its restrictive rules.

Source: Congressman John D. Dingell’s office

(July 31, 2008) Campaign literature and website from Edison Hubert who is running for State House in the 54th District runs afoul of military prohibitions of political campaigning. According to Department of Defense Public Affairs office, official military photos may not be used in in political advertising or campaigns.

Hubert has sent out a number of campaign pieces with his official Marine Corps photo where he served for four years in the early 90’s.

Additionally, Hubert used a copyrighted Marine Corps medallion on his website and in his print advertising which is also a violation of military rules and regualtions. Prohibitions of the use of military images in political campaigning has been a long standing policy of the military. Rules governing the use of military images and uniforms were updated in June 2006.

Hubert is also in violation of a more recent directive issued in 2008 which states candidates must use a disclosure statement when using photos of themselves in uniform or talking about their military service. The statement should say, “Military Images and Information Do Not Imply Endorsement by DoD or Service Branch.” Hubert has not used the disclosure statement on his print ads or website.

YpsiNews tried to reach Mr. Hubert’s campaign for comment, but the telephone number on his campaign website is not working.

See the on-line discussion during the debate.

(July 18, 2008) Materials Unlimited in downtown Ypsilanti is having their annual 20% off sale through the month of August. This year they have added a twist.

They will donate 3% of all sales to the Best Friends Animal Society, the nation’s largest no-kill animal sanctuary for abused and abandoned animals.

The sale runs from August 2nd to 27th.

Materials Unlimited
2 West Michigan Ypsilanti, MI 48197
(800) 299-9462

(July 18, 2008) YpsiNews.com is sponsoring a candidate forum for Ypsilanti Township candidates, County Sheriff, and County Commission from District 4.

The debate is Thursday, July 24 from 6:30p to 9:00p and will be held at the Ypsilanti Public Library, 5577 Whittaker Road in Ypsilanti.

YpsiNews.com will record the debate and post the video on the Internet that evening. If we can secure a high speed connection, we plan to broadcast the debate live via the Internet.

The debate is being organized by Derrick Jackson and Jessica (Decky) Alexander.

A website has been created www.ytowncan.com where citizens can post questions and discuss the upcoming debate. Questions from the forums will selected and asked of all candidates. Residents will also be able to submit questions during the debate.

Then after the debate, return to the website to discuss the debate and candidates.

For more information please contact the organizers

Derrick Jackson
734.330.9911
email: derrick@ytowncan.com

Jessica (Decky) Alexander
734.945.9164
email: decky@ytowncan.com

Website: www.ytowncan.com

(July 15, 2008) Skip Cerier from SchoolPictures.com, a clearing house and processor of school pictures, has completed purchase of the Ave Maria Campus in Ypsilanti. Cerier closed on the property on Monday.

Cerier says they have over 3 million pictures and provide service to some 400 schools in the region. Cerier says they have been on-line for some two years now and shot over 80 schools last year.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Tom Monaghan, founder of Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, moved the campus to Florida in 2006. Monaghan was also co-founder of Dominos Pizza and store number 1 was in Ypsilanti. With the sale of the Ave Maria property on Forest Avenue, Monaghan has just three properties remaining in Ypsilanti. They are 1208 Grant, 305 Jarvis, and 318 W Forest.

Update1 — July 30, 2008 — Earlier we reported this was last property Monaghan owned in Ypsilanti. That is not correct. Mr. Monaghan still has three properties in Ypsilanti. The error was in reporting.

(June 15, 2008) Dos Hermanos Market and Bakery celebrates their first year in Ypsilanti. Opened by brothers Nicholas and Reyes Arreola, Dos Hermanos is located in downtown Ypsilanti on Michigan Avenue next to Abe’s Coney Island. Ypsilanti is their second store in Michigan. Their first store is in Adrian.

Dos Hermanos has become an Ypsilanti favorite with an extensive meat market and produce section. If they don’t have just what you need, they will special order it for you.

They are celebrating their first year in Ypsilanti on Sunday with a live broadcast by Spanish station WSDS. They will be serving special homemade tacos with beef, lamb, goat, cilantro, and lime. There will also be drawings and prizes.

(May 27, 2008) Ypsilanti City Manager Ed Koryzno in his budget presentation that was presented to the City Council at a May 8th special meeting told council the City property millage will go up by additional 1.02 mills.

This millage increase is above the general operating millage, which is capped by state law, thus this increase is not subject to a voter approval. The City’s portion of the millage rate will increase from 29.6 to 30.6. Ypsilanti has the highest property taxes in the County.

(May 20, 2008) The Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission and Target Corporation present Ypsi Pops: A Tribute to the Americas, a free concert by the Ypsilanti Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, May 24th at 2:00 pm. The concert will be held at Ypsilanti’s Riverside Park Pavilion with parking available in the Depot Town parking lots. This will be the YSO’s first ever outdoor concert at Riverside Park. Depot Town businesses will be offering food and beverages for sale during the event. Visitors are encouraged to bring blankets or lawn chairs for seating. In case of rain, the concert will be rescheduled for Sunday, May 25th at 2:00 pm.

The Ypsilanti Symphony Orchestra is celebrating its 9th season, under the baton of founding Music Director Adam C. Riccinto. The YSO is primarily a volunteer adult orchestra comprised of musicians from Ypsilanti and the surrounding communities. The YSO performs four regular season concerts from September through April, generally at Towsley Auditorium on the campus of WCC.

For more information, call 971-6355 ext. 203, or visit www.ypsilantisymphony.org.

(May 16, 2008) The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) announced the Ypsilanti Food Co-op has received a grant of $35,980 for two solar energy projects. The grant is to install solar photo-voltaic panels on the Co-op as well as on City Hall.

The grants are part of the MPSC’s Low-Income and Energy Efficiency Fund, which provides energy bill assistance for low-income customers and promotes the efficient use of energy by all customer classes.

In Ward 2, John Gawlas (Dem, Ward 2) filed his paper work on Monday. Gawlas is running against Mike Bodary who had already filed last week.

In Ward 1 Lois Richardson (Dem, Ward 1) is joined by newcomer Megan Turf. Turf filed her petitions on Thursday, May 8th. On Tuesday afternoon, just a couple of hours before the filing deadline, Tyrone Bridges also filed in Ward 1. Bridges ran against Richardson in 2000.

In Ward 3, former Mayor Pete Murdock is running against planning commissioner Rod Johnson. Current Ward 3 representative Brian Filipiak said he will not seek re-election.

—
Update1 May 16, 2008 Megan Turf submitted her petition on Thursday, May 8, 2008. The error was made in reporting.

Ward 3
Ward 3 is expected to have a heated race in the Democratic primary as former Ypsilanti Mayor Pete Murdock and Planning Commissioner Rod Johnson both submitted their petitions to get on the August ballot. Murdock and Johnson are seeking the seat vacated by Brian Filipiak (Dem, Ward 3) who decided to not run for re-election.

Murdock was a three term mayor of Ypsilanti as well as a former City Council member. Johnson is Chair of the Planning Commission and chair of CoPAC.

Johnson ran for City Council two years ago against Brian Robb (Dem, Ward 3) for an open seat. Johnson lost that race by just 12 votes.

Ted Windish already filed his paperwork to run as in independent from Ward 3 back in February. As an independent, Windish will skip the August primary and his name will appear on the November ballot.

Ward 3 covers the east side of the City essentially from east of the Water Tower and north of Michigan Avenue.

Ward 1
In Ward 1, incumbent Lois Richardson (Dem) also filed petitions on Friday. Richardson is seeking her third term on City Council. No other petitions have been filed in Ward 1.

Megan Turf filed a petition last week for Ward 1, but it was rejected by the City Clerk because of a problem with her form. Turf said she is recollecting signatures and expects to meet the Tuesday deadline.

Ward 1 is south of Michigan avenue and includes a small part of Summit and Recreation Park to the north.

Ward 2
Mike Bodary (pronounced Bo-dree) filed petitions on Friday as well. Bodary, a Democrat, is running for City Council in Ward 2. Bodary is a lifelong resident of Ypsilanti and his father was a long time police officer in the City.

John Gawlas (Dem, Ward 2) has yet to file petitions. Gawlas told YpsiNews last week that he plans to run for his fourth term. He said had pulled the filing paperwork but had not yet submitted it to the City Clerk.

Ward 2 is west of the Water Tower and North of Michigan Avenue.

The August primary is Tuesday, August 5th.

Police Chief Matt Harshberger said that after further research by the attorney’s office, they learned the truancy ordinance was not needed. Harshberger said the Juvenile Court diverts all truancy cases to social services. Therefore, the truancy ordinance would be of no use.

Without further discussion, the truancy ordinance was defeated unanimously by City Council.

It was left unsaid why a similar ordinance, that had already been passed by Ypsilanti Township, was ever approved and why no one from the School district knew how Truancy cases were handled by the county court system.

Filipiak said that his decision not to run is not a reflection on any specific issue or difficulty at the Council, but rather his desire to finish his Masters at Eastern Michigan University. He says he has just three more classes before he completes his degree in Educational Technologies.

Filipiak said that the experience as a council member was very rewarding. He said he very much enjoyed getting to know other members on council and it has been an incredible education in both local and state government.

Filipiak said that he couldn’t point to any specific highlight, but that he was was most happy when Council could work together to bring a new business to town. He also said that he was especially moved by the hundreds of people that would come together to work on an issue. He said, “Blueprints was especially uplififting to see all that came out. That is very encouraging for the success of Ypsilanti.”

Far from it. Ypsilanti scores very well, garnering a 2 out of 10. A lower number indicates lower risk. A score of 0 reflects the presence of neutral fiscal health and a score of 8 or above reflects a local unit experiencing fiscal stress.

That is a good news for the City as it prepares for a new budget this month.

According to the state, Ypsilanti was above average in fiscal stability scoring a 2.

The average score for Michigan cities was 2.4 for the fiscal year ending in 2006. The Department scored 269 of the 274 cities for which information was available. The breakdown for each numeric category is listed below:

0 to 4 Fiscally Neutral
5 to 7 Watch List
8 to 10 Fiscal Stress

Key factors from nine categories are analyzed and assigned points. They include, but are not limited to:

1. Population growth
2. Real taxable valuation growth
3. Large real taxable value decrease
4. General fund expenditures as a percent of taxable valuation
5. General fund operating deficits
6. Prior general fund operating deficits
7. Size of general fund balance
8. Fund deficits in current or previous years
9. General long-term debt as a percent of taxable value

Ypsilanti got 0’s (best score) in all but two categories, population decline and Debt Ratio. Since 2000, Ypsilanti’s population dropped by 619 residents. SEMCOG is predicting that by 2035, Ypsilanti will lose less than 100 residents over a 30 year period or a 0.4% drop.

By comparison Ann Arbor scored a 1, Saline was 0, and Chelsea was 3. Outside the County, Highland Park and River Rouge both scored 8, Hamtramck was a 7, and Pontiac and Belleville scored a 5. Last week, Pontiac has recently been placed under supervision by Governor Granholm pending a 60 day review by financial experts appointed by the State.

View Ypsilanti’s Report
View Fiscal Indicators Scores for other Cities

Water Street, Ypsilanti Michigan from YpsiNews.com.

Water Street is a city owned 38 acre property in Downtown Ypsilanti Michigan that is available for redevelopment. With 1,500ft of frontage on Michigan Ave./US 12 and over one-half mile of frontage on the Huron River, the site is perfect for mixed use, sports, retail, hotel, residential, and office space. To learn more about this opportunity, please visit the City of Ypsilanti website at CityofYpsilanti.com.

City and Township elected officials made plans to form a joint fire response system called automatic mutual aid. The plan calls for both City and Township fire departments to respond simultaneously to any structure fire in the City or Township.

The plan would result in more firefighters responding to a fire call which should result in lower fire insurance bills for residents. The new system will also be safer for firefighters as there will be more firefighters on scene.

The Township approved the plan in January and is waiting for Ypsilanti City Council to approve the final plan. Details were hammered out during planning sessions held in 2007. The plan has the support of both fire chiefs and both firefighter unions. Officials in both the Township and City said that outside of additional cost for fuel and minor wear and tear on the equipment, it won’t cost either department additional money.

Officials estimated that there would likely be one or two calls per month. Township Clerk Brenda Stumbo suggested that both boards consider a trail period to work out final details.

The township also committed to spending $5,000 as their contribution to the Spark East business incubator planned for downtown Ypsilanti. The City of Ypsilanti had already committed $15,000 over three years for Spark East.

The City and Township committed to holding more joint meetings on a quarterly basis.

The Water Street project is now headed by City Manager Ed Koryzno and Assistant City Manager April McGrath. McGrath said the city was concentrating their efforts on the upcoming Brownfields conference in Detroit.

The city is partnering with Washtenaw County at the conference and is planning to have a van available to bring attendees of the conference to Water Street to tour the site.

McGrath also announced that they were planning to remove the fence along Michigan Avenue and put up a sign announcing the project. Removing the fence will save the city nearly $5,000 a year in rental fees.

Squabbles broke out over the DDA director choosing winners and losers for facade grant application sent to the state without board review. At the urging of the mayor, the DTDDA then approved, in a 5-4 decision, the facade grant application after it had already been sent to the State.

The board even approved the FY2008-2009 budget while many of the board members had not even seen the budget prior to being it being presented at the meeting. The board also approved changing the pay of the DDA director, authorizing money to be transferred directly from the DTDDA account rather then being combined with the Ypsilanti (Downtown) DDA budget.

Mayor Schreiber also apologized for the Ypsilanti DDA’s failure to complete the evaluation of the DDA director saying it was due to the DDA board being lazy.

(April 21, 2008) Riders on Ann Arbor Transit Authority (AATA) buses can now get updated maps and schedules with Google Transit. The new map service launched Monday, April 21st.

Features include the ability to plan and store routes and check schedules. AATA officials said the maps are more accurate and more up to date than the maps on AATA’s website.

AATA hopes in the future they will have real-time GPS so riders can see where the bus is and how long to the next stop.

Maps will work with desktop computers and most smartphones.

(April 20, 2008) The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) has told Ypsilanti City officials that the City must fully fund their annual contribution for bus service in Ypsilanti or face elimination of routes and cuts in service. AATA has told the city that their share for bus service is nearly $276,000 a year. The City is currently paying about half that amount, about $134,000.

On Tuesday, April 15, 2008, Mayor Paul Schreiber (Dem) in his remarks to the Council said the city must fully fund AATA bus service in Ypsilanti. Schreiber told the rest of City Council the public safety budget for Ypsilanti police and fire is $7.5 million annually. Schreiber said, if they took the worst case scenario, police and fire would be reduced by 2% to fully fund buses.

Bill Nickels (Dem, Ward 2) said that reducing police by $140,000 is the equivalent of eliminating two police officers.

Schreiber asked the council, “Is losing half of the bus service worth losing a fraction of the police force? It is a matter of priority.”

Lois Richardson (Dem, Ward 1) asked how much money would AATA lose in other funding if AATA cut service in Ypsilanti? Richardson, answering her own question said, “AATA hasn’t told us.”

After the meeting, Nickels said that he is not in favor of fully funding bus service it if means cuts to police and fire.

According to the AATA, over 550,000 people a year board the bus in Ypsilanti.

The AATA receives funds from a variety of sources including the Ann Arbor DDA and U-M. These organizations make contributions to AATA so that U-M students as well as employees that work downtown and at U-M get free bus passes to encourage employees that live in Ypsilanti to use the bus. EMU and WCC also subsidizes AATA in part so that Ann Arbor residents can attend class in Ypsilanti.

U-M and the Ann Arbor DDA have said when students and employees use the bus it reduces the need for more parking spaces and reduces traffic congestion in the City of Ann Arbor. The Ann Arbor DDA has said in past presentations that bus service for employees in downtown Ann Arbor improves the quality of life for all residents in Ann Arbor and it prevents other property from being gobbled up and turned into parking lots and structures.

It is unclear how cuts service in Ypsilanti will impact the subsidies AATA gets from U-M and other local contributors. Also unknown are the impacts on federal and state subsidies AATA receives if residents in Ypsilanti can no longer use the bus service because AATA has cut or eliminated service in Ypsilanti.

AATA could lose far more in State and Federal subsidies, as well as subsidies from U-M and other area businesses, than the additional $140,000 they are trying to extract from the City of Ypsilanti. AATA has so far been unwilling to discuss how much they would lose from other funding sources if they cut or eliminated bus service in Ypsilanti.

Watch the complete meeting below.

Update1: 4/29/08 Added video of full meeting

(April 8, 2008) A suspicious drum was found Tuesday morning in the Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority (DDA) dumpster enclosure in the North Huron Street lot. The red 20 gallon metal drum with a lid was dropped off sometime time after 4pm Monday afternoon.

Responding to the call were firefighters from the City of Ypsilanti, Augusta Township, and Pittsfield Township as well as a Huron Valley Ambulance crew, Ypsilanti Police, and Ypsilanti Department of Public Works. Firefighters were waiting for testing and monitoring equipment so they could determine the contents.

At 9:30am the parking lot and street remain open and no business have been evacuated.

The dumpsters have been a problems for the DDA since they were built over three years ago at a cost of over $300,000. Because there was no monitoring and no coordinated pickup, the dumpsters have been the subject of frequent trash dumping from residents and business outside the area.

DDA officials just this week have begun picking up the trash in all three dumpsters enclosures under a new contract with Waste Management. It is hoped this new program will help to clean-up the dumpster enclosures in the City parking lots and encourage more downtown residents and business to use the dumpster enclosures.

The DDA hopes with regular trash pick-ups and monitoring by downtown business and residents, problems like the dumping of oil drums and other illegal waste will decline. If you are a witness to illegal dumping you are encouraged to call the Ypsilanti Police non-emergency number at (734) 483-9510. You do not have give your name or address when you call.

Kira Berman and Katherine Weathers are running for the 1-year term. Sarah Devaney, Edward Jackson, and Thomas Reiber are running for two 4-year terms. Jackson was not able to attend the debate because of a scheduling conflict.

(April 2, 2008) Calling all banjos to come to the aid of Ypsilanti’s beloved Freighthouse.

Some of the areas finest indie, old-time, punk, roots and bluegrass performers will be plucking on the ol’ banjo April 5, 2008 from 5-10 p.m. at the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti, Mich.

Donations of $5 or more are appreciated at the door. All proceeds benefit the hardworking Friends of the Ypsilanti Freighthouse.