Arbor Update

Hell, I’d vote for him, except I live in A2 Twp.

(Todd, if you are listening, I was at your place last night with some friends and there was no Belgian White. Will it be returning?)

Todd Leopold for mayor. He’s too real, but maybe he can get over it.

Hey, that’s a damn good idea. Leopold for council!

I don’t know…. It might upset Sonia.

I’ve said it before guys, I don’t think I’d make a good rep at all. I don’t think that Councilperson should words like ‘twit’, or “MuppetCalculator™” as I am prone to on occassion….

But in reality, by the end of September we will be selling our spirits in Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, New York, and Colorado. I simply don’t have the time hold any position at the City.

Just as an example, I’ll be in SC and GA for two weeks for sales and a couple of “distiller’s dinners”. If all goes well, I won’t be in Michigan for a couple of weeks out of every month.

But, as I’ve said before, although she doesn’t share many of my views, JulieW would be a fine choice for a seat on council.

I do appreciate the thought, though. Thanks, Brandon.

Oh, come on Todd … can’t you schedule your fancy dinners on weeks when Council doesn’t meet? :) You’d be great … too bad.

Oh, and tom…the belgian white just kicked yesterday. It will be back in the fall.

thanks.

Don’t thank me, thank some anonymous activist.

Ah, I see. I didn’t notice that there was a link.

I like that she/he included the Michigan Daily picture of me that makes me look like I’m roughly 30 feet tall.

A slogan based on the photo could be “vote for Todd, or he’ll destroy all the villagers and the bi-planes that attack him”.....

So you’re warming up to the idea, eh? And you could win with a slogan like that, especially if you drop in a few hints that you can also knock down tall buildings.

“produces full-scale greenways by merely sauntering along the tracks?”

we’ll get you a big axe and a huge ox and you can just plow the greenway. todd “bunyan” leopold.

Heh. Actually, I hope that Juliew makes a run for it in the Fourth Ward next year. She would be opposing former Republican Marcia Higgins. I’d help on Juliew’s campaign.

Some kind of help
is the kind of help
that helping’s all about.

And some kind of help
is the kind of help
we all could do without.

I love it. I’m sure Todd could be coaxed into being a bit more congenial on Council, thanking councilmembers for meaningless comments and praising the integrity and value of Ann Arbor’s neighborhoods, when scads of supporters showed up at his bar to play the Ann Arbor City Council Drinking Game.

In the spirit of Brandon’s comment, I say we start trying out campaign slogans and ad campaigns to save Todd the trouble of focus-grouping (the dude’s on the road and his will be a people-powered campaign).

“Good for Business? Good for Ann Arbor!” : maybe this one will appeal to centrist- and pro-business Dems; I’m sure there are much more clever ones out there.

On the topic of former Republicans, I might note that Stephen Rapundalo will be up for re-election in 2007, whose votes and positions are far more egregious than the benign Higgins.

David—if being a former Republican is your litmus test, why did you donate to Rapundalo? It couldn’t be his NIMBY history, could it?

Ann Arbor NEEDS somebody like Todd who is up-front and honest with people, not cleverly evasive and lamely non-committal.

Ann Arbor has beer
Drinking four cold pints, no less?
Todd will get us by

HD: Thanks. I nearly spit my dinner onto my keyboard.

Geez, turn my back for a minute and suddenly I have both Todd Leopold and Dave Cahill advocating for me to run for City Council. While I appreciate the endorsements, can you imagine one person trying to represent both those constituents? Kind of makes my head spin just thinking about it.

But yeah, Ward 4 needs a little new blood on Council. Maybe next year.

Eh, Adam deAngeli, the proprietor of “infoshop” The Planet, just posted this bulletin on MySpace. Do with it as you wish:

“Since Ann Arbor is totally controlled by the Democrats, the primary election (which is this Tuesday) pretty much determines who the next City Council will be.

So make sure you vote, because City Council is full of jerks right now.

We just got a free paper you should pick up, called “Progressives of Washtenaw” which is full of details about the various candidates, something totally missing from the Ann Arbor News. It’s also on the web at http://progressivesofwashtenaw.org/, but you should pick up a paper copy too.

Election Day is Tuesday August 8.

Here are my personal recommendations:

City Council
1st Ward: Ron Suarez is a great candidate; anti-war, pro-civil liberties, pro-Greenway, the opponent is a Republican slimeball
2nd Ward: No choice; running unopposed
3rd Ward: Alice Ralph – pro-Greenway, Myers is good too but Ralph has experience
4th Ward: No choice.
5th Ward: They all sound OK, I’d probably go for Ankli but
Shmerl is more electable

Mayor: Wendy Woods, defeating MCRI is top priority, supports full implementation of greenway, etc

53rd District, state rep: Rebekah Warren; Greden is a company man, accepts big donations from slimeballs

County Commission:
1st District, Eric Borregard: anti-war, pro-IRV (ranked-preference voting), pro-public access media, runs a public-access environmental show
8th District: Vote Barbara Bergman: Opponent Jackson is anti-medical marijuana, opponent Montague is pro-funding counterterrorism training for local police.

Click here to see which city ward you’re in.
Click here to see which county district.

Here are my recommendations with details:

First Ward City Council, Ron Suarez, who sounds great.

He’s anti-war, he’s founded a Bronx food co-op, he did
pro-bono work for the A2 IT Zone and the 555 Gallery, his
credentials are really great. I met the guy and he seems
sincere. His website is www.ronsuarez.com. On it, he
states as a fact that George W. Bush stole the 2004
election, something other democrats don’t have the nerve to
do, and he sounds concerned about vote fraud. He also
speaks
out about the fraud to ban affirmative action.

His card reads:

Born in Spanish Harlem * [bio] * Founder: Bronx Food Co-op *
Anti-War Activist * Organizer: Taxi Union and GEO * UM GSI
Administrator: Tenants’ Union, Consumer Action Center &
Hispanic Student Retention Program * Kids’ Soccer Coach *
Pro-Bono work for A2 IT Zone & 555 Gallery * Founder:
Network Downtown * Leader: Ann Arbor Java User Group * Home
was A2 HQ for Dean Campaign, then DFA coordinator * Founder:
Democracy for Washtenaw Podcast.

Not bad.

The incumbent is John Roberts, who ran for mayor of Ann
Arbor as a Republican in 2000 and switched parties out of
convenience.

In the Second Ward, it’s Jean Lowenstein. With regard to
her unwavering commitment to the Middle East genocide, she
is totally evil, but she is running unopposed.

In the Third Ward, there are three candidates, with the
incumbent stepping down:

Jeff Meyers: Doesn’t sound bad, but makes all of the usual
statements Democrats like to hear and nothing specific or
concrete, just vague things like:

SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESSES
INCREASING ECONOMIC DIVERSITY
INVESTING IN ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
PROMOTING SOUND PUBLIC TRANSIT POLICIES
DEVELOPING STRATEGIES FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING
MAKING DOWNTOWN BIKE & PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY

Sounds great, but it doesn’t sound like he really gets it.

Alice Ralph:

http://aliceralph.com/

Not much info on her page, but she is against the Lower
Town
Plan, see http://lowertownwatch.org/ for info about that.

She is also pro-greenway park.

But the rest is still wishy-washy stuff:

* Ill work toward a livable and lovable Ann Arbor.

* Ill strive for balance between neighborhood needs
and
measured development.

* Ill listen actively to find common goals among
citizens, boards, and commissions.

Then, Steven Kunselman:

Kunselman is a member of the Planning Commission, and he is
the “establishment” candidate. I don’t know much about
him; he has no information page which itself makes him
suspicious.

The Fourth Ward, there is no challenger.

The Fifth Ward has two challengers to the incumbent:

Richard J Ankli
Sonia Schmerl: http://soniaschmerl.com
Chris Easthope [incumbent]

Richard J Ankli was an activist for the Human Rights Party.

From arborupdate.com:

Cahill: “Ankli is a known crank.”

Homeless Dave: “Heres a pdf file of a masters thesis from
Duquesne University submitted just this spring, which
includes some discussion of the history of the Human Rights
Party in Ann Arbor dating back to the 70s. If the Richard
Ankli referenced in the thesis is the same one who has
taken out petitions this year, it looks like he has served
on City Council sometime in the past. David Cahill, is
this the same guy?”

Cahill: “Yes, this is the same guy. He won a Human Rights
Party primary, but then lost in the general election to a
Democrat. He has never served on Council. In 2000, he ran
for Library Board and passed out embarrassing lit. He got
only a handful of votes.”

Ankli sounds like my type of guy.

Sonia Schmerl (http://soniaschmerl.com):

Co-founder and co-chair of The Friends of the Ann Arbor
Greenway

“Im running for office because the incumbent City Council
is serving development interests instead of the voters. In
their rush to approve high-rise buildings, they are
neglecting the needs of our neighborhoods. They are
cutting fundamental city services such as park maintenance,
yet they hand out taxpayer money to subsidize private
developers. Thats wrong.

“Its time someone stood up to the influence of big
developers. Its unethical for City Council members to take
favors from people they negotiate with. To eliminate
conflicts of interest, I pledge that I will never accept
free meals, gifts, or campaign contributions from
developers, lobbyists, or city contractors.

“Furthermore, I will not meet privately with developers
without publicly disclosing the contents of the
conversation.”

I like her, too.

Chris Easthope is the incumbent; frankly I don’t like any
of the incumbents, but Easthope did vote in support of the
Greenway in its original form. Even still, I have an
anti-incumbent bias when it comes to government.

Mayor: John Hieftje and Wendy Woods are the candidates.

Hieftje has an iron grip on the voters, so it hardly
matters. Woods has made passage of the city’s living wage
ordinance, the Patriot Act resolution, and increasing
affordable housing priorities. On the other hand,
Hieftje’s big on environmental policies, sustainability
etc.

I don’t think it really matters but I lean toward Woods.

State Rep:

Rebekah Warren: http://www.rebekahwarren.com/

Makes typical democrat vote-winning promises. (schools,
environment, economy, etc). As usual, it’s all about what
she plans to do, not how she plans to do it.

Leigh Greden: http://leighgreden.com/

Tougher rhetoric than the competitor, tougher stance on gay
rights. But Greden was the guy trying to ban couches on
front porches (said they were a potential fire hazard),
didn’t support the Greenway proposal. Democrat on social
issues, democrat on budget issues, but big-business on
development issues.

At his June 28th fundraiser, Greden received six $100 contributions from individuals associated with Broadway Village developer Strathmore Development Co. three principals of the company (Evert Kramer, Jr., Thomas Eckhardt and Sandra Orlando), two wives of principals (Sharon D. McGraw, wife of Kevin T. McGraw; and Marsha Benton, wife of Thomas Benton), and its Associate General Counsel, Julia Skinner, none of whom lives anywhere near Ann Arbor. Is it just a coincidence that $100 is the maximum amount that can be given without listing the contributors employer, so none of these contributors was identified in Gredens finance reports as being associated with Strathmore?

Among Gredens earliest contributions, in August through December of last year, were seven totaling $2,900 from individuals connected to Broadway Village. Greden received $1,000 from developer Peter Allen, the original promoter of Broadway Village, and his wife. He received $500 from Connie Dimond, an architect with JJR, the local planning firm working on Broadway Village. The maximum that an individual can give to a state representative campaign is $500. He received $300 from Joseph Fazio, the Miller Canfield partner doing most of the legal work for the developer.

McKinley Associates, the large landlord and developer, is the leasing agent for Broadway Village. Greden has received $1,100 in contributions from three members of its Board of Directors: Albert Berriz, McKinley CEO; Paul Dimond, Chairman of the Board and married to JJR architect Connie Dimond; and board member Wendell Dunbar.

The most interesting of these contributions is the one from Albert Berriz. According to public records, Berriz has given over $20,000 in recent years to a number of state and federal Republican candidates and committees, including the maximum to George W. Bush, and not a dime to any Democrat until Greden.

Greden also received $3,000 from Miller Canfields PAC.

Contact: Dave DeVarti, Spokesperson
Organization Name: Progressives of Washtenaw
Telephone Number: 734/995-2850
Email Address: Progressives@comcast.net
Web site address: http://progressivesofwashtenaw.org

So I guess Warren sounds like the preferable one.

I do not necessarily endorse Progressives of Washtenaw (POW!) but they seem to have good goals and information.”

a) Adam needs a fact checker.

b) “he has no information page which itself makes him suspicious.”

Adam’s got that part right, at least. In this day and age, not having a webpage is pretty silly, unless your constituency is entirely on the losing side of the digital divide, or whatever you want to call it.

c) Progressives of Washtenaw? Who exactly are these Progressives of Washtenaw? And putting out a free paper? Like, a newspaper? Who does that?

“Contact: Dave DeVarti, Spokesperson”

Oh. Right. Hi, Dave.

d) Cahill: “Ankli is a known crank.” is presented as a reason to vote for Ankli – but Adam also seems kneejerk anti-Broadway Village. Strange bedfellows indeed.

e) “Even still, I have an anti-incumbent bias when it comes to government.”

Watch out, folks. No matter how strongly Adam endorses you, you shouldn’t let him stand behind you at your election night victory party.

f) “Sounds great, but it doesn’t sound like he really gets it.”

Does Adam understand irony?

(We will, of course, be glad for the Carlberg/Lowenstein super-Councilmember once the 30-foot-tall todd starts rampaging up Liberty Street…)

Thank you, Murph, for pointing out that—as usual—Adam doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Perhaps Adam missed the post that Warren takes just as much money from Republicans as Greden… but she breaks the law by not disclosing it.

And Adam supports Ankli? Anklis had never heard of Calthorpe… and his biggest accomplishment is that his dog was a Buddhist. Get real.

Hey, if you’re gonna tell people I “just don’t really get it,” at least, make sure they’ve got the right guy. I’d hate to see some poor sap—a Larouche-ian perhaps—get lectured about proper progresive values.

It’s Meyers. Not Myers.

Now, if I could only get my wife’s family to remember how it’s spelled.

I like Stephen Rapundalo – he’s a nice guy. He even came to our Winter Solstice Party last year. And while Marcia Higgins is also friendly enough, she has done hardly anything on Council.

So that’s why I support Juliew for Fourth Ward for next year (of course, next year, since Margie Teall is running uncontested for re-election this year).

Luckily for her, when Juliew runs for the Fourth Ward seat next year and wins, she won’t have either todd or me as constituents. Todd is a Fifth Warder; I am a First Warder.

It’s an awfully good sign for Juliew that she has the unsolicited support of both me and todd. We probably have nothing else in common. Who but Juliew could attract support from both extremes of the development spectrum?

Juliew, when are you putting up your web site?

(Juliew – looks like you might be in danger of getting elected.

Don’t worry – I hereby pledge to donate $20 to your campaign so that you can be guilty of receiving funds from pro-development interests from outside of Ann Arbor, and be saved from serving.)

Brandon:

Oh, the resoltion against the Patriot Act… Everyone on council voted for it except the Republican from the second ward. Upton or Reid?

Juliew – I promise to contribute $100 to your campaign so that you can say you have the support of fiscally responsible pro-neighborhood interests.

“fiscally responsible”

Hah!

Julie, I think this qualifies as having netroots support. I say, form your committee now and start leveraging this support for endorsements and fundraising.

Re “Local activists have apparently launched a campaign to draft a popular local brewer to run for City Council next year.”: when I clicked on the link last night, the posts were tagged “POSTED BY URBANOASIS”, to the best of my recollection. Today, they read “POSTED BY ACCIDENTALACTIVIST”, and that’s no accident, apparently.

So the same Dale (proprietor at urbanoasis.org, I hear) who says above, “Ann Arbor NEEDS somebody like Todd who is up-front and honest with people, not cleverly evasive and lamely non-committal.”, is not being entirely up-front himself about who the “activists”, whoops, singular and sole “activist”, is? As for disclosure and honesty, that makes David Cahill and CARD look like Abraham Lincoln by comparison.

And don’t get me started on the possible conflict of interest, seeing that Leopold offers, to my recollection, free drinks to Arbor Update whenever they have their parties at Leopold Brothers. (Not blaming Leopold’s generosity, just mentioning the gift.)
Nothing huge, but still should have been mentioned, maybe.

Leopold himself is wise enough to resist the lure of the encomia ladled out by the gallon on him by URBANOASIS, whoops, “ACCIDENTALACTIVIST”,

”...Todd is an environmentally conscious, hard-headed businessman who exhibits the best combination of idealism and pragmatism in government and the civic realm.
...Ann Arbor needs his bold voice, his knowledge of the local, national, and regional economies, and his willingness to make the interests of the broader community high priorities. Leopold is beholden to no economic interest and no petty interest group. His decisions on council will be comprehensible, honest, and in the best interests of the 5th ward and the city as a whole.”

I hear he defeated Darth Vader and the Penguin too. With one hand tied behind his back.—Todd is just a successful local brewer with a massive pro-developer bias, as he has candidly admitted on this site. That’s not (necessarily) City Council material at all. As Todd is decent enough to admit.

As for Juliew: see, e.g., her revealing commentary,

Let’s get this straight Nancy: you know nothing about me, you don’t know who I am, you don’t know my history, my artistic preferences, what or how I do or do not support, or my tastes, so don’t make assumptions.
So Nancy, you can go sulk in the corner of your studio about the demise of all that is ART and write checks to your real, true cutting-edge artists…. ,

followed by Nancy Jowske’s valid rejoinder,

One thing we can always count on at Arbor Update—when people disagree it just has to get snarky, sarcastic and personal. ... .

Being an urban planning aficionado is not enough to qualify you to be on City Council; you may want to be seen as socially graceful as well.

As for Rebekah Warren: one need not even assert that she took any money under the table from Republicans to wonder about her funding, see, e.g., my post at Arblogger about her recent contribution from a big Lansing lobbying firm’s PAC which also apparently supports an avowedly “Pro Life” Republican candidate for state representative, Mike Hewitt. (Warren supporter Cahill may not like my saying that, but at least I mentioned Cahill in the same sentence as Abe Lincoln, so he can’t complain too much.)

Looks like Warren has support everywhere. 8-)

“And don’t get me started on the possible conflict of interest, seeing that Leopold offers, to my recollection, free drinks to Arbor Update whenever they have their parties at Leopold Brothers.”

I hear what you’re saying here, but for the record, Arbor Update posters are all over the place on the political spectrum of Ann Arbor. I haven’t a clue as to whom I was giving drinks to. I was trying to be friendly, and trying to encourage the kind of discourse we get here. In fact, I have no clue as to what Dave Cahill looks like. I could have given the guy ten beers for all I know. (And for the record, I’d still buy the guy a beer if I ran into him in my place).

Secondly, I don’t think that the plea for a Council campaign is very serious. I’ve said no a bunch of times (some may recall my last response was something like, “I’d rather eat my own hair than sit on council”....I’m unqualified, not the most diplomatic of fellows, and I don’t have the time. Pick your poison.

My response to this request included a reference to King Kong, for crying out loud. We’re just having fun here.

Third, I wanted to clarify your charge that I am massively pro development. This statement is only true if you are talking about infill…the closer to city center, the larger the buildings should be.

You will find no greater foe to development outside of Ann Arbor. Tract homes, strip malls, regional malls, lost farm land, shredded trees. I hate all of these things with every fibre of my being. Saying no to development in the downtown area is saying yes, please to REITS and sprawl.

So with the above qualifications, yep, I’m guilty of being pro-infill. This makes me the sworn enemy of many who live around the DDA area and don’t want to do their part to curb sprawl and support a walkable city, including our Puckish Mr. Cahill.

“(Not blaming Leopold’s generosity, just mentioning the gift.)”, as I say above. You’re cool with me, it was others (or other) whom I was wondering about!

You may take the whole thing as a joke, but “Accidental Oasis” or whoever seemed to be pretty serious on his site about the need to anoint you with the halo for 5th Ward, fulsome praise and all, and “Stop by Leopold Bros. and encourage Todd to run for City Council, or phone, fax, or email him. Just do it now.” If it’s all an elaborate prank/hoax, though, whatever.

And, thanks for the distinction about inside/outside AA development. A good point to mention. “Puckish” Cahill aside! (heh)

I thought Boyle was being facetitious. Everyone knows that the whole “todd for Council” is a tongue-in-cheek jab at the usual raft of “I won’t offend anyone” candidates for Council. But no, Boyle was being serious! I find some of the Warren attacks on Greden to be a bit much. But Boyle’s attempt to associate her with a pro-life Republican because she takes money from Karoub’s PAC is a joke. He did the same with Juliew’s comments – cherry pick one item and disregard all other information to make someone look bad. Guess what Boyle, you’re the one who comes off looking like a jerk.

That’s not what Nancy Jowske said. She wasn’t unhappy with me.

“Facetious”, not “facetitious”.

I didn’t know that the “Leopold for City Council” was tongue-in-cheek, and I am still not sure, actually.

The “Progressives of Washtenaw” stuff above is happy to associate Greden with Republicans, etc.; I’m not saying Warren is secretly going to join Antonin Scalia and outlaw your abortions, I’m saying that she and her supporters are in little position to attack Greden, that’s all.

Have some sense of non-jerky humor, like those fine souls Cahill and Leopold, Mr. Anonymous…

“when I clicked on the link last night, the posts were tagged “POSTED BY URBANOASIS””

When I saw that, I thought “that Dale, what a card”; “local activists”?

“And don’t get me started on the possible conflict of interest, seeing that Leopold offers, to my recollection, free drinks to Arbor Update whenever they have their parties at Leopold Brothers.”

A shocking “conflict of interest”, indeed.

I look forward to the full story of the Leopold Brothers/Arbor Update connection. You could work with Adam on it. Have you noticed that the new Leopold Brothers’ site is suddenly free of any references to Bavaria? And why does Arbor Update lack any clear policy on the use of hypnosis, anyway?

“But in reality, by the end of September we will be selling our spirits in … New York … I simply don’t have the time hold any position at the City.”

Damn right! As a New Yorker who just clandestinely imported a bottle of Leopold Bros. gin and cherry liquer I’m firmly opposed to a Todd Leopold candidacy!

Funny Bruce. I don’t get the Bavaria reference, although any upcoming piece of yours on Bavarian hypnotists will be exciting. Even hypnotic, perhaps.

You’re right, Dale’s a “card”. (Or was that CARD?) Especially if he changed his poster name from “URBANOASIS” to “ACCIDENTALACTIVIST” overnight. Sort of like Clark Kent/Superman in the phone booth, but without a phone booth, a cape, or being super. Ah metamorphosis, thanks Kafka.

I’m not alleging any “brew-for-play” thing, of course, especially on Leopold’s part (I responded positively to his post above); but I don’t like it when things get too cozy between businesses and bloggers/journalists (or anyone else, including politicians). If this whole “draft Todd” (as opposed to “draft beer”) thing is an elaborate joke, fine. It won’t ever come true, then, you’re saying; that’s what “joke” usually means, as opposed to reality…

“Todd is just a successful local brewer with a massive pro-developer bias, as he has candidly admitted on this site. That’s not (necessarily) City Council material at all.”

David, you are a fool and Abraham Lincoln would tell you the same. (At least I mentioned Boyle in the same sentence as Abe Lincoln, so he can’t complain too much).

The Scripture says not to call people fools, under danger of hell fire, see Matthew 5:22 .

Which part is foolish, anyway? Is he a brewer? Check. Pro-developer? He himself says it above (at least re city development). Is that necessarily AACC material? No. ...Say hello to Honest Abe and his pal Dave Cahill for me.

Don’t we already have more than enough “hard-headed business[people]” on the city council?

Dave B., if this doesn’t clear things up for you, nothing will.

My Dad’s response upon viewing the ‘campaign’ site (after I got him to stop laughing) was, “Wow, Ann Arbor must be in worse shape than I had thought”.

.....and my Dad has more respect for my potential abilities as a Councilperson than I do.

The only way that I would make a good Councilperson is if Council meetings were “full contact” meetings. I’m confident that I could throttle most petitioners if I were given the chance (some would get more throttling than others).

So for those of you who aren’t fluent in “sarcastic”: Relax, have a beer, I’ll never run for Council.

Oh, and HD, my Mom’s response was “hey, you have your own Haiku. Neat!”

Well done, HD.

Ha ha, throttle petitioners.—There are people who would pay to see a WWF-style match between you and Blaine, I’m sure…(heh) Have a great weekend!

It’s interesting what people are prepared to believe, even when it really should be apparent that it’s comedy. For example, back when I was still working a formal job, I sent a spoofed application packet to my then employer for an open data analyst position. The physical form of the package was a beat-up cardboard box, a mail-merged coverletter with ‘drops’ were a different font family and face from the body text, the applicant was expecting to be released from prison soon having served a sentence for data theft, and included a little stuffed teddy bear wearing a little jacket with a heart that had been recycled from the applicant’s extra prison jumpsuit, and on the heart had been handwritten: [hiring manager] is the best!

That’s the kind of effort I was willing to invest for what I figured would be a quick laugh to start the morning. All the brainiacs at this place thought it was plenty ironic that a person with a history of data theft wanted a job working with sensitive data, but their first thought was: “We really ought to respond to her and just explain that she’s never going to be successful applying for jobs working with sensitive data. We owe her that.” They were also worried there might be germs on the stuffed bear. And so it went, the whole day long as people would come through, the hiring manager would say, “Look at this weird thing!” and people would say, “Ha! that’s funny/tragic/weird. What are we going to DO?” It wasn’t until three in the afternoon that it dawned on someone that, Hey, this MIGHT be a prank.

And I tell this tale, not in defense of anyone who thought the effort to draft Leopold for Council was serious, but mostly to illustrate what complete foo … wait, are those flames licking at my toes? um, ‘knuckleheads’ my former coworkers were. As for Leopold on Council, I live in the 5th Ward, so could vote for him. But cannot pledge a vote or money for Leopold until after that magic day comes when the Todder sits astride my Teeder.

So in ending my Sunday morning worship at the AU altar, I observe that

David B. reminds us above: “Facetious”, not “facetitious”.

but also urges a “sense of non-jerky humor”

Amen to that. And in that spirit, David B. I offer this blessing as a gentle poke in the ribs:

Ann Arbor has Boyle.
Needs Lansing more or less, just
let the spellcheck die.

David Boyle –
Thank you for your hardhitting investigative work. I am shocked – shocked, I say! – at the possibility that “draft todd leopold” might in some way be related to people who run other blogs in this town! It hadn’t even occurred to me that the original poster, “urbanoasis”, could be the person who runs UrbanOasis.com . And, furthermore, thank you for bringing to my attention that “accidental activist” has seen previous use in local blogland. I just can’t imagine what could have happened if the dastardly creator of “draft todd leopold” had continued to pull the wool over our eyes!

I’d say we’re all lucky to have David around, fearlessly searching out the truth, wherever it may lie!

Nice haiku, but what does “Needs Lansing more or less” mean? ...By the way, I think hoaxes should be avoided, as should a lot of rough humor: one hears about cases like putting a rubber snake in a can at the office for your co-worker, but the only problem is that he has heart problems that the prankster didn’t know about and then the co-worker has a heart attack when the rubber snake jumps out at him…

Um… I’d been asked yesterday to do some primary flyering (think of the neighborhoods, please!) before settling down to mow the lawn. The request for my volunteer time was turned down because of the inspiration I received from reading the comments here yesterday morning. Plans quickly changed. My afternoon was spent thinking and acting beyond the results of Tuesday’s vote. The lawn can wait. Hours went into carefully crafting in Microsoft Word a 2007 “Julie Leopold for Council” petition. To promote someone who can counter the Council influence of the Calthorpe/Carlberg behemoth one of you discussed early on. Someone who can seamless meld the Republican and Socialist caucuses within the Democratic Party. Someone who can stretch the American urban imagination by creating the first 15-story vertical greenway. With their own hands. By the time nightfall arrived, the drop caps needed more work, but the draft looked almost completed. Now, I read the more recent comments over here at this web address. I’m feeling upset. It looks like it’s high time to get the lawn work finally started, before it starts to rain.

Tell me, was this all for naught? What should I do?

Wow, Adam actually made things easier for me: I won’t vote for any idiot that supports a Greenway. Fuck that shit. Todd’s right (and thank God he got his website running finally) that the choice is between interior, smart development and sprawl. Every Greenway advocate is a sprawl advocate.
As for Warren, well, I both am wary of political dynasties and have a personal grudge against her family that I won’t get into, but it’s making me reconsider my previous pledge never to vote for Greden again after that couch ban bullshit. And I’ll take Hjiefte’s sinch-sack over Woods any day (as I always thought that Woods was a pretty lame council member).

if you really want to know the candidates’ position on that issue, you should ask the candidates. asking on this blog is not getting you the answer you seek. and asking over and over again is rude.

There may be a comment between Peter’s and mine that just got deleted. It’s because the commenter insisted on posting the same comment over and over again to multiple unrelated threads after being asked to stop. Sounds like the definition of spam to me.

Not all threads are or should be about a single topic. Keep that in mind.