Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

Monday: Norman Krumholz Lecture

Posted by Brandon on 10. April 2005

Monday, April 11th, 2005
6:00 pm
Main Auditorium (Room 2104)
Art and Architecture Bulding- North Campus

Taubman College Urban and Regional Planning Lecture

Norman Krumholz
Fellow, American Institute of Certified Planners
Former Director of Planning, City of Cleveland

Norman Krumholz is a Professor in the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. He served as Planning Director of the City of Cleveland from 1969 to 1979. His book, Making Equity Planning Work: Leadership in the Public Sector, is considered to be a classic, and won the Paul Davidoff Book of the Year award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning. He served as the President of the American Planning Association (APA) from 1986 to 1987, received the APA Award for Distinguished Leadership in 1990, and in 1999 was elected the President of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). He was awarded the Prize of Rome in 1987 by the American Academy in Rome. Professor Krumholz was appointed an AICP Fellow, and his Cleveland Policy Plan has been declared a “Planning Landmark”.

Comment [3]

Student judiciary case exposed as sham

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 9. April 2005

See below for a message explaining how the plaintiff in this case which has been occupying U-M’s student government might have known all along his case had no grounds.

Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2005 13:23:59 -0400
From: Brittany Fox
Reply-To: Brittany Fox
To: msa.reps@umich.edu
Subject: PLEASE READ: Important 501 h info

Dear MSA Reps,

On Tuesday MSA Rep Mat Brener had informed all of the MSA reps that not only was it possible for MSA to use 20% of its funds for lobbying efforts with the 501h election, but that he had talked with one of MSA’s accountants at UM and found that we had been using this option for a number of years. In fact, Students for PIRGIM had found that this information is actually public knowledge, as MSA’s tax forms are available online through a website: www.guidestar.com. By setting up a free account, you may search for MSA’s form 990’s (the form that nonprofits file for their taxes each year) from past years. I have instructions at the bottom of this email to access this information online, as well as a pdf file of the 2003 taxes attached.

Groups can file for 501h election just once by filling out a form 5768. After form 5768 is filed, the group files as an electing public charity in form 990. The area of the form 990 for the 501 h election is on page 11 of the 2003 pdf file, part VI/A. You can see for yourself that MSA has quite clearly filed as a 501 h electing nonprofit.

In researching this last night, we stumbled upon something interesting on 2003 fiscal year’s taxes. As 2003-04’s acting Treasurer, Mr. Elliott Wells-Reid had filed MSA’s taxes using the 501 h election. While Mr. Wells-Reid’s printed name is partially blackened out (probably for privacy reasons), the letters “ID” of his last name are viewable, as is Mr. Wells-Reid’s signature, and the date and the title of Treasurer.

For the new reps who may not be familiar with this case, Mr. Wells-Reid originally brought this case to trial before CSJ, claiming that funding Students for PIRGIM would threaten MSA’s tax 501©3 tax status, assuming that MSA was a non-electing nonprofit. As seen on page 11 of the pdf file, MSA clearly has used the 501 h election, allowing MSA to use up to 20% of its expenditures for lobbying.

Further, above Mr. Wells-Reid’s signature is this statement:

“Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this return, including accompanying schedules and statements, and to the best of my knowledge and belief it is true, correct, and complete.”

To be clear, I am not claiming that Mr. Wells-Reid was dishonest in his concern over MSA’s tax status, or that in signing the tax forms last year, he did so with a thorough knowledge of 501©3 tax law that some of us possess now due to the issues with this case. However, it again shows the baselessness of these charges, very serious charges, which, given his previous role as Treasurer and his initiative and responsibility in bringing the case forward, Mr. Wells-Reid should not have overlooked.

Because of this new information, an appeal should take place by the end of the year, or at the very least, CSJ’s previous ruling should not be enforced. Within CSJ’s code is the option to file for a Stay of Enforcement. If a party waiting on an appeal requests, CSJ can decide not to enforce their previous ruling until an appeal can take place. Only two of the ten CSJ justices are needed for this stay to go into effect. Students for PIRGIM will be filing for a stay soon, and we hope that MSA leadership will join us in doing so, as well.

Sincerely,

Rese

INSTRUCTIONS FOR VIEWING MSA’S TAXES ONLINE
Go to www.guidestar.com and create a free account. Log in. Once you are logged in you are directed to a page that allows you to search for nonprofits. Type in Michigan Student Assembly, and a link for MSA should pop up. Click on it. On the left hand side there is a link to form 990. Click on it. You can then view pdf files of MSA’s tax forms from fiscal years 1997-2003.
—
Brittany Therese Fox
External Relations Chair, Michigan Student Assembly (MSA)
Campus Outreach Coordinator, Students for PIRGIM

Comment [33]

April DDA Board meeting tidbits

Posted by Murph on 8. April 2005

Considering the level of interest in the DDA on this site recently, I attended their April Board meeting yesterday (first Wednesdays, noon, Kerrytown Concert House). The following is a smorgasbord of notes that I came out of the meeting with, along with some relevant outside information; no linkage between topics is implied:

> getDowntown is holding Curb Your Car Month again this May, with almost daily events (including a Mother’s Day “Ann Arbor Greenway Trek with ‘Mom’”).

> AATA’s Link will be stopping service in May (conveniently enough), and may restart service in September if funding can be found. The DDA has been asked to contribute something in the range of $150k to the Link and declined(?) pending further evidence of the Link’s value.

> The parking fee system was discussed, with the feeling that it promoted the opposite behavior from what was intended. The cheapest parking option for a downtown employee is to park at a meter all day and pay a “Within 24 hours” $5 ticket, and the second cheapest option is to feed a meter all day. Evening restaurant employees often park at meters at 4pm and pay until 6pm, rather than using structures. These behaviors are counter to the intent of metered parking – to provide short-term parking close to businesses for patrons. The City is considering raising the expired meter ticket to $10, but some downtown businesses are worried. The DDA plans to discuss changing enforcement hours on meters or adjusting relative rates.

> On Monday, 11 April, Rene Greff and Leah Gunn will be talking to the Women Progressive Activists along with Doug Cowherd and Alice Ralph about various ideas of the greenway.

> Fred Beal and Leah Gunn are on the selection committee for the old Y site redevelopment plans, which first met this week. I’ve found that you can view photocopies of the proposals if you visit the County Annex on Fourth, but it takes a FOIA to get copies to take with you.

> Mayor Hieftje noted that Governor Granholm will be creating (has created?) a Local Government Financing Task Force this year to address the fact that the state’s Cities are on the edge of fiscal collapse. As previously discussed on this site, the Michigan property tax system is broken, from the cities’ point of view, and favors growth of greenfield Townships.

> A Whitmore Lake company called Interstate Traveler wants to build an elevated maglev transit system down Woodward, using private funding from undisclosed sources, and Ferndale has thrown its support (political, not fiscal) behind the project. According to ITC’s website, the system will be financially self-supporting, will run on solar energy from panels lining the track, will capture stormwater in underground tanks below the track and use excess solar power to convert it to hydrogen, and will save the US steel industry, and all they want is a right-of-way down the middle of Woodward to plant their support pylons in. Mayor Hieftje mentioned that ITC is also interested in the Ann Arbor/Ypsi/DTW/Detroit corridor.

These are my hurried notes from the audience; I’m counting on Bob Dascola or Leah to note any corrections or clarifications.

Comment [30]

CSJ means to delay PIRGIM vote until Fall

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 7. April 2005

In an e-mail sent early this morning, newly elected CSJ Chief Justice Tim Harrington announced the judical body’s intention to delay hearing appeals on the case until Fall semester 2005.

A coalition of MSA members and student leaders have been working to compel CSJ to take up the case before break, and get this mess dealt with immediately. You can find more information on this, and the overall appeal efforts at umich.edu/~mhollerb/appeal.

Comment [2]

Friday: Urban Planning Faculty Symposium

Posted by Brandon on 6. April 2005

Please join us this Friday, April 8th, from 3 to 4:30 pm in the Art and Architecture Building Auditorium for a faculty symposium about equity planning. The faculty symposium is the second event of the four part Equity Planning Lecture Series. All of the events in the Equity Planning Lecture Series are free and open to the public. Everyone is encouraged to attend any of the events.

The faculty symposium includes four faculty members from the urban planning program. Each panelist will discuss their conception of equity planning or “equity” and a discussion will follow the faculty presentations. This event provides a great opportunity to hear about the various planning theories that inform equity planning research and practice. A reception will follow.

Faculty panelists include:

Scott Campbell
Margaret Dewar
Aseem Inam
Larissa Larsen

Professor Joe Grengs will moderate the discussion.

The Lecture Series is sponsored by the University of Michigan Chapter of Planners Network, the Urban & Regional Planning Department, and the Urban Planning Student Association.

Comment [3]

SE Michigan ordered to reduce auto pollution

Posted by Murph on 6. April 2005

Under a 2004 ruling by the EPA, southeastern Michigan has been required to take action by next year to reduce air pollution produced by automobiles. SEMCOG managed to win an exemption from mandatory vehicle emissions testing, and instead is planning to require gasoline sold in the area to have a lower vapor pressure, making it burn more cleanly. This measure is expected to cost the typical area driver $2-$14 extra per year. Diesel fuel is not included.

SEMCOG’s complete draft plan (pdf) (dated next week?) is available on their website, including an analysis of the cost and effectiveness of various options.

Comment [3]

Starbucks Delocator

Posted by Scott Trudeau on 5. April 2005


Via BoingBoing

”’The Delocator’ is a site that helps you find independent alternatives to Starbucks in your neighborhood. So why isn’t it called the ‘Starbucks Delocator ’? Because the San Francisco Art Institute was too scared that Starbucks would come through with the corporate smack-down. Of course this renaming means the site won’t show up in google when people search for ‘Starbucks’, and what’s the point if people can’t discover it? Carrie McLaren is out to change that: she’s launched a google campaign to get people to link to it by its real name, the Starbucks Delocator. Take that chilling effects. Starbucks Delocator

I searched 48104 and got Ambrosia, Sweetwater, Cafe Verdé, Rendevous, and Espresso Royale. You can leave images of and comments about your favorite cafe and add a new one if it’s not already listed.

Update: I put on my troublemaker hat and registered StarbucksDelocator.com and StarbucksLocator.com and pointed them at delocator.net (Scott)

Comment [18]

Can this happen here around the Darfur genocide?

Posted by MarkDilley on 5. April 2005

“While Harvard University is taking the laudable step of divesting from PetroChina, a company with ties to the genocide in Darfur, I can’t help but wonder if my university is invested in the Sudanese oil industry—and it’s unfortunate that I’ll probably never find out.”

> via Third Wave Agenda

Comment [14]

Glen-Ann PUD before A2 Planning Commission tonight

Posted by Murph on 5. April 2005

Tonight the Planning Commission will be reviewing (for the second time) a proposal for a ten-story mixed-use building on Glen Ave, which would stretch from Catherine to Ann, replacing Angelo’s parking, two houses, the old Glen-Ann gas station, and Leonardo’s Pizza on Ann.

Planning department officials are recommending approval for Glen Ann Place, a proposed 10-story building at the northwest corner of East Ann Street and Glen Avenue, across the street from the popular Angelo’s restaurant. If the project wins approval by both the planning commission and City Council, developers hope to break ground in September. Construction is expected to last between 12 and 16 months.

When finished, it could provide homes for around 200 people. The developer has not yet disclosed the price range, but they will on the “premium side of things,” said architect William Meier.
. . .
In addition to housing, the building would offer two floors of offices and ground floor retail. The area – which boasts more than 20,000 workers within a half mile, including people at the University of Michigan medical complex – has almost no retail offerings.

“Thousands of people work within just a couple blocks. So there’s a lot more people than they need to sustain the retail,” said Meier.

Meier said likely tenants are a coffee shop, convenience store and maybe a sandwich shop.

The project was tabled at the Planning Commission’s 21 December meeting (21 December 2004 minutes (pdf)); concerns were discussed at that meeting about inadequate parking (the proposal now includes three underground parking levels, with one parking space per housing unit and 32 spaces for Angelo’s and for the on-site businesses), bulk and shading of the structure (a shadow study has been submitted with the revised proposal), and the fate of the two houses, which are categorized as “contributing historic properties”, or not historic on their own, but contributing to the character of the neighborhood.

The benefits the project would bring include improving the pedestrian streetscape of Glen, bringing local service businesses into proximity with the University’s new construction, and (my opinion) hiding the eye-bleedingly bad facade of the University’s new construction from uphill neighbors in the Old Fourth Ward.

Comment [8]

Detroit News on local news blogs & message boards

Posted by Murph on 5. April 2005

Six Wayne County websites are featured in the Detroit News’ Web gives residents a voice in government, with links in the article that I’m not going to cut and paste all of.

Notably, our neighbor to the east is represented by The Canton Voice, a two-week old news/discussion site that already has 50 registered users for the forum, and 11 comments in a thread, “Canton Wish List >> Public Transportation”. (One response, “So, if you desire public transportation – move to Ann Arbor where they have a pretty good system”.)

Another thread, started by Township Trustee and site co-creator Todd Caccamo, begins,

I’d like to get some input regarding this subject…I am talking to folks of successful surrounding communities and trying to learn their SOP.

GreenBelt project / Ann Arbor at one time put aerial pics of Canton up on their website saying “Do you want to look like this?” Referring to our urban sprawl and rapid growth.

Update: Fixed link to the Canton Voice

Comment [1]

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