Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

To all who have felt a desire for change,

Posted by MarkDilley on 5. November 2004

On November 3rd, George W. Bush, received a lot of “political capital”. He plans to use it. With our individual lives, we each possess our own human capital. I plan to use mine.

If we unite our power as people, change will no longer be something we talk about, or entrust to a single man in office.

This week, we all are having a circus of emotions. But this is good. Apathy was cool in 2000. Action is the need of tomorrow.

We meet on Saturday the 6th, at 7:00 p.m., in the basement of the Michigan Union, TAP Room. We meet to provide an outlet of support and progress for any and all of us, affected by this election. Whether you contributed time to either party, woke up at 4:30 a.m. to protect our constitution, spent the eve of the 2nd, glued to your television, whether we walked past the Kerry people on the diag, thinking, “I just can’t devote myself to this man,” whether we did and thought none of this, but believe that there is hope to create better lives for ourselves and those who possess a place in this earth as we each do, then show up.

There is a need to maintain the hopes of freedom and civil equality.

The time for movement is now. As our emotions are high, our actions will resonate.

Let us all be healthy and well,
Oren Goldenberg

Questions, email me, ogoldenb@umich.edu, 248-224-9063.

Comment [11]

Electronic Voting Machine Gives Bush 3,893 Extra Votes in Ohio

Posted by Scott Trudeau on 5. November 2004

The Associated Press is reporting that an electronic voting machine in Ohio gave Bush an extra 3,893 votes.

Franklin County’s unofficial results had Bush receiving 4,258 votes to Democrat John Kerry’s 260 votes in a precinct in Gahanna. Records show only 638 voters cast ballots in that precinct.

They haven’t yet reported the vendor or type of voting machines that incorrectly reported these results, and there haven’t yet been other reports of gross miscounts like this one.

> AP: Machine Error Gives Bush Extra Ohio Votes
> VerifiedVoting.org – information about electronic voting systems
> Google News, similar articles
> DailyKos on the results, recounts and how this report relates to that discussion
> BlackBoxVoting.org For more information and stories about the (un)reliability of electronic voting machines

Michigan GOP Targeting Granholm

Posted by Murph on 5. November 2004

The Free Press notes that the Michigan Republican Party is already going on the offensive against Democratic Governor Jennifer Granhom:

“The 2006 race has begun today, and we are laying the values debate at Gov. Granholm’s doorstep,” state GOP Executive Director Greg McNeilly declared Thursday, at a postelection conference of pundits and political leaders.

McNeilly added, “She’s wrong on abortion, she’s wrong on gay marriage and she’s wrong on the war on terror.” McNeilly referred to a brief televised interview last week in which Granholm said women would like to hear Bush apologize for mistakes made in the Iraq war.

Granholm is not intimidated:

“The Republican Party apparatus lost at the local level, the state level and the Legislature to Democratic candidates who vowed to fight for good-paying jobs, improved education and access to affordable health care,” [Granholm spokesperson Liz] Boyd said. “They still don’t get that those are the issues that really matter to Michigan voters.”

The Democrats gained five seats in the State House, but Republicans will still hold a 58-52 majority.

Ann Arbor Police Won't Respect Medical Marijuana Passage

Posted by Murph on 4. November 2004

The Ann Arbor City Attorney, Stephen Postema, has declared that the medical marijuana measure which passed with a 74% majority is “invalid”, according to the Ann Arbor News, and Police Chief Dan Oates has instructed his officers to continue enforcing state and federal marijuana laws in the same manner as in the past.

From the Ann Arbor News, Medical marijuana vote called invalid:

In a 1977 decision involving a case in Ypsilanti, the state appeals court ruled that city officials weren’t prohibited from referring marijuana cases for prosecution under state law, despite a city ordinance that said they couldn’t refer such cases to the Washtenaw County prosecutor.

Based on that case, Postema said, his office and police can’t be bound by charter amendment prohibitions that conflict with state and federal law. Those laws, he said, will continue to govern marijuana arrests in Ann Arbor.

A response from initiative backer Chuck Ream suggests that, while the measure may not be enforceable, the overwhelming public support of the measure should be considered by the City and Police Department when deciding how to pursue enforcement of state and federal laws.

While Mayor Hieftje has stated that he’s personally in favor of the measure, the City Council has not yet taken a official position on the measure. Councilmembers Reid (R-2nd), Greden (D-3rd), Higgins (D-4th), and Woods (D-5th) voted against a procedural motion to put the measure on the ballot in July, after signatures had been collected. All are up for re-election in 2005, suggesting an avenue for encouraging the City to respect the referendum.

See also a response from Rich Birkett to the State Attorney General’s office regarding the enforceability of the initiative.

Edit, 5 Nov, Murph: The court case mentioned by City Attorney Postema is Joslin v. 14th District Judge, 76 Mich. App. 90. My reading suggests that this case only invalidates portions of the local ordinance forbidding the local police from applying state law, but upholds (explicitly) the portion of the ordinance defining lower local standards and allowing the police a choice between local and state law. Under this reading, the 74% approval of Ann Arbor’s ballot measure should definitely be taken as a directive, albeit non-binding, to the police department to apply the lower, local standards. Your choice of beverage from Cafe Ambrosia to the first lawyer or law student who can give a confident confirmation or rejection of my reading.

Comment [21]

Vigil Tonight

Posted by Ari Paul on 3. November 2004

Hot off the wire:

Vigil for tonight in honor of all those who have died in the last four years and all those who will die over the next four years.  For peace.

Come to the DIAG at MIDNIGHT…

We hope to have a time for people to share any creative pieces they have come up with.

We also hope to inspire and encourage people to continue the fight.

DIAG AT MIDNIGHT FOR THE VIGIL

If you have anything to share at the vigil or have suggestions please email back barino@umich.edu ASAP.

Comment [9]

Kerry Concedes

Posted by Murph on 3. November 2004

The Associated Press reports that Kerry has called Bush to concede. From Salon.com’s copy of the story:

President Bush won a second term from a divided and anxious nation, his promise of steady, strong wartime leadership trumping John Kerry’s fresh-start approach to Iraq and joblessness. After a long, tense night of vote counting, the Democrat called Bush Wednesday to concede Ohio and the presidency, The Associated Press learned.

Kerry ended his quest, concluding one of the most expensive and bitterly contested races on record, with a call to the president shortly after 11 a.m. EST, according to two officials familiar with the conversation.

Comment [22]

Local Election Results

Posted by Murph on 3. November 2004

Let’s just not think about the national race, shall we? Here are results from the Washtenaw County Clerk’s website and Michigan Secretary of State’s website, with 100% of precincts counted.

US Representative: Joe Schwarz (R-7th) and John Dingell (D-15th) won easily, as expected.

State Representative: Pam Byrnes (D-52nd), Chris Kolb (D-53rd), Alma Wheeler Smith (D-54th), and Kathy Angerer (D-55th) won, a sweep of the seats representing Washtenaw. Byrnes is somewhat of a surprise, as she was fighting against Joe Yekulis for the section of western Washtenaw that Yekulis has represented on the County Commission for the past decade.

County Prosecutor: Mackie, with 63.66%

County Clerk: Larry Kestenbaum, with 51.71%

County Commission: 3 Republican, 7 Democratic Commissioners.

Ann Arbor Mayor: John Hieftje, with 68.65%

Ann Arbor City Council, 3rd Ward: Jean Carlberg, with 84.89%

Ypsilanti City Council: Richardson, Gawlas, and Filipiak, all Democrats, win.

Interesting Local Newspaper choice

Posted by MarkDilley on 2. November 2004

via mousemusings

My local newspaper

the Ann Arbor News, endorsed Bush today. That’s my ‘liberal media’. I just put a permanent vacation stop in. I’ll call Monday and cancel it completely.

Comment [26]

Election Coverage; Cheap Drinks

Posted by Scott Trudeau on 2. November 2004

The Michigan Independent Media Center is providing up-to-the-second coverage of the election for Michigan, including breaking reports of conditions at the polls. They have teamed up with the local radio station, WCBN to provide live radio coverage, including this web stream that you can listen to online.

> Michigan Independent Media Center
> Sign up for cell phone text-messaging alerts from the IMC
> High Quality WCBN Stream Low Quality WCBN Stream

Sorry ‘bout the (partial) duplicate post, by the way—Scott

And when you’re done voting and need to steel your nerves for the coming controversy, head over to one of three local drinking establishments who are running specials listed at ElectionNightDrinkSpecials.com . (Thanks to local blogger George for setting the site up!). In Ann Arbor:

> Arbor Brewing Company – Happy hour prices between 11:30am and 7pm for anyone wearing an “I Voted” sticker. Washtenaw Democrats will be gathering here after the polls close.

> Ashley’s Pub – $2 off all Michigan brewed beers

> Leopold Bros. – 1/2 off beer with “I Voted” sticker. Huron Valley Greens will be gathering here after the polls close.

Michigan Daily Endorses Hieftje

Posted by Brandon on 1. November 2004

The Michigan Daily offers a hearty endorsement of incumbent Mayor John Hieftje in today’s paper:

Ann Arbor has been confronted with its share of urban planning and public policy problems over the past few years. From the environmental impacts of a growing city to the ever-present strains between the concerns of students and permanent Ann Arbor residents, city government has had its work cut out for it. In Mayor John Hieftje, Ann Arbor has found an accommodating colleague, an innovative and practical thinker and most importantly, a dedicated leader.

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