A2Indy

16/07/2024

Sheriff candidate Derrick Jackson challenged voters to fact check the candidates. The newspaper did by using public records requests to gather personnel files, job applications, evaluations, and even student evaluations.

by P.D. LeskoKen Magee, candidate for County Sheriff, is clean, squeaky clean. In his more than 30-year career as a front line police officer, DEA agent and Chief of Police at the University of Michigan, Magee has never been disciplined. He has never

09/07/2024

At a candidate event in November 2023, Sheriff candidate Derrick Jackson called on those in attendance to “fact check” his opponents. He asked his opponents at the candidate event, “What have you actually done in years past that will allow you to achieve what you say you will?” The Ann Arbor Independent took Jackson’s challenge and over the past several months obtained job applications, Michigan State Police MCOLES records, college transcripts, resumes, police reports, and the personnel files of all three candidates for Sheriff: Derrick Jackson, Alyshia Dyer and Ken Magee.

by P.D. LeskoKen Magee, candidate for County Sheriff, is clean, squeaky clean. In his more than 30-year career as a front line police officer, DEA agent and Chief of Police at the University of Michigan, Magee has never been disciplined. He has never

02/07/2024

The Superior Township Supervisor and Trustees stand accused of discriminating against the Black Asst. Township Supervisor.

by P.D. Lesko Signs and wonders. Superior Twp. Supervisor Ken Schwartz admits he used a vehicle owned by the Township to drive around and pull out candidate signs, signs of businesses offering services and other "blight" placed on Township property o

19/06/2024

Experience matters, says candidate Ken Magee, and his opponents are "pretending" they have the experience to combat the County's rising gun violence and crime.

by Ken MageeNote: Ken Magee is a candidate in a three-way race to serve as the next Washtenaw County Sheriff. Slide courtesy of Derrick Jackson, 2024 Community Violence Intervention Summit.  Does “just one life” matter to you? This twisted joke

11/06/2024

Daniel Rubenstein

10/06/2024

The suit was filed in Saline District Court on Feb. 13, 2024.

Updated 6/10/24 with a comment from Alyshia Dyer.by P.D. LeskoCaptial-One-v.-DyerDownloadOn June 9, The Ann Arbor Independent received an anonymous email with a court filing attached. The same court filing was also sent to MLive. The filing, dated Fe

28/05/2024

Should Derrick Jackson be put on leave?

by P.D. LeskoPoliticians lie; they take credit for the work of others, and the smartest ones make carefully fabricated claims that are difficult to fact check. Derrick Jackson, like former U.S. Rep. and serial fabulist George Santos, is not among the

17/05/2024

Rep. Rheingans says her talks with state Treasury officials should calm fears of state takeover.

by P.D. LeskoBetween 2020 to 2022, when AAPS went to distance education and shut down childcare, enrollment dropped by over 1,000 students. Pupil funding--$9,608 per child in this year’s state school budget-- plummeted. A loss of 1,000 students cost

14/05/2024

The majority of Trial Court rulings are are upheld on appeal. This one, however, prompted a reversal, a sharp critique of the judge's actions, and the Court of Appeals ordered the removal of the local Trial Court judge from the case.

by P.D. LeskoNOTE: This is one in a series of articles about the Washtenaw County Trial Court and cases where a litigant or litigants appealed a County Trial Court judge's ruling. The majority of local Trial Court rulings are upheld by the Michigan

14/05/2024

Who's ready for non-partisan City Council elections in Ann Arbor?

by P.D. LeskoMayor Chris Taylor has twice vetoed City Council resolutions passed that would have changed the City's Charter to allow for non-partisan elections. He last did so in Aug. 2020. Former City Council member Jane Lumm had introduced the prop

13/05/2024

The unpublished COA’s opinion illustrates the almost unlimited power of a Trial Court judge to determine what is best for minor children involved in a parent-time dispute, including rulings on custody and where the children should live. Judge Conlin’s abuse of that power, his misinterpretation of the law and his bias against the children’s mother, resulted a sharp rebuke from the COA in its June 2023 reversal of his rulings: “Unfortunately, the court minimize[d] Jonathan’s kidnapping of the children and vilify[ed] Courtney’s attempts to stop it.”

by P.D. LeskoNOTE: This is one in a series of articles about the Washtenaw County Trial Court and cases where a litigant or litigants appealed a County Trial Court judge's ruling. The majority of local Trial Court rulings are upheld by the Michigan

30/04/2024

What should happen next?

Download and view Alize Asberry Payne's Dec. 2018 job application, cover letter and resume:Letter-Resume-Application-Alize-Payne_RedactedDownloadby P.D. LeskoRecords, including public records, show the County's Racial Equity Officer Alize Asberry Pay

26/04/2024

Should the Querijeros return the money?

by P.D. LeskoCounty records show Ann Arbor School Board Trustee Ernesto Querijero, through his wife Lisa Querijero, applied for funding from the Washtenaw County Community Priority Fund in 2022. The money, according to the application filled out and

16/04/2024

The McWilliams case file reveals the mishandling of an alleged serial ra**st's case by an Asst. County Prosecutor (now in private practice) an EMU detective (now gone from the force) and a Michigan Asst. AG. Will D'Angelo McWilliams walk, much to the relief of the County Sheriff and a candidate for Sheriff?

By P.D. LeskoWashtenaw County Sheriff's Deputy D'Angelo McWilliams. If Washtenaw County Sheriff's Deputy and alleged ra**st D'Angelo McWilliams were a vegetable, he'd be a potato--a very, very hot potato. McWilliams's hiring and trial are not only a

11/04/2024

Sheriff Jerry Clayton claims the privacy of an alleged serial ra**st he hired trumps the public's right to know. What do you think?

by P.D. LeskoOn March 25, 2024, The Ann Arbor Independent submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the County Sheriff's Dept. to obtain a copy of the background check done on Sheriff's Deputy D'Angelo Ladonn McWilliams prior to his hiring. M

03/04/2024

The problem is endemic and the County Commissioners refuse to solve it.

by P.D. LeskoOn April 1, I sent an email to County Administrator Greg Dill: Mr Dill,Have Commissioners Lyte and Sanders been invoiced for their 2023 FlexSpending account overspending yet? Could you please post 2024 spendingto date? Have you implement

01/04/2024

"Come on y'all. Pay me my money!"

County Commissioners abused their expense accounts in 2023. Urban Exile Vlogger Shannon McFall has a bit of advice from the common man who pays his bills on time.

Commissioner Crystal Lyte (District 2) allegedly told MLive that she thought it unfair she would have to repay the money she owed. County Commissioner Caroline Sanders reportedly said she was “seeking counsel” about the thousands she should have repaid months ago. Sanders reportedly blamed County staff for her inability to stay within her $7,000 budget. She said she’d overspent her Flex Spending account by thousands of dollars because she was “invited” to go to conferences and events. She also claimed she overspent her account because she’d had no orientation in policies and procedures related to staying within her budgeted amount.

The Ann Arbor Independent's "Urban Exile" columnist Shannon McFall lives in Pittsfield Township and vlogs about race, local, county and national politics. He shares commentaries with The Ann Arbor Independent. Tune in to watch a short video commentar

22/03/2024

In 24 months, she charged $115K to her County credit card: frequent trips, thousands on Ubers and Lyfts, meals out, Uber Eats, luxury hotels and first-class travel.

by P.D. LeskoCounty records revealed that between 2022-2023, Alize Asberry Payne charged $115,000 to the credit card given to her by Washtenaw County. Along with trips, workshops, conferences, and a $3,700 payment to the Detroit Regional Chamber of C

20/03/2024

Not what voters were led to believe the millage money would be used for....

by P.D. LeskoThis article was made possible by The Ann Arbor Independent FOIA Fund.At a recent "informational meeting" with officials from western Washtenaw County, the Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton, The Sheriff's Dir. of Community Engagemen

05/03/2024

Should the perpetual millage be reduced. Should branches be closed?

by P.D. LeskoIn the final years that former AADL Director Josie Parker captained the ship, Annual Reports led off with the number of "Registered Cardholders." The final Annual Report Parker produced showed that the AADL had 174,775 registered cardhol

04/03/2024

In 2022, Barbara Neiss-May was forced to resign. In 2024 she was hired to be the Executive Dir. of Ypsilanti Meals on Wheels.

by P.D. LeskoSince the July 31, 2021 publication of the first in a series of investigative articles about the mismanagement of SafeHouse Center, the County's domestic violence shelter, all 18 members of the Board of Directors on whose watch the misma

29/02/2024

Pay, pay, pay. Donate, donate, donate. After all, it's a Bicentennial celebration for City residents.

by P.D. LeskoSo far, Ann Arbor's Bicentennial "celebrations" look like a "delicious" get together planned by out-of-touch, rich, white people: crustless mayonnaise sandwiches, only the best Lipton tea (but a charge for cracked cups for everyone), and

27/02/2024

Mental Health Millage Money spent on a new boat, office supplies, employee recognition awards, new furniture and painting the jail. Just what the public had in mind when voting to approve the additional millage.

by P.D. LeskoThis article was made possible by The Ann Arbor Independent FOIA Fund.At a recent "informational meeting" with officials from western Washtenaw County, the Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton, The Sheriff's Dir. of Community Engagemen

25/01/2024

Who's ready for a 50+ percent reduction in Ann Arbor property taxes?

by P.D. Lesko"Hold onto your butts," as a character in the original "Jurassic Park" movie says: The Michigan Board of State Canvassers recently approved summary ballot question language proposed by a group called Axe MI Tax:"Constitutional Amendment

22/01/2024

Working as a judge is a tough job. Parties in a divorce who find themselves on the receiving end of judicial bias, abuse of judicial discretion and ignorance of the law is even tougher.

by P.D. LeskoOn May 11, 2023, the Michigan Court of Appeals published an opinion in which a three-judge panel found Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Tracey E. Van den Bergh's rulings in a divorce case repeatedly showed bias and abuse of discretion.

16/01/2024

Are such resolutions weighing in on the geo-political conflicts the purview of the local Board of Education?

by P.D. LeskoRabbi Nadav Caine leads the congregation at Beth Israel synagogue on Washtenaw Ave. On Jan. 15 he sent out an email to the members of the synagogue in which he sharply criticized the members of the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Educa

05/01/2024

A giant thanks to subscribers, readers, donors, contributors and writers.

During 2023, The Ann Arbor Independent's readership rose from 80,949 to 90,657, an 11.9 percent increase. The newspaper's readership in 2021 stood at 68,124. According to research by the non-partisan Pew Research Center published in Nov. 2023, overal

03/01/2024

The usual suspects.

by P.D. Lesko​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​In April 2021, City Council voted to adopt resolution R-21-129​ which directed then City Administrator Tom Crawford to implement an "unarmed crisis response program in the City of Ann Arbor." To date, no such

14/12/2023

Man suspected of leading local theft ring had been tried in Washtenaw County and Wayne County Trial Courts between 1988-2015 for felony drug and weapons charges. He was given probation.

by P.D. LeskoAn Ann Arbor man was arraigned on charges of organized retail crime for allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars of products from Target, TJ Maxx, and Nordstrom Rack in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor.Richard Larsh, 55, is charged with on

07/12/2023

Getting dizzy yet? This is the fourth time Ypsilanti City Council has voted to buy (and not to buy) the $3.7M building at 599 S. Mansfield.

by P.D. LeskoOn Dec. 5, Ypsilanti City Council members met and voted not to purchase a $3.7 million building at 599 S. Mansfield. It was the fourth time the group has voted on the purchase and the second time the Council members voted not to purchase