East-cross.com

City Of Ypsilanti Council Budget Process (Part I): ZERO Cuts In Staffing To The Fire Department

brobb — Tue, 11 May 2010 23:23:58 +0000

At tonight’s Ypsilanti City Council meeting on a vote of 7-0, Council voted to approve a new contract for the Ypsilanti Fire Department that guaranteed no staffing cuts for fiscal years 2011 and 2012 in exchange for wage concessions.

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Where's Herb? Or What In The Hell Are Chicken Fries?

brobb — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:30:50 +0000

I was sitting around the house wondering why someone doesn’t turn Motor Wheel into a 1,500+ seat performance space when the phone rang.

ME: Hello.

CALLER: What’s all this talk I hear about you putting a Burger King on Water Street?

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Deconstruction Insists Not That Truth Is Illusory But That It Is Institutional

brobb — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:00:11 +0000

Over the weekend a group of people who like to knock things down was organized by Council member Pete Murdock. The goal of this group was to knock down some walls in Ypsilanti’s Historic Freighthouse in preparation for the execution of the $500K MDoT grant.

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When I Asked For A Volcano Taco, I Didn't Mean This

brobb — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:00:46 +0000

When I got the call early this morning, the first words out of my mouth were “Not the Taco Bell.”

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Potential FYE 2011 State of Michigan Budget Cuts, Or We Are Really, Really Screwed

brobb — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:15:04 +0000

Below are a list of “very plausible” cuts in the State of Michigan’s FYE 2011 budget provided by the City of Ypsilant’s lobbyist, Kirk Profit of GCSI, Inc. The potential cuts amount to $2.09B with an additional loss of $2.37B in Federal Funds. The largest and the most devastating cuts are the elimination of the remaining statuatory revenue sharing and cuts of $1.2B in community health.

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Ford Motor Company Turns Profit In 2009, Or Your Toyota Is Trying To Kill You

brobb — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:00:42 +0000

So I’m in Downtown Ypsilanti hanging out at The Savoy when someone runs up to me and hands me a press release. I thought it was particularly odd since the press release was actually dated for the next day, but crazy things are known to happen at The Savoy.

I’d like to encourage my readers that drive Toyotas to pull over to the side of the road so that in case your accelorator pedal sticks while reading this, you don’t drive into a bridge or something.

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SAFER Grant: Letters Of Support Needed

brobb — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:25:34 +0000

From Ypsilanti Fire Chief Jon Ichesco:

On January 15, 2010 the City of Ypsilanti Fire Department applied for Assistance to Fire Fighters SAFER GRANT to help offset staffing reductions that will take our department below OSHA requirements for an aggressive fire attack. We need letters of recommendations to support our application and hope you will provide a letter of support so that we can continue to protect the citizens of Ypsilanti and students and faculty at Eastern Michigan University.

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Wireless Ypsi, Where Tension Is Hard To Dispute

brobb — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:30:20 +0000

Thanks to two excellent articles by Nathan Bomey in AnnArbor.com’s Sunday edition of the paper, Wireless Ypsi is getting some great publicity. It’s only fair that I share this with everyone.
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Decision 2010: Pay The Bondholders Or Provide Services

brobb — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 04:00:49 +0000

The hole in the middle of Water Street is hungry and needs feeding. As a result, the City Manager is proposing the following cuts: (more…)

Let There Be Traffic

brobb — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:40:36 +0000

In an effort to counteract the inaccurate reports of and misleading statements made at the City Council meeting this morning, I offer you the following:
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Thompson Building Aftermath

brobb — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:30:17 +0000

Johnny Carson would have been proud.

Premonition #1

At tonight’s Ypsilanti City Council meeting, whether or not to provide a 45 day extension to a temporary traffic control order to close eastbound traffic on East Cross Street between North River and Park Streets will be discussed. I’m sure in typical City Council fashion, we will beat this one to death, but before we do, let’s recap.

The notion that this topic was beaten to death is an understatement. After two hours and fifteen minutes, everyone was exhausted. Luckily we only had another two and a half hours to go.
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The Cafe Luwak East Cross Street Stimulus Package (Or Decaying Heritage Versus Our Conscience)

brobb — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:15:29 +0000

At tonight’s Ypsilanti City Council meeting, whether or not to provide a 45 day extension to a temporary traffic control order to close eastbound traffic on East Cross Street between North River and Park Streets will be discussed. I’m sure in typical City Council fashion, we will beat this one to death, but before we do, let’s recap.
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Welcome New Ypsilanti Business

brobb — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:00:04 +0000

This announcement may be premature, but this is further proof that buildings don’t stay empty for long in Ypsilanti’s Depot Town. (more…)

Freighthouse Passes SHPO Hurdle

brobb — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:15:29 +0000

Last week the Ypsilanti Freighthouse received word from the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office that the planned rehabilitation will have no adverse effects on the building.

This is good news in that it’s one more hurdle the project must no longer overcome. Kudos to the Friends of the Ypsilanti Freighthouse for their diligent work on the restoration. (more…)

Solar City Hall Update

brobb — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:00:53 +0000

From Dave Strenski’s lips to you ~~ears~~ eyes:

All -

We continue to make progress on the Ypsilanti City Hall Solar Project. We had a small delay locating and renting an aerial lift that was tall enough to reach the top of the back wall of City Hall. The wall is 50 feet hight and we’re working between the 42 to 45 foot area. The lift from Delux Rental does the job but we are at the limits of it’s reach. (more…)

Touching Your Food For Charity & Music

brobb — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

The following is a note from Ypsi Crossroads Music Director Frank Wright:

J. Neils Mongolian Grille will be hosting a fundraiser to benefit the Ypsilanti Crossroads Summer Festival this Thursday, Oct 22nd, from 6-8 PM.

Guest / celebrity grillers will include Jake Reading (Crossroads emcee & A3Live personality), Jeremy Baldwin (WEMU Roots Music Project Host), Colleen Holtzman (American Cancer Society Event Chair), blogmeister Mark Maynard, Councilperson Brian Robb, Linda French, David Austin, and other special guests as well as yours truly. (more…)

City Council Snows The Public

brobb — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:00:03 +0000

Leave it to that sleazy Ypsilanti City Council to start talking about snow removal procedures, fines, and administrative fees when the weather is still in the sixties.

Leave it to that sleazy Ypsilanti City Council to place two resolutions on snow removal procedures, fines, and administrative fees at the end of an agenda that may last for several days.

Damn you Ypsilanti City Council. Damn you all to hell. (more…)

Ann Arbor To Detroit Rail Project October Update

brobb — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:30:31 +0000

The latest update on the Ann Arbor to Detroit rail project can be found on SEMCOG’s web site HERE.

All past updates can be found HERE. (more…)

More Live Blogging Michigan's Budget Crisis

brobb — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:00:27 +0000

UPDATED October 9, 2009 at 3:59PM

The following is a list of all of the updates from the City of Ypsilanti’s lobbyist Kirk Profit for the past week detailing how incompetent some of our leaders in Lansing still are. (more…)

Keep Michigan Beautiful, Or In Your Face West Side

brobb — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:00:42 +0000

Yesterday it was announced that The “Friends of Prospect Park” group was the recipient of Keep Michigan Beautiful’s Michigan Plaque Award for “programs and activities that substantially contribute to environmental improvement, clean up, beautification, site restoration and historical preservation”. (more…)