Ann Arbor AF

Today we are talking about the next City Council meeting, coming up Tuesday, September 7th. We’ll be touching on a few interesting agenda items, including Dark Sky, DEI, and our forever fave, sidewalks. Here are the links we mentioned, to Scott Trudeau's blog post on the home occupations ordinance , and the MLive article on the equity-driven pay moves the City is making . Come check out our e...

Today we are talking about the next City Council meeting, coming up Monday, August 16th. We touch on a bunch of interesting agenda items including conversion therapy bans, fur bans, and broadband, ending on the infamous COTC (Circus of the City). Links from today's show: - this week's agend a - Michelle' s WCBN radio sh ow recapping Council meetings: Tuesday mornings, 6-9am - Molly...

Today we are talking about the next City Council meeting, coming up Monday, August 2nd. We touch on a bunch of interesting agenda items. Links from today's show: - the investigation report on the soon-to-be-former City Administrator , - the Ann Arbor Humans Who Wonk facebook thread from the last episode discussing the City Administrator firing/resignation , - more about poet Robert Hayden , -...

Today we are talking about the next City Council meeting , coming up Tuesday, July 20th. We’ll be touching on a few interesting agenda items, including water main breaks, city charter amendments, and a little light fangirling.  Support the show Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com . Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebo...

Today we are talking about the next City Council meeting, coming up Tuesday, July 6th. We’ll be touching on a few interesting agenda items, including transit-oriented zoning , rentals, municipal solar, and a couple of city commissions.  Support the show Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com . Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky a...

Today's episode is a rerun of Deeper Dive Episode 20: "Master Plan + Zoning."  Support the show Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com . Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebook . And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.

Today's episode is a rerun of Deeper Dive Episode 13: "Power, Personalities, and Perceptions."  Support the show Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com . Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebook . And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.

Today's episode is a rerun of Deeper Dive Episode 9: "Budgets and Budget Season."  Support the show Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com . Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebook . And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.

Today's episode is a rerun of our very first Deeper Dive, Episode 2: "How to read an agenda."  Support the show Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com . Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebook . And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.

Today we take a deeper dive into - us! We interview each other about our origin stories, describing how we decided to follow our own advice to get informed and get involved. Haven't filled out the listener survey yet? This week is your last chance . Want to drop us a couple of dollars on ko-fi ? Our hosting services (and we) love you. Support the show Come check out our episodes and transcrip...

This is our very first recap episode! We break down what happened to the annual budget passed by Council last week. If you haven't already, please fill out our listener survey ! Link: - the Quick Build presentation at Transportation Commission Thanks to your generosity, we have launched a website! Come find episodes, show notes, and transcripts over at www.annarboraf.com . For o ur ko-fi dono...

This bonus episode is dedicated entirely to the prospective budget that will be passed at the next City Council meeting. We cover the budget, proposed amendments as we know them, and address some CM questions to staff as well. If you haven't already, please fill out our listener survey ! Links: - this week's agenda - the proposed FY2021-2022 budget - Februar y city budget presentation (a...

Today we talk about the next City Council meeting, coming up Monday, May 17th. We touch on a few interesting agenda items, including policy, PILOTs, and big budget feelings. If you haven't already, please fill out our listener survey ! Links: - this week's agenda - the proposed FY2021-2022 budget - February city budget presentation (attachment #2), and check out the Deeper Dive episode o...

Today, we talk about Harm Redction with Lemont Gore from UNIFIED . We talk about the philosophy of harm reduction, and the work that UNIFIED has been doing around drug use and HIV. Support the show Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com . Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebook . And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few d...

Today we talk about the next City Council meeting, coming up Monday, May 3rd. We touch on a few interesting agenda items, including shenanigans, the budget, and healthy streets, and offer some ways for you to get involved. If you haven't already, please fill out our listener survey ! Links: - this week's agenda - February city budget presentation (attachment #2), and check out the Deeper...

Today we take a deeper dive into Master Planning and Zoning. We’ll talk recipes, and racism, and heists - you know, normal master planning stuff. Links from today's episode:  View the City's master plan and resource documents  An interactive map of Ann Arbor zoning  Descriptions of Ann Arbor zones  Form-based code: a Strong Towns article and a Michigan white paper  The Color of Law book...

We discuss the next City Council meeting, coming up Monday, April 19th. We’ll be touching on a few interesting agenda items, including lots of housing, a little bike stuff, and shenanigans. If you haven't already, please fill out our listener survey ! Links from today's episode:  This week's Council agenda   From the City Administrator Communications: the quarterly Equity Report , A...

Support the show Come check out our episodes and transcripts at our website, annarboraf.com . Keep the conversation going with fellow Ann Arbor AFers on Blue Sky and Facebook . And hey, if you wanted to ko-fi us a few dollars to help us with hosting, we wouldn't say no.

Today we are talking about the next City Council meeting, coming up April 5th. We touch on fair access to housing, the Trans Day of Visibility, and as we often do, defunding the police.  Links from today's episode:  This week's Council agenda    The Ann Arbor Tenants Union is re-forming, and we should also have a Renters Commission The sidewalk gap prioritization framework The CAHOOTS pr...

In today's episode we talk with Addy Finch of ANSWER Detroit about sex worker labor rights and advocacy. More on ANSWER: send them your follow   send them your dollars   check out their podcast check out Black Mamas Bailout Addy's twitter More on national legislation pertaining to sex workers:   SISEA is a bad bill   FOSTA/SESTA were also bad bills  Support the show Come check out our ep...

Today we are taking a deeper dive into the Healthy Streets program that Ann Arbor implemented in response to reduced car traffic and increased demand for safe walking and biking space. Links and references: Ann Arbor's Healthy Streets website , and 2021 survey . You can also see the current 2021 survey results on a map . Dr. Destiny Thomas, ‘Safe Streets’ Are Not Safe for Black Lives .  If yo...

Today we are talking about the next City Council meeting, coming up March 15th. We touch on fair access to housing, the Trans Day of Visibility, and as we often do, defunding the police.  Links from today's episode:  This week's Council agenda The University of Michigan Presidential Commission on Carbon Neutrality (PCCN) Reporting trans discrimination to the City of Ann Arbor and to the...

Today we are taking a deeper dive into City leadership, because there's more to council than just the resolutions. We’re talking about different visions for the city and how those affect the choices our leaders make, along with personalities, power, and local news. We even get into our first conspiracy theory. Links from the show:   Chuck Marohn's article on the good party/bad party anal...

Today we are talking about the next City Council meeting, coming up March 1st, including a little bit about development, a little bit about rules, and a lot about sidewalks. Links from today's episode: - the meeting agenda - material s from the Transportation Commission meeting on sidewalk snow removal - the Pedestrian Safety and Access Task Forc e - the latest SnowBuddy report And, for good...

We speak with Trische' Duckworth of Survivors Speak.  We have a conversation about policing and the work that Survivors Speak does. Visit the Survivors Speak website to learn about the upcoming events she mentions: https://www.survivorsspeak.info/ During the course of the episode, we talked about a lot of related issues. Other organizations that she mentions working with, who are doing good w...