I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
Photo of the Spirit of Detroit sculpture outside the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center by farlane/flickr.
Interim Mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr. has thrown his support behind a new citizen-driven campaign to change how the Detroit City Council is elected.
A signature drive is underway to put an electoral reform on November’s ballot that would make all but two city council seats tied to specific districts where the representative member must reside, as opposed to the current system of electing nine council members from the city at-large.
Cockrel spokesman Anthony Neely told Michigan Messenger the mayor supports the reform effort by the group Detroiters for City Council by Districts.
“He believes it’s important that Detroiters have the right to choose representatives who represent their neighborhoods. He is a strong supporter of city council election by district. This at-large election system makes some city council people too unaccountable to the people of Detroit, so he’s encouraged by this petition drive.”
Neely did not say which city council members are “too unaccountable,” but at least one council member doesn’t feel the current system is a problem. A spokeswoman for Barbara-Rose Collins said she does not support the proposed district-election plan, but did not offer further explanation for her opposition.
Steve Tobocman, a member of Detroiters for City Council by Districts, said the group has not done much outreach, including to city council members. Tobocman said he understands there are some council members who are supportive, but did not give specific names.
When asked whether there’s any proof that district elections would yield better government than the current system, Tobocman said he believes a city council that represents specific districts instead of the entire city would make for better government because of his experience as a former state representative from a Detroit.
“As I sat in the state legislature, I worried about 10 million people…but at the same time I was clear that there were 95,000 people who I was really most accountable to,” Tobocman said, adding that no city council members have district offices.
The group has gathered 10,000 signatures for its 31,400 requirement needed before Aug. 4 to secure a position for the initiative on the Nov. 3 ballot. That day the entire city council is up for election, as well as the mayor. In 1974, Detroit voters rejected an initiative that would have drawn city council districts.
Cockrel, a former city council president, is facing off against businessman Dave Bing in a May 5 election to fill the remainder of ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s term. During a mayoral debate in March, Bing said that he would support efforts move away from at-large city council representation.
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