Ann Arbor: From small college town into the People's Republic of Ann Arbor

The sad but interesting story of the transformation of Ann Arbor into a one-party town written by Ann Arbor's ex-city attorney R. Bruce Laidlaw who helped set the whole process in motion.

This what democracy (really) looks like: Voting in a one-party town.

 Ann Arbor is solidly in thrall to the Democrat Party and so voting, except in the primary election, is nearly always an anti-climax to put it mildly. The intern over at the Ann Arbor Chronicle picked through the write-in ballots from 2011's First Ward Democratic Party primary election. Pathetic doesn't come close describing the feeling you get looking at these ballots. People show up to vote and find there is only one name on the ballot. So they vent their feelings with write-in votes. Some write in their wife, or themselves, H.P. Lovecraft characters, or scrawl fragments of political graffiti like "no fuller road" a reference to the proposed train station-parking structure boondoggle currently under discussion. One man, one vote, and one frickin' candidate. This is what democracy looks like in a one party town. Embrace the suck.

Notes and pictures of the ruling nomenklatura class of the People's Republic of Ann Arbor

Old lame Democratic Party hacks from Ann Arbor and its environs like Congressman-for-Life John Dingell, his wife, various local pols, hacks, fanatics, kooks, dopes, and wannabes are pictured and profiled. Know your enemy folks.

Why don't Ann Arborites vote in the city primary elections?

Ann Arbor.com editor Tony Dearing puts this rhetorical question to the readers of his blog post cum editorial today. The comments ought to be lively; or at least more interesting than usual and but for Ann Arbor.com's draconian comment censorship policy they would be downright fascinating; or at least fun to read.

This is an especially interesting question Dearing asks in that as a solidly Democrat dominated one-party town these primaries are the election. The Democrat who wins the primary easily blows over the token opposition put up by the enfeebled Republicans or the occasional odd-ball independent or write-in candidate in the November general election and then, that's that for the next two years.

Sign of the times: Winds of change starting to blow through the People's Republic of Ann Abor?

Maybe it's just me but I'm starting to see lots more comments at Ann Arbor.com, Ann Arbor Chronicle, and the Ann Arbor Observer bitching about the fact that our local governance is completely dominated by a small cabal of Democratic Party activists and a few hundred (city wide) Democratic primary voters.

Maybe people are waking up? I don't know if this means anything or if it does what and how it'll all work out but I suspect people are getting fed up with the system Ann Arbor has now where the only choices we have had for for the last four mayoral elections are between John Hieftje and Pat Lesko or John Hieftje running unopposed in the Democratic primary. We might as well be in North Korea for all our votes matter now. Ann Arbor needs to drop this system of party labels and let people run on their own merits, ideas and platforms. Whoever has an idea and is willing to stand before the voters should be able to get a shot at the office. That is what democracy looks like in my humble opinion.