Since Indian casino gambling in Michigan began in 1994, seven tribes have doled out more than $200 million in communities surrounding their casinos. It was widely presumed, under a federal decree governing these payouts, that 2 percent of slot machine and video gaming profits would go to local government to compensate for economic costs of […]
Michigan Government
Citizens cannot do their job of running their government if they don’t know what their public servants are doing.
Posted inMichigan Government
The Giving Judge: Which comes first, impartial justice or partisan politics?
Henry Saad is a Michigan Court of Appeals judge who keeps on giving. To his church. To his profession. To the national Republican Party. Judge Henry Saad In 2012, the 65-year-old Bloomfield Township resident contributed an eye-popping $80,800 — more than half of his $151,441-annual salary — to Republican candidates and causes, according to the […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Why Michigan citizens should care about money in judicial politics
Rich Robinson is executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, a non-profit, non-partisan campaign finance watchdog group in Lansing. Here are his thoughts about judges who contribute big bucks to political campaigns and the role big money plays in judicial elections. Q. What do you think about Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Henry Saad […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Fighting anti-gay bigotry to boost the Michigan economy
In 2009, a gay couple in Flint claims they encountered a work place environment that could charitably be called unpleasant. A lawsuit states that while working at a Rochester adult foster care facility, Gilbert and Jeremy Hall received phone calls from employees of the facility “that sounded like gunshots.” In November, the suit claims, Gilbert […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Auto rates drive voters into hiding
Alok Sharma analyzes data for a living. In 2010, he had a client, a politician, who was running for office and wanted to know if it was worth his time to campaign door-to-door in Detroit’s high-rise apartment buildings. Sharma thought the answer might be found by running a high-rise address through the Qualified Voter File, […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Stockton, Vallejo warn Detroit: You ain’t seen nothin’ yet
With Detroit running out of money and options, Bridge visited two cities in California that have had their own fiscal woes – Stockton and Vallejo – to assess the impact of bankruptcy on neighborhood life. (Bridge illustration/A.J. Jones) STOCKTON, Calif. – Here in Stockton, the standard postcards show a palm-lined City Center, without revealing that […]
Posted inMichigan Government
In Vallejo, residents rally to protect themselves
SORTA SILVER LINING: When bankruptcy led to vastly reduced police patrols in Vallejo, Calif., the number of neighborhood watch groups exploded from nine to more than 400. (Bridge photo/Ron French) VALLEJO, Calif. – The break-ins and the squatters in her middle-class neighborhood were bad enough. But when prostitutes began offering – and performing – […]
Posted inMichigan Government
State leaders pledge fixes for leaky fuel tanks fund after audit finds cash diversions
LITTLE HELP?: Michigan’s effort to deal with leaking underground fuel tanks such as this one have been hamstrung by the diversion of more than $200 million in state money that was collected to address the problem. In the wake of a critical state audit, policy-makers are pledging reforms to the program to accelerate the cleanup […]
Posted inMichigan Government
West Michigan veteran challenged by neuron disease, VA bureaucracy that’s supposed to help him
FRUSTRATED BY DELAYS: Joel Smith shows some of the paperwork he has collected while trying to get assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs for medical conditions he links to his service overseas. (Bridge photo/Lance Wynn) ADA – Joel Smith’s tangle with the VA bureaucracy is the stuff of which nightmares are made. A retired […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Delays plague veteran benefit requests around the country
MAPPING THE PROBLEM: This map by the Center for Investigative Reporting details the magnitude of delays in various Department of Veterans Affairs processing offices around the country. For full details, go to http://cironline.org/reports/map-where-veterans-backlog-worst-3792. Under fire for its growing backlog of disability benefits claims, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs last July set itself a goal: […]