B. Corman

Sun, Nov 8, 2009 : 12:38 p.m.

Weider, yadda, yadda, yadda....Is Leigh Greden also a martian who plans on taking over planet earth? Your usurpation is just as ridiculous. To claim that someone needs to come up with facts to defend something that never happened or did not happen in the way that you claim is absurd. Repeating your statements over and over again do not make them anymore true than the first time you said them. Your statements are false.

Tom Wieder

Sun, Nov 8, 2009 : 10:48 a.m.

B. Corman - You say: "It is opinion, not fact. Yet you keep presenting it as fact....Just because you claim it to be true does not make it so....You may believe it to be true, but without proof there are no facts. You being stubborn does not validate the claims....I still claim that YOUR conjecture is untrue. You have your own political agenda, which is obvious, and you push these opinions for years on end in order to convince the public of your viewpoint. Personally, I find those tactics unethical." You keep stating your OPINION that my assertions are untrue, but you do not even identify a single assertion that you believe is untrue, let alone offer any facts to support your opinion. I have thoroughly researched through public records and statements of disinterested third persons every single statement I made. These are not just opinions. You might say that I did bad research, misunderstood what I found, was lied to by someone else, etc., but there are verifiable facts supporting every allegation. These allegations were publicly stated during Greden's previous re-election campaign in 2007, and no one to date has refuted anything reported then. Here is the full story: Broadway Village: Conflict of Interest, Influence Peddling and Questionable Campaign Contributions The Broadway Village project being developed in the Lowertown area of Ann Arbor is one of the largest private developments ever undertaken in the city. It needs numerous approvals from the Ann Arbor City Council, the most important of which is the issuance of $40 million dollars in city-backed bonds. The developer of Broadway Village, Strathmore Development Co., is represented by Miller Canfield, the large corporate law firm for which Greden works. Given these facts, Greden should have nothing whatsoever to do with that project. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. In addition, he has taken a large amount of campaign contributions from individuals with an interest in Broadway Village. Gredens work at Miller Canfield representing management in employment matters has nothing to do with real estate development. Despite this, early in 2006, Greden called Washtenaw County Drain Commissioner Janis Bobrin, asking to set up a meeting for, in his words, his client, Strathmore, to discuss flood-plain issues regarding the project. The meeting was held and included Greden, two representatives of Strathmore, Commissioner Bobrin, Bobrins deputy and two City of Ann Arbor employees, who are ultimately accountable to Greden and fellow councilmembers. Though Gredens client received no special treatment, his mere presence at such a meeting represents a conflict of interest. Since Gredens legal work has nothing to do with this kind of issue, the only reasonable conclusion is that Greden, his client, and/or his bosses at Miller Canfield sought to exploit his status and contacts as a public official. When first asked about this meeting by a reporter from The Ann Arbor News, Greden denied that he asked for it to be held. When it became apparent that his story would be contradicted, he told a second reporter that he had, indeed, asked for the meeting to be set up at the request of his client. Publicly, Greden has acknowledged the obvious conflict of interest and tried to appear as if he were avoiding it. When the $40 million bond issue came before Council on June 5, 2006, he abstained from voting. He didnt mention that he already had worked on behalf of the developer. Equally troubling is the fact that Greden received a large amount of campaign contributions for his unsuccessful 2006 State Representative campaign from a dozen people with direct financial interests in the Broadway Village project. Gredens earliest contributions included the maximum allowed by state law from the original promoter of Broadway Village, developer Peter Allen and his wife, and from an architect working on the project, Connie Dimond. McKinley Associates, the large landlord and developer, is the leasing agent for Broadway Village. Greden received significant contributions from three members of its Board of Directors. The most interesting of these contributions is the one from Albert Berriz, CEO of McKinley. According to public records, Berriz has given over $20,000 in recent years to a number of state and federal Republican candidates and committees, including the maximum to George W. Bush, and not a dime to any Democrat until Greden. Miller Canfield hosted a Lansing fundraiser for Greden. Other than several Miller Canfield attorneys, the only contributors were six individuals associated with developer Strathmore three principals of the company, two wives of principals and one of its staff attorneys, none of whom lives anywhere near Ann Arbor. It is probably no coincidence that each gave $100, the maximum amount that can be given without listing the contributors employer, so none of these contributors was identified in Gredens finance reports as being associated with Strathmore. Greden also received $3,000 from Miller Canfields Political Action Committee. Misappropriation of Ann Arbor Democratic Party Funds In the Spring of 2005 Greden approached Ann Arbor City Democratic Party Chair Susan Greenberg about the possibility of holding a fundraising event for the Party. The money was to go into a Political Action Committee (PAC) which the Party could use to support local candidates. In an email, Greden described what he had in mind: I envision doing exactly what we do for Labor Day picnic - nothing different. People write checks to the Party, and none of the money is ever given to candidates. Its not a fundraiser for candidates. Instead the City Party spends the money on advertising during the election. Greenberg agreed and, just days later, emails were sent to Democrats on the City and County membership lists saying: The Ann Arbor Democratic Council Members, the Mayor and the Ann Arbor Democratic Party invite you and Come to a fundraiser hosted by the Ann Arbor Democratic Party, the Mayor of Ann Arbor, and the Ann Arbor Democratic City Council Members! At Gredens suggestion, a phone bank was set up to invite people to the event. The callers said: Hello! Im calling from the Democratic Party here in Ann Arbor. The Ann Arbor Democratic Party is having a fundraiser and we are inviting all Democrats. To receive the money, Greden registered an independent political committee with the Secretary of State called Ann Arbor Democrats Fund (AADF). Greden was listed as Treasurer at his home address. He also opened a bank account in the name of the AADF. Approximately 70 people attended the event on May 20, 2005. Greden reported to the Secretary of State that the AADF received 68 contributions, totaling $2,558.76. Contributors included at least 16 people who were Democratic elected officials or Party officers. None of the money collected, and none of the records of the AADF or its bank account, were turned over to Greenberg, or any other representative of the City Party. No report was given to party officials regarding the results of the fundraiser. There were particular circumstances that caused Susan Greenberg not to be more aware of the circumstances surrounding the AADF. During the entire time that the fundraising event was under discussion, her husband was gravely ill. He died just days before the event, she did not attend it, and she did not think about the event again after his death. Unknown to Party officials, and to virtually all of the AADFs contributors, the AADF began to expend some of its funds. $250 went to the City Council primary campaign of Steve Rapundalo. Ironically, Rapunadalos primary opponent, Eugene Kang, attended the May 20 event and contributed, while Rapundalo did not. $250 went to Rapundalos general election campaign, $200 to Gredens 2005 campaign for re-election to City Council, and $500 to Chris Easthopes 2006 primary campaign for City Council. The Ann Arbor City Partys Bylaws require it to be neutral in primaries, so giving Party funds to primary candidates is not permitted. Greden claims that a board was set up to make the expenditure decisions. He says that it consisted of him, his State Representative campaign manager Margie Teall, his campaign Treasurer Leah Gunn and his Council colleague Chris Easthope. During his 2006 primary campaign for State Representative, Greden claimed an endorsement from the Ann Arbor Democrats Fund. This sounded like an official entity of the Party and suggested that Greden had official Party support. Many, if not most, of the contributors to the AADF actually supported Gredens opponent, Rebekah Warren. Susan Greenberg had never been informed of the AADFs activities or its claimed board membership. After learning of the history of the AADF and of the details of the money raised and spent, Greenberg wrote to Greden in August, 2006 asking him to pay to the Party the amount received by the AADF at the May, 2005 fundraiser. It took two more letters and the scheduling of a resolution at a City Party meeting demanding repayment before Greden finally repaid the full amount and surrendered the records of the AADF to the City Party. Greden told Greenberg that the funds raised at the fundraiser were not the property of the Party, and that the funds were not intended for the Partys use, contradicting everything he had said before the fundraiser. He gave no alternative theory regarding who the money belonged to or what its intended use was. Greden said that he was raising money for the Party, used the Partys name and resources to raise it and then denied that it was the Partys. He used the money to support candidates of his own choosing, including himself, ignored Party neutrality rules and tried to make it look like he was officially endorsed by the Party. When exposed, he had to be pressured to pay the money back to the Party. Campaign Finance Law Violations In July 2006, just a few weeks before the State Representative primary, the AADF received $500 in contributions from Greden campaign Treasurer Leah Gunn and her own campaign fund. Gunn had previously donated the maximum allowed by state law to Gredens campaign - $500. Less than three weeks later, on Primary Election Day, Gredens campaign reported that it received $500 from the AADF. If the $500 from Gunn was received by the AADF with the understanding that the AADF would give those funds to Gredens campaign, it would be a violation of Michigan campaign finance law, punishable by a fine up to $1,000 and up to 90 days in jail. It is clear that Greden used the AADF to collect more money from Gunn for his State Representative campaign than was permitted under state law, a classic money laundering scheme.

B. Corman

Sun, Nov 8, 2009 : 9:57 a.m.

Mr. Weider Conjecture IS untrue and not proven. Dictionary.com definition: the formation or expression of an opinion or theory without sufficient evidence for proof. It is opinion, not fact. Yet you keep presenting it as fact. Just because you claim it to be true does not make it so. Calling it conjecture does not mean that there is truth behind it. It just means that the person expressing the opinion or conjecture is not using any evidence, proof to back up their claim. You may believe it to be true, but without proof there are no facts. You being stubborn does not validate the claims. I still claim that YOUR conjecture is untrue. You have your own political agenda, which is obvious, and you push these opinions for years on end in order to convince the public of your viewpoint. Personally, I find those tactics unethical.

suswhit

Sat, Nov 7, 2009 : 7:45 a.m.

I'm completely befuddled by the "he's such a smart guy" comments. Stupid is as stupid does. If he was so smart he wouldn't have created such a mess and he'd still be a council member. He is no "fall guy." he was the main culprit. At least after his mentor Easthope passed the reins. And, really, there have been many council members before him and there will be many more after. I've no doubt that Council will do just fine, thankyouverymuch. Maybe they will do an even BETTER job without him. You know... with ethics, maturity and respect. One can hope that Greden's friends on council can rise to the occasion, without him scripting their actions, of course.

Tom Wieder

Sat, Nov 7, 2009 : midnight

Ah...just as I figured. Ask B. Corman to put up or shut up, and s/he just keeps talking, or writing. S/he doesn't even try to back up his/her claim that what I say about Greden is untrue; s/he just says that it is. But, I guess I'm making progress. In his/her earlier comment, Corman claimed that what I wrote is obviously untrue. Now, s/he says it's conjecture, which isn't necessarily untrue, but unproven. A few more rounds of this, and Corman will be saying that I wasn't critical enough.

Tim R. Land

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 8:56 p.m.

I think we are all forgetting about how ANGLIN was CAUGHT during a city council meeting using his PERSONAL e-mail account for COUNCIL BUSINESS. This took place at the August City Council meeting look it up! Perhaps, we should subpoena ANGLINS personal e-mail account and see whats up with that? How many other e-mails regarding city business VIOLATING the open meetings act has ANGLIN sent. That sounds pretty ridiculous, right? Seriously, people you are dragging one person through the mud because you have personal college vendettas, or secret alliances with those who also violate the Open Meetings Act (while throwing stones), or just plain and simple have nothing better to do with your time and cant see beyond your copy of Miss Manners. This is real life. People do change after college, all politicians are politicians they take care of business, and how many of my tax dollars have been spent on someone having to dig up e-mails that poke fun at someone that I personally would have a hard time keeping a straight face at. The big issue is Does our council get the job done? For the most part, yes. There are a lot of people to make happy and not everyone will always be happy, so suck it up and deal with it Ann Arbor. We will see how Mr. Gredens replacement does. Im curious to see how much more wining there will be out of Anglin, since his smoke and mirrors have gone away. Mr. Greden, I am sorry that, much like one of my favorite episodes of This American Life, you have become the fall guy. Ive seen your work and you were really the leader of the group. Im really interested to see in how Council pulls it together without you there. You have done a lot of good work and I hope that you continue to serve our community with your head held high.

B. Corman

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 8:42 p.m.

Yeah right...truth to you is just conjecture. If one drives down a street near the time that a home invasion occurs does that automatically mean that person must have committed the crime? All of your facts fall along those lines of conjecture. Must of, could of should ofs......... Tom your story is tiring.

Tom Wieder

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 6:21 p.m.

B. Corman - you say: "The comment has nothing to do with the story, but is an old political attack from years ago that you are allowing to be presented as truth, when it is obviously not." The story was about Leigh Greden's final council meeting and comments about his record and legacy. If it's appropriate to run a story with friends praising him, both in the post and the comments, it's appropriate to include the contrary view of his tenure, including specifics. Can you imagine an end-of-administration view of Nixon that didn't mention Watergate or one about Clinton that excluded mention of Whitewater and Lewinsky? What part of my comment do you claim is "obviously" untrue? I stand by every assertion, and I present them in my own name. I'm in the phone book, and my email is wiedert@aol.com. Point out anything that's untrue, and I'll apologize to Greden right here. And I won't just state that I "owe him an apology," I'll actually apologize.

TripleVSix

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 4:49 p.m.

B. Corman: AnnArbor.com is not a newspaper, it's a current events blog. There is no newspaper in Ann Arbor any more.

B. Corman

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 4:40 p.m.

Ryan or Ed- Still dwelling into the tabloid area again, huh? Why on earth do you let such a biased, private, politically-based agenda remain in the comments? The comment has nothing to do with the story, but is an old political attack from years ago that you are allowing to be presented as truth, when it is obviously not. Ed, why on earth would you dig up old blog postings from 4 years ago that are just opinion and not related to anything resembling a fact and present it as justification to back up the defamatory comments/opinions above? This is supposed to be a newspaper. To say that opinion from a blog can be used to support another persons opinion is NOT journalism and does not belong at a real newspaper. You, as staff of annarbor.com, should not be participating in these attacks. Annarbor.com should not allow their website to be used to defame others so easily. So disappointing.

Tom Wieder

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 3:53 p.m.

To Edward Vielmetti- Every single statement that I included in my previous comment is thoroughly documented or otherwiuse substantiated, much of it through public records. These facts have been presented before - although The News gave them scant attention - and Greden and his supporters made no serious effort to refute any of them. I find it quite odd that you have a problem with verifiable factual allegations such as these, but post, without comment or criticism, other posters' comments about Greden such as "arrogance," "out of touch clown," "power hungry,: etc. Those are personal attacks; what I included are specific, questionable actions by Greden that can be demonstrated to be true

Fred Zimmerman

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 3:43 p.m.

I expect to live in Ann Arbor the remainder of my life and I will never, ever, vote for anyone involved in "emailgate."

Tom Wieder

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 2:29 p.m.

I have to disagree with my friend Adam Eicher and echo the sentiments of Duane Collicott and jbhuron. Greden is not someone that I would hold up as a positive example to anyone, especially children. As unsavory as Greden's email behavior was, it's a little like Al Capone going to prison for tax evasion - the things that he wasn't held accountable for were much worse. Greden has a long history of unethical, perhaps even questionably legal behavior. He solicited and received thousands in contributions from a dozen individuals with interests in the Broadway Village project that needed Council approval, and tried to disguise who they were from. He arranged a meeting with county officials for Broadway Village, a client of his law firm, and attended the meeting, at which city employees, who were ultimately responsible to him as a councilman, were present. Then, he lied about the meeting to The Ann Arbor News. He arranged a political fundraising event, billed as raising funds for the Ann Arbor Democratic Party, then kept the money as his own personal political slush fund, doling it out to candidates of his choice, including himself. Only after receiving three demands from the City Party Chair and threatened with a public resolution by the Party did he finally repay the money. He also used the fund to launder an illegal excess campaign contribution to his campaign from another elected official. Ann Arbor is well-rid of Leigh Greden.

KeepingItReal

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 1:47 p.m.

To Adam Meichner: I applaud your effort to teach your children about civility and I hope you will continue to do so. In the case of Leigh Greden, I wonder if he approached the two offended Council members first before he went public with an apology. What Leigh said about them to other Council members was pretty harsh and degrading and, may I add, even more so once those emails made their way to the public. Just because he decided to offer a public apology does not mean the two offended council members should grovel at his feet. I am a strong believer in forgiveness, but it does take time.

TripleVSix

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 11:28 a.m.

An interesting thing about the timing of this "apology" is that it came the same day that a ton of the emails were made visible to the public at a2docs.org. Citizens obtained them through FOIA requests.

Moose

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 10:59 a.m.

I want to thank Mr Greden for opening the eyes, ears and voices of people who are sick and tired of politicians in a certain Great Lakes college town playing like they're in the big leagues. We don't like or want prima donna's, dilettantes, ideologues, smarty pants lawyers, snide teasers, ball jugglers, school yard bullies, multi-taskers, power brokers or that tired cliche, workhorses. We want elected officials who can and will work together, seek real consensus, seek inclusion and not exclusion, pay attention to people who speak before council and show respect for ALL their constituents and each other.

Barb

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 10:50 a.m.

I think it's sad. He's obviously a very smart guy and a hard-worker. I hope he does some growing up and learns from all this. He has the capacity to do well for A2. Let's hope he figures that out.

brad

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 10:47 a.m.

In a sign of professionalism, current council members should work with my new representative. With so much praise for the go-getting Greden, it won't suprise me if the returning king of kluck isn't invited to sit with the cool kids. (it appears to me that council has a group of insiders and outsiders.)

Marvin Face

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 10:46 a.m.

Well done Leigh Greden. Thank you for the amazing and hard work you have done for the City. Thank you for making the hard work fun for yourself and others on Council. Thank you for remembering that you can't ever make everyone happy and that difficult decisions need to be made in the face of sometimes boisterous opposition.. Anglin, Briere, and Kunselman together will not come close to the work you have done as an individual on Council and I wish you the best.

townie

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 10:35 a.m.

I hope we haven't seen the last of him either. I look forward to seeing him in front of a judge, pleading guilty to violating Michigan campaign finance laws, along with his pen-pal Easthope (using public computers and email accounts, while on the public time clock to organize Easthope's campaign). Has AA.com checked with the attorney general's office about this?

uawisok

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 10:29 a.m.

too little too late for this mea culpa....he's just kissing up for a run at the mayors office..IMO

BrianR

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 10:07 a.m.

I've known Leigh Greden for several years in my capacity as a Board member of a local condo complex. He has been a tireless worker on behalf of our residents and an effective liaison between us and the City. I echo Council Member Sandi Smith remarks: "Somehow I don't think that we've seen the end of you." I hope we haven't.

townie54

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 10:05 a.m.

level of maturity-ha ha.Writing e mails like a little schoolgirl passing notes in class.Real mature.He didnt apologize he made an excuse about his sense of humor.He said nothing to us.Good riddance mr. arrogance.Out of touch clown

jbhuron

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 9:44 a.m.

I attended college with this guy. He pulled the same kind of stuff thinking he was somehow above others. This is classic Greden. He's just power hungry, and if he hasn't changed in 15 years since he was pulling cheap shots at Albion, I doubt he'll change in the future. He's a workhorse because he wants control of all the work. You're better off Ann Arbor without him.

Mumbambu, Esq.

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 9:38 a.m.

Greden's emails made Anglin far more popular than before.

Moose

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 9:13 a.m.

We don't need more "power brokers" on council. If some people think that they have enough power to broker it, then they should not be serving the people. It's the people who have the power, not the politicians. It takes a lot of chutzpah, not to mention arrogance, to cast oneself in a position as a "power broker" when doing the publics business!

B. Corman

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 9:03 a.m.

Leigh, you have a done a great job and will be sorely missed. Thank you for your many years of service.

Diagenes

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 8:47 a.m.

Greden needs to apologize to the citizens of Ann Arbor for violating the public trust. We hired him to do a job and he let us down. So we fired him. The people are the masters of government not the subservient. Political office holders are called public servants for a reason. They serve us, the public. When they put themselves or their own re-election ahead of the good of their community they need to be removed from office. In greden's case democracy worked.

Duane Collicott

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 8:11 a.m.

Once again, not an apology. He said, "I owe an apology" but he didn't apologize. This is a typical politician's way of weaseling out of an apology. He called what he did "teasing" in an attempt to make it sound less than it was. Then when went on to attack people who called him on it, calling it "drama" and even saying, "... small group of people in this community who have taken advantage of this [intelligible] political gain." His disdain for the citizens was underscored even more when he attacked American citizens who dared to speak up and question Congress during town hall meetings across the country earlier this year. Once again, Greden turns what should have been an apology into an attack on other people. Many, many thanks for our friends in the 3rd Ward for getting rid of this guy. adameichner, perhaps what you hope for can happen some day if Greden stops avoiding making an apology.

adameichner

Fri, Nov 6, 2009 : 7:25 a.m.

I hope that over time, that the two council members most affected by the emails, can rise above their hurt, and meet Greden's level of maturity by publicly accepting his apology. Being the father of young children, I am teaching them that even when wounded, the mature thing to do is to verbally acknowledge the apology of another. Hopefully our elected leaders can rise to this standard of living.