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Final Summer Sunset
September 3, 2008 – 10:15 am
MDM Candidate Events Near You
August 29, 2008 – 4:02 pm
The Center for Michigan's fall candidate outreach efforts are in full swing, with our professional outreach coordinators negotiating faster than used car salespeople with candidates and community leaders throughout the state to set dates and times. Here's what we have so far...
SEPTEMBER 8: SMALL-GROUP CANDIDATE CONVERSATION
Midland
8 a.m.
Pizza Sam’s, 102 W. Main
98th State House District Candidate Jim Stamas
Call or email to RSVP:
202-390-5766
nshort@thecenterformichigan.net
SEPTEMBER 17: SMALL-GROUP CANDIDATE CONVERSATION
Canton
8 a.m.
Tim Horton’s, 45515 Michigan Avenue
21st State House District Candidate Todd LaJoy
Call or email to RSVP:
202-390-5766
nshort@thecenterformichigan.net
SEPTEMBER 23: TOWN HALL FORUM
Brighton, Fowlerville, Howell
8 a.m.
Livingston Regional M-TEC, 1240 Packard Drive, Howell
47th-66th State House District Candidates Donna Anderson, Cindy Denby, Scott Lucas, Bill Rogers
Call or email to RSVP:
202-390-5766
nshort@thecenterformichigan.net
SEPTEMBER 24: SMALL GROUP CANDIDATE CONVERSATION
Novi, Northville, South Lyon, Walled Lake, Wixom
8 a.m.
Novi Civic Center 45175 W. Ten Mile Road
38th State House District Candidate Hugh Crawford
Call or email to RSVP:
248-321-8635
kjohnson@thecenterformichigan.net
SEPTEMBER 25: SMALL-GROUP CANDIDATE CONVERSATION
Canton
8 a.m.
Campaign Headquarters, 42011 Ford Road
21st State House District Candidate Dian Slavens
Call or email to RSVP:
202-390-5766
nshort@thecenterformichigan.net
SEPTEMBER 30: SMALL-GROUP CANDIDATE CONVERSATION
Livonia
8 a.m.
Schoolcraft College VisTaTech Center, 18600 Haggerty Road
19th State House District Candidate John Walsh
Call or email to RSVP:
202-390-5766
nshort@thecenterformichigan.net
OCTOBER 2: SMALL-GROUP CANDIDATE CONVERSATION
Midland
8 a.m.
Sleep Inn, 2100 W. Wackerly
98th State House District Candidate Garnet Lewis
Call or email to RSVP:
202-390-5766
nshort@thecenterformichigan.net
OCTOBER 2: TOWN HALL FORUM
Downriver
7 p.m.
The Henry Ford Estate on UofM Dearborn Campus, 4901 Evergreen Road
13th, 22nd, 23rd State House District Candidates Doug Geiss, Andrew Kandrevas (invited), Deb Kennedy
Call or email to RSVP:
202-390-5766
nshort@thecenterformichigan.net
OCTOBER 8: TOWN HALL FORUM
Northville, Plymouth, Wayne
7 p.m.
Plymouth District Library, 223 S. Main
20th State House District Candidates Representative Marc Corriveau, Jerry Vorva
Call or email to RSVP:
202-390-5766
nshort@thecenterformichigan.net
OCTOBER 15: TOWN HALL FORUM
Jackson and Eaton County
6:30 p.m.
Jackson District Library – Carnegie Branch, 244 W. Michigan Avenue
64th-65th State House District Candidates Representative Martin Griffin, Leland Prebble, Representative Mike Simpson, Ray Snell
Call or email to RSVP:
202-390-5766
nshort@thecenterformichigan.net
TELEVISED DEBATES -- VIDEO ONLINE IN EARLY OCTOBER
District 1 Bledsoe-Treder Lang
District 2 Floyd-Lemmons Jr.
District 19 Walsh-King
District 22 Geiss-McNeill
District 24 Roberts-Brandenberg
District 25 Wiecek-Switalski
District 27 Micola-Cogan Lipton
District 31 Miller-Tollis
District 33 Meltzer-Prasiloski
District 36 Murphy-Lund
District 40 Moss-Chandler
District 45 McMillin-Young
District 47 Denby-Lucas
District 54 Banks-Wheeler-Smith
District 56 Ebli-Dahm
District 66 Anderson-Rogers
'Crossroads to Crisis'
August 29, 2008 – 3:35 pm
Hyperpartisan legislators more concerned with political points than pragmatic policy...
A wasteful public employee personnel system...
Too many units of local government without enough collaboration...
Too many prison inmates in a correction system that takes too big a chunk out of the state budget...
Not enough attention to policies and reforms that improve the state's quality of life...
Those thoughts sound like something straight out of the Community Conversations of the Michigan's Defining Moment Public Engagement Campaign.
Instead, they are the terse words of John D. Wiley, chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who is leaving office deeply frustrated by the same kinds of reasons statewide business and political leaders formed the Center for Michigan nearly three years ago.
Read Wiley's thoughts and you just might declare the grass greener on this side of Lake Michigan.
Campus Report Cards
August 29, 2008 – 3:18 pm
As students and parents head back to campus and brace for the ever-increasing tuition bills, it's worth a glimpse at how Michigan's 15 public universities are doing on key measures of success.
How much has tuition risen this year? How 'bout in the past five years?
Which campus has the fewest number of students per professor?
Which campus offers the most degree programs?
Which campus has the best graduation rates?
We have the answers.
Check out our quick statistical snapshot of the 15 campuses.
What About the "Fourth Quarter?"
August 29, 2008 – 3:13 pm
No, we're not talking football season here.
A full quarter of Michigan high school students don't graduate, according to new state data released last week.
"To be competitive, Michigan needs the best educated workforce in the nation, and the fact that one out of every four high school students is failing to graduate on time is totally unacceptable," Gov. Jennifer Granholm told the Detroit News this week.
It's the same thing citizens have said across the state during the Michigan's Defining Moment campaign. At every level -- parents, teachers, administrators, legislators, business, community groups, and the students themselves -- much more needs to be done to assure our state's workers are ready for the global economy.
MDM participants have called for more intensified curriculum, equitable funding across school districts, investing in early childhood education, lengthening the school day and year, reductin class sizes, rewarding good teachers, and widening our definition of student achievement.
To see dropout rates in your community, click here.
To see how the MEA teachers union is addressing dropout concerns, get info on the Dropout Prevention Leadership Summit in Lansing in October.
The Ballot Barometer
August 29, 2008 – 11:00 am
Michigan voters will be faced with only two initiatives in the ballot box this November -- proposals on medical marijuana use and stem cell research.
In other states, ballots are thick with both big-picture questions and picayune special interest initiatives. The National Council of State Legislatures counts more than 120 statewide proposals on ballots nationwide.
Ballots elsewhere this fall will provide key readings of the public's take on numerous Common Ground agenda items developed through the Michigan's Defining Moment Public engagement campaign.
Examples...
"NORTH COAST" QUALITY OF LIFE: MDM participants say they want protection of Michigan natural resources and vibrant communities that can attract a talented, 21st Century workforce. In Georgia, Arkansas, and Ohio, voters will be asked to approve hundreds of millions of dollars in bond funding and/or new taxes for environmental protection, forest preservation, and other conservation issues. In Minnesota, voters are asked to increase their sales tax by 3/8ths of one percent to fund both natural resources and arts funding. Michigan is likely to see a somewhat similar environmental bond proposal in 2010.
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM: Voters in Connecticut and Hawaii will decide whether to hold conventions to rewrite their state constitutions. Michigan voters face the same question in 2010.
HOT-BUTTON REFORM ISSUES: California voters will consider redistricting legislative seats and easing prison sentences to save on corrections costs. Colorado considers a right-to-work law. South Dakota considers whether to repeal eight-year term limits for legislators. And Maine voters are asked to veto a beverage tax meant to pay for health care.
To delve into all ballot issues nationwide, go here.
Filling the Journalism Void
August 29, 2008 – 10:24 am
The ability of Michigan citizens to stay informed through traditional media is shrinking on almost a daily basis.
More cutbacks are a constant threat in at the newsrooms of the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press where I used to work. Likewise, the outstate Booth newspapers shut their Lansing bureau earlier this year. Rumors abound that the Detroit papers and outstate papers are considering dropping their print editions several days a week in response to shrinking demand for ads.
This story in the Lansing-based City Pulse illustrates the problems for one paper, the Lansing State Journal:
Today, the LSJ’s staff list consists of seven news reporters and three business reporters. The daily Capitol newspaper, physically located five blocks from the dome, has been mostly relying on Associated Press wire copy for its news coverage since its last Capitol reporter, Chris Andrews, retired in February. One of the seven news reporters, Derek Wallbank, is leaving shortly, and the LSJ has no immediate plans to replace him. Instead, his position has become one of 13 the Journal is slicing off this month to satisfy parent corporation Gannett’s orders to eliminate 1,000 jobs. Of the 13 in Lansing, five will be by attrition; the rest will be layoffs. And staff levels aren’t the only things shrinking. Coverage is down. Staff morale is down amid the cutbacks. Circulation numbers are down. On March 31, 2000, the daily circulation was 70,773. The Sunday paper went out to 92,993 people. Today, the numbers are down 17 percent, with daily copies at below 59,000 and Sunday below 77,000, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Several new approaches could fill the information void left by Michigan's shrinking news corps.
Consider Mary Morgan, who just took a buyout from her job at opinion editor at the Ann Arbor News. She's launching a new, Internet-based news operation called the Ann Arbor Chronicle. What's for its debut next week.
Consider, too, the idea of "crowdfunding" news coverage -- the idea that professional journalism could be paid for, and produced, through financial contributions of local citizens.
Finally, email the Center for Michigan with your ideas for thoughtful, forward-looking journalism. We're expanding our "Fresh Thoughts" email newsletter this fall with original reporting on issues and current events related to the Common Ground Agenda for Michigan's Future.
MDM Candidate Outreach in Full Swing
August 22, 2008 – 10:35 am
We're taking the MDM Common Ground Agenda for Michigan's Transformation directly to candidates running for state House of Representatives to get their perspectives on issues raised by citizens across the state.
Candidates have so far agreed to televised debates sponsored by the Center for Michigan in the following Southeast Michigan races...
DISTRICT 1 (Detroit-Grosse Pointe) -- Mary Treder Lang (R) vs. Timothy Bledsoe (D)
DISTRICT 2 (Detroit) -- Edith Floyd (R) vs. LaMar Lemons (D)
DISTRICT 19 (Livonia) -- John Walsh (R) vs. Steve King (D)
DISTRICT 40 (Birmingham) -- Chuck Moss (R) vs. Julie Chandler (D)
DISTRICT 45 (Rochester) -- Tom McMillin (R) vs. Randy Young (D)
DISTRICT 47 (Brighton-Howell) -- Cindy Denby (R) vs. Scott Lucas (D)
DISTRICT 56 (Monroe) -- JeanMarie Dahm (R) vs Kate Ebli (D)
DISTRICT 66 (Brighton-Howell) Bill Rogers (R) vs Donna Anderson (D)
Negotiations are underway for televised debates in dozens of additional districts. The debates will be taped beginning in mid-September, aired on Detroit Public Television, and available on the Center for Michigan web site throughout the fall.
We're also progressing with a wide range of large candidate forums and smaller candidate group meetings throughout the state. We'll announce our first scheduled events next week. We are working to secure events in the following districts (email us today to sign up to attend).....
DISTRICT 1 - Detroit/Grosse Pointe
DISTRICTS 6-7-11-12 - Detroit
DISTRICTS 13-22-23 - Metro Detroit Downriver
DISTRICT 19 - Livonia
DISTRICT 20 - Plymouth
DISTRICT 21 - Canton
DISTRICTS 25-27-35-42 - Metro Detroit Inner Ring Suburbs
DISTRICT 32 - Macomb
DISTRICT 37 - Farmington
DISTRICT 38 - Novi
DISTRICT 43 - Waterford
DISTRICTS 47-66 - Livingston County
DISTRICT 61 - Portage
DISTRICT 62 - Battle Creek
DISTRICT 63 - Kalamazoo (East)
DISTRICTS 64-65 - Jackson-Lansing
DISTRICT 70 - Montcalm
DISTRICT 72 - Kentwood
DISTRICT 75 - Grand Rapids
DISTRICT 76 - Grand Rapids
DISTRICTS 88-90 - Allegan-Holland
DISTRICT 98 - Midland
DISTRICTS 101-104 - Northwestern Lower Peninsula/Traverse City
DISTRICT 106 - Alpena
RMGN Thankfully Stopped
August 22, 2008 – 10:05 am
Earlier this summer Center for Michigan leaders came out against the Reform Michigan Government Now ballot proposal because it threatened to increase hyperpartisanship in Michigan, it was crafted anonymously and in secrecy, it threatened to disenfranchise many voters, and it would've set a bad precedent of Constitutional overahaul by ballot initiative. Here's the full text of the Center's opposition.
This week, the Michigan Court of Appeals thankfully stopped RMGN from appearing on the ballot.
Lansing attorney Peter Ellsworth, who fashioned the court fight against RMGN, summed it up well in the Detroit News...
"The decision was clear; it is unconstitutional to throw dozens of unrelated subjects into a single ballot proposal. The court unanimously rejected (the) proposal as a cynical attempt to rewrite the state constitution without following the proper process."
Overall, RMGN would have been bad for Michigan, but those who put the proposal together did develop several thoughtful reform ideas, raised the consciousness about the need to carefully consider changes to the Michigan Constitution, and intensified debate about whether Michigan voters should approve in 2010 a Constitutional convention to overhaul the state's 45-year-old governing document.
