iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mark Madonna @awesomark.bsky.social · 16h

"I drive without a seatbelt all the time, and I'm fine. I don't see why people keep telling me to wear one"

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Mark Madonna @awesomark.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

🧵 A brief history of brief histories

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Mark Madonna @awesomark.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

Hey @samdodgemlive.bsky.social don't know if you still check this website, but here's a bunch of people talking about Ann Arbor changing. You might frame your article to say people think Ann Arbor is changing, but they have literally always thought that!

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Mark Madonna @awesomark.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

1894 (I'm so excited because I got to use the Ann Arbor Argus archive)

“‘Yes,’ added the doctor, looking around, ‘Ann Arbor has changed in 25 years.’”

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Mark Madonna @awesomark.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

We repealed that proposal last year, and voted to give the parking lot to the Ann Arbor Library. But to me, and a lot of other people in Ann Arbor, Prop E feels like another unfunded mandate, just like the library lot (and has some of the same players pushing for it).

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Mark Madonna @awesomark.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

A big selling point for that proposal was that it wouldn't cost the voters anything. There was no millage attached, and that is a big part of why it passed. In the 7 years that followed, nothing happened, except the original advocates for the park started saying the city now needed to fund this park

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Mark Madonna @awesomark.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

I think some important context is that in 2018, there was a ballot proposal to declare a parking lot as a park (this was an effort to block housing). It had no millage attached to fund transforming the parking lot. That proposal ended up passing

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Mark Madonna @awesomark.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

I should also point out A2P2 started in 2021, I think. They may have done this back then, but interest rates are much higher today (and rising). I wonder if they have reevaluated their models to see if they still hold true with those increases in the interest rates

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Mark Madonna @awesomark.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

I mean, if someone has a spreadsheet that breaks down all the costs (Bond repayment, revenue from rate payers, cost of providing electricity, cost of maintenance, cost of upgrading the grid to only use renewable energy, etc.) and it shows it can be done, I'd love to see it

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Mark Madonna @awesomark.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

But yeah, I also have questions about what happens to the 500 township islands in Ann Arbor? Would they have separate lines and stay on DTE, could they use the Ann Arbor MEU, or would they need to be annexed?

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Mark Madonna @awesomark.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

When I asked Yousef Rabhi about it, his answer wasn't that a county can't have a municipal grid, just that it would require the county to be a charter county. I'd guess because a county is one governmental body, it would be allowed

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Mark Madonna @awesomark.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

I'm not sure how inspiring it is to have @a2publicpower.bsky.social saying the city shouldn't raise taxes, and that public power should only be done if and only if the rates collected from payers cover 100% of the cost to run the grid AND the bond to purchase it

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Mark Madonna @awesomark.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Prop E specifically doesn't bring other municipalities in with it, and when I asked one of the A2P2 board members (who is a county commissioner), why isn't there a push for a county utility, he said because it was too hard

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Mark Madonna @awesomark.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Some important context is that there are just way more 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄/🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 Christmas Songs, so getting a 🎄🎄🎄/🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄is relatively worse than getting 🎃🎃🎃/🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

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Mark Madonna @awesomark.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

This Is Halloween 🎄🎄/🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 What's This? 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄/🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 Town Meeting Song 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄/🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 Jack's Obsession 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄/🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 Kidnap the Sandy Claws 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄/🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 Making Christmas 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄/🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 Oogie Boogie's Song 🎄🎄🎄🎄/🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 Sally's Song 🎄🎄🎄/🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 Poor Jack 🎄🎄🎄🎄/🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 Finale/Reprise 🎄🎄🎄/🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

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Mark Madonna @awesomark.bsky.social · 08/10/2026