Double Header Features Two Michiganders!
A new FOIA has been released granting more emails from the City for a proposed sports-themed timeshare condo resort with a potential basketball court that can also be used as a wedding venue.
On Wed July 12, 2023, City Administrator Dohoney sent an email stating:
”I am setting up an offsite meeting at a location that will be identified shortly. SI (Sports Illustrated) is moving around the country identifying cities where they can develop 4/5 star sports themed hotels. In some cities they are including convention meeting space. They are curious about what is possible in Ann Arbor. They prefer a downtown site or if that can’t work, and site near the Big House. SI has contracted with Cobblestone Development, a firm out of Texas. I have a professional and personal relationship with the CEO of Cobblestone. It is through discussions with him that this meeting came about.”
The CEO of Cobblestone is Odis Jones - who grew up in Detroit and was the former CEO of the Detroit Lighting Authority after working under Mr. Dohoney in Cincinnati.
Stemming from events in 2016, one might remember:
Detroit — A federal judge Friday dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by the former CEO of the Public Lighting Authority against the owner of WXYZ-TV (Channel 7).
The lawsuit filed by Odis Jones failed because he was a public figure and the station did not act with actual malice while airing a series on suspicious severance payments involving Jones, according to an order filed Friday by U.S. District Judge Matthew Leitman.
The order ends a nearly three-year legal ordeal and represents a First Amendment victory as the media face increasing claims of "fake news."
"Now more than ever, we depend upon the 'free press' to 'awaken public interest in governmental affairs' and to 'expos[e] corruption among public officers and employees,'" Leitman wrote, citing federal case law. "Indeed, '[t]he press plays a unique role as a check on government abuse' and serves 'as a watchdog of government activity.'” …
The payments raised concern because some employees who received the previously undisclosed payments had accused Jones of misconduct and because the payments included nondisclosure agreements. Public Lighting Authority officials also had refused to discuss the payments.
And from a longtime Farmington Hills resident, and the owner of 5-Hour Energy…
One week after Sports Illustrated suffered an embarrassing artificial intelligence scandal, the latest leader of the company that operates SI laid down the law for his new employees.
Manoj Bhargava, the 5-Hour Energy drink owner whose firm earlier this year purchased a controlling stake in The Arena Group, which operates Sports Illustrated, introduced himself in a meandering video call with Arena staff…
“No one is important,” Bhargava told staffers, per one source on hand for the presentation. “I am not important. … The amount of useless stuff you guys do is staggering.”
The meeting lasted more than 90 minutes, and Bhargava joked at one point, “Did anyone bring any 5-Hour [Energy drink]?”
Other highlights from Bhargava’s comments during the town hall:
A rant about recycling being “useless.”
He told employees they should “stop doing dumb stuff.”
He declared “PowerPoints are illegal” because such presentations are a waste of time.