Top 10 cloak-and-dagger jabs at Mayor John Hieftje by A2Politco, his new political opponent

Now that the secret is out that Ann Arbor mayoral candidate Patricia Lesko is the masked blogger behind A2Politico.com, AnnArbor.com decided to take a closer look at some of the jabs she anonymously took at Mayor John Hieftje.

It turns out the anonymous blogger attacking Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje for the last five months is his newly announced political opponent, Patricia Lesko.

Photo illustration

It's clear that Lesko, who launched her political commentary website in September under the fake name "Sam Rosenthal," has been using A2Politico to muster up support for her recently announced campaign for mayor. In fact, the site now offers the disclaimer: "Paid for by the Committee to Elect Patricia Lesko."

Without lending credence to any of the claims made by A2Politico, here's a Top 10 list of cloak-and-dagger punches thrown Hieftje's way by the blogger who wants to be your next mayor of Ann Arbor.

1. Lesser of two evils. A2Politico admitted to voting for Hieftje three times in previous elections, but stated in a recent post, "By 2008, I would have voted for Satan if he’d have run against our mayor."

2. Slow train to hell. Apparently unhappy with how the mayor conducts meetings, A2Politico wrote, "If there is a hell for meeting facilitators who consistently allow bad process to get in the way of the actual business of a meeting, John Hieftje will go there on a very, very, slow train that will make hundreds of stops."

3. Hizzoner. A2Politico regularly refers to Hieftje as "Hizzoner," a mocking way of saying "his honor." For example, in a recent post A2Politico wrote: "When Mayor Hieftje speaks, he likes to tell city taxpayers life is tougher elsewhere in Michigan. Life’s a real bitch in Haiti and sub-Saharan Africa, too. When Hizzoner plays this game, it’s like when your mother used to remind you at dinner that there were starving kids in India so you should damn well pipe down, eat the creamed spinach served to you, and be grateful for her cooking."

4. Slick political slacker. A2Politico called Hieftje a "slick political slacker," claiming his official calendar shows he took six weeks of vacation in 2009, and last fall spent his time at his office at city hall planning and creating materials for a course he taught at the University of Michigan. "In the good times, Hieftje’s pie-in-the-sky ideas have been fun and funky as long as nobody minded the wasted tax dollars and unkept promises," A2Politico concluded.

5. Demublican fauxgressive. A2 Politico called Hieftje a "Demublican teller of half-truths," claiming that while he calls himself a Democrat, his policies align more with Republican ideologies. Along the same lines, A2Politico claimed Hieftje is a "fauxgressive," a politician who claims to be progressive but really isn't in practice.

6. Smells like teen spirit. A2Politico claimed Hieftje has an "almost teenage-like obsession with what’s cool, popular and trendy. Thus, his political schemes have resulted in disappointing failures. He’s a champion of telling voters what they want to hear, but not a champion of the city, its employees or its residents. As a result of governing by popularity contest, he has turned into a chronic teller of half-truths."

7. The Paper Mayor. A2Politico accused Hieftje of being "The Paper Mayor," suggesting he cares more about his political resume - looking good on paper - than effecting any real change while in office. "Gluttons who live to accumulate political bullet points for their rÃ©sumÃ©s, such as Hieftje ... earn one-way tickets to Dante’s Third Circle of Hell," A2Politico wrote.

8. Political betrayer. A2Politico criticized Hieftje for supporting the police-courts building project after threatening to veto it. "John Hieftje could have stood up on behalf of the people of Ann Arbor in the face of an out-of-control group of City Council despots who wanted what they wanted when they wanted it. For the next 30 years, we'll all pay, literally, for John Hieftje's political betrayal and broken promise."

9. Train fetish. A2Politico heavily criticized Hieftje for supporting the city's proposed Fuller Road transit center, questioning his promise that no money for the project will come from the general fund. "Pardon me if I doubt Mayor Hieftje’s assurances concerning the safety of the taxpayers’ money in the general fund from his model train fetish," A2Politico wrote. "We’ve got our very own King John on the throne, and his Fair Fraser of Nottingham."

10. Political blind man. A2Politico claimed Hieftje "feels his way like a political blind man toward reigning in spending at city hall" and has pursued a "visionless and perverted folly of urban density" that has sent Ann Arbor residents packing for the surrounding communities of Saline, Dexter and Chelsea over the last decade.

If the election were today, who would have your vote for mayor of Ann Arbor?