Plan of Adjustment approved

Unsurprisingly. The stakeholders should be commended for making this consensual.

Detroit entered bankruptcy after the two major bankruptcies in CA [[San Bernadino and Stockton) and is out before either of them.

We all have an interest in this not happening again. Please, please, please demand from your councilmembers and mayor that they do not make promises they can't keep or spend money they don't have. Any plan that counts on asset sales or one-time accounting gimmicks to balance the budget should result in grass-roots protests like the one outside the courthouse, if our voting populace understands how we got here in the first place.

That is how all gov'ts at all levels should operate. Hopefully, this sets Detroit ahead of the curve in dealing with the pain of past decisions. It's coming to cities, counties and states across the country.

From the News and Freep

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/new...rial/18642961/

http://www.freep.com/story/news/loca...sion/18648093/

I hope Detroit can keep moving forward. It will be nice to get all this behind us and focus on delivering better, more efficient city services.

So how long until I see big changes?

:p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BankruptcyGuy

[[1) We all have an interest in this not happening again. Please, please, please demand from your councilmembers and mayor that they do not make promises they can't keep or spend money they don't have.

[[2) Any plan that counts on asset sales or one-time accounting gimmicks to balance the budget should result in grass-roots protests like the one outside the courthouse, if our voting populace understands how we got here in the first place.

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^^^^THIS^^^^ Best advice I've heard yet. Don't spend money you don't have and NO accounting gimmicks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Packman41

^^^^THIS^^^^ Best advice I've heard yet. Don't spend money you don't have and NO accounting gimmicks.

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According to the articles, the State of Michigan will be providing oversight over Detroit's finances for the next 10 years. A committee will have the power to veto spending decisions made by the city.

How are bond issuances addressed-- hopefully they'll be banned for a good long while. There has to be a substantive, diverse revenue plan.

side note- and what happened to the issue of exploring a city-owned insurance agency?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Packman41

^^^^THIS^^^^ Best advice I've heard yet. Don't spend money you don't have and NO accounting gimmicks.

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Great advise... but useless unless people understand what drives 'spending'. It is asking your local government to do things and be things that they should not be.

If you ask your local government to solve social problems, for example -- then you should expect those costs to be borne locally. Most social issues should NOT be addressed locally. Demand more action from your State and City.

Upon reading of Detroit's emergence from bankruptcy, I thought about the underlying factor that I believe contributed to its success. Several years ago, when we were in the grips of the Great Recession, a group of people descended on a parking lot outside Comerica Park. It was called the Detroit Prayer Walk thru EACH, [[Everyone A Chance to Hear). Several thousand Christians from many denominations and congregations throughout Metro Detroit gathered together to ask God for forgiveness and pray for the restoration of Metro Detroit and its people.


They put into practice the Bible verse: 2 Chronicles 7:14,"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." NIV


I believe God deserves thanks for the work he has done and will continue to do in the restoration of Detroit and its people. Without God's blessing, hardened hearts on both sides could have made this process a mess. That would have caused rancor and division, instead of togetherness, respect, and cooperation.


This forum tends to lean leftward on many issues and I hope that differing opinions and goodwill would be as welcome here. I would like to know whether you believe God has made a difference in our community in the developments, the bankruptcy, and the people.


Again, I am glad to see Detroit turn the corner with its better days once again in its future, not its past.

If God is looking over Detroit I would hope his next task would be to stop the children from guns and beatings we watch on the news every evening!

If Jesus saves,
Then he'd better save himself;
From the gory, glory seekers,
Who use his name in death.

Jethro Tull
Aqualung, 1971
Hymn 43
Side 2, Cut 8