Judge tosses detroit consent agreement lawsuit

[Wesley Mouch]

Lessenberry says that Crittendon's ascendancy in Law Department greased by Monica Conyers when MC on the Council.

Is Vegas quoting odds on Crittendon for next Mayor? She seems to have the right 'stuff'.

[corktownyuppie]

Were you signing this tune when Bing was elected? We heard a lot about how "the grownups" would finally be running the city. How has that worked out?

Actually, yes, I was singing this tune when Bing was elected. And although I've been less than thrilled with his ability [[or inability) to handle the politics of the position, I think that his thinking has been some of the boldest and most strategic we've seen. My complaint is about how much time it's taken, not the answers at which he's arrived.

- Detroit Works. They're coming up with real world ideas that will set the vision for Detroit's transformation. Bing underestimated how vehemently they would be resisted, but after learning their lesson and now involving more productive community involvement, they are articulating the urban planning puzzle in ways that the every-man can understand, as well as potential ideas for how to deal with them.

- The consent agreement. The consent agreement isn't necessary because Detroit's leaders are stupid. The consent agreement is necessary because Detroit's leaders are beholden to so many interest groups that they can't possibly do what's necessary, even if they knew what that was. The types of changes Detroit needs are bold, sweeping, and transformational. You're not going to be able to do this if you have stop in your tracks every time someone gets huffy at a City Council meeting.

I likely won't support Bing for Mayor. But Detroit's politicans are gradually shifting away from militancy as a political strategy and toward collaboration and creative problem-solving.

I'd say net positive.

[Wesley Mouch]

Actually, yes, I was singing this tune when Bing was elected. And although I've been less than thrilled with his ability [[or inability) to handle the politics of the position, I think that his thinking has been some of the boldest and most strategic we've seen. My complaint is about how much time it's taken, not the answers at which he's arrived.
...
I likely won't support Bing for Mayor. But Detroit's politicans are gradually shifting away from militancy as a political strategy and toward collaboration and creative problem-solving.

I'd say net positive.

Very net positive.

Detroit is lucky to have him -- flaws and all.

And I agree -- there is a slow shift away from militancy [[which hasn't worked) to collaboration [[which can work).

The opportunities for Detroit now are great -- if we can just get the politicians back to good governance and to stay the hell out of the way.

[casscorridor]

I'm sick of all this character assassination while justifying and apologizing for Snyder/Dillon/Bing's all out assault on Detroit. What is at stake here? Every day the consent agreement is in place is another day closer virtual elimination and privatization of all city departments outside of police and fire. It has nothing to do with the deficit and everything to do with profit... profit from the liquidation or privatization of Detroit's public assets. Michigan needs to do whatever it takes to bail out Detroit and ensure the long-term sustainability of its public institutions, ones that the people of Detroit rely on every day... such as public lighting [[that makes it safe to walk at night,) or transit [[in order to get to work). But everything is on the chopping block under state control, and we'll still be stuck with a deficit... just like we have seen with DPS [[increased deficit, closing of majority of schools and rapid proliferation of for-profit charters). These people are bloodsucking leeches that will stop at nothing to sell off all of Detroit's assets and leave the people will nothing. Well it is about time that Detroiters fight back. Free Detroit - No Consent!!!!

[cla1945]

Crittendon did her due diligence. When the bottom falls out [[again), it will be harder to make her the scape goat.

Good move on her part, IMO.

I'm sorry, but in my opinion, Crittendon doesn't run the City of Detroit, the Mayor and Common Council does. The City of Detroit pays her salary, not the other way around. She is not atonomous and had no right to file a lawsuit on behalf of the City of Detroit if the Mayor didn't order it.

[Richard]

I'm sick of all this character assassination while justifying and apologizing for Snyder/Dillon/Bing's all out assault on Detroit. What is at stake here? Every day the consent agreement is in place is another day closer virtual elimination and privatization of all city departments outside of police and fire. It has nothing to do with the deficit and everything to do with profit... profit from the liquidation or privatization of Detroit's public assets. Michigan needs to do whatever it takes to bail out Detroit and ensure the long-term sustainability of its public institutions, ones that the people of Detroit rely on every day... such as public lighting [[that makes it safe to walk at night,) or transit [[in order to get to work). But everything is on the chopping block under state control, and we'll still be stuck with a deficit... just like we have seen with DPS [[increased deficit, closing of majority of schools and rapid proliferation of for-profit charters). These people are bloodsucking leeches that will stop at nothing to sell off all of Detroit's assets and leave the people will nothing. Well it is about time that Detroiters fight back. Free Detroit - No Consent!!!!

You have to give them some credit they are getting smarter .
at least through the privatization they are moving the friends and family plan out of city hall and away from the prying eyes of the taxpayers and the wrath of the new charter should you get caught with your fingers in the cookie jar.

I find it interesting the one that already had the corporation in place before it was even announced so she could just conveniently transfer everything over.

[Hermod]

I'm sick of all this character assassination while justifying and apologizing for Snyder/Dillon/Bing's all out assault on Detroit. What is at stake here? Every day the consent agreement is in place is another day closer virtual elimination and privatization of all city departments outside of police and fire. It has nothing to do with the deficit and everything to do with profit... profit from the liquidation or privatization of Detroit's public assets. Michigan needs to do whatever it takes to bail out Detroit and ensure the long-term sustainability of its public institutions, ones that the people of Detroit rely on every day... such as public lighting [[that makes it safe to walk at night,) or transit [[in order to get to work). But everything is on the chopping block under state control, and we'll still be stuck with a deficit... just like we have seen with DPS [[increased deficit, closing of majority of schools and rapid proliferation of for-profit charters). These people are bloodsucking leeches that will stop at nothing to sell off all of Detroit's assets and leave the people will nothing. Well it is about time that Detroiters fight back. Free Detroit - No Consent!!!!

Having lived in governmental units where the local electric utility operates the streetlights [[for a fee) and there is a contract service for garbage and trash pickup, having those services privatized can lead to better and cheaper service and hardly results in the loss of the local "jewels".

[mwilbert]

People who think the Public Lighting division is an asset to the city have not been paying attention. I like municipal electric companies. Many of them do a great job. Many of them have very good rates. The PLD is neither cheap nor good, and we can only hope that if rational financial management comes to the city, the PLD will go.

[evergreen]

Lessenberry says that Crittendon's ascendancy in Law Department greased by Monica Conyers when MC on the Council.

One of the saddest things to emerge from this whole episode has been the personal attacks on Ms. Crittendon. In fact one of the best things about this thread is that for the most part, people were discussing the issues, not the personalities.

Had Mr. Lessenberry done a little bit more investigating, he might have learned that Ms Crittendon was deputy corporation counsel under Kathy Leavey and a natural choice to replace her. She was promoted through the ranks of the city's law department while serving in its litigation section. In that capacity she was known as a tough litigator and negotiator.

Mr. Lessenberry's suggestion that she had no "real world" experience was especially insulting given that Ms. Crittendon has litigated against some of the best lawyers in this region. I daresay that might be considerably more "real world" than what he encounters at his all-powerful keyboard.

[Richard]

It is the programs that nobody likes to talk about that should not be
privatized , the ones that use fed grants to help
the poor,homeless, elderly etc. lights,garbage etc. are just a given for
privatization .

[Novine]

"These people are bloodsucking leeches that will stop at nothing to sell off all of Detroit's assets and leave the people will nothing. Well it is about time that Detroiters fight back. Free Detroit - No Consent!!!!"

CC does have a point. The state has taken over the city schools not once but twice. Based on the track record of that experience, why should Detroit residents see the state interventions as anything positive?

[Wesley Mouch]

"These people are bloodsucking leeches that will stop at nothing to sell off all of Detroit's assets and leave the people will nothing. Well it is about time that Detroiters fight back. Free Detroit - No Consent!!!!"

CC does have a point. The state has taken over the city schools not once but twice. Based on the track record of that experience, why should Detroit residents see the state interventions as anything positive?

Because I do not accept that the deficit increased because of the state takeover -- which seems to be the universal talking point for those opposed to state takeover.

I believe only those who want to hate the State believe that talking point. No one else.

[Wesley Mouch]

Having lived in governmental units where the local electric utility operates the streetlights [[for a fee) and there is a contract service for garbage and trash pickup, having those services privatized can lead to better and cheaper service and hardly results in the loss of the local "jewels".

Notice the silence. This is not a popular opinion here. But your point is not lost on some of us who are more interested in results than process. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[mwilbert]

CC does have a point. The state has taken over the city schools not once but twice. Based on the track record of that experience, why should Detroit residents see the state interventions as anything positive?

It is clearly true that the state interventions in DPS haven't really fixed anything, although they did manage to close a huge number of schools that should have been closed sooner. It is certainly possible that the consent agreement won't fix anything either. But let's put it in context. The city government has been essentially incompetent for at least several decades, in that it has been completely unable to deal with its ever-escalating fiscal problems, or any other significant problems for that matter. It is vanishingly unlikely that anyone else can or will do worse.

So while I am completely sympathetic to people who don't have positive expectations for the new regime, I am unsympathetic to people who think that this is some kind of terrible imposition. Bad government is the terrible imposition, and Detroit has been experiencing that for a very long time.

[Hermod]

Notice the silence. This is not a popular opinion here. But your point is not lost on some of us who are more interested in results than process. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Yesterday was "trash day" for me [[Mondays and Thursdays). First a truck from the private firm came by with three employees and emptied my garbage can. Later a second truck came by with two employees and emptied my recycling boxes [[one for paper/cardboard and one for plastic/metal/glass). Finally, a third tuck with one employee and a hydraulic claw came by and scooped up some yard waste I had put on the curb [[I trimmed my trees a bit). If any of them leaves a mess, I call the city DPW and a couple of hours later, a small truck and two contractor employees show up to clean the mess. The secret is a responsive city government and a carefully written contract which holds the waste company responsible. To the DPW, the contractor is there to serve. If the garbage men were city employees then the DPW secretary would have to "protect her own".

[Novine]

"Because I do not accept that the deficit increased because of the state takeover -- which seems to be the universal talking point for those opposed to state takeover. "

The track record is pretty clear that both state takeovers have made the school district finances worse. The deficit didn't get worse by itself. It was the result of actions taken by the financial managers. Besides the deficit, there's little evidence the state takeovers have done anything positive for the school district. The absence of examples from you behalf speaks volumes.

[corktownyuppie]

"Because I do not accept that the deficit increased because of the state takeover -- which seems to be the universal talking point for those opposed to state takeover. "

The track record is pretty clear that both state takeovers have made the school district finances worse. The deficit didn't get worse by itself. It was the result of actions taken by the financial managers. Besides the deficit, there's little evidence the state takeovers have done anything positive for the school district. The absence of examples from you behalf speaks volumes.

I too sympathize who are unhappy with the track record of the state. Some of that is mitigated by the fact that much of what has affected school finances is related more to the city population losses than the mismanagement of the schools. But nevertheless, the naysayers are not totally out of left field in their skepticism of state involvement.

Here is where I start to differ from their position though...

Rather than focus on who is control, I think a more accurate gauge of their performance is to look at the choices they are making, evaluate their strategy, evaluate their execution. Obviously, this requires a much more in-depth analysis than "Well, the state took over, now look at what's happened to my life and my neighborhood." which is more a reflection of uninformed anger rather than rational, objective examination.

Will this state board do better or worse than the old regime? We will see. But here's my point...my dissatisfaction with the Mayor and City Council was not just at their results. My dissatisfaction is that they were paralyzed or simply unwilling to do very obvious but politically difficult things that would have made our problems easier.

So it's not just that I'm saying that the people on the state board are better than the city councilpeople. I'm saying that our system of government turns whoever is sitting in those council seats into puppets who are being dragged along by a constituency that pressures its leaders into making bad decisions.

I assure you that if you took everyone on this financial advisory board and put them on city council, answering to every union, every citizen, and every activist, they would have a hard time doing the things that need to be done as well.

It's by adding one layer of protection away from the masses that the leadership can finally do things they themselves want to do but can't.

Rather than judge them because they are "from the state" or "because of Snyder", let's look at the decisions they make and how they execute them.

And if they're advocating for stupid shit, then by all means we deserve an opportunity to raise all hell.

[skyl4rk]

http://www.businessleadersformichiga...ROSSTABS3_.pdf

[Wesley Mouch]

"Because I do not accept that the deficit increased because of the state takeover -- which seems to be the universal talking point for those opposed to state takeover. "

The track record is pretty clear that both state takeovers have made the school district finances worse. The deficit didn't get worse by itself. It was the result of actions taken by the financial managers. Besides the deficit, there's little evidence the state takeovers have done anything positive for the school district. The absence of examples from you behalf speaks volumes.

Nothing about this is clear. I do not see cause and effect.

The school board's finances must have been a mess if Democrat Granholm had to appoint an EFM. She did -- and surprise -- there was a deficit. Bobb 'found' the deficit, and then gets blamed for it!

Maybe you're right. Bobb found the deficit. Kill the messenger.

[corktownyuppie]

Nothing about this is clear. I do not see cause and effect.

Detroit has a big, big, problem confusing causation and correlation. It's maddening.

[Lowell]

"Because I do not accept that the deficit increased because of the state takeover -- which seems to be the universal talking point for those opposed to state takeover. "

The track record is pretty clear that both state takeovers have made the school district finances worse. The deficit didn't get worse by itself. It was the result of actions taken by the financial managers. Besides the deficit, there's little evidence the state takeovers have done anything positive for the school district. The absence of examples from you behalf speaks volumes.

Which is why I would have called for quantifiable benchmarks for verifiable improvements from the reign of the consent agreement or any EMF on another thread. At least we know who is to blame for failure. The Consent Agreement pins failure on nobody. There are no measures so nobody can do wrong and everybody can point fingers.

I am weary of saviors from Lansing coming in, making things worse and disappearing. I want to see tangible improvement in the quality of life issues. Only when those happen will the need for EMF's go away. Anything else is just a bandaid until the next collapse.

[Jimaz]

... I am weary of saviors from Lansing coming in, making things worse and disappearing....

Heh. Seagull Management

[Wesley Mouch]

Which is why I would have called for quantifiable benchmarks for verifiable improvements from the reign of the consent agreement or any EMF on another thread. At least we know who is to blame for failure. The Consent Agreement pins failure on nobody. There are no measures so nobody can do wrong and everybody can point fingers.

I am weary of saviors from Lansing coming in, making things worse and disappearing. I want to see tangible improvement in the quality of life issues. Only when those happen will the need for EMF's go away. Anything else is just a bandaid until the next collapse.

Lowell,

I think you are mistaken in looking at EFM [[EM or CA or bankruptcy) as 'quality of life' related.

Quality of Life needs to come from the City itself. From its leaders. The state reorganization is an opportunity to create the conditions for the city to heal itself. You shouldn't expect them to deal with quality of life. That's like being taken to a hospital for a heart attack, and asking if they'll fix your marriage too.

I'm for EFM, EM, CA, bankruptcy. But only to create a healthy environment where the city can address its own problems.

Right now, some city leaders are fighting the state. That's wasted energy that could be working with residents to reinvent the City.

[Lowell]

Lowell,

I think you are mistaken in looking at EFM [[EM or CA or bankruptcy) as 'quality of life' related.

Quality of Life needs to come from the City itself. From its leaders. The state reorganization is an opportunity to create the conditions for the city to heal itself. You shouldn't expect them to deal with quality of life. That's like being taken to a hospital for a heart attack, and asking if they'll fix your marriage too.

I'm for EFM, EM, CA, bankruptcy. But only to create a healthy environment where the city can address its own problems.

Right now, some city leaders are fighting the state. That's wasted energy that could be working with residents to reinvent the City.

I'm not looking for it. I'm demanding it. If quality of life improvement is not an outcome then there is no point in a take over other than to pad the pockets of the city's creditors who have friends in Lansing and elsewhere. Don't take care of that and the city will never 'address its own problems.' Nothing will be resolved regarding the core problems. The State has taken over Detroit and I am saying show us quantifiable improvements.

Even you admit, "I'm for EFM, EM, CA, bankruptcy. But only to create a healthy environment where the city can address its own problems."

A healthy environment is a city that is attractive due to quality of life values and will grow its tax base to take care of its own problem. Your argument dodges responsibility, prolongs the problems and ducks the blame. Just the public school takeovers did.

[Novine]

"Maybe you're right. Bobb found the deficit. Kill the messenger."

I can't help you if you're not paying attention but check the numbers on the deficit when Bobb started and when he left. Ugly. Do the same with bond proceeds from the first time the state had oversight of the schools. Neither provide any evidence that the state has been able to do any better a job than the Detroit School Board did when it was mismanaging operations.