Detroit council president calls state policing of Belle Isle a 'disgrace'

[Bobl]

It's a State Park. That won't change, soon.
Drive the speed limit. Do not litter. Let me state this again: Do not litter.
It is a jewel. Let it shine, and enjoy it.

[sumas]

It's a State Park. That won't change, soon.
Drive the speed limit. Do not litter. Let me state this again: Do not litter.
It is a jewel. Let it shine, and enjoy it.

I agree about litter but would like to add, why would anyone want to speed on the Island, it is just so pretty.

[Hermod]

I agree about litter but would like to add, why would anyone want to speed on the Island, it is just so pretty.

Because everyone in Detroit doesn't have the same elevated standards as you and your neighbors in Elysium.

[jimmyr]

It says a lot that nobody is up in arms about this. This ignorant SOB is your not only on your council [[which is pathetic enough) but she's the president! All any of you do is passively roll your eyes, make a forum post, etc. You're so numb to the pervasive and perpetual race hustling, ignorance and division that none of you care. This bullsh*t embarrasses the entire city and to be clear, EVERYONE in the burbs sees sh*t like this and it just reinforces their view that Detroit is a helpless and ignorant hell hole. Just being real. For once I'd like to see you residents step up and challenge these morons when they put the city on blast for ignorance. You never do.

[EASTSIDE CAT 67-83]

For once I'd like to see you residents step up and challenge these morons when they put the city on blast for ignorance. You never do.

Jimmyr
I guess that would include;
-Not voting for them again.
-Calling them out during an open council public meeting.
-Local media calling them out on nightly news or hound them with the lights and camera and have them explain why getting cited for speeding is ok.

[Wesley Mouch]

Jimmyr
I guess that would include;
-Not voting for them again.
-Calling them out during an open council public meeting.
-Local media calling them out on nightly news or hound them with the lights and camera and have them explain why getting cited for speeding is ok.

Cat, I don't watch the media. Are you saying the media has called out the dear President for actions? Please do tell. I agree with JimmyR. There's far too much tolerance of bad behavior in the City. Outrage against banks is well and good. But let's also have outrage against bad officials, bad schools.

[jimmyr]

Jimmyr
I guess that would include;
-Not voting for them again.
-Calling them out during an open council public meeting.
-Local media calling them out on nightly news or hound them with the lights and camera and have them explain why getting cited for speeding is ok.

- You JUST voted all of these idiots in.
- Like they care.
- Never happens. At best, the news press is put on these idiots for 5 seconds on the 11p.m. news and then it's back to the car jackings, bankruptcy, sh*tty schools, imploding infrustructure and murders...AND DON'T FORGET SPORTS!

You guys are pathetic for tolerating this sh*t by total passive inaction. Nobody in the burbs or outside of the state believes in Detroit and this is a big reason why.

[old guy]

- You JUST voted all of these idiots in.
- Like they care.
- Never happens. At best, the news press is put on these idiots for 5 seconds on the 11p.m. news and then it's back to the car jackings, bankruptcy, sh*tty schools, imploding infrustructure and murders...AND DON'T FORGET SPORTS!

You guys are pathetic for tolerating this sh*t by total passive inaction. Nobody in the burbs or outside of the state believes in Detroit and this is a big reason why.

Nobody? Wow, that's a lot of people.

[corktownyuppie]

Nobody? Wow, that's a lot of people.

But did you hear him? He said, "NOBODY"!!!!

NOBODY BELIEVES IN DETROIT!!! EVER!!!!

[Hermod]

But did you hear him? He said, "NOBODY"!!!!

NOBODY BELIEVES IN DETROIT!!! EVER!!!!

CTY, don't let your disdain for Jimmy and his phrasing override the point that should come through loud and clear. These antics do not work in Detroit's favor when they are trying to get aid, assistance, or cooperation from the other voters who live in the Detroit suburbs or in the rest of the state. In addition to bankruptcy, Mr Orr needs a huge stack of non-recourse pink slips to hand out before he departs the scene..

[corktownyuppie]

CTY, don't let your disdain for Jimmy and his phrasing override the point that should come through loud and clear. These antics do not work in Detroit's favor when they are trying to get aid, assistance, or cooperation from the other voters who live in the Detroit suburbs or in the rest of the state. In addition to bankruptcy, Mr Orr needs a huge stack of non-recourse pink slips to hand out before he departs the scene..

My disdain is not for his phrasing, but rather the "absolute" nature of his positions.

I have tried to say reasonable balanced in my opinions, open-minded to change them as new information comes in, while also mindful of past precedents which have been set -- knowing that many of those precedents are in the midst of change.

My basic positions are these:

- Detroiters need to change.
- Non-Detroiters also need to change.
- People need to try to keep their responses informed primarily by logic through the change.
- Try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Even people you disagree with. I may ridicule the extremeness of Jimmy's views, but I do listen to them and recognize that he is representative of a large number of people who are tired of dealing with a problem that they are too distant from to feel any responsibility over.

I'm fairly confident that Mr. Orr will do just the right amount of house-cleaning in this...enough to piss of the people in the system, and too few to make the extremists happy.

[jimmyr]

By-laws prevent Orr and Snyder from doing the kind of housecleaning Detroit needs.

[old guy]

But did you hear him? He said, "NOBODY"!!!!

NOBODY BELIEVES IN DETROIT!!! EVER!!!!

corktown, I was being sarcastic. How this jimmyr knows that nobody cares about Detroit is beyond me.

To be honest, I'm getting a bit tired of hearing that no one cares about Detroit. It's tough out here. People are watching what happens in Detroit because they know that it's the tip of the iceberg. People do care. But like the Richland Center comparison to Detroit thread, people all over the country, large city or rural area, are seeing the same problems.
I think you have to look at the big picture and understand that the cavalry isn't coming because it doesn't exist anymore. Towns all over the country are shrinking just like Detroit. Trust me, people do care, but in most cases they have no resources to help out.

Do you care about South Central L.A., Memphis, East Saint Louis, N.O.? I do. But what about the big picture? It's hard times all over the place and things need to be addressed from east to west. There are probably hundreds if not thousands of small towns all across this country filled with people that are hurting just as much or more than Detroit.

People care, but without resources, what can they do? I was just put off by the statement that nobody cares. That's a load of crap.

[jimmyr]

People would love to care...if the people of Detroit gave them a reason to. Your council is a clown show. Your council president THAT WAS JUST VOTED IN is a race hustling buffoon. Your state senator is an illiterate bastard child who changed his name to Coleman Young, after a stint making footlongs at Subway! You can't possibly expect anyone to be eager to help or invest in Detroit when those types of people STILL represent you. We've fallen for that "but but things are different now" one too many times. Not again. Nothing has really changed in Detroit and until we see change we will not change our tune.

Notice I didn't say fix your schools, eliminate crime or lower the unemployment rate. Simply elect some people with sense.

[rb336]

I agree about litter but would like to add, why would anyone want to speed on the Island, it is just so pretty.

and if you aren't in certain areas, damn dangerous for your wheels and suspension

[ABetterDetroit]

People would love to care...if the people of Detroit gave them a reason to. Your council is a clown show. Your council president THAT WAS JUST VOTED IN is a race hustling buffoon. Your state senator is an illiterate bastard child who changed his name to Coleman Young, after a stint making footlongs at Subway! You can't possibly expect anyone to be eager to help or invest in Detroit when those types of people STILL represent you. We've fallen for that "but but things are different now" one too many times. Not again. Nothing has really changed in Detroit and until we see change we will not change our tune.

Notice I didn't say fix your schools, eliminate crime or lower the unemployment rate. Simply elect some people with sense.

George Bush 43
Jennifer Granholm

Need I say more? Quit acting like crap isn't elected anywhere and only just in Detroit. Peeps on this forum act like chitown is perfect. The state of Illinois has 2 governors in federal prison now.

[erikd]

i left Detroit, my hometown, back in the early 90's after living there for 50 years. My home was paid for, taxes were up to date, no outstanding debts, I was free and clear. I sold my home, which was in pristine condition, to a very nice working woman, for a very modest price. What happened within a year is unbelievable. Trash, broken windows, grass turned to mud, cars on the lawn, even a beautiful maple tree destroyed in front.....was that my fault?

Detroit has been robbed and pillaged by a corrupt administration for years. There has never been any accountability in any city office for years. There has been mismanagement, theft, poor decisions by politicians regarding Detroit for years. Having said that, some residents who live in Detroit have ruined it for other residents. It's certainly not the fault of people who have left Detroit over many years, for whatever reasons, personal or otherwise.

So after living in Detroit for 50 years, 25 of which were during the peak years of the city, you moved out and just washed your hands of the whole thing?

If you were here for decades during the peak years, why didn't you do something about it when the decline first started? Why didn't you do something about the corrupt administrations when they were starting to take hold?

Before you sold your house in the early 90s and it became run down after you left, a million other Detroiters did the same thing. How did you feel as you watched a million of your former fellow Detroiters leave the city and then look back at their former neighbors with contempt and say "that's not my problem, you people need to fix it.' The city was in rapid decline during the last two decades that you lived here. Weren't you offended by the people who left the city in the 60s, 70s, and 80s who talked down about the city and its residents? How did you feel about former Detroiters deriding and insulting the city and your community while you were still a Detroiter?
-------------------

I never knew Detroit in its glory days. By the time I was born, Detroit had been in decline for 20 years. By the time I turned 18, Detroit had already lost half its population.

As a fairly young Detroiter, who had the misfortune to inherit a city in free fall, it is really offensive to hear former Detroiters blame current Detroiters for not fixing the problems that they chose to walk away from.

Over a million people left the city for various reasons, and I don't vilify or blame them for doing what they thought was right for them. However, I have zero tolerance for former Detroiters who insult, degrade, disparage, vilify, and blame us current Detroiters for all of the city's problems, while absolving themselves of any responsibility for the decline that happened under their watch.

If you couldn't do anything to stop the decline when it first started, then how are current Detroiters supposed to stop it now that it has been in full swing for 60 years?

Cliffy stated that "Detroit became Detroit because of Detroiters. Nobody else's fault."

When the question was asked if that statement included former Detroiters, you defended Cliffy's assertion that it's not the fault of former Detroiters who have left the city, but rather the fault of current Detroiters.

Detroit did not have unusually high crime rates until the mid 60s, when crime exploded in the city, and the country as a whole. From 1965 to 1974, homicides in Detroit jumped from around 300 per year to over 700 per year. During the same time frame, homicides in America skyrocketed at about the same rate, from less than 10,000 per year to over 20,000 per year. Ever since then, crime in Detroit has remained high and never returned to those lower levels that were normal until 50 years ago.

If you agree that "Detroit became Detroit because of Detroiters", then the blame for Detroit's crime problem doesn't fall on current Detroiters, because crime has been high for 50 years. If Detroit became Detroit because of Detroiters, then the Detroiters who are at fault were the ones who lived in the city from the mid 60s to the early 70s when the crime problem started.

Since more than half of the Detroiters have left the city since the crime problem started, it is really disingenuous for them to say that it's not their fault, it's all just caused by current Detroiters, and the current city residents deserve to be looked down upon because we haven't been able to solve the problems that they walked away from.

[Smirnoff]

Latest rumor is Duane "Dog" Chapman will be at the bridge exit to nab bail jumpers.....

[KOMPOST]

Keeping the riffraff out & setting some behavior standards for a safe park.....2 words; common sense.

This sounds reasonable.
But, I'm not up to date on various terms.
What is "riffraff"?

[Hermod]

This sounds reasonable.
But, I'm not up to date on various terms.
What is "riffraff"?

By their acts shall ye know them.

[Honky Tonk]

This sounds reasonable.
But, I'm not up to date on various terms.

What is "riffraff"?

Here you go, your choice.....

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/riff+raff?s=t

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riff_Raff_[[rapper)

[KOMPOST]

By their acts shall ye know them.

Now I'm even more confused.
Can you give me examples of "acts" that would differentiate "riffraff" from "non-riffraff"?

[Wesley Mouch]

...Since more than half of the Detroiters have left the city since the crime problem started, it is really disingenuous for them to say that it's not their fault, it's all just caused by current Detroiters, and the current city residents deserve to be looked down upon because we haven't been able to solve the problems that they walked away from.

Absolving Detroiters of the problems of their city is equally disingenuous. You want to absolve. Others want to blame. Who cares about blame. What matters is today. Today, we start paying attention to crime because it harms all. Doing so helps everyone.

To the thread topic... its a disgrace to have a council president who deflects problems instead of addressing them. I blame the council president! Oh, that feels good. Vote for me.

[cla1945]

Went to Belle Isle this morning to watch a family member run in the 5K. I did not see one State Police car the whole time I was there. Everyone was friendly and courteous. I obeyed the speed limit, I parked where I could legally park, I didn't feed the geese. Other than freezing my behind off, it was a very good experience. The island seems cleaner then I've seen it in the past. They are preparing the road for the Grand Prix.

[cla1945]

To Erikd:

For 30 of those 50 years my life was devoted to Detroit because I worked for DFD. That in itself should tell you that I gave much more than my taxes to Detroit and cared for it. Ask yourself a question...how many times have you been hospitalized because of your job?

Exactly what would you have people do to stop the decline of Detroit? The corrupt administration probably began before I was even born but Mayors like CAY and thug KK perpetuated the corruption and took it to levels that were beyond anything a mortal human being could stop. thug KK was a wonderful speaker, he was young, smart, had everything going for him. If I was in Detroit at the time, I would have voted for him in a heartbeat because he had me fooled, like he had thousands of other people fooled. Then, to elect him a second time, was the ultimate in stupidity. Most of us vote for people we feel will work for us, not against us. You only find out about the corruption well after they are in office and you certainly don't put a known crook back in office.

Why should I or anyone be demonized for moving? Do you seriously think you'll remain in Detroit for the rest of your life?

I never looked back with "contempt" on my neighbors, I simply moved on.

Some family, friends, or acquaintances did move for various reasons. Some left when bussing was implemented. Some left when the riots broke out. Some left because they were forced out by people who moved into the neighborhoods who thought that these streets were theirs and no one could walk them any longer without being intimidated or threatened. My house was robbed twice. I had young children that I was concerned about but I was forced to stay in Detroit because of residency. At times, I was offended when one of them made a comment about how bad Detroit was, I was more embarrassed than anything else.

Maybe if you had known some of those glory days your attitude would be different. You would know what Detroit was, not what it has become. I'm sure your relatives have many wonderful stories to tell you about the glory days in Detroit. I don't hate Detroit, I hate what it's become.

Personally, I don't think I ever blamed all Detroiters for not fixing the problems in Detroit. You, like me, probably don't have the capacity to do a damn thing to change things at the CAY Building, but you do have an opportunity to change the neighborhood you live in by being a responsible person and watching out for your neighbors, your home, the street you live on. Pay your taxes, pay your bills, keep your house neat and presentable, be courteous to people, teach your children to respect the law, make them go to school, make them respect their elders, be there for them, and hope to God that they turn out like you want them to turn out. Love them! These are simple things to do that my children are teaching their children. It's not a Detroiter teaching their kids what's right or wrong, it's a loving parent doing their job. The first thing to change Detroit is to get the parents of these wild kids who are hanging out in gas stations and playing chicken on Morang to take responsibility for their kids, then things may begin to change.

I understand what you are saying. There are politicians out there, past, now and future, who only care about lining their pockets with your money. There is clergy out there who are interested in bettering their lives, not yours...and, the bottom line is, there are young thugs and gang members out there who are not concerned about where they live as much as they are concerned on how to take your money, your car, your life. Those are the people you need to concentrate on, not former Detroiters. You have to ferret the crooks out, be an informed voter and pray they are people of honesty and integrity. Again, I will say, what Detroit is today is not the fault of former Detroiters.

Sorry, this post is way too long.