Why I can't vote for Cockrel

[Supersport]

E_Hemmingway,

So let me get this straight, the Incinerator and Lafayette Building are you two main sticking points?

First of all, I have yet to hear a valid solution as to what to do if the incinerator DID go away. Yeah, I've heard the tree huggers screamin "Hey everybody, let's recycle!!!" That's great in theory, but the reality is, it's a long ways from being a replacement for the incinerator. Personally, our house is increasingly recycling more and more items. Yet I'm sad to say, getting the MAJORITY of Detroiters on board with separating items into different bins, then placing the multiple bins out to the curb, is probably a long ways off. So what do we do with the trash that wouldn't get recycled, go back to burying it in landfills? Personally, I'd rather see it burned. I feel there should be a push for recycling in Detroit, growing it perhaps a neighborhood at a time, and test out how feasible it is. What you don't do is spend millions on a program that hasn't been tested, simply because the green crowd doesn't like the incinerator.

As for the Lafayette, I personally feel it would be a waste of federal money to tear it down, money which could be used in much better ways. I agree with you that many of these buildings should be mothballed, and that examples like the Book Cadillac and Fort Shelby are great examples of success stories. Though let's be honest shall we, those two successes are exceptions to the rule, and the tax dollars/incentives aren't out there to go around to everybody. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of other vacant buildings, warehouses, apartments, and homes exist. Very few will be saved, and one should ask, how many years should a city's people have to deal with these eye sores? 20, 30, even 40 years? What kind of quality of life living conditions does this give people?

So what's the happy median here, and where did we go wrong? First off, the city should NOT be in the real estate business. They are quickly becoming one of Detroit's biggest slumlords. Go after the building owners, make them secure their buildings, require them to keep them up to code. If a building is getting foreclosed on, the bank takes possession, then the bank is responsible for making sure the property is secure and up to code. In the end though, we have to decide when enough is enough. Conduct a realistic list of which properties are the least likely to be renovated, move them to the top of the list. An example, the Packard plant should be towards the top of the list. I'm not sure where Lee Plaza would fit, but it would be well ahead of Lafayette on the list.

So back to the "Why I can't vote for Cockrel." Why not? Because he's not cleaning up 6 years of mess in a few months time? Perhaps his magic wand is in the shop along with his magic hat. I've told MANY people why I can't vote for Bing. I moved to Detroit by choice. I knew what lay ahead of me, I knew much of the city's history and struggles, yet I still moved here...as a renter. After a few years, have learned/experienced much more, I decided to buy a home here....by choice. Mr Bing has done a lot of good for Detroit, be it through Bing Automotive, or the surrounding neighborhood development. Yet through it all, he chose not to move here. He did not move here by choice as much as he did by necesity, and at the last minute, he bought an address and became a registered voter. Does anybody really believe that if Bing loses in the election that he will be a resident of Detroit another day? Depending on his loss margin, he may hang a bit longer to run again in the fall. He is our own version of Hillary Clinton, moving into town for his own personal political gain.

I still consider myself a new resident, even though 7+ years have passed by. Though I have established a vested interest in the city. I've seen first hand what citizens of Detroit deal with, and we don't need some mayoral candidate floating down from Franklin Twp who hasn't a clue what living in Detroit is truly like to come save us. I won't even mention the fact that I've yet to hear any valid plans by Mr Bing on how to turn things around.

I've witnessed first hand many of the improvements Mayor Cockrel has made. Just yesterday I saw something I've NEVER in my life saw since moving here. Detroit workers out cleaning up vacant lots that were littered with trash. I also saw a couple dumping sites being cleaned up. The police department continues to undergo many changes/improvements, most importantly, the reopening of precints/mini stations. Obviously, problems still persist, though they persist due to the previous administration's closing of precincts. Until new stations open and district boundaries are redrawn, service probably won't seem improved to many people.

One last thing I can't understand, people feel that Cockrel was a good fit heading City Council, and many would like to see him back in that position to take over for Conyers. Well, here is a really off the wall idea....why not simply rid council of Conyers and the others who gots to go instead? All I've really read on this thread is a lot of pissing and moaning about bullshit that most Detroiters don't care about. It would be interesting to see how many Detroiters outside a couple mile radius of downtown even know where the Lafayette building is.

[Fnemecek]

Does anybody really believe that if Bing loses in the election that he will be a resident of Detroit another day? Depending on his loss margin, he may hang a bit longer to run again in the fall. He is our own version of Hillary Clinton, moving into town for his own personal political gain...

The police department continues to undergo many changes/improvements, most importantly, the reopening of precincts/mini stations. Obviously, problems still persist, though they persist due to the previous administration's closing of precincts. Until new stations open and district boundaries are redrawn, service probably won't seem improved to many people.

I fine with a political opportunist, as long as it's one gets things done once he's in office. Ken Cockrel is a life-long Detroiter, who seems more in love with the idea of being called "Mayor" than he is in actually doing the work associated with the job.

I don't expect Detroit's Mayor to solve all of our problems in 6 months, but I do expect him to accomplish something.

Case in point: you talked about the re-opening of various precincts/mini-stations. That's nice.

How many 9-1-1 calls will those mini-stations answer?

Oh, yeah. I forgot. The answer is: none. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Nada.

It's a token gesture, meant to make people feel like he's doing something without actually accomplishing anything.

One of the biggest problems with the Detroit Police Department is that there aren't enough police officers on patrol to respond to all of the calls coming in to the system. Why is that Mr. Cockrel can find the resources to re-open all of these buildings and get a new mobile mini-station [[just as useless as a stationary one, but with pretty, flashing lights), but he can't hire police officers?

Dave Bing is a bit of a gamble. He is the front-runner and like a lot of other front-runner, he is trying to be very vague about what he'll do as mayor. However, we're down to a choice between him and a guy who we know won't even bother trying to do anything productive.

The worst thing that can possibly happen is that Mr. Bing turns out to be just as useless as Mr. Cockrel has been. If that's the case then we as a community will have a chance to throw him out of office in November.

[firstandten]

Very thoughtful post supersport.

In thinking more about Bing v Cockrel it seems that Cockrel is starting to manage public policy versus economics versus the wishes of the people and at least is coming up with something people can live with.

I keep coming back to the school issue with Bing, not so much as the undergrad dates because he has a reasonable spin on it and I can give him a pass on that. Now I'm bothered by the lie to cover the lie but all in all I can let that go.

What I'm having problems with is the blatant misrepresentation of having an MBA, having it on his resume and talking about it in an NBA video. You can't spin this, this gives you an insight into his character. You see this crack in his carefully spun good guy PR persona. I would suggest there are other cracks , I just don't want to have to discover those after he is already in office.

You always do a diservice when you misrepresent yourself in this fashion. I know people who said getting an MBA was the single hardest academic achievement they made in there life and Mr. Bing dismisses that by what he did.

Mr. Bing also stated he would appoint a job czar. Now on the surface this sounds like a good idea, but if we really think about this some more this seems like more political fluff.

First of all Mr. Bing is suppose to be the jobs expert why pay for a cabinet level position to do something he should be capable of doing ? Simple. His businesses has been mentored and hand held by Ford and GM purchasing execs to the point that failure was close to 0%

Secondly what is this jobs czar suppose to do ? increase the size of DPS and city government because thats who the majority of Detroiters work for.

I feel a better use of time and money would be for the mayor to contact the deans of the business and economics department of Wayne State University and the University of Detroit and have them put together an all-star group of graduate students to study and present recommendations to create more jobs in Detroit.
I bet you would get better information and more out the box recommendations than some job czar.

[Supersport]

Fnemecek,

The reason behind the mini-station is to allow another place for citizens to make police reports. I'm sure the many people who have sat in the districts waiting hours in order to make a report feel a bit differently that you regarding the importance of mini-stations. See, people like yourself completely write off steps forward because they apparently don't service you directly and you ignore the fact that it IS helping others.

ps...seems now that the Lafayette demo plans have just been put on hold, all the Mayor now has to do is say he's against the incinderator. That ONE single thing is apparently the only serious factor now. LMAO

[Fnemecek]

Supersport:
I have had to wait to file a police report. Twice, in fact.

Of course, I have also had to call 9-1-1. Twice for drug deals in progress in front of my house, before I just gave up on that. Once when two drug dealers started shooting at each other. Another time when a domestic dispute turned violent and someone tried repeatedly to run over a pregnant woman in the street in front of my house.

None of those calls, by the way, resulted in a police officer showing up.

Given a choice between having to wait to file a police report and increasing the odds that an officer will show up the next time one is needed, I will gladly wait in line.

[kraig]

Since there isn't a crime lab. I'm going to produce a new police drama in Detroit.

CSA

Crime Scene Ain't no investigation.

[Bearinabox]

First of all, I have yet to hear a valid solution as to what to do if the incinerator DID go away. Yeah, I've heard the tree huggers screamin "Hey everybody, let's recycle!!!" That's great in theory, but the reality is, it's a long ways from being a replacement for the incinerator. Personally, our house is increasingly recycling more and more items. Yet I'm sad to say, getting the MAJORITY of Detroiters on board with separating items into different bins, then placing the multiple bins out to the curb, is probably a long ways off. So what do we do with the trash that wouldn't get recycled, go back to burying it in landfills? Personally, I'd rather see it burned. I feel there should be a push for recycling in Detroit, growing it perhaps a neighborhood at a time, and test out how feasible it is. What you don't do is spend millions on a program that hasn't been tested, simply because the green crowd doesn't like the incinerator.

Why would you rather see it burned? Even if it is burned, it produces ash that has to be buried, and that ash is much more toxic than the raw, unburned garbage. Besides, as someone who has to smell that fucking incinerator every time the wind blows from the east, the burning process in and of itself is not exactly pleasant for those of us who live near it. Incineration was a bad idea that briefly gained popularity right before the advent of recycling made it obsolete, and that five or ten-year window was the period during which CAY built the incinerator. There is no reason we should continue to dump money down that rathole. Landfilling is cheaper anyway.

BTW, have you ever compared asthma rates in the zip codes immediately surrounding the incinerator to those further out? "The green crowd" isn't just pulling this out of their asses. There are very real health risks associated with living downwind of that thing. Luckily for me, the wind doesn't often blow east-to-west, or I'd be looking to move.

[kraig]

BTW, have you ever compared asthma rates in the zip codes immediately surrounding the incinerator to those further out? "The green crowd" isn't just pulling this out of their asses. There are very real health risks associated with living downwind of that thing. Luckily for me, the wind doesn't often blow east-to-west, or I'd be looking to move.

Check out the MDEQ's reports. The areas on the east side further away from the incinerator have air quality that's worse than the areas immediately surrounding it.