Everything you posted looks good but if you think a municipality like Detroit could file for bankruptcy and not get a bailout you need to go back to 2009.
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There would be a huge national pushback against a bailout because most don't know the difference and can't distinguish between the auto companies and the city.
"But just a bailout won't do it though. They need to fundamentally go through the entire government and eliminate waste, get out businesses they don't belong in, and get fair labor contracts."
Have you ever gone through the city's budget? Most of this stuff is nickle-and-dime budget savings. Some of those departments get federal funding and eliminating them only eliminates services to residents, it doesn't save the city much, if anything ins savings. I'm not going to make the case that anything works well in Detroit city government. It doesn't. But no one can fix a city government like Detroit where the needs of the residents are so great, the level of services needed are so high and the revenues to provide those services are far less than what is needed.
I have to partly agree with what Flintoid is saying... it took over 40 years for Detroit to get into this mess... 2 years sure ain't gonna cut it for geting out of it. However, would I want Bing as the EFM... no.
And even voiding all contracts pensions, etc. There's a serious price to pay for that kind of drastic cut for Policemen and Firemen especially... Imagine responding to a "serious" 911 call if you just found out your future pension just went down the toilet. You think response time is bad right now..... :mad:
The issues that I have with his comments is that some people believe what works with a business can work with a municipality and that is not possible. With a company, a hatchet man can cut and fire and the only people affected are the people who jobs and benefits are at risk. With a municipality, you're talking about thousands of people affected if a EM was to cut services and throw out union contracts.
I don't see the big differences. My company has thousands of people, and when the economy hit a rough spot our pay was frozen immediately, benefits were trimmed and eliminated [[including all 401k matching), our Cadillac medical plans have gone away, and there was an immediate hiring freeze. We also had a 25% workforce layoff.
However, our company survived and flourished because we adapted quickly.
Government on the other hand is very slow to react. It's locked into union contracts, and even when those contracts are up for negotiation they always want more, regardless of the economy.
The police department needs to be restructured. Get civilians doing civilian jobs. Get cops on the streets.
Keep in mind that CORE SERVICES are the most important. Police and fire, absolute core services. They need to make those services more efficient, and make big cuts to other services including outsourcing where it makes sense.
I agree the service cuts will effect residents. However, the important thing is to strengthen core services through increased efficiency, and to cut non-core services.
The idea is that they should have been doing this all along, and thus having a smaller, more efficient government would be much easier than hacking off the fat while trying not to hit an artery.
If the residents of Detroit so dearly want these services then they need to elect leaders that will either:
1) Fix them
or 2) Raises taxes so the union employees can never be effected by the recession
Isn't Bing in the midst of a bargaining process with the DDOT union or something like that? He's played this card before...
Just when Detroit was starting to make a comeback, the ball is about to drop...MAYBE?
If this does happen do you think it'll affect people's decisions to move to the city and especially buy ANYTHING in the city? I was planning on buying and until I know the results and affect of having an EFM, I'll likely hold off.
Detroit seems to always miss the boom by about 20 minutes.
They haven't cut stupid, incompentent, lazy and hostile city employees to the bone. There are plenty left and I seem to encounter them all too often.
Fire two incompentent lay-abouts each earning $35K + benefits, hire one effective employee at $50K + benefits. You've saved money and provided better service to citizens.
I think if an EFM comes on board a lot of city assets will be shed. Not only will that generate a bit of revenue but the city will also shed the maintenance expenses.
I understand what you're saying, but simply put, it's Detroit's problem. You guys have to balance your budget. As a Warren resident, I don't care how you do that. So you either have to further cut services, or raise your taxes. It's that simple.
Yes, you guys can do the whole screw your creditors thing, but that's not going to solve your issues, because in addition to a large rolling debt, you have annual debt.
I still think there's plenty of room to cut.
I like your approach. So, if the city was to raise the cost pumping water to the suburbs to let's say double the cost, you would have no issue paying higher water rates? I suppose if we had to raise taxes then the city should increase the water rates claiming that the cost of cleaning and pumping the water out just cost too much.
"Keep in mind that CORE SERVICES are the most important. Police and fire, absolute core services. They need to make those services more efficient, and make big cuts to other services including outsourcing where it makes sense."
Police and Fire are the most expensive part of almost every city budget. It's as true in Warren as it is in Detroit. You want to cut costs in the city's budget? It means laying off cops and firefighters and slashing the benefits and pensions for those who are left.
If you want to pretend there's no where to cut but police and fire, then fine; but you're wrong. Also, there are HUGE inefficiencies in the police department. Detroit has a HUGE amount of structure. Detroit also has a lot of cops that aren't solving crimes, but sit at desks doing jobs civilians could do. Do they care? Hell no, they're making big money and don't even have to go out there and get dirty.
Novine, keep in mind that if you think there's nowhere else to trim, then that means you're for a tax increase.
The city must balance it's budget. So you either have to spend less, or tax more, or a combination of those two.
[QUOTE=rb336;282211]the same engler who gave away the state's money to his cronies? who spent us into a major hole his last year in office and set up policies to make it impossible for any successor to succeed? THAT john engler? what are you smoking?[/QUOTE
No, not that John Engler. The Engler that closed near-empty mental hospitals to virtual burnings in effigy. Didn't care that he was hated. It was the only logical step. The Engler that replaced property taxes with sales taxes, which keeps revenues roughly in line with inflation. The Engler who as a young politician enthusiastically backed the Headlee Amendment, which has mercifully prevented Michigan from spending on the scale of New York, Illinois, and California. That Engler.
I only overeat; I smoke nothing.
The "No Snitch" policy that many of Detroiters have is one of the major reasons that the police and detectives are not solving crimes. That is why the Tamara Greene case was thrown out. I think that some of the cuts that council had made was cuts that an EFM probably would not had made. I don't trust the Mayor and the council on their decisions pertaining to the cuts that were made
Harris did a good job as EFM in Benton Harbor. City services are better now than they were before the EFM was appointed, and I think they are out of a deficit position or getting close to it.
Detroit should try an EFM before bankruptcy. I'm not sure one person could do it alone, though, it is a far bigger organization than Benton Harbor.
If Harris gets the Detroit EFM job, I will be cheering him on.