Part time city council?

That's one of the recommendations coming from the consultants.

Chicago and NYC have part-time city councils, and the city council's budget as a proportion of the general budget is higher than any major city - and and more than double the national average. AND it is only one of three major city councils that provide cars for its members. Detroit's cost-per-capita - $14.53 - for council expenses is higher than anywhere but DC. give that a quick cost-benefit analysis and you see where this is going - we get, by far, the worst bang-for-the-buck performance of any city

Amen.

This one is a long time in coming. City management, at multiple levels, must be more adaptable to it's shrunken population, tax base, and it's current economic crisis.

This adjustment is overdue by at least a decade.

Council staff size: 115

[[from WDET's Fahle show today.)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheUsualSuspect

Amen.

This one is a long time in coming. City management, at multiple levels, must be more adaptable to it's shrunken population, tax base, and it's current economic crisis.

This adjustment is overdue by at least a decade.

---

Hear, Hear....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wesley Mouch

Council staff size: 115

[[from WDET's Fahle show today.)

---

But they've cut back 10%.......

Who has the authority to make changes to size, staffing, etc. on a permanent basis?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wesley Mouch

Council staff size: 115

[[from WDET's Fahle show today.)

---

...yet the City doesn't have enough staff to send out delinquent tax bills and I heard they are going to lay off more people on Friday. Something doesn't add up.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 401don

Who has the authority to make changes to size, staffing, etc. on a permanent basis?

---

Isn't it these guys?

http://www.ci.detroit.mi.us/Departme...ommission.aspx



Colonel Lucas: Your mission is to proceed up the Nung River in a Navy patrol boat. Pick up Colonel Kurtz's path at Nu Mung Ba, follow it and learn what you can along the way. When you find the Colonel, infiltrate his team by whatever means available and terminate the Colonel's command. Willard: Terminate the Colonel?
General Corman: He's out there operating without any decent restraint, totally beyond the pale of any acceptable human conduct. And he is still in the field commanding troops.
Civilian: Terminate with extreme prejudice.
Colonel Lucas: You understand, Captain, that this mission does not exist, nor will it ever exist...

Before you blast me, I am no fan of city council. But this just sounds like pandering to me. It's fun to pile on city council, isn't it? I don't care much for Gary Brown, but his comments about sum it up for me:

Quote:

---

“I don’t know why a department, like city council, which is less than one-half of one percent of the overall budget was the one that was utilized for this example of ‘how do you create savings,’” Brown said.

---

Great. Saves us over $7 million next year. They're geniuses! And what did we pay these consultants? But in a City of Detroit Budget of $2.6 BILLION, how about you tell me something I don't know?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Eber Brock Ward

City Council is 1% of the general fund, higher than any other major city.

http://www.hourdetroit.com/Hour-Detr.../Pay-for-Pols/

And there's not going to be many magic $100M bullets we can bite. It's going to be a lot of little cuts. People said the same about the Belle Isle lease - it's only $6M a year. Well, 7M here, 6M there - it adds up. Perhaps that's been our problem, missing the forest for the trees.

When DPD has to turn down technology upgrades that could put more cops on the street because it can't afford the $1.2M price tag, when $8M donation puts hundreds more cops cars and ambulances on the street, $6M here and $7M there seems to look pretty damn enticing.

---

I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just saying where is the news here? As for "$6M here and $7M there," that's my point. How many $M did we pay a consultant for this valuable advice?

I think we paid the consultants $4.2M, so we're at a $3.3M net positive just for one year alone with their recommendation, let alone several years going forward. Is this the only recommendation they've made or will make?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TexasT

I think we paid the consultants $4.2M, so we're at a $3.3M net positive just for one year alone with their recommendation, let alone several years going forward. Is this the only recommendation they've made or will make?

---

And to offer some perspective, based on typical billing rates, I'd venture that it'll take about 8-10 months to burn through $7M in consulting fees. This is what they discovered after, say, a few weeks of work. Not bad.

Only the voters can change City Council to part-time. The EM can cut their salary and hope they will only show up part-time as a result. The EM can prevent them from making any decisions while he is here, but the EM cannot dictate what form of government the City of Detroit will have. So, so far, the consultant hasn't saved us anything long term.

By the way, that particular consultant has been here almost 4 years now. So you have to ask what they have saved Detroit over the last four years.

If the EM actually has authority to dictate the form of government a City will have - well, that would be really scary to the few remaining people who believe in the principles of democracy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Locke09

By the way, that particular consultant has been here almost 4 years now. So you have to ask what they have saved Detroit over the last four years.

---

Baker McKenzie was the consultant and they were hired in January. The state paid for half of the contract.

Quote:

---

The report came from the firm Conway MacKenzie of Birmingham, which the city hired for $4.2 million to restructure its operations under terms of an agreement reached with the state before Gov. Rick Snyder appointed Orr.

---

Are you talking about a different consultant?

Conway-MacKenzie has been in the City since 2009 trying to help restructure. This isn't their first go at this.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Locke09

Conway-MacKenzie has been in the City since 2009 trying to help restructure. This isn't their first go at this.

---

LOCKE!!! You're back. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Crumbled_pavement

LOCKE!!! You're back. :)

---

I just had to take a break last year. Had a lot on my plate.

McKinsey & Co management consulting has also been working with the city for the past few years. They did a big report on police operations. They also looked at DPW operations.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by downtownguy

I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just saying where is the news here? As for "$6M here and $7M there," that's my point. How many $M did we pay a consultant for this valuable advice?

---

Always shoot the messenger. Assures you won't hear bad news.

Consider that the consultant might be right?

Consider the reduced need for consultants if anyone ever took the advice they issue -- rather than simply being able to say 'its being looked at'.

Sure, money's been wasted on consultants. And who's fault might that be? The consultant?

I wish congress would hire a consultant or two.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by downtownguy

Before you blast me, I am no fan of city council. But this just sounds like pandering to me. It's fun to pile on city council, isn't it? I don't care much for Gary Brown, but his comments about sum it up for me:

Great. Saves us over $7 million next year. They're geniuses! And what did we pay these consultants? But in a City of Detroit Budget of $2.6 BILLION, how about you tell me something I don't know?

---

City Council said the same thing about Belle Isle: "This is a side issue, it only saves $6 million a year." City Council dragged their feet on the Cobo deal, and finally approved it after a couple years, which saved us $15 million a year, and resulted in a major improvement to the facility and its operations.

One of the other recommendations is to set up a regional lease of the water department, similar in style to the Cobo deal, which allows the city to maintain ownership while sharing the costs of operations and management, and it would generate an additional $50 million a year in revenue for the city.

City Council seems to think that there is one big fix to the fiscal problem which would save us hundreds of millions every year, but there isn't. We have to fix this problem one department at a time.

Cobo: $15 million a year
DWSD: $50 million a year
Belle Isle: $6 million a year
City Council: $7 million a year

Thats $78 million dollars a year from restructuring just these 4 things.

$78 million a year may not sound like much, but it comes out to over $1.5 BILLION dollars over twenty years.

I'm sure we can find dozens of more opportunities like these that would add up to tens or even hundreds of millions in savings and/or revenue additions every year.

Not everything is a home run, but you can win a lot of games with walks, singles, bunts, stolen bases, and sacrifices.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Locke09

Conway-MacKenzie has been in the City since 2009 trying to help restructure. This isn't their first go at this.

---

Hiring "consultants" is the equivalent of hitting the gas pedal to get going on a snowy road. Yeah, everyone knows what the problem is, everyone knows what needs to be done, but what's actually being done to implement the changes? THAT'S the issue. Each step along the process keeps getting worse, and so far the resolution seems to be lawsuits and driving down I-75 @ 35 mph.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by erikd

City Council said the same thing about Belle Isle: "This is a side issue, it only saves $6 million a year." City Council dragged their feet on the Cobo deal, and finally approved it after a couple years, which saved us $15 million a year, and resulted in a major improvement to the facility and its operations.

One of the other recommendations is to set up a regional lease of the water department, similar in style to the Cobo deal, which allows the city to maintain ownership while sharing the costs of operations and management, and it would generate an additional $50 million a year in revenue for the city.

City Council seems to think that there is one big fix to the fiscal problem which would save us hundreds of millions every year, but there isn't. We have to fix this problem one department at a time.

Cobo: $15 million a year
DWSD: $50 million a year
Belle Isle: $6 million a year
City Council: $7 million a year

Thats $78 million dollars a year from restructuring just these 4 things.

$78 million a year may not sound like much, but it comes out to over $1.5 BILLION dollars over twenty years.

I'm sure we can find dozens of more opportunities like these that would add up to tens or even hundreds of millions in savings and/or revenue additions every year.

Not everything is a home run, but you can win a lot of games with walks, singles, bunts, stolen bases, and sacrifices.

---

Yep. And now, will you tell me something I don't know? Again, I'm not against this recommendation from the consultants. But I'll bet 9 out of 10 posters on Detroit Yes could have come up with that same one. My point is, the consultant went with the soft ball. I'll be more impressed if and when they give us some recommendations that 1) aren't so obvious; 2) can realistically be implemented; and 3) that add up to more than what they are billing the city for their "expertise."

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Locke09

I just had to take a break last year. Had a lot on my plate.

---

How come I missed this post? :[[

Anyhow, hopefully things are better for you this year. :)