Stephen Henderson Finally Gets It Right (On Detroit's Situation)

A broken clock is right twice a day...

http://www.freep.com/article/2013060...-DIA-creditors

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...In other words, the events that will take shape to recast Detroit’s financial fortunes were set in motion long ago.

This is what happens when you systematically disinvest from a region’s core city over half a century, while the suburbs grow and regional leaders cheer the economic and social divide that opens up and swallows the area’s vitality.

This is what happens when those left behind in the city borrow 33 times what the whole place is worth, and continue to make promises — to employees and residents — that are the most irresponsible form of economic fantasy.

And this is what happens when the bill for all that irrationality comes due...

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What took so fucking long for someone in Detroit's media elite to say that out loud?

A lot of people have said it for decades, on this forum, in the media, in government ... and it just went on and on until it collapsed. It's no secret.

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Originally Posted by Lowell

A lot of people have said it for decades, on this forum, in the media, in government ... and it just went on and on until it collapsed. It's no secret.

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We are all interdependent. We are they, and they are we. There are politicians on both sides of 8 mile that have thrived by getting us to believe that we don't need to learn how to get along.

Well, as Henderson states at the end of his commentary, I also hope the banks are cheated out of a fraction of what they cheated others on.

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Originally Posted by Lowell

A lot of people have said it for decades, on this forum, in the media, in government ... and it just went on and on until it collapsed. It's no secret.

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Certainly no secret. And Detroit is not unique. Detroit is only going down first. The problems of overpromising pensions and wasting current dollars is not unique to us. We're just the best, ahm, worst.

I have always found Henderson to be balanced and honest. No clue how he has kept his job with what has become a rag except for a few journalists like him.

Powerful introductory statement specific to the DIA and the desire not to sell it off...

“But Detroit pawned all of that, and everything else it owns, decades ago. And it has pawned it several times over since then. Kevyn [[Orr, the emergency manager) is just the guy holding the ticket.”

What has America in general pawned off?

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Originally Posted by Zacha341

Powerful introductory statement specific to the DIA and the desire not to sell it off...

“But Detroit pawned all of that, and everything else it owns, decades ago. And it has pawned it several times over since then. Kevyn [[Orr, the emergency manager) is just the guy holding the ticket.”

What has America in general pawned off?

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Good question Zacha341. I was listening the other day to a conference by a guy who is running a political party in France advocating the exit of France from EU. François Asselineau is or was the Inspector General of Finance for that country; no twit! He claims of course that individual countries are losing more democratic power by diluting their representation in a larger whole. But the crux of his argument is about the way everything is bankrolled in our countries. It used to be that after the gold standard vanished, the central bank of major countries would print money and were not paying back major lenders like business banks. What private banking brought to the mix of the national debts is interest.​ And this is what fuxusup.

A strong, well written article. Kudos to Mr. Henderson. Everyone put your lifejackets on, it's going to get rough.

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Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

A strong, well written article. Kudos to Mr. Henderson. Everyone put your lifejackets on, it's going to get rough.

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Detroit leadership, instead of fighting amongst themselves when the economy went south, should have looked to other cities to see how they kept it together. Chicago isn't perfect, but it's clean and relatively crime free [[subtract the gang violence from Chicago and you have a near perfect crime-free city). The former Mayor Daly used to ride around the neighborhoods to see how well they were kept up, he would ride through the alleys to make sure they were clean. He knew every neighborhood and what was happening in every neighborhood. When he returned from Paris and saw how the city had flowers and plants in the median lanes and on the sidewalks he copied that. So when you walk down the streets of Chgo and go into the neighborhoods, it's Mr. Clean clean. The alleys are clean. We have an alderman system, and the aldermen are your go-to people. Complain to them and things get done.
Detroit needs an alderman system [[you are getting a district system) and each alderman needs to live in their district, not on the Riverfront or in Palmer Park. Our aldermen live in the neighborhood, so if the neighborhood is run-down....guess what? they see it and it's their problem.

What's really sadder than the leadership is the apathy of the neighbors and residents. They sat on their porches and watched their neighborhoods crumble and not one started a petition, or looked into grants, or started block clubs to help maintain the neighborhoods. I know, I have relatives that own run-down property in Detroit that they themselves don't keep up, and their neighborhoods have crumbled and they haven't led a campaign to sustain the neighborhood. If you don't know how to live in property you own, don't know how to maintain it, then RENT!

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Originally Posted by Chicago48

Detroit leadership, instead of fighting amongst themselves when the economy went south, should have looked to other cities to see how they kept it together. Chicago isn't perfect, but it's clean and relatively crime free [[subtract the gang violence from Chicago and you have a near perfect crime-free city). The former Mayor Daly used to ride around the neighborhoods to see how well they were kept up, he would ride through the alleys to make sure they were clean. He knew every neighborhood and what was happening in every neighborhood. When he returned from Paris and saw how the city had flowers and plants in the median lanes and on the sidewalks he copied that. So when you walk down the streets of Chgo and go into the neighborhoods, it's Mr. Clean clean. The alleys are clean. We have an alderman system, and the aldermen are your go-to people. Complain to them and things get done.
Detroit needs an alderman system [[you are getting a district system) and each alderman needs to live in their district, not on the Riverfront or in Palmer Park. Our aldermen live in the neighborhood, so if the neighborhood is run-down....guess what? they see it and it's their problem.

What's really sadder than the leadership is the apathy of the neighbors and residents. They sat on their porches and watched their neighborhoods crumble and not one started a petition, or looked into grants, or started block clubs to help maintain the neighborhoods. I know, I have relatives that own run-down property in Detroit that they themselves don't keep up, and their neighborhoods have crumbled and they haven't led a campaign to sustain the neighborhood. If you don't know how to live in property you own, don't know how to maintain it, then RENT!

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You have several things going on in Detroit. First off, a lot of homes were auctioned or sold for very little money to people who had none. Since they got in dirt cheap, there is no sense of ownership or motivation for upkeep unless it's REALLY broke, eg. furnace. Then, it's a less expensive proposition to just relocate, than to actually do the repair. 2nd, the Domino Effect, "Everybody else is letting the neighborhood go to hell, why should I waste my hard earned money?" 3rd, and a BIG factor IMO, is crime. You spend $3K on redoing the furnace to come home from work and find it stolen. Lastly, there is no respect for neighbors or their property, or any repercussions for crimes against. As people with means threw up their hands and left, people who couldn't afford the upkeep moved in. A downward spiralling effect. In the few neighborhoods where people DO care, it certainly shows.

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Originally Posted by 313WX

A broken clock is right twice a day...

http://www.freep.com/article/2013060...-DIA-creditors

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I'm usually extremely critical of our local media but since when has Mr. Henderson been a problem? Most of his columns are at least well-thought-out and show a deeper understanding of the city.

You're probably thinking of that self-aggrandizing little imp Albom or that jackbooted redneck Nolan Finley, among a host of others...

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Originally Posted by poobert

I'm usually extremely critical of our local media but since when has Mr. Henderson been a problem? Most of his columns are at least well-thought-out and show a deeper understanding of the city.

You're probably thinking of that self-aggrandizing little imp Albom or that jackbooted redneck Nolan Finley, among a host of others...

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Until that article, I would describe Henderson as one who gets into the meat and potatoes of the issues, but stops just short of hitting that home run on them IMO.

He's good at articulating the issues, yet he always ends up taking the feel-good "blame the city for everything" stance that everyone outside of Detroit in the region holds, which is only half-way correct IMO.

This article on the other hand hits it right on the nose in that everyone derserves the blame equally and that everyone should share in the pain equally.

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Originally Posted by 313wx

until that article, i would describe henderson as those who get into the meat and potatoes of the issues, but stops just short of hitting that home run on them imo.

He's good at articulating the issues, yet he always ends up taking the feel-good "blame the city for everything" stance that everyone outside of detroit in the region holds, which is only half-way correct imo.

This article on the other hits it right on the nose in that everyone derserves the blame equally and that everyone should share in the pain equally.

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iawtc 100%

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Originally Posted by 313WX

...He's good at articulating the issues, yet he always ends up taking the feel-good "blame the city for everything" stance that everyone outside of Detroit in the region holds, which is only half-way correct IMO.

This article on the other hand hits it right on the nose in that everyone derserves the blame equally and that everyone should share in the pain equally.

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When you're an alcoholic, until you attend AA, you won't get help. Detroit is still mostly blaming others. Sure, they may be 50% or more responsible. But Detroit's first requirement for help is to accept personal responsibility for their actions, regardless of the contributions of others.

Until then, don't expect to get your car back.

Creditors to Kevyn Orr and its financial mess.

" Give us back our money or else!"

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Originally Posted by Chicago48

What's really sadder than the leadership is the apathy of the neighbors and residents. They sat on their porches and watched their neighborhoods crumble and not one started a petition, or looked into grants, or started block clubs to help maintain the neighborhoods

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This is some of the most ridiculous bullshit I ever read. When I worked at City Council the saddest part of our job was the several hours a day we spent trying to deal with issues brought to us by people out in the neighborhoods - by neighborhood and community organizations, block clubs, groups of homeowners, and just plain individual residents. These were definitely not people who just "sat on their porches," but who were struggling as hard as they could against a tide of dismal economic conditions, drastically limited resources, home abandonment, torching, and stripping, crime, drugs, poor schools, slow, overwhelmed, and often indifferent policing, mortgage and banking fraud, property values declining to nothing, a crumbling and under-maintained infrastructure, and chronically underfunded and grossly inefficient city services. None of which was helped by the seeming position of most of the surrounding communities and their residents that those n-words down in Detroit deserved to rot.

These citizens were certainly let down by their elected officials and city government, and may at some point have despaired of beating their heads up against the same old walls, given up, and perhaps left too, but they were hardly apathetic. Unless you could somehow characterize the dozens of desperate phone calls we would get every day as lack of interest. But they, and everyone else in this city, was struggling against a current that was sweeping everything away in the opposite direction. Even today, in neighborhoods that are increasingly empty or under serious threat by the conditions mentioned above, you can spot the blocks that still work a bit, the neighborhoods that have struggled to remain tight, and the individual residents who have done all they could to keep at least their own houses and often the surrounding properties in order.

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Originally Posted by EastsideAl

...snip...These citizens were certainly let down by their elected officials and city government, and may at some point have despaired of beating their heads up against the same old walls, given up, and perhaps left too, but they were hardly apathetic. ...snip...

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Al, that's a great perspective. Its easy to forget how hard some people have [[and are) working for good.

I can accept much of the arguments that outside forces like bankers, state, racists, suburbanites and Republicans have been the problem more than the solution, but the interesting part to me is the reaction of the city to tough times.

Can you share your perspective on...

'Why have the good citizens been unable to demand and get quality in their elected officials and city government?'

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Originally Posted by EastsideAl

This is some of the most ridiculous bullshit I ever read. When I worked at City Council the saddest part of our job was the several hours a day we spent trying to deal with issues brought to us by people out in the neighborhoods - by neighborhood and community organizations, block clubs, groups of homeowners, and just plain individual residents. These were definitely not people who just "sat on their porches," but who were struggling as hard as they could against a tide of dismal economic conditions, drastically limited resources, home abandonment, torching, and stripping, crime, drugs, poor schools, slow, overwhelmed, and often indifferent policing, mortgage and banking fraud, property values declining to nothing, a crumbling and under-maintained infrastructure, and chronically underfunded and grossly inefficient city services. None of which was helped by the seeming position of most of the surrounding communities and their residents that those n-words down in Detroit deserved to rot.

These citizens were certainly let down by their elected officials and city government, and may at some point have despaired of beating their heads up against the same old walls, given up, and perhaps left too, but they were hardly apathetic. Unless you could somehow characterize the dozens of desperate phone calls we would get every day as lack of interest. But they, and everyone else in this city, was struggling against a current that was sweeping everything away in the opposite direction. Even today, in neighborhoods that are increasingly empty or under serious threat by the conditions mentioned above, you can spot the blocks that still work a bit, the neighborhoods that have struggled to remain tight, and the individual residents who have done all they could to keep at least their own houses and often the surrounding properties in order.

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Wow.

I can't remember a more well-worded post here. It tells a very poignant story. That needs to be printed in the papers.

Sincerely.

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Originally Posted by Wesley Mouch

Al, that's a great perspective. Its easy to forget how hard some people have [[and are) working for good.

I can accept much of the arguments that outside forces like bankers, state, racists, suburbanites and Republicans have been the problem more than the solution, but the interesting part to me is the reaction of the city to tough times.

Can you share your perspective on...

'Why have the good citizens been unable to demand and get quality in their elected officials and city government?'

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Wesley, first of all, I am hardly an apologist for some of the reckless, corrupt, and incompetent leadership to grace our ranks. That said, to answer your question, we have been unable to demand and get high quality in our elected officials because the system is rigged against progress and reform.

Whether it was Archer or Bing, Ken Cockrel or James Tate, the political democratic system is -- by design -- extremely difficult to make fundamental changes to the rules.

Look at Orr for a second. Forget about him as a person, and let's put aside whether or not you agree with the decisions he's made or will make. The bottom line is there is finally someone in office who has the full and unilateral authority to make the decisions necessary to get things done.

To see an example of this with something not in City Government, look only to the State Legislature and its paralysis in getting the bridge deal done. A solid majority of citizens wanted it. A solid majority of legislators wanted it. But our political system required so many different intersections of interests, that we now saw Malik Shabazz and Matty Moroun cooperating to block the deal.

Matty because, blah blah blah need money blah blah blah.
Malik because, blah blah blah need jobs blah blah blah.

And for them, stonewalling the deal was better than an imperfect deal.

It took the Governor's willingness combined with statutory ability to unilaterally effect the transaction.

So while I certainly agree with your assessment about Detroit political leadership, I stop short of being able to fully blame Detroit citizens. The problems were far more deep-rooted and systemic.

Way to go, EastsideAl!

"This is what happens when those left behind in the city borrow 33 times what the whole place is worth, and continue to make promises — to employees and residents — that are the most irresponsible form of economic fantasy."

I can't agree with that. Many of those who made promises in the forms of pensions and retiree health care have long ago left the city, leaving those left behind to pay. The same is true of infrastructure which was put in place by the same people who abandoned the city and left those left behind to pay for its upkeep. Or how about the tax abatements and other goodies doled out to the Ilitches over the past several decades? A good portion of the debt attributed to Detroit is owed by DWSD, which is an obligation of everyone using the system including the suburbs. It's an easy play for Henderson to lay the blame at the people left behind. But the truth is that it's taken decades for Detroit to reach its current state and much of that has nothing to do with the decisions made by those still in the city.

I'm normally a Detroit apologist, but I'm not sure how this is ultimately anyone's fault but the past several rounds of Detroit's elected officials. They had an obligation to create a sustainable budget for the city for future generations. That's essentially the entire raison d'etre of City Council. Instead they chose to pass the buck and now the chickens have come home to roost. I'm not fan of L Brooks Patterson, but what the hell were the suburbs supposed to do? Hand over wads of cash? Go into council chambers, guns-a-blazin', and demand the city pass a budget based in reality?

And no, it isn't the fault of the system. Democracy has worked for the United States of America for 237 years. Just because one fucked up city elected two generations of total assholes doesn't mean the system is broken. Democracy is all about compromise, we've just been unable to elect individuals who either had the willingness or the mental capacity to compromise.

I don't blame pensioners either. Speaking of Democracy, what are we advocating, here, North Korea? Gulags for those who try to escape our workers' paradise? Who gives a shit if they left? They have every right to. How many of you plan to retire to Detroit? That's what I thought. I blame those who promised them those lofty pensions. Insane. Irresponsible.

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Originally Posted by poobert

I'm normally a Detroit apologist, but I'm not sure how this is ultimately anyone's fault but the past several rounds of Detroit's elected officials. They had an obligation to create a sustainable budget for the city for future generations. That's essentially the entire raison d'etre of City Council. Instead they chose to pass the buck and now the chickens have come home to roost. I'm not fan of L Brooks Patterson, but what the hell were the suburbs supposed to do? Hand over wads of cash? Go into council chambers, guns-a-blazin', and demand the city pass a budget based in reality?

And no, it isn't the fault of the system. Democracy has worked for the United States of America for 237 years. Just because one fucked up city elected two generations of total assholes doesn't mean the system is broken. Democracy is all about compromise, we've just been unable to elect individuals who either had the willingness or the mental capacity to compromise.

I don't blame pensioners either. Speaking of Democracy, what are we advocating, here, North Korea? Gulags for those who try to escape our workers' paradise? Who gives a shit if they left? They have every right to. How many of you plan to retire to Detroit? That's what I thought. I blame those who promised them those lofty pensions. Insane. Irresponsible.

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Suburban overbuilding is complicit in bankrupting Detroit just as are inept elected officials. How does a metropolitan area accumulate a minimum of 40 miles of abandoned land in its core without some seriously misguided regional policies?