Bing vs council on Human Services Dept move

[MSUguy]

Mayor Dave Bing is moving a Detroit agency
responsible for helping poor people because, he said, the current headquarters
is a health hazard with mold, standing water and mildew.

The planned move of the Human Services
Department to the health department in early September will follow state
inspections this summer that concluded that the Health and Human Services
building is a hazard because it floods, lacks air circulation and is dark in
many areas because lights don't work.

Because the city is cash-strapped, Bing is
asking the federal government for permission to use money intended for the
early childhood education program Head Start to absorb some of the $800,000 to
move and renovate the new office at the Herman Kiefer Health Complex, where the
Department of Health and Wellness Promotion is.

http://www.freep.com/article/2011082...office-instead

The Detroit City Council put a halt
Tuesday to Mayor Dave Bing's plan to use federal funds intended for poor
people to relocate a city agency headquarters.

Council members said there are too many
unanswered questions concerning the mayor's decision to move the Human Services
Department to the Herman Kiefer Health Complex, where the Department of Health
and Wellness Promotion is located.

"I just want to make sure we know where
the money is coming from," Councilwoman Saunteel Jenkins told the Free Press.
"I want to make sure everything is aboveboard."

http://www.freep.com/article/2011083...text|FRONTPAGE

The relocation of the Department of Human
Services headquarters to another building continues, despite City Council
putting a halt on the relocation, the Free Press found this morning.



Movers were spotted Wednesday and today
unloading materials from human services at its proposed new location, the
Herman Kiefer Health Complex, where the Department of Health and Wellness is
located.
Council members Tuesday exercised their right to stop Mayor Dave Bing’s
$641,000 plan to renovate the fifth and sixth floors of the health complex to
house the east side headquarters for the Department of Human Services, which is
under an FBI investigation

Although the mayor’s office has considered
moving the Human Services Department for more than a year, it decided to move
forward with the plan while council was on summer break this month, further
eroding trust between the executive and legislative branches.
following Free Press reports of
misspending


http://www.freep.com/article/2011090...s-headquarters

This has news the last few days . While the relocation may be necessary I can't agree with Bing waiting while council is on break to pull this move. Especaily given that the money was originally things like Head Start something like this certainly needs some public dicussion.

[Hypestyles]

if/when the current human service building is renovated, then what? move back? will the building be sold for redevelopment?

[Detroitnerd]

Follow who gets the contract and you will likely find a friend of a friend in the administration ...