Detroit loses out on $9.2M to help poor people--failure of Bing Administration

[stasu1213]

This could be part of the plan of removing certain residents from the city. Why give money to residents in certain neighborhoods for home improvements if the plan is to remove residents from the neighborhood then raze it.

[detroitsgwenivere]

I happen to be one of the people who was educated with money from state taxpayers to do weatherization. I've been unemployed since July. Thanks alot CofD.

[Blueidone]

I happen to be one of the people who was educated with money from state taxpayers to do weatherization. I've been unemployed since July. Thanks alot CofD.

Have you tried the counties surrounding Detroit? They have their own programs and from what I have heard from contractors they are working out quite well.

[Zacha341]

Well stated!!!!!!

[Bing] a political Trojan horse with all the old Kilpatrick-niks inside him.

[firstandten]

Maybe some people fall for the pretty baby line. But when a candidate says s/he is running for one term only, and you believe this will make them more independent, less prone to favors, and dedicating themselves to four, full years of service without the distractions of putting together and funding a re-election campaign, then yes, I think it matters.

Agreed !

That was one of [[actually the most of all) the key factors in supporting him. I felt he would be able to make the tough decisions without worrying about getting re-elected. When he stated he would be running for re-election I knew we were cooked.

I am of the belief that because radical changes are needed in Detroit on so many different levels the man to do this work would most likely be a one-term mayor since he would be committing political suicide almost every day. One Bing revealed to me that he isn't really that kind of risk taker my best hope is that the city doesn't get worst, but to get better ? I don't see that happening under his administration.

[Wesley Mouch]

I wouldn't give the state control of monies targeted to poor people in Detroit. It seems the current governor would rather we all starve and just otherwise go away!
<snip>
Nah, I'd keep it local, but when this money...OUR public trust...is on the line, it should be VERY publicly noted every step of the way. There is no valid reason why this deadline was missed...but I'd rather the delivery mechanism be as close to the focus as possible.
.....

Ha! Your hate of Engler, I mean Snyder is so strong that you can ignore that you're being screwed much more seriously, deeply and with feeling by your local friends.

Snyder actually cares about the city -- but you can't see it because he just doesn't do it your way.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

He's a businessman! Let a businessman run the government and make everything right! Another sign that Bing's woefully in over his head and it's the people of Detroit who are suffering.

Right, just like your newly elected Governor. He's supposedly a businessman too. Watch him continue to run this state further in the ground.


Snyder actually cares about the city. Sure he does. Snyder could care less, all he wants is that damn bridge.

[stasu1213]

Maybe some people fall for the pretty baby line. But when a candidate says s/he is running for one term only, and you believe this will make them more independent, less prone to favors, and dedicating themselves to four, full years of service without the distractions of putting together and funding a re-election campaign, then yes, I think it matters.

He also is less prone to meeting the needs of the residents of Detroit. Increasing the wait time for busses. Not hiring police/EMS/firefighters and purchasing new equipment for them to do theri tasks, allegedly sitting on govt money for head start and winterization programs for the poor; Yea, he is independent alright. I always wonder who agenda is the Mayor going by. What fiddler music is he dancing to? I haven't seen any administration make decisions to hurt the majority of residents in this city such as this administration had made. A candidate may say that he/she will only accept $1.00 to do the job being mayor but who else is paying him.

[Scottathew]

I wouldn't give the state control of monies targeted to poor people in Detroit. It seems the current governor would rather we all starve and just otherwise go away!

Either that or he wants to put limits on rewarding failure at the expense of those that at working.

[R8RBOB]

He also is less prone to meeting the needs of the residents of Detroit. Increasing the wait time for busses. Not hiring police/EMS/firefighters and purchasing new equipment for them to do theri tasks, allegedly sitting on govt money for head start and winterization programs for the poor; Yea, he is independent alright. I always wonder who agenda is the Mayor going by. What fiddler music is he dancing to? I haven't seen any administration make decisions to hurt the majority of residents in this city such as this administration had made. A candidate may say that he/she will only accept $1.00 to do the job being mayor but who else is paying him.

I remember when Dave Bing was running in the special election. I remember how he said he was going to run for a single term as mayor because as he put it, "Detroit needs someone to make the tough decisions and not be trying to get reelected." Dave Bing as mayor is a disaster and I hoped he could right the wrongs Detroit have suffered under the Kilpatrick administration but he discovered just like Rick Snyder is discovering that you cannot run a city or state like a business.

WXYZ's story on the buses is a reminder why some people wanted Bing recalled because he let the bus system go to shit but not all this is his fault. The bus story should have reminded everyone why a bus-only transportation system has always been a loser. Buses should always be a supplement to a transit system with light-rail leading the way like they have in Santa Clara County, California. Fifty plus years of using buses turned people off from using public transportation and the ones who are forced to use it have substandard services awaiting them. Welcome to Metro Detroit.

[Woodward's Cousin]

DFP reports Bing Administration is clueless:
Mayor Dave Bing's staff can't explain why Detroit failed to spend $9.2M in federal aid
http://www.freep.com/article/2011110...text|FRONTPAGE

[R8RBOB]

DFP reports Bing Administration is clueless:
Mayor Dave Bing's staff can't explain why Detroit failed to spend $9.2M in federal aid
http://www.freep.com/article/2011110...text|FRONTPAGE

Somewhere in Texas, Kwame Kilpatrick is cackling and rollin' a Blunt after reading on how Bing let $9 million return to the state.

[313WX]

The way I see it that's 9.2M that won't end up in the hands of crooks.

True.

Quite as it's keep they were probably trying to figure out a way to divide the money amongst one another with all the time wasted.

[jtf1972]

Why does the federal government even have such programs? It isn't like federal government housing programs have a history of being efficient or without corruption either. Now that the federal government has allowed, even encouraged, manufacturing to leave the country, people healthier than Ms. Dunlap, who is on over her head being disabled, can't find a job to pay for such things. Ms, Dunlap, for her part, would probably be better off in a small apartment where there would be fewer things needing her attention given her inability or disablity.

Glad I'm not the only one who thought of this.

One of the problems in Detroit is the idea that everybody needs their own house. That 9.2 million could be better spent funding the construction of housing that would put multiple dwellings under the same roof for persons that need the assistance. Each individual house needing its own repairs is simply inefficient. If you don't have the ability to keep your house up, perhaps you should be in a different living situation instead of needing the taxpayers to take care of it for you in addition to what we are already doing.

[Zacha341]

Yes, and now he wants to be Detroit's Emergency Financial Manager. Yeah right! NOT!

[GoGrixdale]

That 9.2 million could be better spent funding the construction of housing that would put multiple dwellings under the same roof for persons that need the assistance. Each individual house needing its own repairs is simply inefficient.

Government assisted housing developments [Read 'Projects'] were so politically incorrect that we removed all of them en masse.

The projects were not the best places to live in the 80's and 90's from my recollection. The crime was high and the conditions less than what the average middle class person could stand.

Sounds strangely familiar in 2011.

[Blueidone]

Not all "government assisted housing developments" were bad. Housing cooperatives, which are also government assisted have done fairly well in the City of Detroit. One difference is that cooperatives offer equity benefits to the residents so they have a stake it keeping it clean and safe. Another difference is that they are self-governed, within some rules and regulations set by the federal government.

That said, I agree that the "projects" were pretty much a failure. Some of the failure can be attributed to the agencies who handled them skimming money off that was meant to help maintain the property. I seem to recall several million dollars being misappropriated back in the 70's or 80's.

As is typical of government programs, they kept throwing more money into the public housing and stopped funding the Section 236 cooperative housing, which was much more successful overall. Most of the cooperatives that were built in the late 60's and early 70's are still in operation and have, or are about to, pay off their mortgages.

[Islandman]

From what I have been hearing on the news, this weatherization plan has failed in most states, so this issue is highlighting the inability of local and state governments to properly utilize these funds.

[Wesley Mouch]

..this weatherization plan has failed in most states, so this issue is highlighting the inability of local and state governments to properly utilize these funds.

Probably failed due to the low barrier-to-entry for contractors. Weatherization is very hard to quantify. You can go into a house. Drop a bead of caulk. And say you did $6,000 worth of work [[the average spent in Detroit it appears). Anyone can do that.

Moral of this story. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

[Novine]

"From what I have been hearing on the news, this weatherization plan has failed in most states, so this issue is highlighting the inability of local and state governments to properly utilize these funds."

Where? On Fox News? I've heard local stories about weatherization projects that sounded like they worked out well.