Snyder to begin process for Detroit emergency manager

[corktownyuppie]

Or, we could just those things ourselves and save ourselves from the EM. Everyone knows what needs to be done. The question is who can do it?

[bailey]

just as an aside... I thought that Bing demonstrated a supreme amount of chutzpah in demanding Detroit be run by Detroiters. By that logic, shouldn't he resign from office or is Franklin now part of Detroit?

[Zacha341]

Thank you! That's why I said it was just rhetoric ala him pretending to be down for the "peeps". Condescending indeed!

just as an aside... I thought that Bing demonstrated a supreme amount of chutzpah in demanding Detroit be run by Detroiters. By that logic, shouldn't he resign from office or is Franklin now part of Detroit?

[Scottathew]

"Detroit needs to be run by Detroiters".... I noted the not so sublime irony there. For one that was rhetoric, he doesn't even believe that!! LOL!

Yup, I can't stand the irony coming from a man that had to move to the city so he could be Mayor.

Also, yes, Detroit needs to be run by Detroit. But guess what, the Detroiters aren't running the city to anywhere but financial insolvency.

I know quite a few people want to avoid having the evil "man" run their city because a state-appointed official would gut union contracts.

However, guess what, your beloved union workers will walk off the job so quickly once they get their first bounced pay check and you'll be left with no services. This is the reality of Detroit's financial crisis.

Detroit officials, elected by Detroiters are utterly failing at accomplishing the job. This isn't completely their fault because they don't have the powers that an EFM has to modify union contracts that benefit the workers WAY MORE than they benefit the residents.

[Zacha341]

^^^^^ Yep! What repub Snyder is going to put down on the unions was already precedented by demmy Granholm upon DFT, AFL-CIO. So it ain't like the repubs are pulling new measures! But of course we complain more when the dose [[cuts) comes from dr. repub over dr. democrat.

For certain the medicine [[postponed cuts, and layoff) is going to be harder to take as its going to fall all-at-once while with DPS it was a bit more incremental.

[iheartthed]

I am not a lawyer, but I think that the US Constitution acknowledges the sovereignity of the states while the political subdivisions of a state [[counties, townships cities, and villages) are instrumentalities of the state.

Yup. This really has little to nothing to do with the federal government. If anything, the need for such strong EFM powers in Michigan just highlights the flaws and inflexibility of it's county/municipality system.

[Detroit Stylin]

Well, we will only know in hindsight, but my guess is that the reason "most don't" is that there is nothing to see.



I don't agree with the "completely sold the United States down the river" idea, but I do believe that the Federal legislative process is not functional and largely controlled by people who don't have the general or long-term interest of the nation in mind. If there were a legitimate higher level of government that could come in and clean up the mess at the Federal level, I'd be pretty inclined to go for it.

Anyway, I am not someone who feels that the government of the city of Detroit is so responsive to the citizenry that removing some of its autonomy is really all that big an imposition.

So wouldnt this be a good time for people to rally around the idea that we need a regional government since the current state of affairs within this region [[120 communities all fighting for the same amount of dollars leading to disparities)? The very fact that so many cities in the state are currently under or under threat of an EFM should slam an exclamation point on the fact that we need to revisit how large an are has to be in order to be granted that abusive home rule privilege?

[lilpup]

I wouldn't want Hitler appointed as Detroit EFM [[although it might be kind of amusing) but there would be a pretty strict limit as to how much damage he could do in that post.

At least the busses would run and run on time. The schools would work, too.

[Danny]

At last Detroit will go into receivership where no politician shall touch the money. It's payroll cut. Unions will be force to give for concessions. D-DOT busses will be privatized. More cuts to its fire and police depts. Detroit could de-incorporate from city into either a village or a township. It's all in the EFM dictator Act of 2010 signed by our businessman Governor Rick Snyder.


What do Benton Harbor, Flint, Pontiac and Highland Park have in common? They all under receivership. They are also all Black dominate cities with its black city leaders who are just too corrupt to handle state, local and federal taxdollars. That brings to question are most black dominate cities with its leaders can't balance their communities? Surely they have lost their way of cultural togetherness. Let us hope that receivership under a tyrant would pick up Detroit's ghetto mess and turn it into a yuppified area.


WORD FROM THE STREET PROPHET

Coleman A. Young said when leaving his office after 20 years. " Aloha Motherf--kers!"


For the 99 Percenters and the Spirit of Guy Fawkes.

Neda, I miss you so.

[Jimaz]

I found this synopsis in today's Free Press helpful: How Michigan's new Public Act 4 works

The emergency manager serves "until the financial emergency is rectified."

Surely there are more criteria than just that. What if the EM were to fail so that the financial emergency became permanent? Dictator for life?

Sincerely asking.

[lilpup]

The Governor can replace the EM if the job isn't getting done.

[Jimaz]

The Governor can replace the EM if the job isn't getting done.

Ah! Thank you.

[Crumbled_pavement]

199,999.99

At first I thought you were suggesting Detroit's eventual population, until I noticed the .99 at the end. LOL. Detroit will probably end up with a population of 199K in the next 20 years.

[corktownyuppie]

At first I thought you were suggesting Detroit's eventual population, until I noticed the .99 at the end. LOL. Detroit will probably end up with a population of 199K in the next 20 years.

Ann Arbor has a population of less than 150k with 2 major hospitals, of which 1 is a world class research hospital, a hockey arena, basketball arena, and a football stadium with over 100k seats. Also has 3 high schools, a community college, and plenty of dining and entertainment.

Bigger isn't always better. I'd rather see Detroit at 250-350k, condensed into a city 15-20% of its current geographical footprint, world class services and home to universities, cultural centers, entrepreneurship, professionals, entertainment, dining, etc.

This idea that Detroit needs to rebirth itself as the "Champion of the Middle Class" is rooted in our history, but almost unfeasible given the nature of the current economy. I'm not afraid of shrinking the city. I'm afraid of keeping it too big to manage.

[corktownyuppie]

p.s. the above doesn't mean that there's no room for the middle class. In fact, the "bottom 99%" will still make up the majority of the city. I'm just saying that it's going to be impossible to build a city with 900,000, with all but a few making 25,000-60,000 per year. The current city is way too bottom-heavy for it to sustain itself.

[Crumbled_pavement]

Ann Arbor has a population of less than 150k with 2 major hospitals, of which 1 is a world class research hospital, a hockey arena, basketball arena, and a football stadium with over 100k seats. Also has 3 high schools, a community college, and plenty of dining and entertainment.

Bigger isn't always better. I'd rather see Detroit at 250-350k, condensed into a city 15-20% of its current geographical footprint, world class services and home to universities, cultural centers, entrepreneurship, professionals, entertainment, dining, etc.

This idea that Detroit needs to rebirth itself as the "Champion of the Middle Class" is rooted in our history, but almost unfeasible given the nature of the current economy. I'm not afraid of shrinking the city. I'm afraid of keeping it too big to manage.

Apparently, you haven't seen many of my posts because I agree with you here. I was never suggesting Detroit should just worry about quantity of residents over quality of life. I'm just marveling at how fast Detroit is plummeting and how over six decades have past by and NOTHING has ever been done that slows Detroit's bleeding even one iota. But, never doubt I'd rather see Detroit on the same scale as Ann Arbor than what Detroit is today.

[CassTechGrad]

A buddy of mine who works for the Detroit water department was over yesterday with some other old friends for our annual Christmas card game. We started talking about the possibility of an emergency manager in Detroit and what powers he would have. My water board friend said that the union informed him that no matter what happens, no one could modify the union contract until it expires in 2012. Is that true or could the emergency manager break the existing union contract

[Zacha341]

^^^^ Did your friend mean thru the end of 2012 or January first? In any event they need to look to DFT [[AFL-CIO) too see a union broken, but then they say teachers are more wimpy than the city workers. Just saying.....