Two articles about the fire department, same day, hours apart

[mam2009]

I don't know, but it sure seems like there's some connection based on some of the previous posts about the consent agreement and the corporation counsel's suits.

I can't see how anyone without a connection to the Clowncil would defend them in any way.

This is MY CITY. Just like I care about my reputation, I care about the reputation of my city. Every time you all refer to the City Council as ”Clowncil” it mars the reputation of my city. What you call ”defending”, I call being the truth squad. But you are entitled to your opinion of how my posts are characterized. You are also entitled to your opinion about the people who run my city. I just want to make sure your opinions are based in fact. I'm also seeking to demonstrate that there are a lot of nuances that determine how a decision is made and that our snap judgments are not always right because they are not based always in fact. You all seem so venomous that I wonder if you're paid by someone to be so hateful & misleading. My city has enough of an image problem without you Negative Nellies lying on it. I criticize my Council all the time. I don't always agree with their decisions, but I do it with facts and without the venom.

[townonenorth]

http://www.municipalinsider.com/news...troit-no-cuts/

The Detroit City Council rejected a proposal Tuesday to cut its budget by a third, saying the plan was excessive and would diminish the power of the legislative branch.
The 6-2 vote killed a proposal by Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown to reduce the budget of the council and its divisions by more than $4 million.
“Let’s not engage in a race to the bottom,” Councilman Ken Cockrel Jr. said, noting that the council cut its budget by 10% in each of the last two years. “We could end up with no staff.”

Do you wear glasses? If not, you might need to get an exam.

61 employees in the 2011 year, compared with 94 the year before. They spent $12,195,282 for the year, which averages $199,922 per employee. How many police officers or fire fighters can you pay for with eliminating one FTE?

[mam2009]

Do you wear glasses? If not, you might need to get an exam.

You are pretty defensive. What council member do you work for? It seems like you have picked up their manners! 10%, big deal. Nothing compared to the cuts they have doled out elsewhere and none of this changes the fact that they get paid more than almost any other city council members in the country and get more perks. [/QUOTE]

I'm going to go out on limb here and guess that you don't even realize how ironic and hypocritical it is that someone [[you) who has referred to my elected officials as ”idiots” and ”clowns” on this thread [[while also lying on them) would admonish me about my manners for saying someone [[not you) may need an eye exam. That's like taking etiquette lessons from Andrew Dice Clay! Just stop it!

[Wheels]

This is MY CITY.

It's this and the YOU OWE ME attitude that got Detroit where it is!

You really do sound like a Clowncil member.

[mam2009]

61 employees in the 2011 year, compared with 94 the year before. They spent $12,195,282 for the year, which averages $199,922 per employee. How many police officers or fire fighters can you pay for with eliminating one FTE?

Really? They cut a third of their staff and you're still trying to argue they didn't cut enough. Tell that to the very real people who lost their jobs. We've established here that that City Council cut its own budget by 10% for each of the past two years AND once about halfway through this current fiscal year AND by 20% for the next fiscal year beginning July 1.

I've done what I came to do. I wish the firefighters well & I pray that grant is approved so we can bring back all who are laid off both for my sake as a taxpayer & theirs as they risk their safety every time they respond to a fire. I also hope and pray that they find savings in their department in ways other than cutting personnel.

[Meddle]

Really? They cut a third of their staff and you're still trying to argue they didn't cut enough.

I'd cut the Clowncil member's pay to no more than $40,000 with only basic health benefits, no expense account, no city vehicle or body guard. Limit them each to two staff members at no more than $30,000 each.

Once that's done, they can look at cutting employees that actually work for their pay.

[rb336]

I'd cut the Clowncil member's pay to no more than $40,000 with only basic health benefits, no expense account, no city vehicle or body guard. Limit them each to two staff members at no more than $30,000 each.

Once that's done, they can look at cutting employees that actually work for their pay.

That sounds like a plan. better yet, make them part timers. I'm sure they could get just as much of nothing useful done in two days a week as in five

[mam2009]

It's this and the YOU OWE ME attitude that got Detroit where it is!

You really do sound like a Clowncil member.

You ”sound” like a clown -- a clown with reading comprehension problems.

[313WX]

Really? They cut a third of their staff and you're still trying to argue they didn't cut enough. Tell that to the very real people who lost their jobs. We've established here that that City Council cut its budget by 10% for the part two years once about hallway through this current fiscal year & by 20% for the next fiscal year beginning July 1.

I've done what I came to do. I wish the firefighters well & I pray that grant is approved so we can bring back all who are laid off both for my sake a taxpayer & theirs as they risk their safety every time they respond to a fire. I also hope and pray that they find savings in their department in ways other than cutting personnel.

Judging from how passionate you are about this subject and your profile, I've concluded you're one of the many assistants working for the City Council.

[mam2009]

Judging from how passionate you are about this subject and your profile, I've concluded you're one of the many assistants working for the City Council.

And I've concluded that many of the posters on this thread are hateful & venomous & underinformed. What do you conclude about THEIR ”passion”?

[Wheels]

Really? They cut a third of their staff and you're still trying to argue they didn't cut enough. Tell that to the very real people who lost their jobs. We've established here that that City Council cut its budget by 10% for each of the past two years AND once about hallway through this current fiscal year AND by 20% for the next fiscal year beginning July 1.

I've done what I came to do. I wish the firefighters well & I pray that grant is approved so we can bring back all who are laid off both for my sake a taxpayer & theirs ask they risk their safety every time they respond to a fire. I also hope and pray that they find savings in their department in ways other than cutting personnel.

Fist off a 10% cut followed by a 20% cut does not equal a 30% cut. If you can't figure that out it's OK we understand.

Second they cut their budget by said percentage not their staff. A lot of that was just "Hide the Weenie" money they hoped no one would miss.

[mam2009]

Fist off a 10% cut followed by a 20% cut does not equal a 30% cut. If you can't figure that out it's OK we understand.

Second they cut their budget by said percentage not their staff. A lot of that was just "Hide the Weenie" money they hoped no one would miss.

You REALLY have reading problems.

[jpbollma]

Mam, I have noticed you still have not addressed city clownsil's personal pay, benefits, cell phones, cars, body guards, and staff budget even though Detroit has a "Strong Mayor" system.

You also avoided the question of whether you work for any of them. You clearly either work for one or are related to one. There can be no other answer. How can you look at the grinding poverty and despair in this city and only post to give comfort for the well to do in the bureaucracy?

As for you charging that people are here to be anti-Detroit and are paid for it?! LOL!!!!!! You are in a fantasy land. No one thinks Detroit is that important. Everyone here lives in Detroit, was forced to leave Detroit, Is taking a chance and moving TO Detroit, or is an outsider who obviously has an interest in Detroit. No one needs to pay to ruin Detroit...it's already been done.

The city is hopelessly bloated and out of control. I can only hope that the intellectuals in the younger generation along with the new transplants, and the hardcore Detroiters can take the city from the grips of injustice and pay-for-play rule and move into a new direction. By the way for any posters here..I am a liberal. I just hate seeing waste. So I may piss off conservatives, and I may piss off the entrenched Democratic leeches...but Detroit needs real leadership.

[jpbollma]

and just to reiterate, 10% does not cut it. so take that article of yours and find something better. It's a joke to anyone who knows the real situation.

[jpbollma]

I will also say, it is a social calamity when council is paid what it is, and needs free body guards [[ our national representatives don't even have this) but tell others that it's safe to live in the city. If it's so safe to be in the city why do they need personal protection? Perhaps they should really worry about the protection of their constituents. Perhaps these jobs should be part time to weed out the leeches.

[mam2009]

Mam, I have noticed you still have not addressed city clownsil's personal pay, benefits, cell phones, cars, body guards, and staff budget even though Detroit has a "Strong Mayor" system.

So what does that say about me? I am also not advocating FOR them to have all of that stuff either. All I did was ask a poster [[you) to independently verify that the Council had NOT cut their budgets as you stated in post #4. And with minimal effort we've found articles that contradict your "misinformation" [[read: fabricated lie). The articles point to the FACT that the City Council has cut its budget four times in the last three years. And we've seen that the Mayor's budget has been reduced as well.

You also avoided the question of whether you work for any of them. You clearly either work for one or are related to one. There can be no other answer. How can you look at the grinding poverty and despair in this city and only post to give comfort for the well to do in the bureaucracy?

Generally, I don't respond to other posters unless I agree or I see an obvious and substantive misrepresentation of facts. I visit DetroitYES! to see what others are thinking about issues. Sometimes I'm amused, sometimes I'm incredulous, sometimes incensed, sometimes I learn something new, sometimes I begin to look at something in a whole different way than I ever might have if left on my own. So forgive me if I assumed that other posters like to learn from each other as I do.

I've given my disclaimer before on other threads as to why I'm so in tune with what goes on at MY City Council's meetings. I've mentioned who I USED to work for. And I'm not going to keep doing it on every single thread -- and I shouldn't have to. So, yes, I did ignore the question. If you want to know more about me, look at all my other posts. That's all you NEED to know.

As for you charging that people are here to be anti-Detroit and are paid for it?! LOL!!!!!! You are in a fantasy land. No one thinks Detroit is that important...

Find me one post where I've said that people here are being "anti-Detroit". I said, they were being negative in their posts. I said they were not reading carefully. I said they were hateful in their posts. I said they were venomous in their posts. As for the comment I made about being paid to post lies and misinformation, why is that so far fetched? You and others have basically said that's the only reason I post the things I do.

[mam2009]

$22.5 Million Grant Will Help Keep Firefighters
http://m.freep.com/localnews/article...6280553&f=1232

Good News! Kudos to the Fire Commish & to Mayor Bing! Now they've got 2 years to figure how to make sure we can keep those firefighters once that grant money is gone [[if its not a renewable grant, that is).

Cue haters...

[Scottathew]

Detroit council is a joke. Their pay should be cut. They should have ZERO staff. They don't need someone to do their job.

Also, like almost every other person on this planet they can provide their own transportation to work.

I find it funny that some folks here are so protective over all the benefits that council members get. We've got council members in city cars with their own personal police officers while the average Joe can't even get an ambulance or police car to show up when they dial 911.

[mam2009]

^^^Right on cue...

[Richard]

Detroit council is a joke. Their pay should be cut. They should have ZERO staff. They don't need someone to do their job.

Also, like almost every other person on this planet they can provide their own transportation to work.

I find it funny that some folks here are so protective over all the benefits that council members get. We've got council members in city cars with their own personal police officers while the average Joe can't even get an ambulance or police car to show up when they dial 911.

Thats okay hang in there, starting Jan 2013 their ride is over.

Starting with the 2013 election, Detroit voters will elect City Council members by geographic districts, according to new guidelines established in the new City Charter.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1183264.html

[Wheels]

This is MY CITY. Just like I care about my reputation, I care about the reputation of my city. Every time you all refer to the City Council as ”Clowncil” it mars the reputation of my city. What you call ”defending”, I call being the truth squad. But you are entitled to your opinion of how my posts are characterized. You are also entitled to your opinion about the people who run my city. I just want to make sure your opinions are based in fact. I'm also seeking to demonstrate that there are a lot of nuances that determine how a decision is made and that our snap judgments are not always right because they are not based always in fact. You all seem so venomous that I wonder if you're paid by someone to be so hateful & misleading. My city has enough of an image problem without you Negative Nellies lying on it. I criticize my Council all the time. I don't always agree with their decisions, but I do it with facts and without the venom.

The facts mam just the facts.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/18...e-already-here

[mam2009]

I find it very telling that no one has had a single positive thing to say since post #42. Do you only post when it suits your negative view of Detroit's leadership? Post #42 is directly relevant to the genesis for this entire thread. I've posted a negative view of our mayor on other threads but I also don't mind giving credit when credit is due.

[Scottathew]

I find it very telling that no one has had a single positive thing to say since post #42. Do you only post when it suits your negative view of Detroit's leadership? Post #42 is directly relevant to the genesis for this entire thread. I've posted a negative view of our mayor on other threads but I also don't mind giving credit when credit is due.

The entire thread got derailed at Post #6 when you started gushing over how the council can't do anything to fix anything and that absolutely nothing is their fault and how there's no duty or responsibility for them to try to come up with suggestions to fix things. Council's only duty is to develop excuses as to why they've failed.

You derailed the thread, and now you're mad at us for continuing the conversation that you started?

Ok....

[mam2009]

The entire thread got derailed at Post #6 when you started gushing over how the council can't do anything to fix anything and that absolutely nothing is their fault and how there's no duty or responsibility for them to try to come up with suggestions to fix things. Council's only duty is to develop excuses as to why they've failed.

You derailed the thread, and now you're mad at us for continuing the conversation that you started?

Ok....

I guess adults really don't read.

[Meddle]

I guess adults really don't read.

I don't read propaganda.