Despite budget cuts, Council President Pugh avoids losing office staff

[daddeeo]

The reason why I gave "rioting" comment is because nothing seems to be working to get Detroit back on track. People seem to be in a stupor while too many officials are looting the city "Peacefully."
There should be mass demonstrations in the streets not a hundred at most.

[BasementBeat]

The sad thing is, that the pool of good candidates are pathetically low. Our choices between people running for mayor is very, very limited. The fact we have to vote in 9 city council members from a pool of candidates that has probably less than 4 GOOD ones - its a huge chance undesirables will get in.

You often here, "Detroiters get what they deserve. They voted them in." Which seems very short sighted since...you know, someone has to be elected. We can just say.."Nah, lets not have a mayor this year since the options suck this time around."

With that said... It'll be beneficial to have more fighters [[for the residents) instead of status focused and ego driven folks on council.

[Meddle]

People seem to be in a stupor while too many officials are looting the city "Peacefully."

The dope dealers are content as long as nobody is coming after them. Corrupt city means less cops messing with their business.

[townonenorth]

The sad thing is, that the pool of good candidates are pathetically low. Our choices between people running for mayor is very, very limited. The fact we have to vote in 9 city council members from a pool of candidates that has probably less than 4 GOOD ones - its a huge chance undesirables will get in.

You often here, "Detroiters get what they deserve. They voted them in." Which seems very short sighted since...you know, someone has to be elected. We can just say.."Nah, lets not have a mayor this year since the options suck this time around."

With that said... It'll be beneficial to have more fighters [[for the residents) instead of status focused and ego driven folks on council.

A little off topic, but...Looking at the new district maps, and seeing where each council member lives, just some observations:

A) Joann Watson and Ken Cockrel live in the same district. If a powerful third party gets in the race, like perhaps Hansen Clarke, [[if he loses the primary) that could be a spectacular race.

B) Brenda Jones and Gary Brown. I don't really know if either will be moving to the vacant seat in the 3rd, but if I lived there, I would be suspect of either if they did. One of those two may be out the door in the 2nd district.

C) Tate and Spivey may be relatively safe in their respective districts, but that could change with the right contenders, too.

D) Pugh and Jenkins in the 5th district, if Pugh doesn't run, Jenkins could STILL be in trouble, because of the district's population. There could be a candidate that is quite qualified but yet unknown, I bet. Jenkins could beat Pugh in a district race, though.

I think that there's quality candidates out there, it's a lot easier to run by district than if one is running city wide. of course all this speculation above doesn't take into account the possible at-large seats. There's no speculation about that from this poster...

[Wesley Mouch]

A city council for a major city should have some shared staff. There is a lot of administration to be done. None of it should be specific to an individual.

[Detroitnerd]

I am not posting on this thread to defend Pugh. I don't care for him. I had high hopes, gave him a chance and I have found him to be a disappointment.

That said, these city councilmembers do need staffs. Do you expect them to minutely peruse every piece of legislation? Do you expect them to research every possible legal ramification? Do you expect them to share information with staffers who also work for other councilmembers who may be opposed to their stances?

Frankly, I don't see any of you starting a thread about Bob Ficano, who recently lied that his staff was a trim seven, but it turns out it's three or four times that.

So I'm going to guess that what's going on here is the same old game. They don't need all that money. They don't need those staffs. They don't use that money wisely.

My, my, my! What a broad brush comes out when we talk about government in Detroit. So, yes, I'm going to take a huge grain of salt when I look at this thread, from all these people, all of them apparently experts on how Detroit should be run. All Detroit taxpayers, I presume!

[JBMcB]

I guess a better question is why does Detroit, with a population of ~700,000 and an area of ~140mi^2 have a city council of 9 members, when San Diego, with a population of 1,300,000 and an area of ~370mi^2 have 8?

Does San Diego have too few, or does Detroit have too many?

[Occurrence]

The dope dealers are content as long as nobody is coming after them. Corrupt city means less cops messing with their business.

The police know where just about every dope house is. You stop the flow of drugs the economy would be crippled and a lot of people would be out of work. If drugs didn't exist or were legalized, cops would actually have to concentrate on actual real crime.

[Detroitnerd]

I guess a better question is why does Detroit, with a population of ~700,000 and an area of ~140mi^2 have a city council of 9 members, when San Diego, with a population of 1,300,000 and an area of ~370mi^2 have 8?

Does San Diego have too few, or does Detroit have too many?

Maybe if they had a few more people on council, their fireworks would have been better.

[313WX]

The police know where just about every dope house is. You stop the flow of drugs the economy would be crippled and a lot of people would be out of work. If drugs didn't exist or were legalized, cops would actually have to concentrate on actual real crime.

Good point.

Detroit is truly a rock stuck in a hard place.

[Shollin]

I am not posting on this thread to defend Pugh. I don't care for him. I had high hopes, gave him a chance and I have found him to be a disappointment.

That said, these city councilmembers do need staffs. Do you expect them to minutely peruse every piece of legislation? Do you expect them to research every possible legal ramification? Do you expect them to share information with staffers who also work for other councilmembers who may be opposed to their stances?

Frankly, I don't see any of you starting a thread about Bob Ficano, who recently lied that his staff was a trim seven, but it turns out it's three or four times that.

So I'm going to guess that what's going on here is the same old game. They don't need all that money. They don't need those staffs. They don't use that money wisely.

My, my, my! What a broad brush comes out when we talk about government in Detroit. So, yes, I'm going to take a huge grain of salt when I look at this thread, from all these people, all of them apparently experts on how Detroit should be run. All Detroit taxpayers, I presume!

When you work for the government and the tax payers who ride on their high horse, you're basically enslaved to them. It also stems from the fact that city council isn't some miracle workers who can get people to stop killing each other and turn around the city.

[Richard]

When you work for the government and the tax payers who ride on their high horse, you're basically enslaved to them. It also stems from the fact that city council isn't some miracle workers who can get people to stop killing each other and turn around the city.

Well,the city council is accountable to the taxpayers,it is their job to listen to the needs of the residents and work with the mayor to address those issues
or show good faith reasons as to why those needs are not being addressed.

Lead by example or step aside and go make videos for a living.

Why are they extending salary's into mid 2013 knowing full well that the whole city council will be revamped,these extended contracts should be extended month to month after 01/01/2013 in order to give the incoming members the opportunity to streamline their office should they see fit.

This whole transition next year needs to be fresh across the board with no carryovers that are locked into contracts.I guess not much was learned from the whole county mess.

I would move that the mayor voids this whole negotiated contract and the public is informed up front of how the expenditures are being disbursed.

[stasu1213]

Pugh sits on the board of the Riverfront Conservancy. That concerns me. The money to continue the project could be misshandled by his influence. The other council members had to take a vote to allow Pugh to give his aide a raise.

[Hypestyles]

during the city charter commission public suggestion period, I wrote in and suggested a part-time council, with part time pay.. it didn't fly.. ah well..

[kenp]

I thought they were all doing a public service? Oh, thats right, its just a paycheck.