Duggan Using Fuzzy Math on Building Demolitions?

[1953]

Charlie LeDuff's segment on the state of Detroit's housing demolition program - the pace doesn't much appear to be up, but the cost does - was intriguing. Alexis Wiley looked terrible, as usual, and the unidentified staffer making $200k a year didn't seem to have many answers either. What do we think? Has Duggan ramped up demolitions? Is he justified to be paying 60 percent more than the previous mayor?

http://www.fox2detroit.com/the-ameri...31068379-story

[Richard]

I wonder if the added costs are related to administration.

If it costs 10,000 to demo a house is that all inclusive including administrative costs?

Maybe they reorganized at the city level and had to hire more personnel,I do not know.

Horrible interview though,CYA does not apply?

But being federal funds you can bet the hanky panky level is going to be low.

The blight authority was trying to assume control before it was eliminated.

If they say 10,000 per house how much is it or has been for commercial structures which would be way more increasing the average per dwelling ,and were the funds not supposed to be for residential demolition use?

[Honky Tonk]

I think the process and cost bares looking into, but Charlie's "in your face" boisterous style gets tiring quick.

[RO_Resident]

From my anecdotal observations, I would say that demolitions are up this year compared to last.

I have also noticed the crews are doing a relatively better job at cleaning up the sites. Old crews would knock over the last of the building into the foundation then cover with fill dirt. More of the demos are being followed up with a layer of topsoil.

[Richard]

That is good input.

I noticed in the video they were not using water misting for airborne asbestos etc. but have seen others where they were. Is it a mandated thing or just here and there?

[stasu1213]

Here's a house that need to be torn down. It's sits on Vandyke north of Kercheval

[Chicago48]

That is good input.

I noticed in the video they were not using water misting for airborne asbestos etc. but have seen others where they were. Is it a mandated thing or just here and there?

There are plenty of houses on Beals Street and Mack Avenue that haven't been torn down. The city came through and tore down ONE and left the others, now for about one year.

[Hypestyles]

The demolitions need to be more aggressive. They need to be more fairly spread out throughout the city. Now it’s just like they’re focusing on the “desirable” neighborhoods first while the “deteriorating” neighborhoods continue to deteriorate.

[Honky Tonk]

A couple of months ago, I drove through my old Westside neighborhood. [[not a bad neighborhood by any means) A handful of houses appeared to be demo-ed by the City. The demo remains were in the basement, and orange flexible plastic fences on sticks, cordoned off the demo sites. About a week ago, I drove back through that section, and the remains and orange fences were still there. The problem I have with that "story/interview" is that no one seems to have any concise facts. Charlie may or may not be on to something, but he's trying his damnest to make a mountain out of a molehill. The Demo Committee doesn't seem to have a clue, or any facts either, just repetitive hearsay, [[the most qualified). That makes me even more uneasy. Where's the game plan? Where's the accountability? How much money is actually being spent, and how money houses have actually been demo-ed? That's what I'd like to know.

[stinkytofu]

I think the process and cost bares looking into, but Charlie's "in your face" boisterous style gets tiring quick.

Came to post the same thing. It's unfortunate his obnoxious approach to journalism overshadows the often legitimate reporting he does.

[Scottathew]

I watched this segment. Charlie was looking to yell and make them look bad. They clearly didn't have all the answers and you can't produce that kind of information spontaneously.

The city officials want to demolish houses.
Charlie want to make good television via making them look bad.

Both are accomplishing their goals.

[1953]

The unidentified White guy working for the city [[not the $200k per year guy) is Brian Farkas, who was with the Pulte demo project before Duggan nixed it. He once told me that he could tear down a house for $5,000.

1953

[Richard]

Here in Fl for the city to tear down a say 1920s stick frame house on tiers with no basement,and removing and filling the septic tank if required and grading the lot to a park like finish is between 4 to 5 thousand.

If one goes way back and look at the early demos they were filling the basements with the derbies and putting a layer of dirt over the top.

[dtowncitylover]

I think the process and cost bares looking into, but Charlie's "in your face" boisterous style gets tiring quick.

Thank you. I already didn't care for him, now there's another reason. He was so jumpy and "ah ha! gotcha!" when there's was nothing "gotcha" about it because he wasn't letting them talk.

[Richard]

I get his point though,when you look at the scope of things of how it impacts so many residents daily quality of life and in some cases safety and the amount of dollars being funneled into it,there needs to be somebody that has that information and answers at their fingertips.

Like in daily updates to upper management.

maybe he is walking a fine line between getting information and pissing somebody off so that in the future the information supply is cut off.

He has been popping up mainstream across the country obtaining the same results,but a little less dramatic.His work in that aspect is actually pretty good,gets to the issue in a different way without all of the theatrics.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

The demolitions need to be more aggressive. They need to be more fairly spread out throughout the city. Now it’s just like they’re focusing on the “desirable” neighborhoods first while the “deteriorating” neighborhoods continue to deteriorate.

I would agree that ideally they should be more aggressive.....IF funds allowed. But I disagree that the approach is incorrect; they are taking a triage approach. Its a prudent use of limited resources. The mayor essentially makes this point in his recent "homecoming" address. If you tear down one unsalvageable house on an otherwise intact block, you have made an impact in stabilizing that block and increasing the value of the remaining homes. If you tear down one of 10 unsalvageable homes on a block, there is not really any difference. It makes total sense to target the demolitions where they will have the most impact.

Its the same theory behind rolling out the land bank auctions in a neighborhood like Marywood, and targeting owners of vacant houses in the same area at the same time to get agreements to rehab the houses. You have to stabilize and then improve the "desirable" areas first, retain those residents, and attract new residents to those areas.

Admittedly, if I lived in the "deteriorating" area I would not be too pleased.

[Dbest]

A couple of months ago, I drove through my old Westside neighborhood. [[not a bad neighborhood by any means) A handful of houses appeared to be demo-ed by the City. The demo remains were in the basement, and orange flexible plastic fences on sticks, cordoned off the demo sites. About a week ago, I drove back through that section, and the remains and orange fences were still there. The problem I have with that "story/interview" is that no one seems to have any concise facts. Charlie may or may not be on to something, but he's trying his damnest to make a mountain out of a molehill. The Demo Committee doesn't seem to have a clue, or any facts either, just repetitive hearsay, [[the most qualified). That makes me even more uneasy. Where's the game plan? Where's the accountability? How much money is actually being spent, and how money houses have actually been demo-ed? That's what I'd like to know.

Nice post. I agree, thing about Charley is usually when he spots smoke theres usually a fire. I think he has more and thats why he mentioned more about it to come. It's not like Charley only drove by some demo sites and formed his theory, thats more Steve Nealing-ish from Motorcitymuckraker. I have rarely seen Charleys work disputed or proven inaccurate.

Charley had conflicting demo records as well as a conflicting statement by one of the them. They did very little to clear the air while being on camera.

I loved the way the one guy squirms and then asks the gal if he should disclose his 200k salary figure. "It's public record" she said. He's lucky she bailed him out because Charley would have just told us anyways and he would have looked worse.

If the Feds are truly involved, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

[Oddz313]

[QUOTE=1953;490708]Charlie LeDuff's segment on the state of Detroit's housing demolition program - the pace doesn't much appear to be up, but the cost does - was intriguing. Alexis Wiley looked terrible, as usual, and the unidentified staffer making $200k a year didn't seem to have many answers either.

Umm I love Alexis Wiley's huge rack

She is a media shill that duggie hired to dictate narrative and work the angle of media love he has got until recent.

Michael Kilpatrick Duggan, has a nice Irish ring to it.

[jmarie]

$10,000 is about right for demolishing a house. Last year, author Gordon Young [[a Flint native that runs the Flint Expats Blog) created a crowd-funding campaign to demo a house on a stable block. The goal was $10,000, which was the estimate that the Genesee County Land Bank gave him. He raised about $11,000 and the house was funded. I don't know if any funds were left over or not. I would assume that the $10,000 included any administration fees since the Genesee County Land Bank actually did the demolition.
Here is a link to the relevant posts in his blog. He posted a lot more on his Flint Expats Facebook page.

[CassTechGrad]

I took a ride by my old neighborhood yesterday in the 6 Mile Road and Davison area just north of Hamtramck and took this picture. They could use some help getting that cleaned up!

[rex]

The demolitions need to be more aggressive. They need to be more fairly spread out throughout the city. Now it’s just like they’re focusing on the “desirable” neighborhoods first while the “deteriorating” neighborhoods continue to deteriorate.

There is sound logic behind this strategy. Sucks if you live in a deteriorating neighborhood but before they turn deteriorating neighborhoods into fields they should try to make sure desirable neighborhoods remain desirable. I think they should comb mostly demolished areas and remove whatever is left and start pressing code enforcement on residents who have allowed their property to fall into disrepair. For instance the area west of downtown between woodbridge and corktown. It should be redeveloped

[Dumpling]

Here's a bit on the demolitions.

http://www.cdrecycler.com/article/cd...olition-report

During the Bing Administration there was a focus on Brightmoor. Currently there
is more demolition in Warrendale where I live than there was during the Bing
Administration. The neighbors couldn't be more pleased [[with the exception of
the guy whose driveway was caving into the empty hole - problem now fixed,
but it took several months) and have spruced up their own front yards to go
alongside the straw covered lots. I said "thank you" to one of the workers
wrapping up the grading project. I hope they hear that all the time.

The closest demo was a Kopanakis house [[London fraud - Mr. Kopanakis was "working
with" Motor City Blight Busters, supposedly fixing up properties for London investors.)
Squatters moved in in about 2008, taking care of the front yard etc. I knew something
was wrong when I confronted them in their back yard burning the insulation off
electric wires.
A week after they moved out in 2009, the house burned. As detailed in M.L. Elrick's
report on burned out houses, the city received demolition money from an insurance
firm shortly afterwards, but these demolitions were backlogged. Based on this report
which showed when houses were burned down and when they were demolished I
predicted to the neighbors that 2015 would be the year the house would be
demolished. That is, there has been a six year backlog. They really wanted me
to have it demolished sooner but I really have all the pull of a fruit fly [[to steal
DetroitTeacher's idiom).

One could go back to that report to see how long the backlog is these days.

It doesn't surprise me that the cost of a demolition has gone up along with
more demolitions taking place - there being more DEMAND for demolition labor,
trucks, landfills, fill dirt, two story high backhoes, and so on.

I think the demolition contractors should put a sign on each property showing
the contractor name, project ID, a contractor contact number, and a city contact
number.

[Detroitdave]

I would agree that ideally they should be more aggressive.....IF funds allowed. But I disagree that the approach is incorrect; they are taking a triage approach. Its a prudent use of limited resources. The mayor essentially makes this point in his recent "homecoming" address. If you tear down one unsalvageable house on an otherwise intact block, you have made an impact in stabilizing that block and increasing the value of the remaining homes. If you tear down one of 10 unsalvageable homes on a block, there is not really any difference. It makes total sense to target the demolitions where they will have the most impact.

Its the same theory behind rolling out the land bank auctions in a neighborhood like Marywood, and targeting owners of vacant houses in the same area at the same time to get agreements to rehab the houses. You have to stabilize and then improve the "desirable" areas first, retain those residents, and attract new residents to those areas.

Admittedly, if I lived in the "deteriorating" area I would not be too pleased.

I'm presently surprise of how aware my fellow "detroityeser" are .
The can see through the charlie leduff "gotcha" "news".
you hit it right on the head, it is a triage approach, you have to with a city the size of Detroit and the scope of the problem.

[Detroitdave]

Here's a bit on the demolitions.

http://www.cdrecycler.com/article/cd...olition-report

During the Bing Administration there was a focus on Brightmoor. Currently there
is more demolition in Warrendale where I live than there was during the Bing
Administration. The neighbors couldn't be more pleased [[with the exception of
the guy whose driveway was caving into the empty hole - problem now fixed,
but it took several months) and have spruced up their own front yards to go
alongside the straw covered lots. I said "thank you" to one of the workers
wrapping up the grading project. I hope they hear that all the time.

The closest demo was a Kopanakis house [[London fraud - Mr. Kopanakis was "working
with" Motor City Blight Busters, supposedly fixing up properties for London investors.)
Squatters moved in in about 2008, taking care of the front yard etc. I knew something
was wrong when I confronted them in their back yard burning the insulation off
electric wires.
A week after they moved out in 2009, the house burned. As detailed in M.L. Elrick's
report on burned out houses, the city received demolition money from an insurance
firm shortly afterwards, but these demolitions were backlogged. Based on this report
which showed when houses were burned down and when they were demolished I
predicted to the neighbors that 2015 would be the year the house would be
demolished. That is, there has been a six year backlog. They really wanted me
to have it demolished sooner but I really have all the pull of a fruit fly [[to steal
DetroitTeacher's idiom).

One could go back to that report to see how long the backlog is these days.

It doesn't surprise me that the cost of a demolition has gone up along with
more demolitions taking place - there being more DEMAND for demolition labor,
trucks, landfills, fill dirt, two story high backhoes, and so on.

I think the demolition contractors should put a sign on each property showing
the contractor name, project ID, a contractor contact number, and a city contact
number.

I'm presently surprise of how aware my fellow "detroityeser" are .
The can see through the charlie leduff "gotcha" "news".
You hit it right on the head too! there is a huge backlog and the pace of Demos way outpace previous administrations.
And we have a system in place to deal with it unlike years past.
Ask most Detroiters , everyone can point to demos in their neighborhood.

[Dumpling]

I like Charlie LeDuff's news reports.

I liked M. L. Elrick's report better in this case.

There are not enough news reports in my opinion. And it's a hard job these days.