"The Godfather of property taxes" in Detroit works for who and wants to do what?

[ABetterDetroit]

I guess "This doesn't pass the smell test" is one way of putting it.

"A prominent Detroit property tax official moonlights as an executive for Home Team — the fledgling Detroit real estate company that recently pitched a controversial plan to acquire thousands of foreclosed homes — raising questions about a potential conflict of interest.

Willie Donwell is well-known around the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center as chairman of the Detroit Board of Review, a nine-member panel that hears and determines property tax appeals and other real estate matters. "The Godfather of property taxes" was how Councilman Scott Benson described Donwell at a City Council meeting last month."

http://www.freep.com/story/news/loca...ons/100460728/

[drjeff]

Basically the definition of conflict of interest.

[Wesley Mouch]

If the head of Property Review were paid better, he wouldn't have to hold a second job. The rest of Michigan needs to provide fair revenue sharing to help raise the poor pay of municipal workers so they aren't forced to supplement their incomes.

[archfan]

If the head of Property Review were paid better, he wouldn't have to hold a second job. The rest of Michigan needs to provide fair revenue sharing to help raise the poor pay of municipal workers so they aren't forced to supplement their incomes.

The board isn't a full time job; they get paid a per diem for each time they meet. The lastest per diem I found was $200, from 2012. Everyone expects board members to have other jobs. What they don't expect is for members to work for a company the board could have business with. Mr. Donwell either thought he could sneak this by, or didn't think through the optics of the situation. Either way, he should go.

https://www.municode.com/library/mi/...GE_S18-9-5BORE

[Scottathew]

I sit on a board for Rochester Hills. I'm paid $0. The only benefit I get is free admission to certain city parks that require payment to get in. I also get the benefit of helping shape the direction of my city and giving back to its people.

[Jason]

It's difficult though because if you have a board relating to real estate, you would want the people on it to have expertise in that industry. Meaning they're going to have projects going on in the city.

It's hard to imagine how someone with real estate interests in the city could possibly not have a conflict of interest while serving on that board, because even ignoring the acquisition side of things, the decisions the board makes would affect their properties indirectly.

I don't know how this type of thing is handled in other cities and I don't know the specifics of this situation well enough to know if he's corrupt or not. Hopefully they can figure it out.